ORG: The road to recovering food waste doesn’t have to pass landfill

This Sydney based waste collection company was the first to receive certification under GECA’s new Waste Collection Services Standard, and for good reason.

In 2006, Organic Recycling Group’s founders started looking at the current state of waste management.

“ORG saw how much food waste went to landfill,” says Jonathan Shaw, Sales Manager at ORG, “more than 7 million tonnes of it each year – and we thought: there’s an overarching need to preserve the planet for future generations; someone’s got to look at the big picture, then right down to the small businesses.”

Thirteen years later ORG is one of the leading providers of organic waste collection in Sydney. It also offers total resource management solutions to its growing network of local government and private sector clients.

Opening the door

ORG works closely with its individual clients to work out waste management strategies that suit their specific needs.

“It’s often the first time they’ve had a food waste system,” Jonathan explains, “so most customers are new to it all.

“We help them assess what they’re currently doing, look at how much organic waste they’re generating and any potential cost savings.”

Closing the loop

ORG also works very closely with a number of industry peers, including fellow Single Use Plastic Pledge supporter, BioPak.

“We’re all about helping customers close the loop,” Jonathan says, “so we always encourage new customers to use reusable or compostable alternatives to single use food serve ware.”

ORG then works closely with EarthPower and SoilCo to ensure food waste and compostable packaging are recycled correctly.

• For more information on reducing single use plastics for your business, head to the Sustainable Destination Partnership’s website.