BioPak is joining forces with Perth cafes for a coffee cup composting service aimed at diverting waste from landfill.
Specially-designed bins at cafes and workplaces will collect used coffee cups and BioPak compostable takeaway food packaging, which will then be taken weekly to composting facilities to be turned into soil compost for farms and gardens.
“In Australia, we send more than eight million tonnes of organic waste to landfill every year, including 1.5 million tonnes of food waste,” said Richard Fine, founder of BioPak, which is one of the world’s leading sustainable packaging producers.
“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.”
Yelo, one of the first cafes to sign up for the service in June, has so far diverted more than 33,000 kilograms of waste from landfills, creating 23 tonnes of compost. Owner Mike Pond says the scheme allows customers to sustainably use disposable coffee cups.
“This is a fantastic initiative, which we believe will help divert potentially tonnes of waste away from landfills and turned into composting that can be used for commercial-level agriculture – at no cost to our customers. In fact, the composting service will save us more than 20% a year in waste bills,” he said.
“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.
“The reaction from our customers has been fantastic so far.”
