Home Composting Program: Review of Trial - Lake Macquarie City Council

Home Composting Program:

Review of Trial

REPORT PRESENTED TO

Waste Advisory Committee

10 February 2011

LAKE MACQUARIE CITY COUNCIL

WASTE MINIMISATION STRATEGY DEVELOPMENT

Page 1 of 38 Home Composting Trial Review

Table of Contents

1 Recommendations ........................................................................................3

2 Context..........................................................................................................3

2.1 Background ................................................................................................................. 3

2.2 Purpose and Objectives .............................................................................................. 4

2.3 Document Structure .................................................................................................... 4

3 Delivery .........................................................................................................5

3.1 Summary ..................................................................................................................... 5

3.2 Budget ......................................................................................................................... 5

3.3 Partnerships ................................................................................................................ 6

3.4 Community Engagement ............................................................................................ 6

3.4.1 Expressions of interest.................................................................................................6

3.4.2 Voucher system ...........................................................................................................7

3.4.3 Workshops ...................................................................................................................7

3.4.4 Questionnaires .............................................................................................................8

3.5 Educational Materials.................................................................................................. 8

4 Monitoring and Evaluation .............................................................................9

4.1 Overview ..................................................................................................................... 9

4.2 Barriers to Home Composting..................................................................................... 9

4.3 Waste Audit Results.................................................................................................. 10

4.4 Workshop Evaluations .............................................................................................. 14

4.5 Follow Up Survey ...................................................................................................... 15

5 Conclusions.................................................................................................16

6 References..................................................................................................17

Appendix 1: Flow Chart - Trial Delivery............................................................................................ 18

Appendix 2: DL Sign-up flyer............................................................................................................ 19

Appendix 3: Home Composting Trial Registration ........................................................................... 20

Appendix 4: DL DECCW ‘Easy Guide to Composting’..................................................................... 28

Appendix 5: DL Common Composting Problems and Solutions...................................................... 30

Appendix 6: Home Composting Trial Workshop Questionnaire....................................................... 31

Appendix 7: Home Composting Trial Recording Sheet.................................................................... 33

Appendix 8: Home Composting Trial Follow Up Questionnaire ....................................................... 35




List of Tables

Table 1 Allocated budget for the Home Composting Trial...................................................5

Table 2 Kerbside waste audit material categories ............................................................11

List of Figures

Figure 1 Recruitment locations...........................................................................................7

Figure 2 Barriers to home composting..............................................................................10

Figure 3 Reasons for not composting...............................................................................10

Figure 4 Residual waste stream overall composition (percentage by weight) – summary.12

Figure 5 Residual waste stream overall composition (percentage by weight) – detailed...12

Figure 6 Food types audited (percentage by weight) ........................................................13

Figure 7 Responses from the workshops .........................................................................14

Figure 8 Understanding of home composting ...................................................................14




1 Recommendations

a) Defer roll out of the full Home Composting Program, which aims to facilitate home composting by 10% of city households, pending the outcome of a further trial of methods to improve home composting participation rates.

b) Develop and implement a second household home composting trial that focuses on alternative methods to encourage residents to commence and maintain home composting.

c) Review audit results of the first trial to determine whether participation has led to a decrease in amount of organic waste in participants’ general waste bin.

d) Design a communications plan for the Home Composting Program, should it proceed, that is consistent with Council’s detailed city-wide waste strategy.

2 Context

2.1 Background

Lake Macquarie City Council (LMCC) is committed to reducing negative impacts of waste and consumption through the delivery of specific strategies, services, and programs, as demonstrated in Council’s corporate documents (e.g. 10 Year Community Plan, Lifestyle 2020, LMCC’s Management Plan) and policies (e.g. LMCC’s Carbon Policy of a 3% CO²e reduction per capita per annum). LMCC’s Waste Strategy Development Project will identify and implement desirable waste management practices to provide a transition from current to desirable waste management solutions that afford long-term flexibility, environmental sustainability and sound economic rationale.

