Notcutts has teamed up with Greencup Coffee in an exclusive deal to provide the garden centre chain's customers with a unique, recycled coffee garden fertiliser that uses beans from coffee sold at its Notcutts centres.
The new coffee fertiliser will be sold nationwide exclusively at 19 Notcutts garden centres from April, at £9.99 for a five-litre tub. The unusual fertiliser not only benefits plants in the garden, but is also designed to reduce the 27,680 tonnes of coffee waste (the weight of nearly 4,000 double decker buses) that currently goes straight to landfill every month in the UK.

The 100% organic coffee pellets are made with the used coffee beans produced at Notcutts Garden Centres, sheep's wool and nutrients, including nitrogen, potassium and magnesium. According to Notcutts, the fertiliser encourages strong root development, repels slugs, retains water and encourages insect and microbial activity.

The Environmental impact is also significant, as every tonne of coffee that avoids landfill and is turned into compost instead, reduces the amount of carbon released into the atmosphere from 365kg to just 30kg of CO2.

Electric Greencup vans will collect the used coffee beans from Notcutts centres, returning them as a fertiliser. The recycling process is chemical-free and 100% natural explained the company and means that each cup of Greencup coffee has a carbon footprint a third less than other coffee.

Notcutts CEO Andy King said: "Greencup has developed a wonderful solution whereby we can use something that would normally go to waste, to improve our gardens. The fact that we are able to implement a process that takes us from selling great tasting coffee to our customers to providing them with a fertilizer for their gardens is an exceptional opportunity for Notcutts to become a greener company and champion innovative ways to reduce our carbon footprint."

In addition to stocking the fertiliser, Notcutts will sell Green Cup organic fair-trade coffee in 18 of its restaurants, while four of its centres, in Norwich, Wheatcroft, Woodford Park and Dukeries, will feature new environmentally-friendly Greencup coffee carts made from recycled coffee and wood.