GOTERRA

 GoTerra’s Newest Hub – A Global Proof Point

Australia doesn’t often show up in conversations about insect protein policy, but from July 2026, the New South Wales (NSW) government is rolling out a mandate requiring businesses to adopt FOGO (Food Organics + Garden Organics) collection, with households to follow from 2030. That’s a legislated feedstock stream of an estimated 1.7 million tonnes of food waste in NSW alone, currently going to landfill each year.

It’s against this backdrop that Goterra opened its newest site in Wetherill Park, Sydney. The hub is currently licensed to process 115 tonnes of food organics a week from Woolworths supermarkets and other commercial streams. In global terms, it’s not the biggest insect facility you’ll read about, but it’s strategically important because it shows how legislation and technology can line up to make insects commercially viable.

In the UK and EU, insect protein is now authorised for aquaculture and poultry. But what you can feed the insects is still tightly constrained. Post-consumer catering waste is prohibited. That means much of the food waste the public thinks should be “going to the bugs” is actually still headed to anaerobic digestion or landfill.

“THE GOVERNMENT IN AUSTRALIA DECIDED TO MEASURE OUTCOMES, NOT OPTICS, AND THE RESULTS ARE DECENTRALISED INFRASTRUCTURE”.

The Australian Government at the state and federal levels have taken an alternate approach. By leveraging the existing frameworks of waste and environment protection licensing, Australia has created a regulatory scope that is rigorous and yet more flexible. Companies like Goterra can process a broader range of mixed commercial and household food organics, while still delivering safe, high-value outputs to agriculture.

Olympia Yarger, CEO, says, “By keeping post-consumer substrates off the table, nations are reducing their advancement to a circular economy, which should focus on the highest valorisation for waste along the value chain, not the easiest disposal. The government in Australia decided to measure outcomes, not optics, and the result is decentralised infrastructure.”

 

A quick look at the Wetherill Park facility:

● Total current waste capacity: 115 t/week.

Leveraging Goterra’s technology this site will scale to 580 t/week capacity to meet demand.

● Technology:

Goterra’s technology scales to meet demand by adding units of processing capacity as new contracts are signed. It’s also well known for its data and reporting capabilities. Tracking the waste value chain for customers from the bin lift through to insect feed and manure out. Goterra can deliver real time data that drives economic benefit for its customers.

● Outputs:

Insect protein (for feed), frass (as an organic soil input).
A core feature of Goterra’s technology, that resonates globally is decentralisation: a network of modular sites that process waste where the customer needs it. This model delivers two core benefits.

● Speed to market:

New units can be commissioned far faster than waiting on large-scale plant construction.

● Logistics advantage:

Facilities can be positioned closer to waste generation points, cutting transport miles and reducing disposal costs. At Wetherill Park, customers have already reduced transport costs significantly, as loads that previously travelled 5+ hours are now processed locally.

Globally, large corporations are under pressure to cut costs in their supply chains like waste bills and transport miles. Waste diversion pathways like Goterra deliver measurable savings on multiple fronts. Processing food organics close to source means fewer miles on trucks and lower logistics spend. On the offtake side, insect protein and frass provide local, stable inputs that reduce exposure to costly imported soymeal and synthetic fertilisers.

These financial efficiencies mean immediate benefit for customers and they come with an added upside. Every tonne of food organics diverted avoids methane emissions from landfill. Every mile saved on transport lowers fuel use. And every kilo of insect meal or frass displaces a carbon-intensive process. That means corporates also bank Scope 3 reductions in their sustainability accounts.

Goterra’s Wetherill Park is a proof point, not an endpoint. The model is deliberately designed for replication anywhere in the world, where the conditions stack.

This looks like feedstock security with consistent, contractible volumes of food organics. Clear licensing frameworks that define which substrates can be processed, as well as how insect protein and frass can be sold. Finally, market pull via strong offtake agreements, which provide confidence in demand for the outputs. Get those right and the economics work; without them, commercial viability remains challenging.

Wetherill Park demonstrates that when these levers are aligned, insect protein systems can be deployed quickly, deliver real throughput, and integrate directly into existing waste and logistics networks.

The global insect industry doesn’t need more pilots. It needs policy-aligned infrastructure that eats real waste, delivers real products, and cuts real emissions. Wetherill Park achieves these outcomes because NSW wrote the rules to make it viable.

Read the full issue of our Beta Buzz #6: From Waste To Value publication here