How 100 cafes are diverting food waste and going circular

Shiny Brew was part of the Circular Cafés project, funded by a Bin Trim grant and delivered by North East Waste. The Circular Cafés project helped 100 cafes avoid waste, achieving some of the highest reductions in total waste generation of all the businesses participating in Round 4 of the Bin Trim program.

The program provided effective food waste solutions and waste avoidance education. In doing so it improved the circularity of organic resources and saw a substantial reduction in the amount of food waste being sent to landfill. Additional outcomes included capacity building across supply chains and businesses, as well as increased demand for resource recovery services from Councils and commercial waste providers.

How Bin Trim helped

A Bin Trim assessor visited Shiny Brew to assess their waste. The assessor estimated the volumes of material in the bins and provided an action plan. As a result, the business was given a free 240 litre green bin by the council, and the collection fees were waived for a year.

The business was provided with bin stickers to help with the separation of waste. Having a bin each for recycling, general waste and green waste also intrigued their customers.

Results – “In one year, we saved 20,000 litres of green waste going into landfill.”

There have been numerous learnings and outcomes that have made the project an invaluable exercise for North East Waste and the member Councils.

This has included improving service delivery to the commercial sector by private and council-run waste providers, better feedback, improving the costs of services, and providing better bins to ensure serviceability.

Providing an opportunity for Councils to engage with business, which has traditionally been quite difficult, the Circular Cafes project has allowed for a better relationship with Council educators and business.

The numbers

• Bin Trim Grant: $99,824 for the Circular Café’s project
• Waste diverted by Shiny Brew as part of this project: Approximately 20,000 litres of green waste
• New equipment: Green bin and bin stickers
• 312t increase in recycling and 895t waste avoided

The benefits

• Less waste going to landfill
• Reduced waste disposal costs
• Easy separation of waste with the use of bin stickers

Take action

Could your business save on waste?

Register your interest to join 38,000 businesses for a free waste assessment to avoid, reduce, reuse and recycle more.

Visit www.epa.nsw.gov.au/bintrim

Want to know more about how NSW EPA is helping move waste from landfill? Hear directly from them in their dedication seminar program onsite at AWRE this 26-27 July, you can view the full program and register to attend their sessions for free here.

This project is a NSW Environment Protection Authority Waste and Sustainable Materials Strategy initiative, funded from the waste levy.