Compost at home

Composting and worm farming are great ways to minimise food waste by turning your food scraps into nutrient-rich plant food for your garden.

Why compost at home?

Composting your food scraps and garden waste is an easy way to reduce waste to landfill and protect the environment.

Composting at home minimises your food waste by turning scraps into nutrient-rich plant food for your garden. Your home come compost enriches the soil with nutrients, promotes healthier plant growth and reduces the need for store-bought fertilisers. This significantly reduce your household's carbon footprint.

Choosing a composting system

Compost bins

Compost bins are a great option for large families or households with a garden. Compost bins work by adding heat to speed up the composting process via above ground, partially buried, or rotating chambers.

Benefits include:

  • low maintenance
  • process a large volume of food scraps (limited meat and dairy)
  • suitable for households with a lot of food or garden waste
  • produce rich harvestable compost for your garden and surrounding soil.

Composting systems vary in what organic waste they can process. There are different composting systems to choose from:

Traditional compost bins

These are also known as above ground compost bins. They need to be placed on soil and require regular turning with an aerator. As the scraps break down, nutrient-rich liquid will disperse into the surrounding soil leaving rich compost to be harvested from the bottom every 6 to 12 months.

Tumbling composters

Tumbling composters sit off the ground and can be placed anywhere, including balconies. The liquid from this process drips out and can be harvested or allowed to soak into the ground below. They require regular rotation with a hand crank or by rotating the drum directly, and produce rich compost in around 3 to 6 months (a little faster than traditional systems).

Solar composters

Solar composters are partially dug into the ground and capture heat from the sun which aerates the compost without the need to turn it. They are faster than the other two systems and require less maintenance. They can process all types of food waste, but are not suitable for garden waste.

Pet waste composters

Separate composting systems can be set up for pet waste to further reduce organic waste to landfill. A separate composting system is recommended if you already compost food. For more information on pet waste composters, visit Compost Revolution.

Worm farms

Worm farms break down food scraps into solid and liquid nutrients.

Benefits include:

  • processes a medium amount of food scraps (mainly fruit and vegetables)
  • suitable for indoor and outdoor placement
  • produces rich harvestable worm castings and lots of liquid fertiliser for your garden. 

Bokashi

Bokashi systems uses anaerobic bacteria to ferment all types of food waste (including meat, dairy, bread and small bones).

Benefits include:

  • low maintenance, except when emptying
  • ferments medium amounts of food scraps
  • suitable for kitchen or outdoor placement
  • produces lots of liquid to use as fertiliser for your garden.

If you are a Stonnington resident, you can access up to 60 per cent off compost bins, bokashi systems and worm farms through our partner Compost Revolution. Visit Compost Revolution for more information on available products or to purchase a discounted system.

What items can be composted?

Use our A-Z waste and recycling guide to find out what items can be composted at home.

Composting in apartments

If you live in an apartment building and want to reduce waste going to landfill, join our Apartment Composting Program.

The program provides apartment buildings with up to three communal compost systems or worm farms for free. It’s also a great way to get to know your neighbours and improve the health of your building's gardens.