The fight against green ‘waste’: how a Victorian community came together to create garden gold

The brief

There is a rising stink around rubbish removal in Australia. Councils around the country are looking for ways to divert more organic waste away from landfill. Australians generate about 14.6m tonnes of organic waste each year – mostly garden clippings, food scraps and timber. About half of it is collected from households in kerbside bins. Keeping organics out of the general waste matters, partly because it produces methane – a potent greenhouse gas far more powerful than carbon dioxide – when left to rot in landfill. Organic material is also a valuable, nutrient-rich resource. Already, about 62% of it is diverted from the waste stream and turned into mulch or…