In 2004, the NSW Department of Environment and Climate Change (DECC) worked closely with the Queanbeyan City Council on a project called “City to Soil”. This project demonstrated that high quality, organic wastes from urban communities can be collected, composted and used in agriculture with positive economic and environmental results for farmers. City-to-Soil also demonstrated a high level of willingness and capacity by the community to participate in source separation of organics. The overall environmental and social benefits of the project were very significant.
In 2007, Goulburn Mulwaree, Palerang, Queanbeyan City and Lachlan Councils, the Wiradjuri Condobolin Aboriginal Corporation, the Palerang Agricultural Society, Bettergrow Pty Ltd and the South East office of the DECC Sustainability Programs Division were granted $1.96 million from the NSW Environoment Trust to prove the wider economic viability of the “City to Soil” collection system and establish composted urban organic waste as a cost effective, high quality agricultural input.
In 2007, Goulburn Mulwaree, Palerang, Queanbeyan City and Lachlan Councils, the Wiradjuri Condobolin Aboriginal Corporation, the Palerang Agricultural Society, Bettergrow Pty Ltd and the South East office of the DECC Sustainability Programs Division were granted $1.96 million from the NSW Environoment Trust to prove the wider economic viability of the “City to Soil” collection system and establish composted urban organic waste as a cost effective, high quality agricultural input.
The project (Groundswell) will result in farmers and councils working together to pull urban organic waste out of the cities and back onto agricultural land, simultaneously reducing organic waste to landfill and increasing organic levels in agricultural soils.
The research and project outcomes of Groundswell will provide councils, governments and farmers with the information and data they need to reconfigure waste collection systems and contracts to establish economically viable “City to Soil” collection systems in collaboration with local farmers.
The vision for Groundswell is that:
- Groundswell establishes economic models that are self sustaining and can operate for the same or less cost as current models.
- That the model or systems result in measurable improvement in agricultural soils and productivity.
- That the project also contributes to a range of broader environmental outcomes.
- That the community engages in the project through source separation of household organic waste
- That the systems continue beyond the project timeframe, and are implemented in other settings
- That Groundswell results in a reduction of waste to landfill
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