Some things we have done
We have demonstrated our commitment to sustainability when we built the Australian Hotel and Brewery, donating all our spent grain to a local farmer for his cows as well as investing heavily in solar, where 277 solar panels were installed to generate all the energy needed to fuel the brewing process.
In 2012 we became the first craft brewer in Australia to package our beer exclusively in cans. As an empty bottle weighs roughly 210g, while an empty can weighs 16g, this dramatically minimised the carbon footprint of each litre of beer distributed. This was a brave and difficult decision at the time but we have since seen the rest of the market follow suit.
We have also installed waterless urinals, saving tens of thousands of litres of freshwater from going down the drain each year.
Some things we are doing now
In our kitchens, we recycle all our cooking oil and we have partnered with OzHarvest, to minimise our food waste and redistribute food to feed disadvantaged people in our communities every single week.
In our bars & bistros we recycle our bottles and cans through the NSW Return & Earn scheme and also recycle approximately 1000 cubic meters of cardboard each year.
Some things we are committed to doing
Our current sustainability initiatives include eliminating all single-use plastic straws from our venues, saving an estimated 1.5 million plastic straws and replacing these with biodegradable paper straws which will be available by request only. We have already commenced this initiative at our new venue The Governor – Read the article here from The Northern District Times
We have also committed to removing all plastic bottled water from our venues by 31st December 2018, an initiative which will reduce our plastic usage by approximately 45,000 bottles each year and come at a cost to us of $120,000 in forgone profit. Instead, still water will be freely available to our customers via water taps at all venues.
As we continue to look forward, we are planning to undertake many other sustainability initiatives including; removing plastic take-away containers from all our venues and replacing with environmental friendly disposable options. We also are actively pursuing ways to compost our fruit and vegetable waste.
The Momento Hospitality Group continues to grow, creating social spaces for the community and providing hundreds of local jobs. We will remain conscious of the impact we have on the environment and make continuous steps to minimise it and continue to help shift towards a green economy.