Coles Source Separated Food Organics

Coles Source Separated Food Organics is a source separated organic waste project located nationwide across various Coles Supermarket sites in Australia. It was registered in May 2019 and operates as an aggregated project without a single defined geographic project area. Because the project is implemented across retail locations rather than a specific rural property, the surrounding land use spans highly diverse commercial, urban, suburban, and regional landscapes.

Source Separated Organic Waste projects involve separating eligible organic materials, such as food waste, from the general waste stream at the point of generation. The primary requirement of this methodology is to divert this organic waste from landfills to prevent the release of methane that naturally occurs during anaerobic decomposition. Standard requirements dictate that the waste must be processed using eligible treatment technologies, like open windrow composting, enclosed composting, or anaerobic digestion, or otherwise diverted to registered charities.

Given the national scale of this aggregated initiative, the environmental conditions surrounding the participating sites vary extensively. The project encompasses a broad spectrum of Australia's climate zones, ranging from high rainfall coastal fringes to semi-arid inland towns, and the supermarket sites are situated over all major soil types found across the continent.

A significant and unique element of this project is its charity waste diversion activity. Edible food that would otherwise be discarded is separated at the source and redistributed to registered charities for a charitable purpose. This approach not only generates carbon credits through aggregated and new waste diversion activities but also provides valuable community relief via established food rescue partnerships.