Waste is big news at the moment and one of the worst rubbish removal problems we have is uneaten, unused food waste. It is estimated that world wide, about one-third of all food produced ends up wasted! Moreover, most of this wasted food ends up in a landfill where it produces carbon dioxide and methane, both major contributors to the greenhouse effect. Methane gas also bubbles through the ground, sometimes causing dangerous explosions far from the landfill.

Restaurants often produce so much food waste, they can't keep enough rubbish removal bins, especially during their busiest seasons. However, a few UK restaurants have decided to make as part of the central theme, an effort to compost their food waste to keep it out of the landfills. In fact, most of these same restaurants go a step further in trying to produce less food waste.

Silo, a restaurant located in Brighton, has placed as a center attraction, as soon as you walk in the door, a special composter, called a digester, to compost all their food straps. It's specially equipped to "digest" meat, dairy, and oil, unlike most garden composter or garden compost pile where these items are typically excluded. Beyond the composting of food scraps, their plates are made from recycled plastics, their drinks are served in recycled jam jars, and they even mill their own flour and brew their own beer. Their restaurant furniture is made from rustic repurposed materials that serve as a constant reminder to their dedication to getting as close to zero waste as possible. All of these efforts combine to create a lot less rubbish removal and they very proudly boast about it -- and they should!

Poco, a restaurant with locations in London and Bristol, not only composts their food scraps, they take avoiding food waste to a whole new level! For starters, they actually keep track of the food that is left on their patron's plates. If a particular menu item gets left on their plates too often, they take that item off the menu so they don't generate as much rubbish removal with the food they serve -- smart! The owners of Poco also choose their vendors in large part based on who can deliver with the least amount of packaging. This is better than recycling your packaging -- when you have nothing, or at least a lot less, to recycle! On the Poco website, they proudly state, "95% to 100% of our waste is composted and recycled."

Other UK restaurants follow a similar ethos to minimize their rubbish removal as much as possible. These include The Modern Pantry located in London, the Tiny Leaf also located in London, and the River Cottage HQ in Devon. Of all of the methods used to minimize rubbish removal in restaurants, composting is the most successful in terms of the volume of rubbish diverted from landfills.

FERN, which stands for Food Establishments Recycling Nutrients, is an NGO based in Lebanon with a mission to reduce the food wasted in restaurants. On World Food Day last year, they hosted a lunch that was made entirely out of food left over from that day's breakfast buffet. How's that for no rubbish removal of food! They also consult with restaurants all over the world to help them learn how to reduce their food waste and how to compost their food waste rather than tossing it in the rubbish removal bins where it will likely be taken to the landfills. FERN facilitated an experiment with ten McDonald’s in London, who agreed to separate out their food waste so it could be taken to a composting company. The experiment was a huge success and has been highlighted to show other restaurants what's possible.

Judging from the consistently high scores and high praise these restaurants get on their online reviews, they are among the most popular restaurants in their respective geographic areas. Consumers flock to them not only for the quality of food they produce but for social commitments they've made to keeping food and other items out of the landfills and reducing their waste overall. While some of them bill themselves as "zero waste" restaurants, they probably don't quite reach that goal but they do seem to attempt to get as close to that noble goal as possible.

Clearabee, a rubbish removal company with a shared ecofriendly mission, has been promoting their services to restaurants, not with the goal of taking their food waste to the landfill, but rather with the goal of keeping it out of the landfill! One of Clearabee's top missions is to divert as much rubbish from the landfills as possible. To this end, they find places to LEGALLY take the rubbish they clear for recycling, upcycling, or reuse. In the case of food, composting is the best way to recycle it!

This is really "food for thought" and takes me back to my childhood where we used to rolle our eyes at my Mum for wanting to recycle everything or compost the leftovers. Little did I know that my Mum was ahead of the trend! Shhh don't tell her that though!

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