Transform your dog poo into compost with this easy home dog poo composting system.
The ever replenishing supply of dog poop landing on your lawn on a daily basis can be enough to drive you crazy. Into your rubbish bin it goes, out of sight, out of mind, happily producing global warming methane in landfill.
So what if I could give you a simple effective non-smelling composting solution suitable for nearly any backyard that can cater for small to big to multiple dogs?
The system consists of a big bin with holes drilled all over it and the bottom cut out. The bin is then buried with the top lid sticking out. Ideally it’s buried in a berm, or somewhere in the far corner of the garden tucked away amongst some trees or shrubs.
The poop is popped into the bucket every day or two at your leisure.
You will need:
-1 x 50 litre plastic bin or similar. It needs to be a HDPE plastic. You can find the stamp on the bottom. Beware of cheaper bin alternatives that will have a shorter lifespan and aren’t UV stable.
– a drill with a drillbit of 10mm or bigger.
-a craft knife or similar
-a shovel
-a bag of bokashi bran. Can be purchased at a hardware store, QLDC offices or Wastebusters in Wānaka.
Expected time to make and get in the ground: 30 minutes
To make:
It smells really bad when I open it up?
This system shouldn’t smell. The bokashi bran has biology that assists, eating up the smells while breaking the dog poo down. If it smells, sprinkle a big one-off handful of bran over the bins contents. Then increase the quantity of bokashi bran sprinkle on your daily offerings to the bin.
It’s very wet in the system?
Have you put the bin in the right spot? Remember we need to be away from water tables, low spots in the land or maybe an irrigation dripper/spray is nearby.
It’s very dry in the system?
Dry is ok. There should be enough moisture from the dog poop to assist with its breakdown. If in doubt give the contents a sprinkle with the hose or watering can once a week over the dry summer months.
I have a large load of poo, can I put it all in at once?
If it’s been a while between cleaning up the yard and you have a larger load of doggy doo, then deposit in the bin. Rather than chucking it all in at once, put in small batches followed by a generous sprinkle of bokashi bran and repeat. Consider being more generous with the bokashi bran.
Can I put compostable dog poop bags into the system?
These can go into the system. They will take longer to break down. This system doesn’t work if you are only putting compostable bags filled with poop into the system. Empty the contents of at least 70% of the bags (minus the bag) into the bin.
Where can I store the bucket?
When you’re filling the bucket, have it close at hand. Under the sink, at the back door or in the garage. Make it easy for yourself. When the bucket is full, leave it in a warm place. Laundry room/airing cupboard/north facing outside the house.
From time to time, we can also add leaves and biochar, though this isn’t essential and the system works fine without. If you were scaling up this system for multiple dogs, then biochar would be a great additive to sprinkle at the same time as the bokashi bran.
This system isn’t for your veggie garden. The finished product isn’t for use around the veggie garden. It is best left buried in a berm full of native trees or some non-native plantings.
Dog poo does have pathogens and diseases that can be passed onto humans. When handling dog poop, have a dedicated spade and bucket that is only used for this job. Wear gloves and wash your hands immediately afterwards.
So there you have it, a smell-free dog poo composting solution!
*This system doesn’t work with cat poo.
Whether you are just starting on your composting journey or you want to improve your current composting set up, our Composting Guides will give you the knowledge to feel confident to take your composting to the next level and divert organic waste from landfill.
Kitchen scraps and garden waste make up 50% of household waste. Putting them in the landfill can be harmful as organic waste releases methane, a climate change gas. The Dr Compost project helps people in the Queenstown Lakes district to reduce their waste and feed their soil by composting at home. Dr Compost is funded by Queenstown Lakes District Council and delivered by Wastebusters.
This year our amazing Wastebusters whānau has been busy keeping everything we can out of landfill and supporting resourcefulness in our community while also working on bringing our dream of Wastebusters 2.0 into reality.
We were humbled and absolutely stoked to take home the Wānaka Chamber of Commerce Business Awards Supreme Business Award, along with the Community Contribution and Business Sustainability awards. This success was a powerful recognition of the dedicated mahi of our entire team, giving us huge confidence for the ambitious journey ahead.
We welcomed Aviette Musin on a fixed-term contract as our new Programme Manager for Wastebusters 2.0. Her expertise provided the dedicated, focused capacity needed to accelerate progress on this strategic goal.
Funding was secured through Queenstown Lakes Community Composting Project for the Compost Collect pilot, a joint venture with our neighbours Wānaka Greenwaste that will turn commercial food scraps into valuable compost, launching in 2026. We also intensified our focus on Construction and Demolition (C&D) materials, trialling diversion methodology and securing initial partnerships to divert waste from landfill. With our current site so space-constrained, we are extremely limited in the C&D materials which can be accepted for reuse, but this work will lay the groundwork for future diversion on a bigger site.
We made a compelling case to the Council for the necessary land expansion for Wastebusters 2.0 and prepared for the MfE Waste Minimisation Fund application process to support our expansion plans.
A continued focus for us this year has been on strengthening the Wastebusters whānau and ensuring we are equipped not just for the daily challenges, but for future growth. We continued to be a Living Wage employer, reflecting our commitment to the well-being and value of our staff. Feedback from the team via staff survey results highlighted strong morale and resilience within our workplace culture with 89% saying they enjoy working at Wastebusters and 93% feeling cared for by their manager.
The district’s rapid growth brings challenges as well as opportunities, particularly the Ballantyne Road/Riverbank Road roadworks which demanded flexibility and good humour from our team and customers throughout 2024. Despite the road cones, ongoing community support ensured our Reuse Shop continued to be a first choice destination for both locals and visitors. Improved donation flows and adding new changing rooms has made the shop operation smoother and more efficient for everyone.
Wastebusters’ partnership with events continues to go from strength to strength: including the trial of a food scraps collection from vendors. And our Recycle team did the huge job of relabeling all our events recycling bins to align with national recycling colours, making it easier for event-goers to know what to do. Wastebusters recycling trucks continue to be a much-loved presence in town servicing our 408 business customers, with the team doing a great job of keeping our aging fleet serviceable, in line with our kaupapa of keeping resources in use for as long as possible.
Our Reduce team has continued to deliver exceptional impact, with more than 11,000 people engaged in person through our education and engagement in the community. The Resourceful Communities programme inspires our community to take action and builds the knowledge and know how to engage in areas like repair, low waste living and textile waste diversion. It is proudly supported by QLDC’s zero waste district’s programme which recognises the impact of community connection for zero waste action.
We were stoked to join Environment Hubs Aotearoa, and we look forward to collaborating with this network and amplifying our collective impact on environmental action and resourcefulness across Aotearoa.
We worked with an impact consultant to implement an evaluation framework and behaviour change model to better plan, deliver and measure our impact, and have begun rolling out our learnings across all our programmes.
It was a busy year in advocacy, starting with participation in QLDC’s Waste Management and Minimisation Plan process. We appreciated QLDC’s approach in bringing Wastebusters and other stakeholders in early in the process, which has resulted in a constructive plan for the next six years. Wastebusters has also made submissions on national and local level, including The Right to Repair Bill, the Container Return Scheme and the publicly notified resource consent for McDonald’s in Wānaka.
Ultimately, this year has been about delivering impact while building the foundations for a much larger and even more impactful operation, securing Wastebusters’ future for our community. The heart of our work remains resource recovery and community engagement, and we enter the next 25 years of zero waste leadership with great confidence, welcome community support and an unwavering focus.
Gina Dempster
General Manager
November 2025
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