Program reduces coffee waste in Sydney

Specialty coffee roaster Single O has partnered with sustainability innovator Reground to launch a coffee waste diversion program.

Australia generates over 75,000 tonnes of coffee ground waste annually, with much of it ending up in landfill, where it emits methane. Through the brands’ collaborative ‘Giving a Puck’ campaign, the organisations are tackling the used coffee grounds waste stream, creating a more sustainable future for coffee.

This program will enable cafes and restaurants to participate in an easy-to-access coffee waste collection service, helping businesses significantly reduce their environmental footprint.

Under the partnership, Reground will collect the spent coffee grounds from customers, and divert the waste back to the local community for numerous beneficial uses, including growing food for local community members, repurposing into compost, worm farms, mushroom cultivation and even sustainable building materials.

“Spent grounds are the coffee industry’s hidden waste problem. We think about takeaway cup waste but we tend not to think about the spent coffee puck from our morning latte that goes to landfill,” said Mike Brabant, CEO of Single O. “We’re riled up to finally be fixing it, and excited to help lead the change towards a circular coffee future.”

A number of Sydney cafes have already signed on — including Happyfield, Soulmate Coffee, Superfreak, The Bakery on Glenayr, Three Blue Ducks and Bills — demonstrating an industry appetite to shift towards a circular coffee model.

Zero-waste roaster Kua Coffee has also come on board as a supporting partner, covering waste collection for all of its customers, including The Commons, Optiver and Vivcourt Trading.

In the first five years, Reground expects to divert an estimated 3 million kg of coffee from landfill (equivalent to 85 million cups of coffee), preventing hundreds of thousands of kilograms of carbon emissions and transforming coffee waste into a valuable resource.

This program builds on Single O and Reground’s successful partnership in Victoria which launched in 2023, where they led an industry-first product stewardship model. With strong results in Victoria and now momentum in NSW, the partners will roll the program out nationally, creating a movement of circular coffee across Australia.

“Coffee waste isn’t just a by-product — it’s a valuable resource. Responsible disposal is an essential, yet often overlooked, part of the craft of making great coffee,” Brabant said. “Giving a Puck flips that script — making what happens after the shot central to good coffee, and leading the industry charge to upcycle grounds, close the loop and create real impact.

“Our partnership with Reground has already helped us repurpose over 40,000 kg of coffee waste from our Melbourne cafes over the past two years, preventing more than 88,000 kg of greenhouse gas emissions.

“Through our sustainability reporting, we found that under Scope 3, 30% of Single O’s emissions come from spent grounds, so tackling this has been a key focus. Expanding this initiative to NSW means getting grounds out of landfill, reducing greenhouse gases, and ultimately protecting the beautiful natural environment that our hospitality venues operate in — something we believe the NSW hospitality industry will get behind.”

Ninna Larsen, founder and Director of Reground, said, “People are well aware of the impact of single-use coffee cups, but far fewer realise that coffee ground waste poses an equally significant environmental challenge. When left to decompose in landfill, coffee grounds release harmful greenhouse gases, yet they hold enormous potential as a resource.

“By expanding this initiative to NSW, we’re not just reducing waste — we’re empowering businesses to take meaningful action and rethink the entire lifecycle of coffee.”

The program will scale up and open to all cafes and restaurants across Sydney from 1 April 2026.

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