Gobbling up Bondi’s waste

Gobbling up Bondi’s waste
Image: The Gobbler is unloaded at Bondi Pavilion. Photo: supplied

Waverley Council has stepped out of the box in its attempt to meet ambitious environmental targets set for the end of this decade.

One of the innovations of its waste management strategy is an ongoing trial of the “Bondi Gobbler” composting system, the first of its kind in Australia that turns food waste into compost within 24 hours. It is being trialled at two small businesses in the Bondi Pavilion.

The mechanism’s inventor, Michael Mobbs, said the inspiration behind the Gobbler came from looking into the sources of carbon pollution.

“I discovered that the growing production, transportation and the waste of food is the second highest source of carbon pollution after coal high power stations,” he said. “What I had to do was focus on growing and managing food waste.”

Mr Mobbs added that the appeal of the Gobbler extends to climate change skeptics because of how different the technology is from anything seen before in Australia.

“People love it. It appeals to strangers or people who aren’t interested in environmental issues. It appeals to cafes and farmers because it cuts their business costs.”

Waverley mayor Sally Betts said the Gobbler is an important step for the council in moving toward its waste reduction goal.

“We have very high environmental targets. We want to reduce commercial and residential waste by 75 per cent and also reduce greenhouse gases by 30 per cent by 2020,” she said.

Cr Betts said that one of the main reasons for the success of the Gobbler within the community is the fact that even though it is a compost system, it doesn’t produce an odour.

“It doesn’t smell at all. Some compost bins, because they take such a long time do smell. This doesn’t smell at all,” she said.

“I had one in my office and we put coffee beans in it because they smell so strongly and you couldn’t smell them at all.”

A decision on whether to make the Gobbler a permanent fixture is expected in coming months after data from the trial is collected. The data will measure cost savings, energy use, compost soil created and the amount of carbon pollution captured.

Liberal Councillor Angela Burrill told the Bondi View the Gobbler is one of many initiatives in a larger, more targeted waste management strategy adopted by Waverley.

Cr Burrill said the success of the strategy lies in the willingness of stakeholders to collaborate and work together towards the common goal.

“Lifeguards will be making announcements to remind beach goers to take their rubbish off the beach when they leave and Waverley has partnered with neighbouring councils to run a summer litter campaign,” she said.

“These measures will assist council in meeting their goal of increasing recycling by 28 per cent and make a huge difference to reduce the amount of waste washing into the ocean.”

Cr Burrill stressed the importance of using social media to involve the community in reaching council’s environmental targets.

‘Bondi Beach has free wifi so it makes sense that social media is used as additional channel to raise awareness about recycling and keeping the beach litter-free,” she said.

“The mayor recently filmed a safe beach video which will automatically download when you log onto the Bondi Beach wifi over the summer.”

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