First Mile Celebrates the Hospitality & Catering and Entertainment Sectors’ Top Recycling Champions

First Mile, the UK’s leading recycling and waste management provider, today celebrates the hospitality & catering and entertainment sectors’ highest-performing recycling businesses as part of its annual Recycling Standard campaign.

In the past year, First Mile worked with more than 30,000 businesses across the UK, welcoming 8,000 new customers, collecting 207,540 tonnes of waste and recycling 94,128 tonnes. Hospitality continues to be one of the most dynamic sectors within its network, with hotels, restaurants, pubs, cafés and entertainment venues increasing the number of separated waste streams and driving higher recycling rates in response to evolving regulation and customer expectations.

The top three hospitality & catering and events businesses by recycling tonnage are ATG Entertainment Limited, which recycled 3,468 tonnes; Gail’s Bakery, which recycled 2,279 tonnes; and Caffè Nero (Nero Holdings Ltd), which recycled 1,079 tonnes. Together, these organisations represent the highest-volume hospitality recyclers in the First Mile network, demonstrating the scale of impact that consistent, data-driven recycling can deliver across theatres, hotels, cafés and bakery estates nationwide.

From managing high footfall in theatre venues to handling significant volumes of food waste and coffee grounds in busy city centre locations, these businesses face unique operational challenges. The performance of this year’s top three reflects sustained investment in back-of-house processes, staff engagement and the expansion of specialist services including food waste, glass, coffee cups and cooking oil recycling.

For more than a decade, First Mile’s Recycling Standard has provided a transparent and evidence-led framework for measuring recycling performance. Grounded in verified data collected throughout the year and benchmarked across tens of thousands of UK businesses, the Standard enables hospitality operators to compare performance, identify opportunities for improvement and gain recognition for measurable progress. In 2026, the campaign evolves into an enhanced recognition scheme, positioning itself as a key annual moment for UK recycling and setting clear, sector-specific benchmarks.

Within the scheme, accreditation levels are awarded based on verified recycling rates and the number of services used. Gold-accredited customers achieve an 80 per cent or higher recycling rate alongside four or more services, or three or more services where one of these is food recycling. One of these services must be general waste, which is required to be zero to landfill. Silver accreditation recognises businesses achieving a recycling rate of 50 per cent or above with at least two services. Zero to Landfill status is awarded to customers with recycling rates of up to 49 per cent whose general waste is diverted from landfill.

Gold-performing hospitality businesses typically operate streamlined waste systems across multiple sites, implement clear front-of-house and back-of-house separation, and introduce initiatives to influence both staff and customer behaviour. They also comply with the government’s Simpler Recycling regulations, which came into effect in April 2025, requiring mixed recycling and food waste collections alongside residual waste.

Speaking of its achievement, Mishal Shuja, Head of Procurement at ATG, said: “We’re incredibly proud to be recognised as one of First Mile’s top recyclers this year. This achievement reflects several years of focused collaboration, operational discipline, and a genuine cultural shift across our venues. Improving our recycling performance supports our wider ISO14001 commitments and motivates our teams who see the positive impact of their efforts every day. The Recycling Standard helps us drive consistency and continually raise the bar, and we’re delighted to see that hard work translated into meaningful results.”

Sofia Rodriguez, Head of Sustainability at Gail’s Bakery, added: “We’re delighted to be recognised as one of First Mile’s top recyclers. The Recycling Standard has helped us strengthen our waste management practices, improve recycling rates across our bakeries, and give our teams greater visibility of the impact they’re making every day. It plays an important role in supporting our wider ESG commitments and reinforcing our ambition to operate responsibly as we grow. We’re proud of the progress so far and remain committed to continuously improving.”

Talking about the scheme, Bruce Bratley, First Mile founder and CEO, said: “Hospitality businesses operate in fast-paced, high-pressure environments, yet the leaders in this sector show that recycling can be embedded into day-to-day operations at scale. Our Recycling Standard is built on real operational data, giving businesses a clear picture of performance and a credible way to demonstrate progress. It is fantastic to see operators like ATG Entertainment Limited, Gail’s Bakery and Caffè Nero setting the benchmark for the sector.”

The Recycling Standard’s position as an industry benchmark follows a period of strong external recognition for First Mile, including being named Independent Operator of the Year at the National Recycling Awards 2025 for the second-year running, and B2B Business of the Year at the Growing Business Awards 2025.