A significant proportion of the domestic waste stream is represented by organic waste material, that is both “green” waste (clippings, prunings) and “kitchen” waste (food waste). This waste stream represents a valuable target in terms of improved waste management services and potential waste diversion from landfill. The key to initiating a decrease in the amount of organic waste being deposited in the domestic waste stream is to modify residents’ waste management behaviours. Encouragement and development of an extensive Home Organics Awareness Program (Home Composting Program) within the local government area (LGA) was identified as an action to be undertaken immediately as a “no regrets” option within the waste strategy framework (LMCC 2009).

The aim of the Home Composting Program is to empower LMCC residents with the resources and training to manage household organic waste at home, effectively diverting these organics from collections that ultimately are disposed of in landfill.

The following parameters were agreed for the Home Composting Program in May 2010:

• Develop and implement a small market research survey identifying barriers and drivers to home composting, including cost thresholds.

• Develop and implement a 200 household pilot program across one neighbourhood.

• Implement a home composting program that will recruit/involve an additional 700 homes, 3,000 homes, 2,000 homes and 1,500 homes annually to June 2014 This represents 10% of Lake Macquarie households in 4 years.




• Support for the home composting program long term with 50+ new homes recruited annually from the 2014/15 year onwards.

• Allocate $780,000 to the program over 10 years (CPI inclusive at 4%).

2.2 Purpose and Objectives

As per the Home Organics Awareness Program (LMCC 2010), the proposed Home Composting Program represents a method to:

• Reduce Council’s financial liabilities through reducing s.88 landfill levies from household organic waste to landfill.

• Reduce Council’s potential financial liabilities from carbon charges, since the organic fraction of waste is that which produces methane, a greenhouse gas 21 times more potent than CO2.

• Aid Council in achieving the state government’s 66% diversion target.

• Empower the community to take direct action to contribute to waste diversion and minimisation/consumption.

• Raise awareness of waste issues more broadly within the community.

Specific targets of the LMCC Home Composting Program include:

• Conduct a Home Composting Trial Program by December 2010.

• Engage and train 700 households across the LGA on how to effectively manage organic waste at home by composting by June 2011.

• Engage 7,000 (10% Lake Macquarie homes) on how to effectively manage organic waste at home by composting by June 2014.

The objectives of the Home Composting Trial were to:

• Raise community awareness of local waste issues.

• Engage and train up to 300 households on how to effectively manage organic waste at home through composting by December 2010.

• Identify further barriers and drivers to the adoption of home composting to inform decisions for a full program rollout.

• Monitor and evaluate delivery methods to inform decisions for a full program rollout.

2.3 Document Structure

This report describes the methods used in the delivery of the trial (Section 3) where details on the budget, partnerships, community engagement and educational materials are discussed. Section 4 examines the success of the trial with conclusions stated in Section 5.




3 Delivery

3.1 Summary

Since the preparation of the Home Organics Awareness Program (LMCC 2010) in May 2010, further discussions within the program team established new suggestions and direction for the program. As a result, the delivery of the Home Composting Trial outlined below differed from that in the original program plan.

The budget for the Trial was set at $20,000 with Council’s Sustainability Department coordinating the program. Partnerships were sought with established retail outlets throughout the Lake Macquarie area to deliver home composting workshops and compost bin materials.

Community engagement was undertaken through letterbox drops, workshops and questionnaires. Educational materials were produced and provided to workshop participants as well as being available online. The delivery of the Home Composting Trial is summarised in the flow chart in Appendix 1.

3.2 Budget

The budget to undertake the Home Composting Trial across the city was set at $470,000 for the 2010/11 year.

Table 1 below details the allocated budget for the Home Composting Trial based on 300 participants.

