Origin Coffee has announced its ambition to be net zero by 2030 through a series of pioneering approaches with its recently-opened flagship roastery and café in Porthleven leading the way.

Having opened in April, a quarter of the roastery’s electricity is now generated by solar panels, helping to roast six tonnes of coffee each week to wholesale customers, Origin Coffee shops and e-commerce customers.

The roastery also recycles all hessian coffee sacks used in the process of roasting coffee, approximately 100 sacks a week. The majority of used ones are sold online with all proceeds going to Project Waterfall, while excess sacks are sent to Ellis Jute, which recycles them in to new jute products including carpet underlay. Even the dust produced in the recycling process is reused in fertiliser.

In 2019 over a thousand less coffee cups were used across Origin’s outlets in Cornwall and London, despite producing over three and a half tons of coffee that year and this year, it is eliminating any plastic in its takeaway cups, with the replacements being 100% compostable.

Founder Tom Sobey said: “As a business, we avoid greenwashing at all costs. We won’t make bold statements unless we can back them up and demonstrate how we are doing them. No business is 100% perfect in the way they operate and we are aware that this is a journey of continuous improvement.

“It’s not only us making a conscious effort, we are increasingly finding our customers are bringing back used coffee bags and coffee pods through us to be recycled to ensure they’re going through the proper channels.

“I am very excited about our journey over the next nine years as we endeavor to align with UN Sustainable Development Goals and become net zero by 2030. We have some other additional projects in the pipeline over the coming months also, which we’re looking forward to announcing.”

The roastery (pic Rhona McDade)