Circular cafes project reduces food waste sent to landfill
Shiny Brew
Shiny Brew was part of the Circular Cafés project, funded by a Bin Trim grant and delivered by North East Waste. The Circular Cafes project provided effective food waste solutions and waste avoidance education and helped 100 cafes reach a substantial reduction in the amount of food waste being sent to landfill. The reductions in total waste generation were some of the highest of all the businesses in Round 4 of the Bin Trim program.
Other benefits were capacity building across supply chains and businesses, and increased demand for resource recovery services from Councils and commercial waste providers.
How Bin Trim helped
A Bin Trim assessor visited Shiny Brew to estimate the volumes of material in the bins and provided an action plan to achieve a reduction in waste going to landfill. The business received a free 240 litre green bin from the council, and the collection fees were waived for a year.
Bin stickers on dedicated bins for recycling, general waste and green waste engaged customers and encouraged waste separation.
Results
The project provided benefits for North East Waste and the member Councils including
- improving service delivery to the commercial sector by private and council-run waste providers
- better feedback
- improving the costs of services
- providing better bins to ensure serviceability.
By providing an opportunity for Councils to engage with business, 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
- 312 tonne increase in recycling and 895 tonne waste avoided
The benefits
- less waste going to landfill
- reduced waste disposal costs
- easy separation of waste with the use of bin stickers
