In less than a year, more than 3,330 litres of food scraps have been diverted from landfill thanks to the Community Composting Hub in Te Kauwhata.

The community hub is the first of its kind in our district and is funded by the Waikato District Council waste disposal levy and led by Para Kore in collaboration with Te Kauwhata Primary School and the CarbonCycle company.

The idea for the project was born out of a dream where the community collaborates to divert organic waste from landfill to reduce greenhouse gas emissions and create nutrient-dense soil.

By completing the full composting cycle, it improves soil quality and reduces the amount of methane in the environment by returning nutrients back to where they came from.

These milestones were celebrated last week when the community came together to lay the soil.

“The project was driven by wanting to support local solutions to local waste opportunities” says Sally Fraser, Waste Services Manager at Waikato District Council.

“Composting our food honours the taonga we have taken and used, in this case, the nutrients from the soil, the plants, and the animals that fed our bodies,” says Paul Murray, Programme Specialist at Para Kore.

“We can’t wait to see what vegetables grow in the community garden from the compost made of our food scraps.”

“It was fantastic to gather with key players in the project who have showcased tremendous leadership and passion by turning this idea into a reality,” says Mayor Jacqui Church.

“Specifically, we’d like to acknowledge the awesome work done by Brian and Alice from Te Kauwhata Primary School, as well as Paul, Ngakau and the team from Para Kore, and Rhonda who works in the community garden and hired within the project to be the Community Compost Hub Manager for the first year.”

Since creating the Community Composting Facility Hub in Te Kauwhata, Waikato District Council and Para Kore have partnered with Matawhaanui Trust to install another hub in the Kaahui Tuuwaa maara kai–garden in Raahui Pookeka, with additional plans for another hub in Ngaaruawaahia.

“We’re proud to have played a key role in creating supporting this project in Te Kauwhata and contributing to the sustainability of the community, and we’re excited to set up other hubs and see where this joint venture takes us next,” says Mayor Jacqui.

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