Aramark Sustainability Journey: Training a Workforce

Securing qualified employees is amongst Aramark’s key sustainability initiatives. Aramark has launched an Environmental Internship Program designed to meet a growing need for employees who have a practical understanding of environmental initiatives plus fundamental business knowledge.

The program provides young professionals with corporate experience and creates an awareness of the role environmental stewardship can play in all jobs. Aramark is a world leader in professional services, providing award-winning food services, facilities management, and uniform and career apparel to health care institutions, universities and school districts, stadiums and arenas, and businesses around the world.

“Environmental practices can be incorporated into virtually any job, and through the Aramark Environmental Internship Program we can help develop employees who make the connection between the work that they do, and its impact on the environment and on our business,” said Rick Martella, Aramark Vice President, Business Affairs. “Embedding these internships in key roles across the company will provide environmental knowledge and skills that are not confined to a single position or type of job, and can be easily shared.”

Another example of Aramark’s sustainability efforts takes the form of a re-usable container program they launched in 2009. Aramark Higher Education, a world leader in providing professional services to more than 600 colleges and universities throughout North America introduced the Green Thread™ ‘to go’ container program at many of the campuses it serves, diverting more than two million disposables from landfills during the 2009-2010 school year. The re-usable ‘to go’ food container were designed for use at the campus dining hall.