Zambrero UK has joined Compost Connect

With over 200 restaurants across Australia, New Zealand, the United States, Ireland, and the United Kingdom, Zambrero is spreading ‘Feel Good Mex’ across the globe! The popular Mexican-inspired food franchise is on a mission to donate 1 billion meals by 2025 through its ‘Plate 4 Plate’ Initiative.

Thanks to Compost Connect, Zambrero UK is partnering with Zap Waste to compost their compostable food packaging and food scraps. Since opening its first UK outlet in June 2021, Zambrero’s Kentish Town store has successfully diverted 1,000+ kilograms of compostable BioPak packaging from landfill.

To serve up their iconic burrito bowls, nachos, tacos and quesadillas to hungry patrons, Zambrero uses BioPak’s compostable containers, lids, and wooden cutlery. BioPak’s custom-made sugarcane containers replace the single-use plastic bowls that would typically be used by other Mexican fast-food restaurants.

“BioPak and Zambrero have a long-standing relationship in Australia and BioPak has continued to support Zambrero with its expansion in the UK. Zambrero UK’s involvement with Compost Connect was a natural choice to support an initiative that allows our customers to actually compost our compostable BioPak packaging. In a region where consumers take corporate social responsibility very seriously, this is another way Zambrero demonstrates i’s ‘Feel Good Mex’ commitment to make a real difference.” – Emily Teh, Chief Executive Officer – Zambrero UK

Compost Connect

Compost Connect is proud to work with Zambrero in its mission to spread ‘Feel Good Mex’ across Greater London and throughout the UK. By connecting businesses that produce food waste and compostable packaging, with the organic waste industry, Compost Connect is facilitating the necessary commercial partnerships to build national composting frameworks in Australia, New Zealand and the UK. In doing so, we’re helping to build a truly circular economy — and a world without food waste.

Zap Waste

Through Compost Connect, Zambrero UK has partnered with Zap Waste. To ensure fast and flexible collections, Zap Waste uses its fleet of electric cargo bikes to zip around the congested streets and narrow side streets of London. Unlike standard petrol-powered waste collection trucks, Zap Waste’s electric bikes produce zero emissions that would otherwise pollute the air and climate.

Zap Waste collects the contents of Zambrero’s front-of-house “compostables only” bin three times a week. From Kentish Town, Zap Waste transports the used compostables to a Cambridgeshire-based commercial composter run by Envar Composting Ltd, where the contents are transformed into nutrient-rich compost within 12 weeks. Soon, Zap Waste will be collecting compostables from Zambrero’s second store location in Loughton, within the Epping Forest District of Essex.

“We are excited to partner with Compost Connect and offer collection to customers using BioPak and any other certified compostable packaging to ensure this packaging is disposed of responsibly and used to help create rich composting soil. Our easy-to-use collection service makes composting possible for every foodservice business.”

– Nic Hamilton, Zap Waste Founder

In one year, Zambrero will save 2,400 kgs of compostable waste from landfill

Over the next year, Zambrero’s Kentish Town location is predicted to save 3000 kg of organic waste from entering landfill. Zambrero will continue to work with Zap Waste to compost across its two London-based stores.

By composting its food scraps and BioPak packaging, Zambrero is proving that food waste and single-use plastics have no place in the fast-food restaurant industry. That’s definitely ‘Feel Good Mex’!