Millions of worms are to be put to work in the Bay of Plenty with the government funding a large vermicomposting (worm farming) trial project in the Eastern Bay.

The $100,000 funding is for the Bay of Plenty Regional Council, Zespri, Norske Skog Tasman Mill and Whakatane District Council partnership and comes from the Ministry for the Environment's Waste Minimisation Fund.

Environment Minister Dr Nick Smith announced the funding during his opening address at the annual WasteMINZ Waste Management conference held in Auckland on Wednesday.

Bay of Plenty Regional Council pollution prevention manager Bruce Gardner says the vermicomposting project is on a larger scale than has ever been tried before in New Zealand.

'The overall purpose of this project is to test how successfully worm farming can turn organic waste into a good soil compost product,” says Bruce.

'If this can be achieved on a large scale it could mean a significant reduction of waste going to landfills.”

The new worm composting farm is located in Kawerau, next to the Tasman Mill, where nearly 100,000 tonnes of wood waste is produced.

'Having the site location right next to the Tasman Mill is ideal as it creates an opportunity for the mill to make a real difference to their waste management.

We are really fortunate to have the support from Norske Skog Tasman, Zespri and Whakatane District Council, showing their commitment to long-term sustainable initiatives,” says Bruce.

During the trial, a proportion of the final product (about 500 tonnes) will be provided to Zespri for use on kiwifruit orchards.

'Zespri has made a significant investment into this project and have some innovative ideas to minimise their waste.

'We are thrilled to be supplying Zespri with our final product and seeing it put back into the production process.”

The vermicomposting trial site will be managed by EcoCast Ltd.

The trial will confirm whether this processing technology can accommodate a variety of waste types, and produce a high quality end product that can be marketed successfully.