Waste Wise Events - Organics processing options
Everything that once lived is an organic material that can be composted. At an event this probably means food scraps from temporary kitchens and cafes.
Organics can be up to 30% of the waste stream at an event. This not only becomes a wasted resource that fills limited landfill space, but organic materials break down in landfill and release methane, a potent greenhouse gas. Organic materials also contribute to landfill leachate that can impact on the environment.
Reducing the amount of waste generated by your event can save money and reduce environmental impacts. Recycling is an easy way to reduce the amount of waste for disposal.
Most events produce some form of organic waste - whether it is employees' lunch scraps or a larger load of fruit and vegetables from a suite of food tents. These materials can be processed either off-site by a specialised facility or they can be composted or partially processed on-site.
The types of material acceptable in the organics processing will vary - some processors accept all food, ie. meat and paper contaminated with food, whereas some only accept raw fruit and vegetables.
Having a good relationship with your organics processor will contribute to the success of your event.
Designs of composting units or worm farms can vary greatly with many options available to choose from:
- commercial systems that look like a bin and operate like a worm farm,
- solar powered worm farms,
- worm farms in mobile trailers,
- units composed of stackable trays,
- units with service contracts,
- permament worm farms made of timber,
- custom made vermiculture processing units,
- manual or fully mechanised,
- continuous flow single layer vermiculture processing units,
- food compaction units where the source-separated food organics are collected by the company and delivered to farms for use as stock feed for cows and goats.
On-site processing technology options are designed to minimise odour and health risks, but they still need management. It is advisable to undertake careful research before installing an on-site processing system and ask a technology provider to show you existing installations, obtaining references from existing users where possible.
More information can be found under Recycled Organics Section or on the Recycled Organics Unit (ROU) website.
Your local council may also be able to help with resources and information. Also look under Worm or Vermiculture and Compactor in the yellowpages for related companies.
Page last updated: 26 February 2011
