RotterZwam is an initiative based in Rotterdam, Netherlands. They collect coffee waste locally and grown oyster mushrooms on it. The mushrooms are then sold to local restaurants etc. The mushrooms are a delicatesse and can be used in pasta, soup and bitterballen.
The organization was founded three years ago by Mark & Siemen, also known as urban farmers. Mark had 6 years experience in green business but saw that this was not enough and wanted to change things radically.
Coffee is after oil the most traded commodity in the world and RotterZwam’s aim is to go from waste-reduction to food-production. Every week they collect 1000 to 1500 kilo of coffee waste, this is not even 1% of the total amount of the city’s waste. It takes about three weeks to grow mushrooms and from every bag they can harvest mushrooms three times.
RotterZwam is based in Tropicana. This used to be an iconic swimming pool and had been abandoned for a few years. Mark and some other guys decided it was time to give the swimming pool a new purpose and founded BlueCity. Now the location is home to various sustainable companies.
In this interview Mark Slegers tells about the organization, their goals and the why. Melissa van der Beek explains how the process works.
I left my host Iris in Rotterdam and drove to RotterZwam. RotterZwam collects coffee loom locally in Rotterdam. The loom they put in sacks and add mushroom seeds to it. In a process of a few days Oyster mushrooms start to grow. These mushrooms have a meat-like structure and are sold to restaurants. In co-operation with a local bakery they even make bitterballen from it, which is a Dutch delicatesse. Founder Mark Slegers started this company after he worked for around 6 years in the green business. He saw what he was doing wasn’t enough and things have to change radically to make improvements towards a greener society. RotterZwam was founded 3 years ago. The location is as inspirational as the company itself, it houses at the Tropicana, a former swimming pool. This location had been abandoned for a few years and Mark together with some other people thought it was time for a new destination. The founded Blue City where numerus sustainable and social companies have their office.
My pluggers this day where Theo and Iet in Mierlo, a tiny village in Brabant. From Rotterdam it was a 140km drive. My navigation system is set to ‘shortest route’ to avoid highways. Driving highways with an electric car effects the range negatively. Taken shorter routes means more time and it took me around 3 hours to get to Mierlo. Sometimes the navigation system sends you through tiny villages and forests. It happened that the system send me through a way which was closed off. I had to make a turnaround, it was no big deal but it could have happened that the destination was not within reach anymore. Which isn’t a bug problem in Holland with public chargers everywhere but in other countries this can be a problem.
Theo en Iet where very nice people. They are friends of the wife of my father and I had met them once before. They live in a big house with an even bigger garden. The roof is filled with solar panels. We had some talks about their dreams. Theo is retired and Iet is retiring in a few weeks. Then they want to travel the world. In December they are going to Australia. In a four wheel drive they are going to explore the Outback. Very inspirational! Iet showed off with her excellent cooking skills and I had my own private bathroom and toilet. It’s really great how the locations I stay are completely different from day to day.
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