Illy teams with Ritz on green coffee

Wine & Glass Ltd. the distributor of Illy Coffee in the Cayman Islands, has teamed with The Ritz-Carlton, Grand Cayman to recycle used coffee grounds for use as fertiliser.  

Only one of the Ritz restaurants, 7, is participating in the pilot programme, said Peter Tischmann, The Ritz-Carlton’s executive assistant manager – food and beverage. 

“We wanted to test it at 7 first and then look at the possibility of doing it hotel wide,” he said. 

Because 7 is the primary breakfast restaurant at the hotel and is also open for lunch before becoming 7 Prime Cuts & Sunsets for dinner, it was the best restaurant to test the programme. 

“We serve 500 people on a busy day and there are a lot of coffee drinkers,” Mr. Tischmann said. 

The programme is easy for the Ritz kitchen staff; instead of throwing the used grounds in with other trash, they put them – filters and all – into a specially reserved trash bin.  

Two or three times a week, a Wine & Glass representative comes to pick up the used grounds. 

Martin Richter of Wine & Glass said the filters are left in with the grounds. 

“There’s no acid in the paper and they are biodegradable,” he said. 

Right now, Mr. Richter uses the coffee grounds collected as fertiliser on his own gardens. Should the test phase go well and other restaurants participate, Mr. Richter said he’d approach farmers to see if they would want the used coffee grounds. 

Coffee grounds contain phosphorus and potassium, as well as amounts of nitrogen, minerals and vitamins, all useful elements in fertilisers.  

They are particularly good for plants that like acidity, like tomatoes, avocados and some other fruit trees. Coffee grounds also help keep certain harmful pests away from plants.  

In addition, unlike some other synthetic fertilisers, coffee grounds do not negatively impact other aspects of the ecosystem. 

“This island produces 30 to 40 tons of used coffee grounds every year and right now, it’s just going into the garbage,” said Mr. Richter, adding he hopes his initiative takes hold on the Islands. 

Mr. Tischmann said The Ritz-Carlton takes a very active role in environmental initiatives. 

“We were really excited to participate in this effort,” he said. “It makes sense and it’s part of what we do to give back to the Islands.”