Reuse wastes at home to slash landfill emissions
Compostable wastes emit greenhouse gases when buried as rubbish in landfill. These gases trap heat in the atmosphere, and help to increase global temperatures.
Think global, act local
Greenhouse gases emitted by landfills are nearly all methane and carbon dioxide. Both trap heat in the atmosphere, but the warming effect of methane is 84x greater than carbon dioxide. A swift reduction in emissions, especially methane can help us fight climate change.
Compostable wastes account for about half the average household’s rubbish, but there are fortunately several ways to stop that half from going to landfill.
Use FOGO bins at the minimum
Recycling of garden wastes has been a success with kerbside Green bins in Australia. To encourage more recycling, some councils allow residents to place food waste inside Green bins, which are relabelled FOGO (Food Organics Garden Organics) bins.
FOGO wastes are collected and carted to an industrial composting facility. While there is no reduction in the amount of wastes collected, methane emission is cut by diverting food wastes from landfill. FOGO bins are useful for residents who are unable or reluctant to compost.
The FOGO scheme suffers from rotting smell in bins awaiting collection, and contaminants such as plastic bags used to collect wastes. Badly contaminated compost is landfilled.
Reuse compostable wastes
Recycling wastes at home reduces the amount of rubbish councils collect and transport to a distant site for disposal. It’s a great local action that cuts both transport and landfill emissions as well as bringing its own rewards.
Composting recycles nutrients in waste that would otherwise be lost in landfill. Recovering them lets you grow plants and save money on fertilisers.
Compost with garden waste
Compost bins and tumblers are designed for garden waste. They can handle limited amounts of selected types of kitchen scraps if you are prepared to aerate the wastes by mixing frequently. The scraps make the waste composite richer in nutrition, but risk creating odours if you don’t sort your wastes carefully.
Get the most out of your wastes
Water accounts for most of the weight of kitchen scraps. It is released during composting but is lost, together with soluble nutrients, if your compost equipment isn’t equipped to collect them.
Bioverter is designed to compost kitchen scraps. It provides a controlled environment where natural microbes are at their best turning your wastes into compost. You can make compost fast, odour-free and without needing to aerate.
It is equipped with unique slide-out collectors at the base of the unit. They gather all goodness released from your wastes, including nutrients and water. Return these goodness to your soil to benefit your plants and garden.