Food scraps recycling trial

We’re running an important pilot with residential properties.

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About the trial

We’re running an important trial involving the separate collection and recycling of food scraps from residential properties.

Phase 1 of the trial started in July 2019, and from September 2020 we began expanding the project into phase 2. Currently the trial involves more than 1,000 houses and 140 apartment buildings across the city, comprising more than 12,000 households.

We’re working on bringing apartments into the trial, up to a total of 250 buildings. If your building was waitlisted in phase 1, your strata or building manager should have recently received an email invitation for your building to join phase 2.

Households participating in the trial are provided with a small kitchen caddy, a supply of compostable caddy liner bags, and a food scraps bin – everything you need to make it easy to recycle your food scraps.

Why we’re running the trial

Food waste typically makes up one third of our residents’ red lid rubbish bins. By collecting and recycling food scraps separately, we can reduce waste to landfill. We can then convert the food scraps into green electricity and fertiliser for use on gardens and farms. This will help reduce greenhouse gas emissions and nourish our environment.

The results of this trial will shape future food scraps recycling services across our local area.

The food scraps recycling trial is an initiative of our Leave nothing to waste – waste strategy and action plan 2017–2030 and is one of the actions we’re taking to help achieve our zero waste target by 2030.

What happens to your scraps

Once collected, we’ll transport your food scraps to EarthPower, Australia’s first food waste-to-energy processing facility in Camellia, Sydney.

The EarthPower facility uses anaerobic digestion technology to convert food scraps to green electricity and a nutrient-rich fertiliser.

As an accredited GreenPower supplier, EarthPower sells the green electricity to the grid for distribution to domestic, commercial and industrial clients.

The fertiliser is produced from a nutrient rich sludge, which is a by-product of the anaerobic digestion process. The sludge is dried and granulated into fertiliser prills that are sold into the agriculture and horticultural markets.

Temporary change to food scraps processing

We normally send your food scraps to the EarthPower anaerobic digestion facility for conversion to green energy and fertiliser.

The EarthPower facility is temporarily closed for maintenance and improvement works. While it’s closed, our food scraps are going to a facility that uses open windrow composting and vermicomposting (worms) to turn your scraps into composts, mulch and soil conditioners.

We’ll let you know when EarthPower reopens, but in the meantime, you can be assured your food scraps are still being recycled.

EarthPower workflow for recycling food scrapsPDF · 64.7 KB · Last modified 11 March 2021

Not in the trial? Other options for food scraps recycling

If your house or building isn’t participating in the trial, you can still recycle your food scraps and play your part in reducing food sent to landfill.

Think about composting food scraps or setting up a worm farm. Check out our tips for composting. Bokashi bins are also a great alternative for those living in apartments.

Alternatively you could get involved in community-run food scrap recycling initiatives like ShareWaste or Positive Waste.

- If you have a backyard, lay twigs or straw first, a few inches deep, to help drain and aerate the pile.
- Add moist and dry ingredients alternately. Moist ingredients include food scraps, tea bags and seaweed. Dry materials would be straw and leaves.
- Add manure to activate the compost pile and help speed the process along.
- Keep it moist by watering occasionally.
- Cover with anything you have such as plastic sheeting or carpet scraps. This helps retain moisture and heat which are essential for compost.
- Turn the compost every few weeks.
- Alternatively, you can buy a composter. Consider a rotating compost tumbler, which makes it easy to mix the compost regularly.
- Worm farms are great if you have a smaller backyard, terrace or balcony.
- Buy a worm farm and place it in a semi-shaded spot. Make sure your worm farm has shade during summer.
- Worms can eat all your fruit and veggie scraps except for citrus, onion and chilli.
- The worm tea and castings produced by the worm farm are great fertilisers for your plants.
- Learn more about setting up and looking after a worm farm.
- Bokashi bins can be kept inside, ideally in your kitchen ready to collect your food scraps. Or keep them outside on a balcony or by the back door.
- The bins use an enzyme spray to breakdown the food scraps into a liquid and solid fertiliser. This fertiliser is great for your plants.
- Bokashi bins can accept all kinds of food scraps including small amounts of meat and dairy.
- Learn more about setting up and looking after a bokashi bin.
- Your community project could be a compost bin in a community garden, a shared worm farm in an apartment block or school, or perhaps a compost system used by a group of local businesses.
- Whatever composting system you choose, our guidelines will help make your project a success.

Avoiding food waste in the first place

You can avoid or reduce food waste by planning your meals, shopping wisely, being creative with leftovers, and storing food correctly. In partnership with the NSW Government, we've launched Love Food Sydney. This is a free online program with tools and tips on how to cut down your food waste, save money and reduce your impact on the environment.

This project was supported by the Environmental Trust as part of the NSW EPA’s Waste Less, Recycle More initiative funded from the waste levy.