With over 15 years of experience composting with worms, Wormlovers have found the Hungry Bin to be the most efficient and easiest to use worm farm on the market for commercial waste streams. Hungry bins can be set up in multiple units to manage any scale waste stream, and unlike most other waste technologies, worm farms are easy and safe to use, cost effective, do not smell, use no power and little water, and are silent. As such they are at the top end of sustainable waste management.
Multibin systems are ideal for processing food waste in all commercial settings including institutions, factories, offices, schools, council buildings, hospitality and all facilities – in fact anywhere where there is eating!
Here are some examples of some onsite commercial worm farm systems we have installed:
- City of Port Phillip town hall worm farms
- City of Banyule worm farm 12 bin system – 300 staff in the building
- City of Melbourne Council House 1
- Surf Coast Council Jan Jus compost hub
- William Angliss Institute Institute 5 bin system, which will process over 2 tonnes of food waste per annum
- Box Hill TAFE 6 bin system
- Trinity College Colac 10 bin system
- Higher ground café
- Tinker Northcote café
- STREAT Cromwell café
- Melbourne Farmers Markets
As an example of a commercial system for a larger waste stream, Wormlovers set up what we believe is the largest inner city worm farm in Australia, consisting of 20 bins with approx 250,000 worms, for Higher Ground Cafe. This system will process approximately 10 tonnes per annum of food-waste – Click here to see the City of Melbourne video of this impressive project.
The Hungry Bin is relatively easy to set up and all you need is 3-4 bags of compost or potting mix as bedding to get started. As well as the worms, we can also supply some great accessories to help you manage the bins efficiently, such as cultivator, thermometer, worm farm conditioner, worm blankets, worm juice tank and signage for your project.
One Hungry Bin will process 1-2 kg of waste per day, that’s around ½ a tonne per year. Here are some estimates to assist in choosing how many bins you need for your particular waste stream:
One bin will process:
- lunch waste from 25 people in an office setting,
- an average classroom in a school,
- 1-3 apartments.
If your site is in Victoria or Sydney, Wormlovers also have a complete installation service – which includes the complete package of worm bins, steel racks, 4000 worms per bin, bedding, signage and training to operate the bins. Wormlovers also ship bins anywhere in Australia, with worms and accessories, which can be set up easily by the user.
It is amazing how much food these hardworking little guys will munch through once the worm farm is up and running. In addition to food waste, you can also process a lot of other organic waste such as shredded paper, cardboard, paper towels, coffee grounds, vacuum cleaner dust and so on.
Here at Wormlovers we think it is important to recognise the value of worm farms not so much as a waste management system but as a form of nutrient cycling. Worm farms transform food waste into wonderful nutrients for gardens, increasing yields, improving soil and plant health, and producing more food.
Worm farms are also a great way to engage staff, residents and customers, and help connect humans to the deep natural process of nutrient cycling and nature.
As such they are an important part of the emerging circular economy and have benefits far beyond waste minimisation.
