Protea Hotels by Marriott Breakwater Lodge joins the Bokashi Bran “family” in the fight against commercial food waste going to landfill.
Protea Hotels by Marriott Cape Town Waterfront Breakwater Lodge has implemented the Bokashi Bran® Food Waste Management System. Diverting food waste from landfill has become an essential part of running a commercial kitchen in the hospitality sector.
Food waste and the environment.
For every tonne of food waste sent to a landfill site, 626kg CO2e gets released into the atmosphere. The leachates or liquids that drain from food waste are pathogenic and contaminate our groundwater. Methane produced from compacted, rotting food at a landfill is 84 times more harmful than CO2 over a 20-year period.
Food waste and the National Waste Minimisation Strategy.
Organic waste makes up 35-40% of general waste. Besides the environmental damage it causes at a landfill, landfills are now filling up to a point where we are running out of landfill airspace. The National Waste Minimisation Strategy has set a target of 50% diversion of organics from landfill by 2022 to prepare for the outright ban in 2027. Protea Hotels by Marriott Breakwater Lodge has taken decisive action to deal with this issue and make commercial food waste diversion from landfill a policy rather than waiting until they have to become compliant with new legislation.
How has the Bokashi Bran® system been implemented at Breakwater Lodge?
Food waste drums stand next to every dustbin in the kitchen. Food waste, paper serviettes, kitchen paper, coffee grinds, eggshells etc., are all separated at source. Bokashi is sprinkled over the food waste in a layering fashion during the mealtime shifts. The drums are kept sealed when not in use. Every night, the drums are weighed for reporting purposes and taken for composting.
Composting at Protea Hotels by Marriott Breakwater Lodge.
The first compost box was constructed in less than two hours. What an impressive maintenance team! It is a double-sided compost box that will serve to turn the compost every month. The autumn leaves have fallen and made for an excellent carbon source in their compost box. The food waste treated with Bokashi Bran® was cocooned inside the decomposing leaves. The compost will be turned after five weeks, and the material at the bottom of the box will be used in the planned herb and vegetable garden pots.
Herbs and vegetable garden pots.
Herbs are costly but so easy to grow. Protea Hotels by Marriott Breakwater Lodge will use their compost to grow herbs and vegetables for the kitchen. We’ll post pics when this second phase of the project happens. Watch this space.
Bokashi Bran® is delighted to welcome Protea Hotels by Marriott Cape Town Waterfront Breakwater Lodge to the “family”. We look forward to a long, green relationship.
Visit www.bokashibran.co.za or call us today to find out more about how you can implement Bokashi Bran® food waste to compost recycling program at your hotel. Be the change you want to see in the world!
