One site’s sludge is another site’s soil enhancer — that’s a circular economy win for sustainability, cost savings, and local agriculture.
At Aerofloat, we’re always looking for innovative and sustainable ways to manage waste from our wastewater treatment systems — and our latest project at Goodman Fielder is a perfect example.
We recently delivered a custom-designed Dissolved Air Flotation (DAF) plant to treat trade waste from its bakery operations. But what makes this project unique is what happens after the treatment process.
The DAF sludge and primary screenings are collected together in a shared sludge tank. Traditionally, this material would require costly disposal — but in a smart, sustainable partnership, we worked with Coastal Farms and Feeds, a local liquid waste contractor, to give this by-product a second life.
Here’s the sustainable twist:
Rather than sending the waste to landfill, Coastal Feeds collects the material — at no cost to the customer — and blends it into manure to create high-quality compost. That compost is then sold to organic growers in the region, supporting local agriculture and completing a beautiful loop in the circular economy.
What started as bakery waste is now helping grow fresh produce. This project shows how a well-designed wastewater solution can deliver value far beyond the treatment plant. With the right partnerships and a focus on sustainability, even industrial waste can be transformed into a resource.
If you’re in the food and beverage industry and looking for ways to reduce waste, cut costs, and support sustainable outcomes — we’d love to chat.
Transcript
G’day, Mick from Aerofloat. I just want to tell a really cool story about this little trade waste plant that we built here for Goodman Fielder at Burleigh Heads on the Gold Coast.
So here behind me is our solids tank. We have our screen that takes out all the food solids, the dough, the raisins, the grains. That drops into our sludge tank.
And then we have our AeroDAF removing all the fats, oils and grease and suspended solids from the wastewater, that goes into this sludge tank as well.
So now you’ve got one tank: food solids, DAF sludge.
Our friends at Coastal Feeds, pull up on a truck, suck this tank out. They take it to their processing centre where they mix it with manure. Two months later; That’s turned into an organic compost and then distributed to all the organic growers up here on the Gold Coast.
It’s a really cool story. And well done to our team for connecting Goodman Fielder with Coastal Feeds and the Organic Growers of the Gold Coast region.
There’s zero waste discharge from this site, it costs Goodman Fielder nothing. Well done to everyone involved for doing their bit for the environment.
