Food fights against waste levy

Here’s another food waste-to-fertiliser outfit to stand alongside Enrich360 in the charge towards zero waste and circularity.

Queensland based waste management company SUEZ and industrial-scale composter NuGrow have joined forces to provide Brisbane with a system that turns organic food waste into compost.

Foreshadowing the state’s new waste levy introduced on 1 July, this year, the partnership has diverted more than 600 tonnes of bulk food waste from landfill since the middle of last year.

Gasworks, a retail and dining precinct located just outside of Brisbane’s CBD, is one of the early adaptors to this new waste management option. It’s kitchen tenants have been separating organic waste into dedicated bins for about a year, and will soon receive nutrient-rich compost for landscaping in return.

The model can be sized up or down, said NuGrow’s chief commercial officer Jacob Wilson, and is suitable for any food-based business.

With the implementation of the waste levy, there is now a financial and sustainability incentive for businesses.

“This initiative demonstrates a total closed-loop recycling process because 100 per cent of the food waste has been recycled and can even be returned to where the waste came from in the form of quality compost,” Mr Wilson said.

• Check out these companies helping save food waste from landfill with the City of Sydney and beyond!