Zouk goes Green

Restaurateur Peter Bashir aims to turn Zouk Tea Bar and Grill into the first ever "Green Restaurant" in Bradford within the next year saving the company thousands.

Since opening in late 2006, Zouk's popularity has grown rapidly due to it's Asian food with a healthy twist and stylish decor and with that, the amount of waste produced.

Amazed at how much waste was being sent needlessly to landfill, Mr Bashir decided to take action.

Already the restaurant has implemented recycling methods that deal with collecting glass, tin cans, cardboard. And left-over cooking oil is being reused to make bio fuel.

There are also ambitious plans to install solar panels on the roof to create hot water for the restaurant.

All staff are trained to make use of several recycling bins, with the chefs separating rubbish before throwing it out.

Mr Bashir has also started sourcing meat and vegetables from local farmers and is actively looking for farmers to take left-over food waste, either as compost or as food for farm animals.

As well as helping the planet, the initiatives are already saving Zouk on overheads.