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Business
Criw Compostio, Welsh Community Enterprise, Turns Business Waste Into Award-Winning Compost
Herz — Tech & Science Desk · · 30s summary · 2 min read
The essentials
Criw Compostio, an award-winning community composting enterprise based in Machynlleth, Wales, collects food waste from local cafes and businesses to transform it into peat-free compost. Co-founded in 2022 by Steph Robinson and ffin Jordao, the enterprise distributes this compost on a 'pay what you want' basis within a maximum radius of 20 miles. The composting process, powered by heated compost bins, takes approximately one year. Primary beneficiaries are local growers supplying farmers' markets and restaurants. The company has also established a composting school to spread its model to other communities.
- Award-winning peat-free compost created from professional food waste collected twice weekly
- Distributed on 'pay what you want' basis within a 20-mile radius of Machynlleth
- Founded in 2022 with Shared Prosperity Fund support to serve local growing community
- Composting school helps other Welsh and UK communities launch similar projects
- Main customers are local growers supplying farmers' markets, organic shops, and restaurants
What we know
Criw Compostio is a community composting enterprise based in Machynlleth, Powys, Wales. According to BBC News, co-founders Steph Robinson (49, English-born) and ffin Jordao (43, Portuguese-born) collect food waste twice weekly from local cafes and businesses.
The collection also includes wood shavings from a carpentry workshop and used bedding from rabbits and guinea pigs. On a site in Machynlleth, heated rat-proof compost bins transform these materials into peat-free compost in approximately one year.
This compost recently won a prize for its quality. It is distributed on a 'pay what you want/can' basis, without online sales, within a maximum radius of 20 miles around Machynlleth.
The cost-of-living crisis has stimulated interest in local growing in Machynlleth, where allotments are in high demand. The majority of compost users are growers who sell their produce to local farmers' markets, the local organic shop, or directly to restaurants.
Context
The two co-founders met at the Centre for Alternative Technology (CAT), located just outside Machynlleth. This environmental charity, founded over 50 years ago by volunteers seeking to live without fossil fuels, brought them together.
In Wales, food waste collection from households is mandatory in all Welsh counties; in Powys, this responsibility falls to Powys Council. Criw Compostio operates exclusively with businesses and offers sessions for households wishing to compost themselves.
Timeline
- 2022ffin Jordao launches a composting project funded by a Shared Prosperity Fund grant, founding Criw Compostio.
- After 2022Additional funding supports research and development and enables the establishment of a composting school.
- RecentlyThe compost produced by Criw Compostio wins a prize for its quality.
The Composting School
Criw Compostio established a composting school to help other communities launch similar projects. They have supported groups in neighbouring Gwynedd and hosted participants from Birmingham.
What remains uncertain
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