TasTAFE Drysdale North

Image of staff at Drysdale North spreading compost on a kitchen garden

Small-scale composting

Teaching staff at the Drysdale training restaurant in Launceston had established a Sustainability Committee and wanted to introduce a culture of sustainability and recycling.​ The organisation was a recipient of a Northern Tasmanian Waste Management Group resource recovery and waste minimisation grant, which enabled them to purchase a composting machine.

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The Project

Establish best practice internal processes for waste management and small-scale composting and an associated training strategy for students undertaking Certificate IV in Cookery.

Objectives

  • Develop a model for waste management for TasTAFE and the Tasmanian hospitality industry.
  • Achieve cost benefits by reducing food and other waste to landfill​.
  • Establish a training and assessment strategy for students participating in the implementation of the model developed.

Targets

  • Reduce waste to landfill by 50%​.
  • Reduce or maintain service cycle times​.
  • Reduce or maintain product cycle times.
Image of composter being filled with food waste

A small-scale commercial composter was commissioned and food waste is now composted on-site for use in kitchen gardens.

Outcomes

What was implemented?

  • The composting machine was installed and commissioned.
  • Procedures have been established for separation of all wastes, including measurement and monitoring.
  • Students are learning by doing through their implementation of the procedures put in place.

Key issues

  • Not knowing what I didn’t know​ about commissioning the composting equipment.
  • Internal administrative delays​.
  • Allowing time to experiment with the composter​.
  • Standardising procedures – who is responsible for what?​
  • Figuring out what to do with all our compost!

Performance against targets

  • 80-100% projected reduction in food waste to landfill​.
  • 36% reduction in cardboard waste from re-use​.
  • 50% reduction in paper waste to landfill.
  • Service and product cycle times maintained, with additional processes introduced.

Lessons Learnt

  • Waste reduction, landfill re-direction and opportunities for resource efficiency are everywhere.​
  • At every step of the way, you need to have buy-in from the people you are relying on for success.​
  • I learnt about the ​action learning process and ​how it was applied in the BREP program.
Image of trainee chef in kitchen garden

Students participate in waste collection and separation in-process, and maintenance of kitchen gardens at the Drysdale site.

Image of Greg Hillier

Greg Hillier
Cookery Teacher

“I learned a lot from other set members, who had more experience with this type of project.”

Business Resource Efficiency Program

The Business Resource Efficiency Program (BREP) was delivered by Business Action Learning Tasmania in partnership with the Tasmanian government.

It is a key action from Climate Action 21, the Tasmanian Government’s climate change action plan.

11 Tasmanian businesses participated in BREP, which included waste audits, tailored resource efficiency improvement strategies, an action learning program, and one-on-one mentoring.

  • Red Brick Road Ciderworks
  • Bridestowe Lavender Estate
  • Botanical Resources Australia
  • Penguin Composites
  • Direct Edge Manufacturing
  • Nichols Poultry
  • Jinglers Creek Vineyard
  • Drysdale North
  • pitt&sherry
  • CPT Engineering
  • ThinkBig Printing
Increasing resource efficiency provides business benefits and sustainability outcomes.

Get in on the action

Are you interested in learning more about action learning for resource efficiency?

Contact us

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“We are very efficient at many things already because stinginess is a waste-fighting superpower!”
Karina DambergsCidermaker, Red Brick Road Ciderworks
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“I had really good engagement from staff. Everyone wants to be a part of the solution.”
Anna RobertsonGeneral Manager, Bridestowe Lavender Estate
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“I learned a lot from other set members, who had more experience with this type of project.”
Greg HillierCookery Teacher, Drysdale Training Restaurant
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“I appreciated having people outside my business to help me reflect on my achievements and celebrate successes along the way.”
Fiona TurnerVigneron, Jinglers Creek Vineyard
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“I discovered that we’re not isolated, there are common themes around resource efficiency across businesses and industries​."
Brett WheldonSystems Coordinator, CPT Engineering
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“Changing our mindset from ‘reducing waste’ to ‘improving quality’ made a big difference.”
Scott LovellOwner/Manager, Think Big Visual Solutions
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“A key learning for me was the important part industry plays in reducing waste in Tasmania.”
Phil StephensonChief Production Officer, Nichols Poultry
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“Finding a solution for fibre composite waste would be ground-breaking and quite significant. I feel we have come very close.”
Darren EmmertonProduction Manager, Penguin Composites
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“Check your waste contracts, don’t just renew them. You may find there is a strong business case for diverting waste from landfill.”
Adam SuttonProject Manager, Pitt & Sherry
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“It was great to get ideas from other businesses and see some of our ideas adopted by others in the group.”
Bronte RichardsonProgrammer, Direct Edge Engineering
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“Your company must be fully on board, right to the top, before you look at funding options.”
Ray HoweProduction Manager & Chief Engineer, Botanical Resources Australia
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“We’ve been really inspired by some of the solutions being developed in the different sectors that we were exposed to during the program.”
Kim RobinsonManaging Director, The Cove Tasmania
Kim Robinson, The Cove Tasmania
“There is no time to waste. George Town and the surrounding areas are ideal for developing a model for regenerative systems in regional areas.”
Frank StrieManaging Director, Terra Preta Developments
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“We’re driven by the tangible impact of sequestering tonnes of carbon, the co-benefits for the environment, and the potential to catalyse a cascade of carbon capture.”
Christina GiudiciCo-founder, The New Black Biochar
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“Working intensively with the group, we clearly defined niche customer groups for the Reuse Shed.”
Mica PerezProject manager, The Reuse Shed
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“Having to clearly define the problem to a group is helpful. The active listening and open questions are really valuable.”
John MeehanOperations Manager, Mitchell Plastic Welding
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The Business Resource Efficiency Program is delivered by BALT in partnership with the Tasmanian government.