Table 1 Allocated budget for the Home Composting Trial

Item Budget ($)

Letterbox drop leaflets 2,000

Voucher: Caddie ($4.50 x 300) 1,350

Printing of Council Logos on Kitchen Caddie 700

Voucher: Compost Bin ($40 x 300) 12,000

Introduction Kits 3,000

Survey forms 500

Self assessment survey 200

Postage for follow-up surveys (.55c each) 165

TOTAL $20,000




3.3 Partnerships

Following an advertising program to recruit program delivery partners, LMCC established a partnership with Bunnings Belmont to deliver home composting workshops and compost bin materials. Bunnings Belmont was selected because of their sound knowledge and expertise in delivering quality home composting workshops as well as the variety of compost bin models available in store.

The partnership proved to be advantageous for both Council and Bunnings Belmont.

Council benefited from:

• Reduction in delivery costs of the Home Composting Trial through the elimination of consultancy assistance in delivering workshops across the City.

• Reduction in Council’s liability regarding type of compost bins selected.

Bunnings Belmont benefited from:

• Increased sales of compost bins.

• Increased number of clients accessing their stores whilst onsite for workshop.

• Increased publicity.

3.4 Community Engagement

3.4.1 Expressions of interest

2500 DL Join-up Flyers (including attached voucher) were delivered to the following areas in Lakelands, Eleebana, Windale, Floraville and Belmont North.




Figure 1 Recruitment locations

From this initial letterbox drop, 107 households registered for the Home Composting Trial. This equates to an uptake rate of 4.3%.

An additional 4500 unaddressed mail via Australia Post to Belmont, Belmont South and Marks Point resulted in 74 registrations. This was an even smaller uptake of 1.6%. Additional vouchers were issued to participants at Delightful Decomposition Workshops conducted at the Teralba Worm Farm in November 2011. These workshops were organised through Belmont and Charlestown Sustainable Neighbourhood Groups.

3.4.2 Voucher system

Up to 300 households could register, however, Council received only 185 registrations. The voucher provided the registered participant with a free kitchen tidy bin, a $40 discount on a compost bin purchased from Bunnings Belmont and a free training workshop including educational materials. The compost bin discount was equivalent to the price of a base model compost bin available at Bunnings Belmont. A copy of the voucher is in Appendix 2.

3.4.3 Workshops

Three workshops were held per week for 10 weeks from September to November 2010. In total 135 households participated in the workshops. It should be noted this represented 50 household ‘drop outs’ (27%) compared to registrations. Overall that represents a workshop participation rate of 2.25%.

The course content of the workshops was as follows:

• What is composting?

• Setting up for composting at home

• How to compost

• What do I add and not add to my compost

• Improving the quality of my compost

• Composting timelines

• Composting issues and how to fix them

• Selecting the right compost bin for you




• Selecting the right compost tools

• Where can I receive ongoing support?

• Issue and discuss how to use LMCC supplied kitchen tidy bin

3.4.4 Questionnaires

Several questionnaires were used to obtain information and opinions from the workshop participants.

• Home Composting Trial Registration (Appendix 3) completed online obtained demographic information, current composting habits and environmental views.

• Home Composting Trial Workshop Questionnaire (Appendix 6) evaluated the success of the workshops.

• Home Composting Trial Recording Sheet (Appendix 7) provided an estimate of the amount of food waste placed in the compost bin.

• Home Composting Trial Follow Up Questionnaire (Appendix 8) focussed on new composting habits following the workshops, changes in environmental views and the overall success of the trial.

3.5 Educational Materials

Council produced several educational materials to promote the Home Composting Trial key messages. The program key messages were created in consultation with the Waste Strategy Project Consultation Manager, as per the Communication and Consultation Plan and in-line with the Sustainability Marketing Strategy. The key messages are:

• Residents and Council together need to start diverting organics from landfill.

• Composting is an easy and safe way to produce a valuable resource for the garden.

Council produced the following materials to deliver our key messages:

• DL Join-up Flyer including attached voucher (Appendix 2).

• DL DECCW ‘Easy Guide to Composting’ information brochure (Appendix 4).

• DL Common Composting Problems and Solutions flyer (Appendix 5).

• Home composting featured as a “call to action” in the Waste Awareness Campaign (Captain Arrrthur).

