When a coffee puck goes in the bin, that’s often the last someone thinks about it. From origin to roaster, grinder to portafilter, discarding the coffee puck often means the beans have completed their journey.
But it shouldn’t.
Sydney roaster Single O is extending its ‘Giving a Puck’ program in collaboration with Reground into Sydney to help the social enterprise in its bid to better dispose of spent coffee pucks.
While coffee grounds are organic matter, the Giving a Puck collaboration aims to keep them out of commercial landfill, where the high heat makes them release methane into the atmosphere.
Methane is the second-most significant greenhouse gas produced from human activities, behind only carbon dioxide, with livestock and landfills two of the most common contributors to its release.
While it stays in the atmosphere for less time than carbon dioxide, it is far more potent at trapping heat over a shorter period. The two billion pucks, roughly 75,000 kilograms of coffee, that end up there every year don’t help.
Single O realised improper disposal of coffee pucks was an almost silent yet industry-wide issue when auditing its own carbon emissions, and it was one of the largest contributors to it in the entire coffee life cycle.
“When we started doing carbon reporting, we had a shocking ‘aha’ moment where we found that 30 per cent of our emissions came through spent grounds. We were shocked. We had always viewed it as a high-value material, a resource, we should use,” says Single O CEO Mike Brabant.
“But when we saw that statistics it was like a 000-phone call, so we started working with Reground in 2023 in Melbourne. Since then, our customers in Sydney have been asking for it to be brought here, so it’s something the market wanted.
“Coffee roasters do a massive job of sourcing the right coffee, paying the right price, and ensuring operations are sustainable. We don’t think that should stop at the shot.”
Some of the city’s most notable cafés are on board with Single O’s strong belief that the responsible disposal of coffee should be a central part of the craft of coffee making, and that quality doesn’t stop at the shot.
These cafés will take part in a pilot before the program throws its doors open to the rest of Sydney in 2026.
“Three Blue Ducks, Bills, Happy Fields, Soulmate Coffee, and Superfreak are all among those who have signed on, so we’ve got some established heavy hitters of the Sydney café scene taking part in our pilot program, and then from 1 April 2026 it’s open to any café to join,” says Mike.
“This is an equal partnership with Reground, because it started with its Founder and Director, Ninna. It’s a partnership that started in 2023 and the two brands just fell in love with each other.”
In the first five years, Single O and Reground expect to divert an estimated three million kilograms of coffee from landfill, which would prevent hundreds of thousands of kilograms of carbon emissions.
Instead, the coffee grounds will be used as a key part of the agricultural cycle in and around Sydney.
“The very interesting thing about coffee grounds is they are very high in nitrogen,” says Mike. “Farmers ask us for coffee grounds all the time because there needs to be nitrogen in the soil for things to grow.
“Ultimately, these grounds are going back into community gardens to grow produce, and some of it is even being made into sustainable building materials.
“It’s such a beautiful resource that is ending up in landfill, so instead we’re separating it from the other organic waste to get it out of landfill and making sure they’re put to good use.”
While the Giving a Puck program’s expansion into Sydney is a marketer’s dream – with a snappy name, a brilliant cause, and an established partnership – it’s no flash in the pan campaign for Single O.
Since being founded in 2003, the roaster has often found itself as one of Australian coffee’s leading sustainability advocates.
Collaborating on and expanding programs like this, Mike says, is a natural step forward for the business.
“It’s baked into who we are,” he says. “Our ultimate belief is coffee is an agricultural product and there’s an impact of growing it on the world.
“If we’re going to operate in this industry, we need to give more than we take. That’s why we’re incredibly focused on things like this.
“It’s not helping us meet a sustainability target, and it’s not an environmental officer. It sits at board level, at the highest part of our business. We believe that these things make our industry and our business better, and that’s why we do them.”
Reground’s pilot program in Sydney kicks off in late October, and Single O is hosting industry events and consumer-facing giveaways to help grow recognition of Giving a Puck.
As part of the launch, Single O Surry Hills is hosting a ‘Giving a Puck – Free Coffee Day’ on Wednesday October 29, where consumers who bring a reusable cup will be given a free coffee along with a ‘Giving a Puck’ reusable cup filled with coffee compost enriched soil and a planted coffee tree seed to grow at home.
Brabant says once April 2026 rolls around, it will be simple for cafés looking to work with Reground to get involved with the program.
“This program is simple, accessible, and impactful for cafés,” says Mike. “It’s really easy to get on board – and it might even save you some money on your normal bins.
“Reground come and audit your café and then come and pick up the coffee on a weekly or fortnightly basis, based on volume.”
For more information, visit reground.com.au or singleo.com.au
