Mount Hotham Alpine Resort Management Board will be providing compostable takeaway cups to every winter operator selling coffee next season in a first for Australian ski resorts.
This will ensure a significant drop in the amount of waste heading to landfill from the resort.
Every ski season, Mount Hotham uses over 10 000 takeaway coffee cups. That’s almost 1.5 tonnes of waste straight to the bin then to landfill at Cobungra.
“As one of the top eco-friendly destinations in Australia this strengthens Mount Hotham’s position as the most environmentally responsible alpine resort,” says Jon Hutchins, CEO, Mount Hotham Alpine Resort Management Board.
“Use of the compostable cups will be mandatory across the resort, but I’m pleased to say that all our operators wholeheartedly support this initiative, which demonstrates the passion everyone has for our beautiful environment.
From 2002 to 2010 an active recycling program saw a doubling of compacted recyclables collected thanks to improved processes and support from residents and visitors to Hotham, and from 2010 to 2017 the amount of waste leaving the resort annually for landfill was reduced by 112.5 tonnes.
The resort has also encouraged people to use reusable cups, with some hospitality venues selling them and Mount Hotham Alpine Resort Management Board providing reusable cups for its own staff.
A total of 100,000 compostable coffee cups with two unique Hotham designs will be purchased from BioPak ahead of the 2020 snow season.
Collection bins for used compostable cups will also be placed throughout the resort to ensure all coffee cups are disposed of correctly. This will ensure they can be sent with other organics to the resort’s own waste and compost facility at Cobungra.
“Some of our operators have had biodegradable cups for several years now but there is real confusion among the general public about which cups are compostable or recyclable,” says Nick Malkin, Senior Manager Resort Operations.
“We are introducing compostable coffee cups because it will take away that confusion and by communicating that all cups are compostable it will make it far simpler to collect and compost.