Brand design shown on the educational materials was created using the Sustainability Department’s style guide. The design reflected the gardening nature of composting whilst still incorporating the Sustainable Living branding ‘Sustainable living…enough for everyone forever’ and the Sustainability logo ‘reducing our footprint’.

The DECCW ‘Easy Guide to Composting’ information brochure was included in the introduction kits supplied to workshop participants and is available on the LMCC website. A composting page was included on the LMCC ARRR website with a link to the Common Composting Problems and Solutions flyer. In addition to the educational materials, dial up support was provided from both Council and Bunnings Belmont following the composting workshops.




4 Monitoring and Evaluation

4.1 Overview

During and following the trial, Council used a number of evaluation methods including:

• Waste audits.

• Questionnaires.

The aim of the evaluations was to determine the following:

• Barriers and drivers to home composting.

• The success of the composting workshops.

• The level of behaviour change achieved.

• Reduction of organic waste disposed to landfill.

• Possibility of extending the program across the LGA.

4.2 Barriers to Home Composting

Common barriers and drivers to home composting were investigated in the registration questionnaire. The majority of people who were prepared to undertake a composting workshop had a prior interest in composting: 63% had tried composting before and 38% were currently composting.

Figure 2 shows the reasons why the registered workshop participants do not compost. A significant proportion of people had tried composting previously but had stopped and the reasons for stopping are shown in Figure 3.

Overall, the main reasons for not composting or stopping home composting are:

• Don’t know where to start.

• Don’t know how to compost.

• Produced a poor quality product.

All of these issues have the potential to be overcome through education programs. For example, prior to the composting workshops, the people who were already composting rarely aerated their compost bins (41% never turned their compost). This lack of aeration would contribute to producing a poor quality product. After the composting workshops, 80% of participants aerated their compost at least fortnightly. These survey results show that people can be motivated to change their behaviour when provided with effective educational tools.




If you do not compost, why not?

Don't know where to start

Don’t know how to

Never thought about it

Tried previously but stopped

No room

Dispose of food scraps with different method

Moved recently

Don't have time/haven't got around to it

Don't have right equipment

Limited volume of compost materials

Worried about the smell/mess

Other

Figure 2 Barriers to home composting

If you have tried composting previously, why did you stop?

Produced a poor quality product

Problems with pests and vermin

Recently moved

Created too much compost

Other

Figure 3 Reasons for not composting

4.3 Waste Audit Results

Council engaged EC Sustainable to undertake a minimum of two kerbside residual waste audits of properties participating in the Home Composting Trial. One kerbside audit was conducted in September 2010 prior to the commencement of the Home Composting Trial and second kerbside audit will occur one year after the trial in September 2011. EC Sustainable (2010) contains detailed project methods and results of the pre-trial kerbside audit.




The materials were sorted and classified for analysis using the categories shown in Table 2.

Table 2 Kerbside waste audit material categories

Material Categories Examples of Materials

Food scraps and leftovers (excluding meat and dairy)

Compostable Unused and packaged food (excluding meat and dairy)

Meat and dairy – food scraps and leftover

Food / kitchen

Potentially compostable Meat and dairy – unused and packaged food

Compostable Fleshy / putrescible Garden organics

Potentially compostable Woody / dry

Compostable Other compostable – eg. paper not fully commingled Other organics

Potentially compostable Other organics

Commingled recyclables Aluminium and steel cans, plastics 1-7, glass, recyclable paper

Other

Residual Includes plastic film, textiles, building materials, hazardous materials and all other materials.

The pre-trial audit results show that 51% of the residual waste stream is compostable with an additional 11% potentially compostable (Figure 4). Compostable food comprised over 22% and garden organics over 32% with the majority being fleshy and putrescible material most suited to home composting (Figure 5). An additional 1% of the residual waste stream is other food (meat and dairy) that is not currently deemed a compliant material in the Trial Home Composting Program. A breakdown of food types audited is shown in Figure 6. Other recyclables accounted for 14% of the residual waste stream.




