Could you run a zero-waste restaurant?

Finland’s Restaurant Nolla has been making waves since it was opened earlier this year by chefs Luka Balac, Carlos Henriques and Albert Franch Sunyer. Their goal? To run the first real zero-waste restaurant in Helsinki.

On average, the amount of waste in the food supply chain is anywhere from 25–50%. The idea of Restaurant Nolla thus stemmed from the need to rethink the restaurant industry, with ‘nolla’ being the Finnish word for ‘zero’.

Nolla’s concept complies with the following rules: the products from the suppliers come in boxes that go back and forth between the restaurant and the suppliers. Nothing is accepted in disposable packaging, since the restaurant doesn’t have a rubbish bin. Any food waste goes into the restaurant’s composter, enabling it to be turned into the soil and returned back to the farmers.

Nolla’s founders were in New York from 19–22 May to take part in the Zero Waste Bistro at NYCxDESIGN Manhattan. Attended by 10,000 visitors, the four-day event had a strong focus on circular economy, new material innovations and sustainable design. The bistro was co-curated by Finnish designers Harri Koskinen and Linda Bergroth, who utilised sustainable products by Finnish Design Shop, Iittala and Artek.

The Nolla team will soon be hosting a series of ‘Cooking Without Waste’ workshops, to which they have invited chefs from all over the world. With this event, the Nolla founders aim to teach and share their zero-waste practices, and at the same time gain some cultural food experiences themselves.

“We want to give an example to other restaurants and together strive towards a sustainable future with a circular economy business model,” said Balac.

Top image credit: Nikola Tomevski.