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Worms are at work processing food scraps otherwise headed for landfill into fluffy vermicast, ready to go back in the soil, at the Whangaparāoa Recycling Centre.
And residents are now invited to bring their fruit and vegetable scraps into the centre to put in the worm farm.
Food scraps currently make up nearly half the weight of most household rubbish, so processing them in an environmentally friendly way means they become a resource and don’t add to emissions.
Hibiscus Coast Zero Waste coordinator Sarah Williams says students from Whangaparāoa College helped the Zero Waste team turn old wheelie bins into worm beds.
The worm bins are part of Sharewaste – a Compost Collective/Auckland Council initiative which puts people with food scraps in touch with people who can use the scraps.
The public can use Sharewaste online, or come into the recycling centre on Whangaparāoa Road with their fruit and vegetable scraps to put in the bins, free of charge.
Info: www.sharewaste.org.nz/
Food scraps targeted: Reducing the huge amount of food scraps that are currently binned and head to landfill, is also an aim of Auckland Council’s waste solutions team. Its home food scrap collection service is expected to be rolled out on the Coast towards the end of next year. The service will provide households with a 23-litre food scraps bin, and a 6-litre kitchen caddy with compostable liners. The scraps will be turned into compost through an anaerobic digester. All households will pay for this service through a targeted rate – initially it will cost around $71 per year, but this is expected to reduce over time.The food scraps service will not replace home composting and Council will continue to support the prevention of food waste through grants and community projects including Love Food Hate Waste and the Compost Collective programme, which encourage composting. Info: aucklandcouncil.govt.nz/foodscraps
