Bioconversion of waste streams

About

We are a producer of worm castings under the brand name Wormganix. Our wormery is unique that we never sell the worms, breeding and rearing them with the sole intention of creating peat and chemical free fertilisers and growing mediums.

Our flagship range of retail worm castings is a well known brand in the UK and sold by the RHS,Crocus , Waitrose and more.

We also supply our worm castings in M3 bags to commercial horticulture

Our worm castings were previously created from composted bark, however the rising prices and inconsisency fuelled our interest in using waste streams instead ,We have successfully ran trials of  waste streams within our wormery this year-The ultimate goal being to convert raw waste streams into a fertiliser for both domestic and commercial horticulture.

We have been working with the Top 3 largest producers of coffee grounds in the UK -a small scheme has started locally this year which is to be expanded in 2025, and a similar scheme starts with one of the top 3 later this year , Our worms digest the coffee grounds and the resulting worm castings have been proven by lab analysis to be of great interest to commercial horticulture

We have also ran trials with brewers grains with one of the UK's best known breweries and we have been using paper pulp waste ( crumbles ) -the latter being so successful that we now use the paper pulp as a component of our flagship range

We need to both develop and scale up our trials of using alternative wastes for our wormery, with the successful variants to be lab tested and put on small scale trials to see if we can replicate or improve the fertility of our existing product which is in high demand

The commercial ban on peat begins in 2026 and the industry is looking at novel alternatives right now ,We can supply an alternative without peat and chemicals by using a waste that would have had to be repurposed at a cost and that has led to us to be a collaborator on the RHS peat free transition project

Our method and operation can be replicated anywhere -ideally adjacent to the waste stream that requires the bio-conversion - a UK network of wormeries would be the goal Our operation is further gaining traction now with the forthcoming legislation changes surrounding food waste -in France from next year,food waste has to be composted at home in plastic bins or worm composting units -that will follow here in the UK soon -the whole concept of using worms to re -purpose waste is not yet widely known 

So what are the next logical steps ?

to expand our schemes in West Yorkshire to start -to 'back haul ' the coffee grounds from the largest producers back to our wormery , at present the producers are paying to have them collected, and because collections are weight based , the grounds collections are a significant expense , we can reduce those costs and put the grounds to real use ,the default models currently are being sent to AD plants , or consolidated with other food wastes and being sent to In Vessel composting facilities, where due to the high temperature of the process the benefits are stripped -and the resulting compost produced is low quality and value and not suitable for commercial or retail horticulture

Replicate the coffee grounds schemes with brewers grains & paper waste, not only at our HQ but via our waste management companies whom we collaborate with

And not to stop there , we've only just started this exciting journey ,we need to carry on exploring the waste streams that can be repurposed this way ,this year we have tentatively explored egg shell waste , insect frass ( from the black soldier fly industry ) biscuit waste and more !