This Melbourne business has the solution to coffee waste

With Australia's ever-growing cafe scene, coffee waste is a problem. The coffee grounds that are thrown out each day all contribute to landfill. Reground is a Melbourne-based business with a mission to help other business not let coffee waste end up in landfill. They change the current waste disposal system and redirect coffee waste to end users. The concept was started by Ninna Larsen. She moved to Australia from Denmark, where they hold a high and considered standard for sustainable practices. After working in Melbourne's coffee industry she saw the waste situation for herself and decided to help solve the problem. A year later she was joined by Kaitlin Reid. Kaitlin has worked with several start-ups previously, now combining business with her passion for reducing waste. With a focus on education, they are helping to create a community around waste resources to help make the future more sustainable.

So how do they do this?

Reground provides cafes, roasteries and offices with bins for their coffee grounds. They collect these each week, and then divert the coffee grounds to gardeners who will use it. These might be home gardeners or community gardeners who put this waste to good use. Reground brings new bins to cafes as needed. It seems like a simple idea when you put it like that, but something that is often thought of as 'too hard' when it comes to influencing behaviour. The beauty is in the single-use waste. Gardeners will except coffee grounds on their own, not with mixed waste, and they provide essential nutrients for soil. It's win-win for both cafes and gardeners, and, of course, the planet, saving thousands of tonnes of methane gas from entering the atmosphere.

How can you become a part of it?

Currently, Reground are only operating in Melbourne, Victoria. However, we may see this business grow further and move to service other cities. We can only hope that they continue to educate the community and other people may set up a similar service in their own community.