In less than two hours, the UK produces enough waste to fill the Royal Albert Hall. It is a statistic which so angers Douglas McMaster that he has set out to change it - starting with a 50-seat restaurant on a quiet road in Brighton.
After 12 years working in the fine dining industry in establishments all over the world, the British-born chef has returned to the UK to open Silo, the country's first permanent zero-waste restaurant. The idea is a simple one: throw nothing away and serve only locally grown, seasonal food.
"Getting around the initial 95 per cent of typical waste was surprisingly simple," Mr McMaster said.
"The secret is to deal with the sources of the ingredients - local farmers and growers who work in a way we respect. We also use vessels that are endlessly reusable - to put it bluntly: things without a packet." The £22,000 (NZ$42,730) compost machine to compress unwanted food scraps also helps.
According to Mr McMaster, the food industry is "traumatised". "We live in a world where we expect avocados and pineapples all year round - foods which aren't natural to our environment," he said.
