Eateries drastically reduce garbage

January 10, 2012, Vancouver – After implementing an onsite, closed loop composting program, two local businesses have gone from filling an industrial sized dumpster four times per week to creating waste that barely fills a plastic garbage bag.

Sweet Obsession Cakes and Pastries and Trafalgars Bistro have eliminated 100 per cent of their organic waste going to landfill, and now recycle 98 per cent of their remaining garbage. By collaborating with fellow eco-pioneers, GreenGood, Urban Impact, and Inner City Farms, Trafalgars and Sweet Obsession owners Lorne Tyczenski and Stephen Greenham are putting passion into practice.

“Ultimately, we are turning Vancouver’s food waste into food for Vancouver,” said Greenham, co-owner of Trafalgars Bistro and Sweet Obsession. "The culmination of this progressive model of urban agriculture provides the city with beautiful gardens and organic fruits and vegetables.”

The restaurants installed a shared GreenGood GG-50 composting machine in September 2011. It composts waste in 24 hours, emits no odour, and reduces food waste down to 90 per cent of its original volume. Each day, the restaurant and bakery teams separate waste into eight different disposal streams: returnable containers, hard plastics, soft plastics, glass, paper, metal, cardboard, and organics.

All organic waste from the eateries is deposited in the GreenGood composting machine. Approximately 240 kg is retrieved once a week by Inner City Farms. The compost is used in neighbourhood farms throughout the city, enhancing the health of the soil and reclaiming valuable nutrients that would have otherwise been sent to the landfill.

Anything that’s not organic gets collected for recycling by Urban Impact and ABD Solutions.

Since launching the program, Trafalgars and Sweet Obsession have realized a significant savings in waste removal costs, and the GG-50 will pay for itself in approximately two years. The project has also been a team building opportunity for staff, who have made it a habit to be extreme green.