Luisa and Rob barely have enough room in their inner-city Melbourne apartment for their family of four, let alone for the food waste they generate every day.
Keeping food scraps to a minimum is a daily struggle while feeding their two young girls, four-year-old Emily and two-year-old Isabel.
"We try to minimise food waste as much as possible but with young kids, a lot just goes uneaten and chucked out," Luisa said.
"When you make some toast, anywhere from 100 per cent to 10 per cent goes uneaten for kids. And crust is constantly a losing battle."
Without room in their small apartment for a compost bin, Luisa estimated several kilograms of food waste was going to landfill every week.
Eco Educate environmental consultant Katie Nicklin is not surprised.
By some estimates, up to 40 per cent of Australia's food ends up in landfill.
"Food waste is a massive issue in Australia — we know about 2.5 million tonnes of food is thrown out each year in Australia," Ms Nicklin said.
"That's more than four kilograms per household per week.
"This is a staggering statistic, especially when we think about how avoidable this waste category is with the right measures in place.
"[When food waste goes to] landfill, it generates a more potent greenhouse gas than carbon dioxide, which is methane, and that contributes to our climate change problem."
From food scraps to fertiliser
A trial of industrial-sized dehydrators has been set up in six Melbourne high-rise apartment buildings to zap the food waste that would otherwise go to landfill.
The dehydrator heats, shreds then reduces the size of the food scrap by 85 per cent.
What's left is then turned into fertiliser, so nothing goes to landfill.
The $300,000 trial by the Melbourne City Council, Enrich360 and EcoGuardians, has been described by Lord Mayor Sally Capp as "the first of its kind in Australia".
The company involved in the trial, EcoGuardians, said the machines could treat 100kg of food waste at a time.
Across Australia, more than 1 million people live in apartments.
The latest ABS data has shown there are now 368,000 high-rise towers across Australia, with the majority located in Sydney, Brisbane and Melbourne.
In the City of Melbourne, 84 per cent of residents live in high-rise apartments, Ms Capp said.
"The solution to our waste issues in Melbourne means we really need to focus our attention on high rises," she said.
Luisa's waste worries have since been solved after a dehydrator was installed in her apartment's basement a little over a month ago as part of the trial.
She described it as "so super easy".
"[You] literally put it in, close the door and it does whatever it does," she said.
Creating a circular solution
EcoGuardians chief executive Helen Steel said the machines aimed to create a circular solution for apartment dwellers.
"We're collecting the output, refining it, and giving it back to the community [of residents taking part in the trial], to use in their gardens," she said.
"What we'd love to see is garden to fork and back to garden.
"What we want to create is a circular solution."
The practice involves education. Luisa's partner Rob said his girls had been enjoying the task of sorting through their waste, and learning about sustainability and gardening, despite living eight storeys high.
"We certainly try and make it a hands-on experience for the kids," he said.
"[We] let them know the benefit of it, doing their own food scraps and putting it in the dehydrator.
"It's just a good opportunity for us to teach our kids. Get them involved early and hopefully it becomes a habit."
The 12-month trial will finish in 2024, when recommendations wil be made for future projects.