Figure 4 Residual waste stream overall composition (percentage by weight) – summary

Figure 5 Residual waste stream overall composition (percentage by weight) – detailed

19.06

2.85

0.78

0.22

25.72

6.86

4.21

3.11

12.08

25.11




Figure 6 Food types audited (percentage by weight)

Since there are no waste audit results from after the home composting workshops, it is difficult to make a conclusion as to whether a reduction in food waste in the general waste bin has occurred. However, self-survey techniques indicate that there has been a slight decrease in the volume of waste placed in the general waste bin.

Before the workshop:

• 5% of participants had an overflowing garbage bin

• 20% had a full garbage bin

• 28% had a ¾ full garbage bin

• 41% had a full recyclable bin

• 27% had a ¾ full recyclable bin

After the workshop:

• 2% of participants had an overflowing garbage bin

• 10% had a full garbage bin

• 28% had a ¾ full garbage bin

• 40% had a full recyclable bin

• 26% had a ¾ full recyclable bin

While the volumes have not changed, a waste audit needs to be conducted to determine the composition of the general waste bin.




4.4 Workshop Evaluations

At the completion of each workshop, participants completed the Home Composting Trial Workshop Questionnaire (Appendix 6). Overall, Council and Bunnings Belmont received very positive feedback. Figure 7 shows that the vast majority of participants rated the workshops as good or very good. Figure 8 indicates that the level of understanding of home composting significantly increased after completing the workshop. 98% of participants left the workshops with a good or very good understanding of home composting compared to 36% prior to the workshops.

How would you ra te the fo l lowing co mp one nts o f this wo rkshop ? How would you ra te the fo l lowing co mp one nts o f this wo rkshop ? How would you ra te the fo l lowing co mp one nts o f this wo rkshop ? How would you ra te the fo l lowing co mp one nts o f this wo rkshop ?

The speakers at this

workshop

The activities at this

workshop

The venue for this

workshop

This workshop

overall

Very poor

Poor

Neutral

Good

Very good

Figure 7 Responses from the workshops

Wha t wa s your le ve l o f unde rs ta nd ing o f Home Compos ting :Wha t wa s your le ve l o f unde rs ta nd ing o f Home Compos ting :Wha t wa s your le ve l o f unde rs ta nd ing o f Home Compos ting :Wha t wa s your le ve l o f unde rs ta nd ing o f Home Compos ting :

Before the workshop After the workshop

Very Poor

Poor

Neutral

Good

Very Good

Figure 8 Understanding of home composting

Some comments from the workshop participants included:

“Worthwhile venture initiated by Council.”

“Great workshop can't wait to start composting.”

“Very good concept. Should be enlarged and people given more encouragement to take it up.”




4.5 Follow Up Survey

A Home Composting Trial Follow Up Questionnaire was sent to workshop participants in January 2011 (Appendix 8). To date, approximately half of the participants have responded with 60 surveys returned to Council.

According to LMCC (2010), if the Home Composting Program was to be extended across the city the composting workshops would be provided at a cost of $10. The workshops in the Home Composting Trial were free and 63% of participants would not be prepared to pay to be involved in the program. Of the people who were prepared to pay for the composting workshops, 61% would only pay $10 or less.

The majority of participants began composting at home immediately following the workshop and 93% will continue to compost. If Council introduced a third bin for organic waste, the majority of workshop participants (68%) would continue to compost at home and use the green bin for extra organic waste such as meat, dairy and excess garden waste while 23% would use home composting only and viewed the third bin as unnecessary. Below are some of the mixed comments on the possibility of a third organic waste bin.

“Green waste collection please! Also weekly recycling to reduce use of general waste wheelie bin.”

“The two bin collection system is inadequate. The recycle bin is always overflowing and the general waste bin is usually only about half full. There should be a third bin(as in some council areas) for green waste .The compost bin used in this trial is far too small for the amount of compost produced and the amount of green waste generated from lawns alone and the time to taken to produce compost is too long for the use of all green waste. This means that excess has to be put in the general waste bin.”

