Closure of SILO in Hackney, takes zero-waste to new grounds
The world’s first zero-waste restaurant, Silo – also dubbed Britain’s most ethical and most innovative dining spot – has announced its closure this December. But rather than a sign of hard times, the ambitious restaurant is off to push boundaries even further.
Silo mastermind, chef and author of The Zero Waste Blueprint, Doug McMaster, began his journey setting up the restaurant in Brighton, driven by a desire to fix a food system that’s a “disaster”, before heading to the capital in 2019.
Now, he’s taking his mindful creations to new heights, with the launch of company Silo Systems – which, rather than being limited to one site, will see him bring his zero-waste blueprint to more cities and countries across the world.
Rather than working in silo, McMaster dreams of a waste-free restaurant industry as a whole
In a world McMaster describes as “divorced from nature”, Silo went against the modern-day environment it lives within in almost every way. While having no bin might sound simple, given there was no industry peer doing it this way, the beginnings were no mean feat. “It’s like a fish trying to climb a tree,” McMaster reveals as he reflects on setting up his zero-waste restaurant in its closing announcement.
While most restaurants are adding to the 460 Olympic-sized swimming pools worth of food waste (over 1 billion tonnes) produced by the UK hospitality sector each year – in turn leading to air pollution, rising greenhouse gas emissions and the depletion of natural resources – Silo transforms each and every part of its produce and material into something delicious or useful. That might mean turning unused bread and butter into buttermilk pudding or vegetable scraps into a rich umami glaze, or creating wall lights from crushed wine bottles and plates from plastic bags.
Zero-waste also means rethinking how to source, deliver and create produce on site. Whether that’s working directly with regenerative farmers and renewable shippers or fermenting surplus ingredients into preservable produce like miso or sauerkraut – there was nothing that Silo didn’t need to rethink and redesign to meet its own uncompromising standards. Given that Silo succeeded in its mission and became immensely popular, nabbing a Michelin Green Star in 2021, it might seem as if that fish swam up the tree with little in its way. But looking back to the early days, the only way McMaster can capture the journey is as if he were navigating through “thick fog”, with knockback after knockback.
Despite the early challenges, he concludes it’s actually “very easy to not have a bin,” reminding us that just 200 years ago, every restaurant was naturally zero-waste. While it might take some going against the grain today, often it’s a return to simplicity that’s required – freshly milling wheat for flour, using milk to make butter, and composting any inevitable scraps. McMaster believes it’s a simple and realistic model that any restaurant can implement, and isn’t holding back in showing them.
As things are going well in London – and aware that true innovation comes from disruption – it’s time to rock the boat and think even bigger. Silo Systems is already supporting restaurants like Baldio in Mexico City – the city’s first to be awarded a Michelin Green Star and Latin America’s first zero-waste restaurant – helping them to work with, not against, nature.
He wasn’t always this way inclined though. In a video on his site, McMaster details his journey at school, where severe dyslexia led to him being repeatedly labelled a failure. Through that loss of confidence, he left school early to work in kitchens. The lack of belief others had in him became the fuel that drives him still – to change the world by proving that better systems are possible. His desire for greater horizons, just as his work reaches its peak, is a testament to how powerful that inner fire remains.
As he writes his second book, There Is No Bin in the Jungle, it’s clear this is only the beginning of McMaster’s journey. Rather than working in silo, his next chapter could spark a wider movement that spans continents and cultures. After all, saving the planet looms much larger than one restaurant – even one as revolutionary as Silo.