Woolworths is the foundation customer for sustainability start-up Goterra’s innovative food waste management system installation in Wetherill Park, Sydney.
The system uses larvae from the Black Soldier Fly to rapidly break down food waste on site and on a large scale. Housed in high-tech, shipping container-sized units called Modular Infrastructure for Biological Services (MIBS) or ‘Maggot Robots,’ the larvae can devour vast amounts of food waste, reducing it by 95 per cent in just 24 hours.
The MIBS remove any plastic and cardboard, then grinds the food into a slurry. It then pumps it into a large maggot feedlot where the maggots get to work.
The larvae inside the high-tech Maggot Robots work 24/7 processing waste. Sensors track temperature, moisture, and waste levels, automatically adjusting conditions to optimise digestion.
The process creates organic fertiliser and nutrient-dense protein meal as by-products, helping to develop a circular economy.
It also reduced transport emissions as the waste is handled on-site, reducing the need for multiple waste trucks.
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.
Woolworths will send the food waste from its stores across the Sydney region, which isn’t appropriate for hunger relief charities, to the Wetherill Park site.
Woolworths 360 MD of Sustainable Impact, Laurie Kozlovic, 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.
“We’re pleased to partner with Goterra as its foundation customer, and excited by the future potential of the technology in regional areas where access to composting is limited.”
The partnership between Woolworths and Goterra began with a small-scale trial across its ACT stores since 2020.
And in March, a year-long pilot program concluded in Albury, which had processed food waste from Woolworths, restaurants, hospitality outlets, and food manufacturers. Over the 12 months, 350 tonnes of food waste were diverted from landfill.
“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 Wetherill site will process more than 100 tonnes every week and create 12 new jobs in the Fairfield City Council region, while also providing a blueprint for managing food waste sustainably.
Goterra is focused on expanding its fleet of modular waste units across Australia, providing scalable, decentralised, and emissions-reducing waste solutions.