Elemento Bins - New Zealand wide launch of bins to capture single-use containers and food.

Recycling is confusing, composting is confusing and running a hospitality business is hectic. I, Method’s marketing manager, actually worked in cafes as a barista & manager for over 10 years and I genuinely thought I knew what decisions to make to ensure the businesses I was running were sustainable - but in retrospect, boy was I wrong.

The immense amount of learning I’ve done at Method has made me realise I had no idea what I was doing when I was implementing compostable coffee cups. I would have loved someone who knows the struggles of hospitality and the understanding of sustainability to make a real difference.

Now, that’s where Andrew Stubbing of Elemento Bins comes in, a long term Method customer. He’s hitting the streets of Auckland, and soon the rest of New Zealand, with funky looking Method bins helping cafes to capture and treat their single-use packaging. Coming from managing his own cafes he’s positioned with all of the knowledge to help other businesses. Check out our article on him bringing zero waste to Mount Ruapehu from July 2018 here.

He’s doing this in two ways, the white bin above is a container deposit scheme, helping cafes to monetise valuable recyclables including 1-2 plastic bottles, glass bottles and aluminium cans. Andrew says that “in a time where only 39% of plastics are being collected for recycling and beverage companies are starting to produce 100% recycled PET bottles, action needs to be taken on these incredible recyclable resources.” The consumer can either place their empty packaging in the bin or even redeem a small discount at the cafe in which they’re returning it to.

Second is a compost bin to capture compostable packaging. This is such an important step as most cafes are rolling out compostable packaging as a sustainable solution to single-use but if they aren’t collected and sent to a commercial composting facility they aren’t serving their purpose. Learn more about compostable and biodegradable packaging here.

In a time where sustainability is core to a business’ success, we are excited to see the impact that Andrew and the team at Elemento can have. Particularly to help an industry that creates a significant amount of single-use packaging. (Having said that, avoidance is always the first priority so where possible pack your reusable cup or container.)