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Our Zero Waste Journey
San Francisco Bay Coffee is now Zero Waste Certified. We have achieved silver certification, which means that 90% of waste created at our facility is transported to compost fields or recycle centers. That’s 90% of waste not going into landfill.
Underwriters Labs Validation
Our certification was awarded by Underwriters Labs (UL), one of the most respected third-party testing and validation entities for sustainable practices. Becoming certified is a hard-won accomplishment, and we must continue to maintain our current 90% level. However, we’re also already exploring ways to eliminate the remaining 10% that still reaches a landfill.
How We Got There
San Francisco Bay Coffee’s zero waste journey began back in 2016 when we first started tracking our waste and working to divert as much away from landfill as possible. At that time, we produced a total of approximately 624 tons of waste annually, with nearly 500 tons or almost 80% going to landfill.
We knew we had to do better, so we focused on making meaningful changes to our production processes and the raw materials we use.
We started segregating the different types of waste that were generated. We deployed clearly marked receptacles where specific materials were allowed to be deposited to prevent waste streams from becoming mixed. We asked our suppliers to increase our accessibility to compostable, recyclable or reusable packaging materials. We also began designing our product packaging with sustainability in mind.