COMMUNITY COMPOST COLLECTIVE

TO COMPOST OR NOT TO COMPOST...

Why is this still a question?

HOW IT WORKS

Got scraps? Get a volume and spatial assessment.

We'll recommend the best size compost collection vessels and collection frequency.

We organise collections based on your geographic location to minimise carbon emissions in transportation.

Our food waste outputs goes to circular outcomes, ie our members, community gardens, fertiliser products and black soldier fly systems.

WHAT DO WE COMPOST?

We can process large tonnage of a whole range of dry or wet food scraps, paper napkins, small bones, shellfish, coffee grounds, bread and dairy - so much more compared to traditional and smaller scale composting systems. That's at least 60% of an average landfill bin!

MICRO-COLLECTIONS 20L <120L

We offer a regular weekly or fortnightly subscription for smaller volume collections for residents, offices, cafes and first timers doing a compost trial. Small vessels are stacks easier to map behaviour change for increasing capture points, source separation and contamination education.

We also provide a range of flexible arrangements, including the one off out of service area collections for events, provided the venue is located within 10-15km within Melbourne CBD.

SEE HOW WE ROLL

Our regular micro collections for organics is collected and processed all within the City of Yarra, under a 5km loop, keeping travel carbon emissions efficiently low. (Sorry, Prahran!) Find us in the following postcodes:

3002 – East Melbourne
3053 – Carlton
3065 – Fitzroy
3066 – Collingwood
3067 – Abbotsford
3068 – Clifton Hill / Fitzroy North
3121 – Cremorne / Richmond

A service fee is required for any out of service areas on an ad hoc basis.

MACRO COLLECTIONS > 120L

For higher volume food waste pick ups for the larger venues - we've joined forces with Waste Ninja! Ask us for our partnership program pricing.

Our Macro collections with Waste Ninja covers more ground across metro melbourne and most of the burb's.

WE NEED A REGENERATIVE FOOD ECONOMY.

For the past few years, we’ve been working to close the loop and hyperlocalise food growing with waste management. Our Community Compost Collective program outputs only has one true goal - all food scraps should go back into soil, agrifeed or food system to feed humanity and life. Not the rubbish tip.

FREQUENTLY ASKED QUESTIONS

I already have a composter / worm farm at home, why do I need this?

Depends. You probably don't if you have a vegan/vegetarian household. We love a good rotating tumbler and worm composter (we own some too!) but the atypical household composter, worm farm or compost pile can't process meat, bread, seafood, cheese as these attract vermin, while worms are finicky little wigglers with a picky diet. For pescaterians, flexitarians, wagyu steak loving' types, our composting program is designed to maximise food waste overflow for both residents and commercial members, so the meaty organics won't end up in landfill.

What can I put into my collection vessels?

We take all organic material including your usual suspects: fruit and veg, meat and small bones, carbs, teabags, coffee grounds, shells (shellfish and eggs), and even dried flowers. You can even give us avocado pits, paper towels, shredded paper, fallen leaves!We won’t take big bones, cooking oil, cardboard, twigs and branches, plastic bags, glass, metal cans, glass, glossy paper, animal poo or anything chemical laden.Our program also doesn’t take compostable bags, wipes or large quantities of compostable packaging (certified home compostable only, please), if you’re unsure please contact us.This is after years of hard research, and we’ve selected the very best circular solutions that can reduce the most landfill waste and ensure an output of quality nutrient rich output to make compost and other circular products.

Can I use degradable / biodegradable / compostable bin liners?

We're a bag free bizz. We can take (some) biodegradable or compostable bags in our program, as directed by our food recycling machine partners, but we recommend you leave these out in general as biodegradable/compostable bags can result in loads being rejected and incurring additional repair costs. Bag free is best, in our campaign for zero-waste!

What is the difference between the 20L buckets and 120L collection vessels?

Our micro collections program is a swap and go, meaning our team collects your food waste and then processes it locally using composting technology. Each week we swap your full 20L bucket(s) for clean ones, and the entire service is contained within a 5-10k radius which is a tiny micro loop designed to keep travel carbon emissions down.

