Leading meals provider, apetito, has recycled over 50 million meal trays through its pioneering closed loop recycling scheme, marking a major milestone for an initiative that is setting the benchmark in the food sector.

If laid end-to-end, the recycled trays would stretch the length of the UK nine times over, demonstrating the scale of its impact since launching in 2021.

The world-first initiative sees the business collect back used, washed cPET trays directly from customers and recycle them into brand-new trays for its meals at a specialist recycling facility in the UK. Through this process, apetito ensures that 100% of collected trays are recycled into brand-new ones, driving a more sustainable approach to packaging and creating a truly innovative circular system.

Initially launched through its consumer-facing brand, Wiltshire Farm Foods, the scheme now operates across its NHS customers and partnering care homes nationwide, with growing participation helping to accelerate tray returns and reach the impressive 50 million milestone at pace.

The closed loop model also addresses ongoing challenges in UK recycling infrastructure, delivering higher return rates than in current household collections and guaranteeing that all returned trays are recycled in the UK.

Implementing a scalable recycling solution like this one has been recognised widely across industry and government.

Adam Herriott, CRWM MCIWM, Interim Joint Head of Packaging at WRAP, said:

"apetito had been part of the UK Plastics Pact journey for a number of years and is now a founding signatory of the UK Packaging Pact. Recycling 50 million trays through a closed-loop system is a strong example of what can be achieved when businesses rethink packaging not as waste, but as a valuable resource that should stay in circulation for as long as possible.

“It also shows the importance of collaboration across the supply chain. Initiatives like this help demonstrate how circular systems can work in practice at scale, delivering both environmental and operational benefits."

Reiterating the importance of working in collaboration is Jesper Emil Jensen, Chief Commercial Officer at Faerch, saying:

“Reaching 50 million recycled trays is a strong testament to what can be achieved through long-term collaboration. This has been a true partnership with apetito, where we have worked closely together over the years to develop a solution that is both practical and scalable. It is incredibly rewarding to see that collaboration can deliver such consistent results, and a real credit to the teams on both sides who have made it work so successfully in practice.”

Lee Sheppard, Director of Corporate Affairs, Policy and Sustainability at apetito also spoke on reaching the impressive milestone:

“Surpassing 50 million recycled trays is a landmark moment and proud milestone for our ‘Project Boomerang’. It demonstrates not only the scale of what can be achieved through innovation, but our ongoing commitment to reducing our waste and driving more sustainable practices across our operations.

“We’re proud to be leading the way with a practical solution that not only reduces plastic waste at scale but empowers our customers to also do the ‘right thing’ and take meaningful action to reduce their own environmental impacts.”