Compost your food waste to reduce general waste service frequency and costs

Compost your organic waste to reduce the frequency of your general waste collection service, and reduce your business greenhouse gas emissions. Here are some ways that your business can start composting today, with no cost.

Why should we compost?

Did you know that more than 50% of what goes in the average Brisbane general waste bin is organic material that comes from our kitchens and gardens? Not only does this waste weigh a lot, and fill up your bins, increasing your waste collection costs, sending this to landfill produces harmful greenhouse gasses.

When organic waste such as fruit peels and other food scraps end up in landfill, they produce harmful methane. Methane is 28 times more potent than Carbon Dioxide. The composting process allows food waste to break down in a way that reduces less methane. So, reducing organic waste going to landfill is a key way that you can reduce your emissions. This is why the Queensland Government has developed the Draft Queensland Organics Strategy 2022-2023, which is putting sustainable organic waste disposal on the agenda for households and businesses.

What can we compost?

Here are some items that are usually accepted in compost bins. Please check with your waste service provider to confirm exactly when items they can process through their composting service.

• Bakery items
• Grains and pasta
• Dairy products
• Egg shells
• Coffee grounds and tea bags
• Fruit and vegetable scraps
• Flowers and herbs

Free and affordable compost options

There are many options for businesses to dispose of food and other organic waste. These include:

• Educate staff about waste separation and make it easy with colour coded bins and signage
• If you or a team member have the space, why not try composting leftovers from the lunch room at home or on-site. Here’s some more information about composting at home.
• Connect with a neighbour through the ShareWaste app to use their compost bin. If you consider yourself a green thumb, you can set yourself up as a community composter, and help others to reduce their emissions by composting organic waste.
• Add a commercial compost bin to your waste contract (it is probably cheaper than you think!)

Take your composting to the next level

Purchase a commercial composter to process your organics onsite and produce rich compost for your gardens.

Sources: Food organics waste collection and recycling solutions| Cleanaway

Compost | Brisbane City Council