Coffee cup composting project in Perth a hit with customers
An initiative that sees café patrons in Perth encouraged to compost their disposable coffee cups as part of Australia’s first comprehensive national composting service for foodservice packaging has got off to a strong start.
In a move designed to divert food scraps and food service packaging from landfill, Perth cafes have joined forces with BioPak to encourage customers to dispose of used coffee cups and BioPak compostable takeaway food packaging in specially designed collection bins placed at their local cafes or workplaces.
Earlier this year, Perth café chain Yelo was one of the first Perth cafés to sign up to the service. Since they joined up in June, they have diverted more than 33,000 kg of waste from landfill and created 23 tonnes of compost.
Yelo owner Mike Pond said the service allows patrons to enjoy the convenience of disposable takeaway packaging, including coffee cups, while doing the right thing by the environment.
“We are big supporters of the concept of a truly circular economy, using rapidly renewable and sustainably sourced material that return nutrients back into the soil at the end of their life,” he said. “The reaction from our customers has been fantastic so far.”
The compost bins are collected weekly and sent to commercial composting facilities to be processed. In only eight weeks, they are turned into nutritious soil compost for gardens or farms.
BioPak founder Richard Fine said the aim of the service was to ensure that the environmental benefit of compostable, single-use disposable packaging could be maximised, helping customers in reducing the environmental impact of their business.
“In Australia, we send more than eight million tonnes of organic waste to landfill every year, including 1.5 million tonnes of food waste,” he said.
“The problem with this is that when food waste decomposes in landfills, it releases methane, which is a greenhouse gas 80 times more potent than carbon dioxide, resulting in enormous damage to our environment.
“Switching to compostable foodservice packaging, including compostable coffee cups, can divert much of this material from going to landfill.”
Sheridan Randall, 5th October 2018
