Misconceptions about collecting organic waste in the workplace with Kaicycle

Misconceptions about collecting organic waste in the workplace with Kaicycle

Method is lucky to now have our organics collected through Wellington’s urban farm, local composter and community educator, Kaicycle. Our small office in Wellington was struggling to find the right provider because we had no back area to store a wheelie bin.

We are excited to share that Kaicycle now has more capacity to bring on businesses around central Wellington. So if you’re a small to medium business with up to 60L of organic waste a week, you can have your scraps collected by the super-local, low-carbon provider Kaicycle – Get in touch with the team here.

While we were speaking to Kaicycle, we thought why not ask the experts to bust some myths around organics in the workplace?

About Kaicycle

Kaicycle was started in Wellington in 2015, by a handful of passionate people with the shared vision of growing nutritious food in the heart of the city, composting local food scraps to feed the soil and boosting the well-being of their community and ecosystem.

Today Kaicycle is Pōneke’s impact-focused food waste collection and composting provider with 41.3 tons of food scraps diverted from landfill and composted in the past year alone. They collect organic waste by e-bikes and trailers, composting it into rich soil that is then donated to local community groups and used to grow nutritious food. In just the last year they’ve avoided 28 tons CO2-e of landfill emissions through composting organic waste and donated 19,000 litres of living compost to community gardens, māra kai, schools and marae.

Before we get into the misconceptions, we had one question for Kaicycle - If you could speak to the waste manager of an organisation not currently collecting organics, what would you say?

Kate Walmsley, Kaicycle’s Composting manager said: Collecting your business’ organics and sending them to composting is a simple way to improve your sustainability and take action on climate change. Even if you’re small, the amount of organics you produce does add up over the year! If you separate it, you can start to measure it and see improvements over time. It’s also an opportunity to get your employees thinking about food waste - and encourage the wider culture change we desperately need on how we manage resources and waste and reduce emissions. A lot of people feel good about being able to make more sustainable choices at work.

Misconceptions about organics in the workplace with Kaicycle

Organic Waste Collection Doesn’t Make a Significant Impact

Organic waste in a landfill emits methane, a greenhouse gas that is 80 times more damaging than CO2. This is a significant impact, especially when you consider organics account for up to 40% of office waste.

A ton of food scraps and coffee grounds per year would produce around 600 kg of CO2 equivalent in landfill - and that’s accounting for the share burnt off by gas capture. To put that into perspective, for a typical Kaicycle customer with 30-50 staff in the office each day, that’s 300 kg CO2 equivalent a year.

More so, by composting the food waste the materials can be turned into nutritious soil and be used to grow more kai. Kaicycle donates compost to schools and community gardens. It can be tough to find good quality compost in Wellington, and it’s costly.

It’s Just Another Expense

Businesses often think of waste as a fixed cost, but there are often efficiencies that can be made to reduce costs in the long run, especially if you're able to reduce how much you're sending to landfill. Then you’re able to factor in that the cost has a positive impact, reduces carbon credits needed and can help your business demonstrate progress toward ESG goals and corporate responsibility and something tangible your staff can participate in every day.

Only Large Companies Can Implement These Programs

Like Method, there are issues that smaller businesses or offices can face, like not having space for a wheelie bin for organics which many businesses won't fill up anyway. We’ve come across a lot of small businesses who figure out their composting solution - they might have an onsite worm farm, and a couple of people might take home the scraps for composting. Yes, we do need more composting solutions in Wellington. But demand will help get us there.

Our (Kaicycle’s) service is well suited to smaller offices - many of our customers are Wellington businesses. We provide buckets that we collect weekly from your office so you don’t have to do anything.

Organic Waste Collection Attracts Pests and Odors

Often this is much more of a perceived issue than an actual one! You’re going to have organic waste whether it is separated for composting or put into the landfill bin. There are lots of things you can do to mitigate pests and odours, and more so if organics are separate.

Use a bin with a lid for your organics, have it serviced regularly, and be considerate of what you are collecting. Kaicycle doesn’t accept meat, dairy or liquids (e.g. broth, the undrunk plunger of coffee), which helps keep smells down.

Organic Waste is Not a Significant Portion of Total Waste

You might be surprised… just coffee grounds alone really stack up! If you don’t separate it, you can’t measure it. And because organics are so potent at generating methane in landfill, small amounts punch well above their weight, in a bad way.

Paper and cardboard are also organic materials, and produce a lot of methane in landfill. It’s also important to reduce and recycle these materials.

Employees Won’t Participate

Communication is important! Most people are keen to send their food scraps to a better place. Share about where the organics are going if communities are benefitting from their small act and the environmental impact it can have. There might be a few people slower to get on board, but with time, separating organics will become a habit and for some, you may also change their behaviour at home. Not to mention if you’re able to capture the majority of it you’re sitting in a great place – progress over perfection.