Just Go Zero Coffee is an innovative circular coffee management program, which started with a strong collaboration between two pioneer companies in their field. Specifically, Polygreen, a company that operates internationally in the field of environmental services, offering integrated and innovative circular economy solutions, collaborates for the implementation of Just Go Zero Coffee with Everest, one of the largest and best-known restaurant chains in our country.
Regarding the footprint of coffee consumption in Greece: in total, more than 5 billion cups of coffee are consumed annually in Greece, resulting in tens of thousands of tons of coffee residues ending up in Sanitary Landfills. Each ton releases into the atmosphere 340 cubic meters of methane - CH4 - (Source: Cruz et al., 2012; Mussatto, Machado, et al., 2011; Ricardo, Pascoa, & Magalhaes, 2013) a gas that is the second largest factor in climate change, after carbon dioxide (CO2).
The solution provided by Just Go Zero Coffee: through the Program, all the coffee residues produced in Everest stores are brought back to life through a circular process that Polygreen undertakes to implement. Specifically, Polygreen collects the coffee grounds and then transports them to the organic waste treatment plant it has in Megara Attica, where they are composted and turned into a soil conditioner, which is offered to producers in the area. At the same time, a part of the quantity is converted into raw material from which useful items are produced which are returned to the everest stores.
This is an initiative that responds to modern environmental challenges, with the most basic being the reduction of coffee waste and therefore the reduction of the carbon footprint from the consumption of this particular beverage. At the same time, it mobilizes other businesses to adopt circular solutions in their waste management, since it creates an example initially in the coffee and catering sector, but in a second year in other categories, with the goal of zero waste.
In order for Just Go Zero Coffee to gain more recognition and to raise the awareness of as large a part of the public as possible to adopt the principles of the circular economy in their daily lives, an original video was created (see here). At the same time, a targeted communication plan was implemented, the results of which highlighted the public's strong interest in environmental issues.
It is worth noting that the specific Program is part of the general framework of the first circular economy "movement" in Greece "Just Go Zero", announced in 2021 by Polygreen, which designs and implements innovative recycling solutions, in the first phase with businesses and local communities, and its mission is the circular management of waste and the education and awareness of the public in matters of environmental protection.
