Ministry, Compass scrub school lunch ‘greenwashing’ recycling claims

Millions of recyclable aluminium school lunch trays were going to landfill until recently, despite claims to the contrary. (Image: Garth Bray).

Cécile Meier

Tue, 08 Jul 2025

The Ministry of Education and the School Lunch Collective have quietly scrubbed their websites of false claims and started recycling about half of the school lunch trays delivered daily.The shift comes after BusinessDesk last month revealed millions of aluminium trays were going to landfill, despite public promises they were being recycled.Until mid-June, the ministry’s website stated trays were being picked up from schools and sent to a metal recycling plant. That claim has now been amended to say the trays are being recycled “wher...

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