After your food and garden waste is collected weekly, it heads to a purpose-built waste facility, SOILCO, in Kembla Grange to be turned into compost.

The FOGO material is weighed, sorted, and shredded before being placed in four specially designed tunnels which each hold 800 cubic metres of FOGO material. After 21 days in the tunnel, being monitored carefully by computer to assess microbial activity and having air and water added as needed, the hot composting process is complete.

It is then tested for germs and screened before being used in various ways to improve soil. This could be in large remediation projects, for top-dressing on local sports fields, in tree plantings, including Wollongong's Tiny Forests, or into bagged compost products.