Circular Organics - love our compost

Join us on the journey! A big part of this project is educating us all about what makes great compost and why it is important. Visit the Food and garden organics webpage to find out how to help us make great compost by doing the right thing with your food and organics for kerbside collection. View more content on our YouTube channel. 

Compost made from organics collected in the Shire is processed at Creswick Transfer Station and will be used across our community, including in on our local trees and with collections available for the community.

When available, the community will be able to access a small amount of compost from time to time. Compost making is a process that takes time going from the food and garden organics to being collected kerbside, to the organics being pasteurised inside the vessels and matured to be full of amazing things for your garden.  

Compost is a nutrient-rich organic material that is made from the decomposition of food scraps, garden material and other organic matter. It enriches the soil, helps retain moisture, and provides plants with essential nutrients.

Compost is great because it reduces waste to landfill, improves soil health and structure which helps soils to retain water, reduces the need for chemical fertilisers, and promotes healthier plant growth and longer tree life. It also helps to reduce methane emissions from landfill. It’s a win-win!

This compost is extra special as it is created locally using best practice scientific methods and tested to ensure a high quality. It's rich in nutrients and microbes. The compost being made locally means we will be able to get to our trees when it is still full of life, which is what the soil and plants like best.

The Circular Organics Project was supported by the Circular Economy Organics Council Fund delivered by Sustainability Victoria under the Victorian Government’s circular economy policy, Recycling Victoria: a new economy.

The project focused on a scientifically rigorous study of soil and tree health after applying compost, made from the organics collected via the food and garden organics bins, to a range of Council-managed parks and open spaces. 

This project consisted of four components:

• Optimisation of the biological health of our organics-derived compost in partnership with Gaia EnviroTech.
• Trialling the application of compost derived through Council’s kerbside food and garden organics collection to various sites within our parks and open spaces (using scientifically rigorous methods).
• Education campaign about the project (and importance of keeping compost free from contamination) using videography and social media and sharing results with other councils.
• Undertaking a triple bottom line assessment of the optimal uses/end markets of our compost.

While the funding for the project is now complete, the data collection continues (annual soil testing will happen in November), as well as looking at options for the ongoing optimisation of compost. If there is high-quality compost, Council will continue to look towards using it in Council's parks and open spaces.

For anyone wanting more information and data collected through the project please contact Resource Recovery team. 

Sustainability Victoria has more information on Why councils should use recycled organic compost.

Compost produced from township collections of organics is taken to Creswick Transfer Station’s in-vessel composting units to make compost. It is used locally on our parks and open spaces to improve soil quality and enhance plant growth. The community will also have access to some of the compost produced.

This compost is made by using an aerobic process in-vessel composting units (in partnership with a local company Gaia EnviroTech who manage the process). The trial is helping to optimise the process which includes maturing the compost and monitoring temperature and moisture levels. This creates high-quality, nutrient-rich compost.

Is the compost being made locally?

Yes, the composting process and production are happening locally to reduce transport impacts and support the local community by providing nutrient-rich compost for our established and new local trees to improve tree health. The trial is looking at the change in soil (scientific testing) over time once compost has been applied.

This Gaia Case Study(PDF, 2MB) explains more about the process. 

You can help by: