Backed by the government and powered by industry, Compost Connect is a not-for-profit composting initiative here to help connect foodservice businesses to composting services and divert waste from landfill. Composting is easy, saves on general waste costs, and helps fight climate change. We can make a global impact, all by making changes at the local level.
We launched in May 2021 and have quickly grown to almost 400 members including cafes, restaurants, coffee roasters, schools, universities, offices and more. What you might not know is that Compost Connect is an initiative started by Australia’s leaders in sustainable food packaging, BioPak.
BioPak has been manufacturing sustainable alternatives to conventional single-use foodservice packaging since 2006. While compostable packaging is designed for a circular economy, correct disposal is essential in order to realise all the associated environmental benefits.
In 2018, BioPak decided to take matters into their own hands. Together with industrial compost and waste collection partners, BioPak launched its own organic recycling program to divert packaging and food scraps from landfill and create compost instead.
As a responsible business, BioPak could not continue to simply accept their products were ending up in landfill when there was a more sustainable option available.
“We accept responsibility for all stages in the lifecycle of our products,” says Gary Smith, CEO of BioPak. “We’re not about being ‘less bad’. Instead, we’re creating products that reflect a ‘cradle to cradle’ life cycle rather than a ‘cradle to grave’ life cycle.”
Here’s why compostable packaging (and composting) is part of the solution.