Helping councils manage food waste

Roughly a third of the average Australian household garbage bin is food organics, by weight.

NSW EPA kerbside audits put it at 32.9%, and the 2024 NSW State of the Environment report restates it as about one third. In councils with a FOGO service, it falls to around 23%; without any organics service it sits closer to 27–38%, and outer-metro Melbourne audits have measured above 40%.

On-site composting systems are always worth considering alongside FOGO — particularly for apartment buildings, workplaces and community sites where kerbside collection is awkward and where an on-site system makes the organic waste stream solution visible to the people generating it. Then there’s the empowerment and rewards of these systems – nutrients for heathy gardens. And less trucks, noise and cost

For councils teams weighing up options, it is important to be aware of diversion rates, contamination rates, and landfill disposal costs per tonne, over multiple years — and compare these numbers to the price of an onsite system.

Councils know that waste represents money. The cost of transporting and processing waste could be spent on more productive things. Wormlovers work with councils to dramatically reduce those costs.

We provide services from supplying worm farming products direct to residents, right through to installing and high volume worm farm systems at council managed premises and beyond.

Wormlovers can provide;

• Delivery of products direct to your residents

• A complete solution for residents to order council subsidised products with a dedicated web portal and ordering system. (See the system we set up for City of Greater Geelong as an example)

• Wholesale products to council - eg multiple systems, accessories, signage, caddies and tools for your council staff managed initiatives

• Online training and face to face workshops for residents and staff

• Design, install and service of organic waste processing systems

• Post-initiative surveys to assess waste processed and KPI’s

• A carbon offset mechanism, in conjunction with our friends at treecreds.com

Organic waste can be processed on-site at council depots and municipal buildings. Wormlovers will audit your needs to assess the waste stream in your organisation. We can then install a scalable Hungry Bin worm farm system.

We also have a callout service to assess and restore on site composting and worm farm systems to healthy and productivity, or run workshops and training for staff and stakeholders. Email us for more information

Download our Councils Services brochure for more details. Visit our comprehensive educational offer for childcare centres and schools in your municipality.

Don’t hesitate to contact us to discuss the needs of your LGA.