Track Record
of providing recycling services to listed companies, private business and leading waste management companies.
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Food Waste Recycling
commercial waste management solutions & environmental impact reduction.
Urban Farms Recycling provides innovative, environmentally sound recycling solutions for listed corporate, business, hospitality & restaurant food wastes.
Our proprietary recycling system uses “bokashi” & vermiculture to stabilise and transform your waste into 80% pure vermicast; a powerful organic soil and plant growth enhancer. We provide our customers with the ability to “close their waste loop” and significantly reduce their to waste landfill and carbon footprint.
Simple Pricing
that includes all equipment, bokashi, logistics & reporting; and cost-effective when compared with landfill disposal
Compliance
with local waste legislation; measurement, reporting & disposal requirements. We mitigate any business risk related to food wastes.
Off-Site Recycling
treated food wastes are naturally recycled at our vermiculture farms or national network of composting partners
Earth Loving
our solution lowers your business’ carbon footprint; minimising waste to landfill, recycling waste to return value to the soil
Vermiculture
the engine behind our food waste recycling system
Urban Farms provides a reliable supply of certified organic vermicast (or worm castings); a natural plant growth stimulant & soil amendment.
Produced in our controlled urban vermiculture facilities, utilising proprietary technologies to harness the natural power of earthworms to recycle food wastes. Vermicast is scientifically proven to sustainably; increase crop yields, fruit & flower quality & improve root development & disease resistance from the soil up – all whilst reducing your fertiliser & pesticide inputs.
Certified Organic
for use in organic agriculture, by an international certification body
Purity Guarantee
all our pure vermicast products are backed by a money back guarantee
the Benefits
from increased plant available nutrients & microbial life when compared with compost
the Strength
of “vermi-compost” products available that contain 10-20% vermicast
Worms are more powerful than the African Elephant and more important to the economy than the cow – Charles Darwin
Knowledge Base
industry specific information & application support
BENEFITS
LANDSCAPING
GOLF & TURF
VITICULTURE
AGRICULTURE
Frequently Asked Questions
should you require further assistance, please drop us a mail on info@urbanfarms.co.za
What guarantee is offered by Urban Farms Recycling?
30-Day Money-Back Guarantee: Put us to the test! Use our product for up to 30 days, risk-free. If for any reason you are not completely satisfied with the results, return the product or product packaging for a full refund.
Just drop us a line at sales(Replace this parenthesis with the @ sign)urbanfarms.co.za to take advantage of our 30-Day Money-Back Guarantee.
What does Fertilizer Group 2 mean?
Is a fertiliser containing a total of less than 100 g/kg of N, P or K or any combination thereof. [source http://www.daff.gov.za/]
What does certified Organic mean and who provides Urban Farms Recycling’s certification?
Our Vermicast is certified for use as an input into organic agriculture according to the following governmental organic standards; European Reg. (EC) 889/2008 (Annex 1, Vermicompost), USDA NOP (§205.105 & 205.203(c)), Japanese Agricultural Standard for the Production of Organic Foodstuffs (JAS Not. 1605, Table 1) Our certification is provided by CERES GmbH, an ISO/IEC 17065 accredited certification body.
How is the 80%+ purity tested?
We measure the purity of every batch we produce through a process of separating out all the composite parts of our end product; The dried mass of vermicast, sand & silt and organic material are then measured. The resultant pure vermicast is weighed in order to determine the percentage it makes up of the total product. This is over 80% in the case of Urban Farms organic vermicast.
Why choose Urban Farms’ 80% pure Vermicast and not regular compost products?
In short, our 80% pure Vermicast is a way more powerful product for the rebuilding of degraded soils and stimulating plant growth. Some studies have indicated that vermicast has 100X the beneficial microbes of compost and is almost pure humus. We advocate using vermicast in conjunction with compost. Compost providing the bulk of the organic material and vermicast providing the high impact benefits to plants and the soil food web.
Why choose Urban Farms’ 80% pure Vermicast and not vermi-compost products?