Our macro collections program utilises carefully selected circular partners who will empty your 120L organics bin and then process it through a network of circular processors, such as black soldier fly and commercial composting facilities.We also like to work with both systems, where those who start out in the micro collections program by our hospitality partners with larger food waste volumes can start off as an initial trial before progressing onto our macro service, which allows us to closely monitor the types of waste being produced and then provide feedback to empower behaviour change, waste reduction, better source separation and address any contamination issues.

What can I expect when I sign up?

After we’ve received your enquiry we will send you a service quote specific to your home or business needs, taking into account spatial constraints. This service quote will detail the steps to get started and when the service will commence. If we identify any access or spatial barriers that may prevent us offering you the best solution, one of our team will get in touch before we finalise the service quote.

What do you charge?

Our micro collections pricing is based on volume and category type (ie resident, office, hospitality), and we offer tiered pricing which we’ll detail in our service quote.Our macro collections pricing is based on volume and frequency, and we offer tiered pricing based on volume and frequency. Additional pricing benefits are offered if/when we can bring your neighbours onto the program.

Why does it cost more to pick up a single bucket at the office or home vs my local cafe?

We offer volume discounts to cafes/restaurants and events as the amount of food waste produced is much higher due to the nature of hospitality volumes, so we aim to keep it affordable. A single residence or office produces far less, and we have to keep pricing fair value to keep our pick up operators on a living wage! If cost is of a concern, we incentivise members to create their own compost collective with their neighbours to share some buckets and lower costs.

How do I share buckets with neighbours to make up a compost collective and get a volume discount?

It's not hard to talk to your neighbours. We make this easy for you based on how many buckets you need and who’s in your collective - we can divide up the collective cost and split it between your neighbours in a recurring subscription for zero stress! Alternatively you can be the main account holder and work out an arrangement with your pals. (I hear bartering is making a come back...)

It’ll take more than 3 buckets / 2 bins to get a volume discount.

I'm on a bucket subscription, how can I pause or cancel it?

Whether you're heading off to holidays or if you're moving out of the area and need to cancel your subscription, send us an email (hello@cirquedusoil.com.au) and we're adjust your account. There’s no cancellation cost if you’re moving or feel like you don’t need a subscription anymore. Just let us know in advance for when you’ll be on pause or final pick up dates and we'll sort the rest.

What happens if my bucket/bin gets lost/damaged/stolen?

While it’s highly unlikely someone would want to steal a bucket or bin of food waste, as opposed to your just ordered waffles and chicken from uber eats - this does happen from time to time because buckets are pretty valuable, folks!

When you nominate your weekly pick up point, we ask that you select a shaded hidden spot or behind your front gate. We also have processes in place with our ops team to minimise theft or damage. If it does happen, we will have to charge a replacement fee for the bucket, but no more than what it cost us to produce it.

What if we miss a pick up?

We don't expect anyone to be waiting around when we’re out on our rounds. After all, we're busy folk out there getting s%#t done. If this happens, it's usually because of a sudden office closure, or public holidays resulting in an unsuccessful service.

In this instance where we are unable to complete collection through no fault of Cirque du Soil or Waste Ninja as a result the service charge will be applied to your account and we will contact you to reschedule. You can avoid this charge by simply making your bins available for collection on your service day, at the agreed location and not contaminated, overloaded, blocked or locked.

If it's a sudden public holiday (ie Queen's day of mourning) we'd get in touch with you on those unplanned day offs to organise an alternative pick up day. If the pick up location has permanently changed, feel free to drop us a courtesy message so we can keep it easy for our ops team.

Can I get some Cirque du Soil GrowGood fertiliser? If so, how do I use it?

This is absolutely free for all our members. With the success of our 2 year GrowGood R&D fertiliser project, this is 100% a fertiliser output we stand behind on. We've trialed this on veggies, and house plants. (sorry, still no idea about Australian natives - yet) We can bring you some at your next bucket swap on request, usually at 1-2 week's notice - Just ask us

When it arrives, dilute with a ratio of 1:10 as it’s powerful stuff! We like to mix it up with some traditional compost, worm tea and organic soil. Get ready for some very happy plants!

GET A QUOTE

LET'S GET YOUR FOOD SCRAPS BACK INTO THE GROUND

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