Managing Foodscraps w/ Carla Gee and Elise O'Brien: 26 April 2023

Currently New Zealanders dump 300,000 tonnes of food each year in landfill where it emits methane, contributing to global warming. Aucklanders bin 100,000 tonnes of food and it makes up half of our kerbside waste. To address this, Auckland Council is rolling out a foodscrap collection this year. The scraps will go through an anaerobic digestion process to create fertiliser and biogas that will be used in horticultural systems south of the city. However, environmental campaigners argue that local composting leads to better soils and lower emissions. Alex Bonham spoke to Carla Gee of Ecomatters, that runs the Compost Collective, and Elise O'Brien, Senior Organic Waste Advisor at Auckland Council to talk about the amazing resource that is food waste.