“We have some concerns that it appears Council has already made the decision to implement a 3 bin system. At the workshop we attended, and we were told that at previous workshops, the preferred decision was to continue with 2 bins. Furthermore, that Council was not going to make a decision as quickly as this. Our strong feeling is that if a third bin was introduced in this household it would not be used, and that was the feeling of our workshop.”

A health and safety issue was also identified through the Follow Up Survey. A man who attended a composting workshop contracted a confirmed case of Legionnaires disease from handling organic matter. It was not known whether he contracted Legionnaires disease from handling home compost or some other organic material. While this is very rare, it is important to note that 35% of workshop participants were aged 55 to 69 and 18% were over 70 placing them at higher risk of contracting the disease. If the workshops are extended, wearing gloves and a mask while handling compost should be advised.




5 Conclusions

Overall, the Home Composting Trial was a success and Council achieved the objectives stated in Section 2.2. LMCC in partnership with Bunnings Belmont trained 135 households to effectively manage organic waste at home by composting. This number was less than expected due to a very low uptake of participants. If the Home Composting Program is to be extended and a cost is applied to the workshops, it is likely that there would be an even lower uptake of participants.

Through a number of surveys, the main barriers to home composting were identified and the main issues were addressed in the composting workshops. While the partnership with Bunnings Belmont was a success, this trial was a new venture for LMCC, and the administration proved to be quite challenging and time consuming, which indicates it may be difficult to expand the program using this delivery method.

The residual waste stream consisted of 51% compostable material and the survey results indicate that the workshop participants are composting successfully. Therefore, it is anticipated that the organic composition of the waste stream would decrease significantly in these households. However, post-trial waste audit results are required to draw a conclusion as to whether this reduction has occurred and whether it is sustained over time.

According to the pre-trial kerbside waste audit, 23% of the residual waste stream is food waste, 32% is garden waste and 14% is recyclables. If a third green waste bin is introduced, education campaigns should focus on encouraging correct source separation of recyclables and organic waste rather than home composting.

There will always be people in the community who are motivated to compost for their own reasons. Council will still provide support to these people through various avenues such as the LMCC website, brochures including the Easy Compost Guide, Easy Worm Farming Guide and Easy Mulching Guide and the Teralba Worm Farm.




6 References

LMCC (2009). Sustainable Lake Macquarie Waste Strategy Development Project Plan Version 1, November 2009 (TRIM D01650023)

LMCC (2010). Home Organics Awareness Programme. (TRIM D01747562)

EC Sustainable (2010). Home Composting Trial Report. Report produced for Lake Macquarie City Council, October 2010 (TRIM D01947710)




Appendix 1: Flow Chart - Trial Delivery

1. Leaflet delivery to 3000 households via letterbox drop

2. Resident registers interest through LMCC Customer Service Centre

(max. of 300)

3. Resident attends nominated workshop through retail outlet

Resident to receive from LMCC:

• Kitchen + Compost Bin Voucher

• Information Pack

LMCC to receive from resident:

• Registration details

• Complete initial survey form

Residents to complete post workshop evaluation survey

• Outlet to validate vouchers for participants post workshop

• Residents purchase bins using vouchers

4. Resident begins composting at home

5. Post program evaluation survey delivered to residents

Resident to complete self-audit of household organic material via provided information kit

6. Resident to complete and return post program evaluation survey via provided reply

paid envelope

Retail outlet to provide LMCC with information on the products purchased through the voucher system




Appendix 2: DL Sign-up flyer




Appendix 3: Home Composting Trial Registration




Appendix 4: DL DECCW ‘Easy Guide to Composting’




Appendix 5: DL Common Composting Problems and Solutions




Appendix 6: Home Composting Trial Workshop Questionnaire




Appendix 7: Home Composting Trial Recording Sheet




Appendix 8: Home Composting Trial Follow Up Questionnaire

Home Composting Program: Review of Trial - Lake Macquarie City Council

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