Woolworths will be the foundation customer of a new system launching in Sydney’s Wetherill Park to tackle the city’s mounting food waste problem.
The system, by Goterra, uses insects called Black Soldier Fly larvae to break down food waste onsite rapidly, at a large scale. Housed in high-tech, shipping container-sized units dubbed ‘Maggot Robots,’ the larvae can devour vast amounts of waste, reducing it by 95 per cent in 24 hours.
This process generates organic fertiliser and nutrient-dense protein meal as by-products, supporting a circular economy. And by handling waste onsite, countless truck trips to distant landfills are avoided.
Woolworths will send food waste from its stores across the Sydney region to the Wetherill Park facility. The retailer has been using Goterra’s technology in a small-scale trial across its ACT stores since 2020.
Goterra CEO Olympia Yarger said this decentralised model is transformative for Sydney, which produces more than 600,000 tonnes of food waste annually, mostly trucked to landfills outside the metro area.
“For too long, food waste has languished in toxic landfills hundreds of kilometres from our cities. Our partnership with forward-thinking partners like Woolworths is helping change that,” said Yarger.
The prominent Sydney site, processing more than 100 tonnes every week, will immediately create 12 new jobs for locals to Fairfield City Council and provides a blueprint for managing food waste sustainably.
Laurie Kozlovic, Woolworths 360 Managing Director of Sustainable Impact, said the system is a key piece of infrastructure that will enable Woolworths’ ambition to divert all food waste from landfill.
“While each of our stores has a partnership with a hunger relief charity, some of our food waste can’t be eaten and Goterra’s unique technology provides a low-emissions pathway to save it from landfill,” Kozlovic said.
“We’re excited by the future potential of the technology in regional areas where access to composting is limited.”
For more information, visit: www.woolworthsgroup.com.au
Related stories:
Woolworths phases out last of 15c plastic bags
Woolworths, Pact partnership to boost recycled packaging
