As Australia tightens its food waste laws, restaurants across the country are being asked to rethink what happens to their scraps.
New NSW FOGO (Food Organics and Garden Organics) regulations will soon require hospitality businesses to separate and recycle food waste instead of sending it to landfill. But while most venues are preparing to outsource their waste to commercial composting companies, Sonora Potts Point has taken a completely different approach.
We’re building giant worm farms that turn our kitchen and paper waste directly into rich, living fertilizer — feeding the same garden that grows ingredients for our menu. It’s not about saving money or ticking boxes. It’s about creating a closed-loop ecosystem that grows better produce, reduces waste, and deepens the flavour of everything we serve.
Learn more about how the new laws work, why we chose worm farms over compost, and how sustainability at Sonora means more than compliance — it means better food.
The New Food Waste Laws — What’s Changing
Across Australia, food waste is being redefined from “rubbish” to “resource.”
Under the NSW EPA’s FOGO rollout:
- From 1 July 2026, large waste-generating businesses (like restaurants and supermarkets) must separate food organics from general waste.
- By 2030, even smaller food businesses will be included.
- The goal is to halve national food waste by 2030, in line with End Food Waste Australia’s initiative.
The intention is good — to reduce landfill and methane emissions — but the common approach has become paying a company to collect and “process” your waste offsite.
The result is often low-grade compost that’s resold to farms, with little to no benefit returning to the venue that created the waste.
At Sonora, we decided to close that loop ourselves.
Why We’re Building Giant Worm Farms
Instead of paying to have our organic waste taken away, we’re turning it into fertilizer for our own garden — using large-scale worm farms designed for restaurant volumes.
What Goes In
- Vegetable trimmings and peelings
- Used paper towels and cardboard packaging
- Spent plant material from the garden
It’s a completely self-contained system that creates nutrient-rich vermicast (worm compost) and liquid fertilizer (worm tea), which we use to feed the plants that supply Sonora’s kitchen.
The Real Reason We’re Doing It
Let’s be honest — this isn’t about cutting costs. Worm farming takes time, planning, and care. But it gives us something no outsourced compost system can: better produce, naturally enriched soil, and a deeper connection between the kitchen and the garden.
Why Worm Farms Over Traditional Compost
When we started designing our waste system, we compared worm farms to standard composting. Here’s what we found:
1. No pests or smell
Compost bays attract flies and rodents. Worm farms are closed systems — they don’t smell, and they don’t draw pests.
2. No daily turning
Traditional compost must be turned daily to aerate it. Worms do that work for us, naturally aerating and breaking down material.
3. pH-balanced output
Some commercial systems use bacteria to break down waste faster, but the result can be too acidic, limiting which plants can thrive. Worm castings are neutral and rich in beneficial microbes — perfect for our edible garden.
4. Compact and scalable
Composting at scale means open bays and heavy labour. Worm farms are modular, efficient, and easy to expand vertically — ideal for a tight inner-city space like Potts Point.
Closing the Loop — Kitchen → Garden → Kitchen
This system connects every part of what we do:
- Kitchen waste goes to the worm farm.
- The worm farm produces fertilizer.
- The fertilizer grows our plants and herbs.
- Those plants return to the menu at Sonora.
It’s a full-circle process that mirrors our philosophy:
“Sustainability isn’t a marketing claim — it’s just smart cooking.”
And there’s an unexpected bonus: self-seeding.
Because we’re returning everything from the kitchen back into the soil — tomato seeds, chilies, herbs, and more — many of them just come up by themselves later. The garden regenerates naturally, sometimes surprising us with volunteer plants we never planned to grow.
We let nature take the lead and decide what thrives. It’s another layer of sustainability — the garden feeding itself without intervention, powered by the same system that feeds our kitchen.
This approach supports our broader garden-to-table philosophy — using fast-growing, underutilized, and often overlooked ingredients that thrive naturally in our soil.
The Bigger Picture
When the food waste laws take effect, many restaurants will be forced to rethink how they handle scraps. Sonora is already years ahead of that curve.
We’re not outsourcing sustainability — we’re building it into the DNA of our restaurant.
Our worm farms don’t just solve a waste problem; they produce richer soil, stronger herbs, and better flavour. It’s sustainability that you can taste.
FAQs
Q: What are the new food waste laws for restaurants in NSW?
A: From July 2026, businesses that generate large amounts of general waste must separate food organics from other waste streams. Smaller venues will follow by 2030. The goal is to divert organic waste from landfills and reduce emissions.
→ Learn more on the NSW EPA website.
Q: Can restaurants process food waste on-site?
A: Yes. The law requires separation, not outsourcing. Venues can use systems like worm farms or enclosed compost units to manage their own organic waste, as long as it’s properly contained and doesn’t cause odours or pests.
Q: Why not just pay for collection?
A: Offsite collection is convenient but disconnects you from the benefit. We prefer to keep the nutrients in-house, using them to grow herbs, vegetables, and edible flowers for our own menu.
Q: Does worm farming really handle that much waste?
A: Absolutely. When scaled correctly, worm farms can process hundreds of kilograms of organic material per month — quietly and cleanly.
Q: Does it save money?
A: Not really — it’s more about value. It takes time and effort, but the reward is healthier soil, better produce, and a more sustainable food system.
Q: What is self-seeding, and why is it important?
A: Self-seeding happens when seeds from kitchen scraps naturally sprout in the garden soil — often from tomatoes, herbs, or chilies. It’s nature’s way of continuing the cycle without human input, creating a living, regenerative garden that’s always evolving.
Final Thoughts
The upcoming food waste laws are a great step forward for the hospitality industry — but at Sonora, we’ve chosen to go further.
We’re creating our own living ecosystem that takes waste out of the equation and replaces it with growth, health, and flavour. Because when it comes to sustainability, doing the right thing shouldn’t be about saving money — it should be about making better food.
Written by Chef Roy McVeigh
Founder & Head Chef at Sonora Potts Point
“The more life we put back into our soil, the more flavour we put back on the plate.”
