Silo to close in London as zero-waste model goes global

Silo, the East London restaurant widely known as the world’s first zero-waste dining room, is set to close.

Chef and founder Douglas McMaster said the project’s next chapter would take the philosophy beyond one set of four walls.

The last sevice at Silo will be December 20.

In a statement shared online, the team said Silo had 'never been meant to be static,' describing the restaurant as “an artwork, a zero-waste blueprint” whose impact mattered as much off the plate as on it.

Silo began life in Brighton in 2014 and relocated to Hackney Wick in 2019, earning a Michelin Green Star for its closed-loop practices and a reputation for turning whole-ingredient cooking, on-site milling and fermentation into high craft. 

In response to receiving a Michelin Green Star, Douglas said, "We are the world’s first zero waste restaurant and aim to innovate the food industry whilst demonstrating respect:

"Respect for the environment, respect for the way food is generated and respect for the nourishment we give to our bodies."

Read more: 10 years of Silo – A zero-waste pioneer restaurant turns a decade

The announcement

The full post on social media read: "A painting that never dries.

"Silo is not just a restaurant. It’s an idea, an artwork, a zero-waste blueprint.

"For over 11 years, Silo has been a living system - proof that circular thinking can survive in the heart of capitalism, even if it’s like watching a fish trying to climb a tree. In a world divorced from nature, we’ve tried to rebuild that relationship - not with words, but with action.

"But exhibitions don’t last forever. Silo was never meant to be static. It was meant to provoke, to inspire change. What happened on the plate was importantly - however it’s what happened off that plate that really mattered. The ideas, systems, and communities that refuse to disappear..

"Behind the scenes, we built a company called ‘Silo Systems’. We opened Baldío in Mexico. We’re developing a new project in Bali. Through Silo Systems - designing supply chains, fermentation programs, and regenerative models across the world - we can make a serious impact. From Mexico to Bali, these are the next chapters in shaping the future of food.

"And we’re not disappearing. By closing the doors of Silo London, we open the way for a Silo World Tour — a series of collaborations and pop-ups that will bring our zero-waste philosophy to new cities and communities around the world.

"The walls may vanish, but the mycelium keeps spreading. What you saw was temporary. What you didn’t see is permanent."

From one restaurant to a system

The team said that, behind the scenes, they had built out 'Silo Systems' - a vehicle for designing supply chains, fermentation programmes and regenerative operating models for partners globally.

While the name itself was presented in Silo’s statement, its broader approach tracks with Doug's public work as a chef-founder who treats “zero waste” as a systems problem, not merely a kitchen tactic, and with Silo’s decade-long documentation of direct trade, whole-ingredient processing and in-house composting. 

What Silo proved

Over eleven years, Silo demonstrated that a high-end dining room could function with no general-waste bin; that whole-form sourcing, direct relationships with growers and on-site processing could reduce packaging and loss; and that a bread-to-miso, milk-to-buttermilk-ice-cream mindset could be a creative engine, not a constraint.

written by abi kinsella