The Spitalfields Estate is supporting a London-based start-up company Local Origin in their ambition to stop wasting food waste and turning it into nutrient rich compost. By implementing an on-estate composting in the East London destination, the estate has now saved over 700kg of harmful greenhouse gas emissions (CO2e) being emitted to the atmosphere, equivalent to three return flights from London to Paris (per one passenger). Bringing together the restaurants and other hospitality vendors in the area who have donated their food waste to the initiative, the project is a powerful example of the community spirit in Spitalfields.

Local Origin is a community composting and urban farming company. The company was founded in 2022 by school friends William Crossley and Daniel Saxton due to their mutual interest in circular economy and finding a solution for the ever-growing food waste problem. Local Origin has a three-step ladder for this: collect and process food waste into compost; use the compost and wormery to grow fruit, vegetables and herbs; and eventually sell the crops back into the Spitalfields community.

They set up their compost and wormery in Spitalfields in the summer of 2023, and have since produced over 287kg of compost from 573kg of food, 230kg of cardboard and 56kg of garden waste, provided by the restaurants and food vendors in Spitalfields. While the process has saved over 700kg CO2e being emitted to the atmosphere (the compost has emitted approximately 7.7kg of CO2e), the company is now focusing on improving the compost’s fungal biomass quantity with the aim to start growing mushrooms and other vegetables in the soil soon.

Jason Dervin, Estate Director of The Spitalfields Estate, said: “It’s been a pleasure to have Local Origin pioneer their composting practices here at Spitalfields. Championing emerging talent and nurturing both our community and our planet are in our ethos, and Local Origin fits in perfectly. We are delighted with the success William and Daniel have had and look forward to following their journey as it carries on.”

William Crossley, Co-Founder of Local Origin, commented: “We have really enjoyed working on this fantastic opportunity with Spitalfields to reduce food waste to landfill and make healthy living soil through our composting process. We’re excited for the next stage in embedding our circular model into the existing structure at Spitalfields by beginning our food growing experiments.”

The initiative is part of Spitalfields’ ‘Zero to Landfill’ approach across the estate. In 2023, Spitalfields gave away 1,000 free reusable lunch boxes to the workers in the area, which offer 10% off of their meals from participating food vendors. Many of the operators are also part of the Too Good To Go food app to ensure minimal food waste.

Elsewhere on the estate, Spitalfields has focused on making the area as eco-conscious as possible. The Estate operates on 100% renewable energy, and last year, they switched to using HVO Fuel (hydrotreated vegetable oil) in all their cleaning operations, decreasing the process’ carbon footprint by as much as 90%. HVO Fuel can be used as a direct replacement for both red and white diesel, offering superior operational and environmental performance over fossil diesel with vast environmental benefits that support existing logistical infrastructure. All the lighting was also replaced with low energy LED light bulbs in 2018, and the Estate has been ISO 14001 accredited since 2010.