With Urban Farms 80% pure Vermicast you know what you are getting. Rather blend our pure vermicast with good quality compost (20% vermicast) to produce your own vermi-compost with a guaranteed percentage vermicast. Most vermi-compost that is available is produced by adding a small number of worms to a compost pile near the end of the production process. This does mean there will be worm castings present but does not mean that the worms have moved through the bulk of the mass of organic material and that as a result all this material has passed through the worms and undergone the beneficial changes. Our process includes pre-composting of all feedstock ingredients plus a minimum of 10 weeks in our vermiculture bins, making our end product almost pure humus and ensuring the nutrients present are in a more “bio-available” form.
How does Urban Farms produce a vermicast product that is 80% pure?
Our proprietary harvest method includes passing the finished worm eaten material through a very fine screen which separates the vermicast from the worms and uneaten organic materials very effectively. Ensuring that all but the finest silt and unprocessed feed material are removed. Typically we achieve 90% purity (80% purity is guaranteed) through this process.
How does Urban Farms’ 80% pure Vermicast stimulate plant growth?
This is due to vermicast being coated with mucopolysaccharides and being enriched with nutrients. In addition the cellulolytic, nitrifying and nitrogen fixing microbes that are present in the worm cast (Kale et al., 1988) significantly increase the amount of mineralised nitrogen that is available to the plant.
Cationic Exchange Rate is defined as the rate at which trace elements (cationic = positive charge) are attracted to vegetative matter (anionic = negative charge).
Being a highly concentrated vegetative matter, vermicast (almost pure humus) is strongly anionic. In simple terms this means that trace elements are attracted to vermicast and readily bond to it in the same way that opposite poles of a magnet attract each other thus retaining these trace elements within the plants root zone. After that, plants have a stronger pull than the vermicast and therefore draw the trace elements away
from the vermicast and into their roots in a natural exchange system.
Soil Benevolent Biota are all the micro-organisms that are beneficial to the soil and soil-food-web.
Kale (1991) has attributed the improved growth in pastures and in other crops like rye and barley to the chemical exudates of the worms and the microbes associated with them.
The beneficial microbes found within the worm casts have been proven to improve the rooting of plants and significantly outperform chemical fertiliser in the seedling and transplanting stage.
Kale (1991) has attributed the improved growth in pastures and in other crops like rye and barley to the chemical exudates of the worms and the microbes associated with them.
The beneficial microbes found within the worm casts have been proven to improve the rooting of plants and significantly outperform chemical fertiliser in the seedling and transplanting stage.
How does every bag of Urban Farms 80% Pure Vermicast help save the environment?
The feedstock formulation that we have developed for our worms is made up of recycled food wastes together with other organic wastes that would otherwise have ended up in landfill. The diversion of these waste streams into our organic recycling process, save 435kg CO2e per tonne recycled, directly reducing our clients carbon footprint.
In addition, our process returns organic matter back into agriculture & landscaping practices, a critical factor to prevent the degradation of the critical layer of top-soil (humus).
The natural properties of vermicast, organically enhance soil properties and structure which lock in trace elements and reduce the requirement for additional fertilisation. This greatly reduces NPK and fertilizer leaching into underground water sources.
In addition, our process returns organic matter back into agriculture & landscaping practices, a critical factor to prevent the degradation of the critical layer of top-soil (humus).
The natural properties of vermicast, organically enhance soil properties and structure which lock in trace elements and reduce the requirement for additional fertilisation. This greatly reduces NPK and fertilizer leaching into underground water sources.
the passionate team
behind all that we do at Urban Farms
wayne harpur
founder & md
I am driven to fundamentally shift the food waste landscape in South Africa and entrench vermicast’s power as an organic soil ameliorant & plant food!
waste management
food waste recycling
Our dedicated team…handling logistics from customer sites and recycling of food wastes in an environmentally sound manner!
worm farmers
worm happiness experts
Our dedicated team…take great care of our worms, keeping them happy & working hard!
eisenia fetida
our silent workers
Commonly known as red wigglers we love to eat your food wastes; transforming it into “black gold”
Interested in our recycling services? Get in touch and see how our vermicast will transform your turf, yields or landscape…whilst diverting waste from landfills!
Contact Us
Contact
All you need to know to get in contact with us
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Contact Info
- ,
Z93 Modderfontein Reserve,
Factory 3 Gate, Ardeer Road
Lethabong,
1609
Johannesburg. - c
+27 21 701 0148 - O
+27 72 227 5949