Old coffee to support wildlife at Glasgow’s Botanic Gardens

Grounds For Recycling is a new pilot scheme which will see used ground coffee collected from venues across the city and transformed into compost to be used within the iconic Botanic Gardens.

It comes as sixty businesses across the city are teaming up in a bid to repurpose an estimated eight and a half tonnes of used coffee grounds during the inaugural 2023 UCI World Cycling Championships.

Launching Tuesday, July 25,, the coffee grounds from participating venues will be collected by B-Corp certified and sustainable logistics provider, Urb-it and delivered to Glasgow’s Botanic Gardens via their e-cargo bike fleet.

From there, the used coffee will be turned into compost to build ecosystems that capture carbon, rehabilitate soil, and support wildlife and biodiversity across the famous gardens.

With over one million spectators expected to attend events across the Cycling Championship, this innovative scheme from Glasgow Chamber of Commerce and its Circular Glasgow initiative, supported by Zero Waste Scotland and Glasgow Life, will promote a more circular economy across the city.

The 20-day campaign aims to demonstrate to hospitality and leisure businesses across the city the benefits of being a circular business which can positively impact the planet and reduce costs.

Rebecca Ricketts, of Grounds For Recycling, said: “Global events held in Glasgow create a platform to highlight these types of challenges and can be used as a catalyst for making significant progress towards our net zero ambitions.

“Grounds For Recycling has been developed from direct feedback from organisations who found leftover coffee grounds one of the trickiest items to dispose of responsibly.

“This project is about providing a solution and we are very fortunate here in Glasgow to have so many incredible businesses who are developing innovative ways to recycle and reuse what would otherwise be wasted resource.

“Coffee is a remarkably versatile product which can be recycled into compost, beauty products, flavourings for food and drink, providing an alternative to palm oil and so much more. Our hope is that this scheme will help businesses reassess their waste stream and start looking at it as a way to generate new revenue while making significant savings.”

Sixty businesses of all sizes and sectors within Glasgow will contribute, including St Enoch’s Centre, SWG3, Drygate and Emirates Arena, where the Sir Chris Hoy Velodrome will be a key location during the 2023 UCI Cycling World Championships.

Whether you are a keen cyclist, coffee drinker, or interested in making sustainable change, the campaign encourages everyone to get involved. The scheme will run from July 25 – August 13.