MATT WHILEY: Never Wasted Zero Waste Bar

Global bar consultant and bartender, Matt Whiley, has joined forces with Compost Connect’s zero waste movement through his new South Eveleigh (Sydney) venue and the world’s first permanent no-waste bar, Re.

Whiley approached this launch with a view to remove all waste. He’s interrogated every aspect of the process to build a bar that rethinks the wasteful practices so prevalent in hospitality: from the materials and the supply chain, all the way down to the drinks themselves.

For Whiley, Re– is a way to start a conversation about waste, but it’s also an opportunity to build sustainability into the very fabric of a venue. And he has, literally. The “leather” on the banquettes is made from pineapple-leaf fibre. The tabletops, the staircase and the bar look like terrazzo, but are made from recycled milk bottles.

In a typical pub or bar, food waste accounts for a whopping 27 per cent of all waste!

That’s why the team at Re are working hard to minimise food waste with their five bin system. They have a bin for towels and napkins (which are laundered on-site), bins for recyclable glass and paper, a bin for food scraps to be composted, and a general waste bin – which is barely ever used.

“Never has this subject been more important. Food waste costs our economy $20 billion a year – more than five-million tonnes of food ends up in landfill; one in five bags of groceries winds up in the bin,” says Whiley.

Bartender Matt Whiley says it’s time for change. “It’s never been more important to recognise that we all have a responsibility to make changes now that are desperately needed to shape our future for the better. We’ve developed Re with an overriding commitment to sustainability with a minimal-waste mentality and so this new composting network, is going to help us maintain this ethos by diverting any waste created from landfill to compost.”

Re shows what can be achieved and Matt Wiley is keen for more hospitality businesses to join him. Watch his Never Waste documentary trailer below.