Heledd WynNatalie GriceBBC Wales4 hours agoWhen you put food leftovers outside the house for collection, what do you think you are doing? Getting rid of waste or giving away a valuable resource that could be used right on your doorstep?For the founders of an award-winning community compost business, it’s a no-brainer that the second answer is the correct one.Steph Robinson and ffin Jordao of Criw Compostio collect food waste from cafes and businesses who pay them and convert it into peat-free compost, which is then used by the community.”Local growers then take that compost, grow food that goes back to the cafes, cafes serve it, waste comes back to us and we turn it back into compost,” said Steph.Once ready, it is available on a “pay what you feel, pay what you can afford” basis and all stays within the community.HeleddWynSteph and ffin met at the Centre for Alternative Technology (CAT) just outside Machynlleth, Powys.It was established more than 50 years ago by volunteers who wanted to find ways to live without relying on fossil fuels and grew into a leading environmental charity.Biologist ffin, 43, originally from Portugal, moved to Wales to work in CAT’s biology department while Steph, 49, moved from England to run the centre’s short courses programme.Her background was in diversity and inclusion but also systems analysis, project management and “all kinds of business skills really”.CAT attracted ffin because it “struck me as a place where you could do very hands-on biology and work on off-grid systems, and also have an education component and a visitor centre”.Criw Compostio grew out of a project ffin initially set up with a grant from the Shared Prosperity Fund in 2022.Further funding has allowed them to focus on research and development and set up a composting school to help other projects in other communities get going.Heledd WynCriw Compostio picks up waste, as well as wood shavings from a carpentry business and used rabbit and guinea pig bedding from pet owners, twice a week.It is then taken to a processing site in Machynlleth “so we’re travelling a very short distance” where they have specialised composters.”They’re like hot, rat-proof hyper composters that turn it into something that’s very unattractive to pests and such very quickly,” said Steph.It take about a year to turn it into compost, which Steph said had just won an award for its quality.”Local growers then take that compost, grow food that goes back to the cafes, cafes serve it, waste comes back to us and we turn it back into compost.”The frame that we work within means it has to stay local, so we don’t sell it on eBay or Amazon or whatever. It stays within that resources loop.”As in every other Welsh county, food waste collections from households, rather than businesses, are mandatory and carried out by Powys council.However, Criw Compostio run sessions for households who want to improve the composting they do at home or to improve composting at allotments.The majority of their compost users are people growing food to sell “in the Machynlleth markets, to sell in the local whole food shop, to sell directly to local restaurants”.Steph said the cost of living crisis had raised interest for individuals looking to grow their own food and allotments were “hot property here”.ffin said it was “interesting how much produ …
