AvalonAn alliance between Veolia, the Department of Defence (Defence), and local indigenous business entrepreneur William (Billy) Feeney has transformed Darwin’s waste landscape with the launch of EcoMob, the city’s first commercial food organics recovery facility that turns food leftovers into high quality compost. Defence provided food waste from its barracks following a successful pilot, while Veolia provided the premises, machinery and expertise to get Billy started in his own business.

“A big part of Veolia’s ethos as a company is deeply rooted in the idea of ecological transformation, which aims to depollute, decarbonise and regenerate the world,” said Veolia’s National Contract Manager, Department of Defence, Dale Manley. “Helping Billy set up the first commercial food organics facility in Darwin by providing the space, machinery and expertise to turn food waste into high grade fertiliser goes to the heart of that mission.”

The coming together of Defence, a major corporation like Veolia to provide the expertise and machinery, and the entrepreneurial spirit of a Northern Territory go-getter has already put the business on a strong footing.

“With the Department of Defence providing the food waste and Veolia bringing in another dehydrator unit to its Darwin depot and applying its expertise, we were quickly able to set up a business that was sustainable and created jobs for locals,” Feeney said. “I’m very hopeful that this business can grow and become an important part of the Northern Territory’s circular economy.”

EcoMob will create new employment opportunities too as Billy has plans to employ disadvantaged groups, mothers who want to work while kids are at school, and people on the NDIS as the business grows. For Feeney, this all adds an extra reward for taking on the business. What I particularly love about being the owner and operator is that this is a business that truly makes a difference ― to the environment, to the circular economy, for farmers and gardeners and for people looking to find meaningful work,” Feeney said.

The venture got its start when Veolia and Defence, with enrich360 providing the dehydration machines, trialled food waste processing facilities at Robertson and Larrakeyah barracks as part of Defence’s drive to halve food waste going to landfill by 2030. At that time EcoMob’s sole role was as a subcontractor transporting the compost off base.

The trial was an immediate success and it clearly had the potential to be scaled up to take food waste from every base around Darwin and even other businesses across the region. To achieve that aim, the processing facility had to be moved off base.

That was when Feeney saw the business opportunity and put himself forward to take on the challenge. With the help of Veolia, Defence, and enrich360, the EcoMob food organics recovery facility was born.

For Veolia, supporting EcoMob was a no-brainer, because of the company’s ecological transformation mission and its strong focus on reconciliation through its 10-year long reconciliation action plan that aims to achieve sustainable outcomes ― economically, socially and environmentally ― for Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander communities.

Helping EcoMob get established and prosper also goes to Defence’s focus on making itself a vital and useful part of the community where it resides.

“This has been a wonderful example of our alignment with Defence to support entrepreneurs from the Indigenous community to help create a local, sustainable and profitable solution to food waste in Darwin,” Manley said. “This is a business that can make a genuine difference to the State’s circular economy.”

As the CEO of dehydrator supplier enrich360, Jaclyn Lees, said, the creation of the EcoMob facility showed what could be achieved when different organisations and businesses were prepared to work together. “We are proud to be a part of this journey, from a proof of concept to a real-life example of what collaboration can achieve. This facility is creating employment opportunities and improving our environmental impact. By using dehydrator technology, Billy is not only diverting food waste from landfill but also creating a valuable resource that enriches our soil while producing potable water in the process.”

For Feeney, the support from Veolia, enrich360, Defence and the businesses that have signed up to have their food processed at EcoMob has been life changing. “EcoMob has been made possible because Veolia, enrich 360 and the Department of Defence got behind the idea and helped turn it into a reality. It’s proof that when we work together we can make a positive difference.”

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