People may consider organic waste a liability: it’s smelly, soggy, attracts flies, and potentially generates methane gas in landfills.

A feasibility study carried out by the City of Cape Town during 2013 asks whether households can successfully divert kitchen and soft garden organic waste through home composting.

Previous studies in 2008/2009 in the CoCT found that green (garden) waste still landfilled comprised approximately 6%, and kitchen waste approximately 5%.

This study provided home composting containers to approximately 700 households and gathered data for 9 months. Participants were from four areas within Cape Town, selected to be representative of low and middle income sampled households.

This paper details the sample selection criteria, methodology and results; it highlights some recommendations and the real possibility of residents benefiting from this valuable resource.

Download technical paper here.