Para Kai was launched on the Miramar Peninsula in September 2020 with 500 households trialling a weekly kerbside food waste collection service, while another 450 households were composting their food waste in either a compost bin, worm farm, or bokashi system.
Senior Waste Planner Stephanie Steadman says the trial aimed to help Council understand how much food waste can be stopped from going to landfill, and the best methods for doing this.
“It has also given us insight into what people thought were the good, and the not so good, parts of the experience. One important lesson is that we’ll need to consider how we can provide food waste bins robust enough to survive the onslaught of Wellington’s wind!
“We gathered information through a rubbish audit of participating households before the trial began, and again during the trial to provide a comparison. We also conducted two surveys to understand participant’s perceptions of the success of the trial and a willingness to pay for a food waste collection service going forward.”
The rubbish audit indicated that kerbside collection is the most effective method, with an average reduction in food waste going to landfill of 38.8 percent per household. Home composting participants showed an average reduction of 16.4 percent per household, with the compost bin being the most effective method.