composting

Residents and businesses on Waiheke send almost half of their landfill waste to disposal, even though they could compost it. Find out how we can help reduce landfill for our island and planet.

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Why compost?

Food and garden waste in landfill doesn’t compost. When it reaches the landfill, microbes digest it without oxygen and combine it with other waste, forming a toxic leachate that can contaminate our waterways. It also generates methane; a greenhouse gas that contributes to climate change.

We can avoid all this by composting at home or work, and using this fantastic nutrient-rich material to replenish our local soils and grow beautiful produce.

Composting is cheap. Apart from the initial investment in a composting bin, there are virtually no additional costs to composting.
Compost is a great way of adding nutrients to your soil. It can help produce higher yields of fruit, vegetables, and flowers. It can loosen clay soils, help sandy soils retain water, and it can suppress plant diseases and pests. It is capable of all this without containing petroleum-based compounds that most commercial fertilisers do.
Making your own compost means you are saving money by not purchasing it from the store.
Balanced compost does not produce strong smells. Only composting that is done incorrectly produces a nasty smell. Simply make sure to add enough carbon-rich material to your compost and aerate (turn) your pile if things get slimy.
Composting puts biomass back into the soil rather than taking it away. Soils are vital in carbon sequestration and water retention, with approximately 20% of global carbon being stored in soil.
Composting reduces the methane gas emissions from compostables in landfill. Methane is 23 times more damaging in the atmosphere than carbon dioxide, so reducing food scraps in landfill can help reduce the greenhouse effect and climate change.

Composting at home

We can help you get up and running with a composting system to suit your household. Whether you are a keen gardener or not, there is a system for everyone. We also run composting workshops to support you on your composting journey. View our events calendar to find the next workshop.

Bokashi like a pro

Rosie from the Compost Collective talks about the Bokashi system and how to put it to work.

This is a method of intensive composting that is particularly well suited for an urban environment due to its fully contained nature, its compact size, and the wide range of food types that can be put into the system.

The food is placed in a sealed self draining bucket system and is then inoculated with Bokashi Effective Micro-organisms (EM), kicking off a fermentation process that pickles the food waste. The application of EM reduces the amount of odour that often occurs when food decomposes.

Once the container is full, the fermented food waste is placed into the ground where it breaks down and becomes compost within weeks. The liquid that collects in the bottom bucket should be tipped down your toilet each week to increase the health of your septic tank and reduce plumbing odours.

Become a worm farmer

Therese Mangos from the Compost Collective introduces us to the art of worm-farming.

A worm farm is a self-contained unit (in several different sizes) in which worms eat biodegradable waste. The process uses most types (70%) of food waste mixed with waste paper and cardboard (30%), and produces a soil end product (worm-castings) as well as worm-juice (worm tea); both extremely nutrient rich and excellent for use in gardens. Worm farms can use two types of worms, generally either the tiger worm or the red worm.

250g of worms will go through around 200g of food; about a cup of food a day. The worms can eat their own body weight each day and as the population grows you will be able to feed them more.

Worms like to eat most fruit and vegetable scraps, but don’t particularly like aromatics like citrus, chili, garlic or onions. They like coffee grounds, tea bags, used paper, egg shells as well as hair and vacuum cleaner!

Be careful how much processed foods, flour based foods such as bread, and cooked foods you give to your worms. They will handle a small amount but prefer fresh foods.

Auckland’s Compost Collective

Waiheke Resources Trust is the local branch of Compost Collective. Through workshops and advice, our goal is to inform and engage as many people as possible about the benefits of composting and help everyone on the motu reduce their kerbside waste. Compost Collective is an Auckland regional resource supported by Auckland Council. Compost Collective wants to entertain, engage, empower and encourage the community to learn about smart gardening, food waste prevention and waste minimisation.

Composting at work

Waiheke Resources Trust manages a compostable collection service on Waiheke Island called the Compost Co. The project offers a food waste collection service to local restaurants and community groups and collects and processes single use compostable packaging from coffee shops and zero waste events.

The project began in February 2018 and has grown into a sustainable business that can process over 20 tonnes of food scrap a year. The Compost Co. is committed to reducing waste from landfills, offering the only commercial compostable packaging service on the Island.

If you are a business on Waiheke that is currently looking for waste solutions, please get in touch.

The Compost Co.

Find out about WRT’s Compost Co. Project and why we need to manage our waste better.

Twice a week there is a collection service that picks up 120l air tight food waste wheelie bins, plus other bins full of compostable packaging. All the compostable products are taken onsite to Te Motu Estate Vineyard, our partner providing the land.

Packaging gets shredded, food gets fermented or put raw into NZbox compost bins and mixed with different carbon (“brown”) materials. The Hot compost is turned regularly while the Bokashi anaerobic compost stays cooler, allowing worms to populate and do their work. The hot compost is important for the breakdown of PLA (Polylactic Acid) in the compostable containers and to kill any pathogens that may exist.

The Bokashi compost is important for maintaining carbon mass and nutrient value throughout decomposition.

Why is composting so important?

The majority of Waiheke’s compostable waste and biodegradable material going to landfill is from businesses. Once compostable materials reach landfill, they don’t turn into compost: instead, it is trapped underground and rots. Forever.

This causes problems such as the release of methane gas and the filtration of liquid from the food scraps through the landfill, which then has to be collected and treated onsite to prevent contaminated leachate reaching and polluting our waterways. However, these issues can easily be minimised by making use of all food scraps and other organic material through composting.

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Volunteer with Compost Co.

The Compost Co. welcomes volunteers who can help to sort the compostable material, mixing the organic materials into the compost bins, turning the compost and by cleaning and maintaining the site.

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WRT’s Shop

We will equip you to compost at home with workshops, support, and products like Bokashi systems and worm farms. We even sell our own compost and crushed shells for the garden.

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Support Us

Starting today, we can create a more sustainable tomorrow. Support our mahi so that we can deliver a brighter, more climate resilient future to all those living on and visiting Waiheke Island.

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