Netwaste Visit to Goulburn

The composting site at Goulburn has become a top holiday destination for folks interested in low cost composting of food scraps and garden waste. In November the NETWASTE group of councils popped in for a visit and even took us out to lunch later.

Luckily it was a collection week so the NETWASTE folks were able to see first hand what the City to Soil collection looks like when it arrives. "Look mum - no smell!" Gotta love those compostable bags.

A new compost toy!

Things are highly mechanised at Condobolin now!

Back to the land!

Please excuse our long hiatus- it has been a very busy few months for the Groundswell Project Team. We return to our regular broadcast with great tidings. Behold ......................

Last month 60 tonnes of finished compost were delivered to Goulburn’s two on-farm trial sites at Narranbulla near Marulan and Strathmere at Yarra (pictured above). Last year these two properties were selected from over 20 farms who expressed an interest in participating in the trials.

The trials involve farmers setting aside approximately 12 ha (30 acres) of land. Divided into three plots, one will be left unfertilised, one treated with super phosphate and the other with Goulburn’s City to Soil compost. Stock movements through these paddocks will be monitored over the next 12 months to determine changes in the DSE (dry sheep equivalent) of each treatment. Additionally, a small area has been fenced off on each site to undertake randomised plot trials. These will assess the effect of City to Soil compost on fodder yields and soil health.

In April an audit of the City to Soil bins showed contamination levels of 0.2%. This is an outstanding result and the Goulburn community should be really proud of that effort. The main source of contamination in the City to Soil bin is plastic bags. These can not be composted and need to be removed by hand, which adds to the cost of doing the composting.

Currently the City to Soil collection is diverting over 100 tonnes of organic waste from the landfill each month. How cool is that?

And how cool is this truck thingy?

A good day at the office!

Goodness! This looks like 100 tonnes of beautiful, finished compost.

Would you like a closer look?

Does it get any better than that? This is what it is all about folks!

Goulburn has officially finished their first two batches of City to Soil compost. This week we have had a visit from the "Joker" (the big green thingy) to screen the compost. This marvelous machine belongs to SoilCo.

Here is a photo of compost being loaded into the "Joker"

Its kind of a rotating drum thing. The 26mm mesh allows all the fine particles to fall through onto the conveyor belt on the left. The larger bits travel through the length of the drum and end up on the conveyor belt on the right. It really is quite neat.

This photo shows where the big bits end up.

And this photo shows the MOUNTAIN of beautiful screened compost.

And here are Wayne and Gavin, composters extraordinaire from Goulburn Mulwaree Council. I think they look like happy composters don't you?

Nice work guys!

First Batch of Finished Compost!

Eugene and Cecil Coe with the finished compost


Press Release from Condobolin!


It's been an exciting time for the Wiradjuri Condobolin Coroporation. The first batch of compost produced from Condobolin’s City to Soil collection is finished and a sample has been sent off to an independent laboratory for testing.

Gerry Gillespie from the DECC said “The compost is looking really good. It is just lovely and the WCC have done a great job”

Eugene Coe from the WCC has been very pleased with the response from Condobolin residents “The community has really got behind the collection. We have had very low rates of contamination”

Acting Director Barrie Toms from the Lachlan Council praised the efforts of the community “It has been really great to see the support shown to the project from the Condobolin community. Council has received a lot of positive feedback. Residents really like the fact their food and garden waste is being diverted from landfill and being used to make a valuable product rather than being wasted.”

To emphasise the need to keep contamination out of the City to Soil collection, prizes are awarded each fortnight to three households who’s City to Soil bins only contain things that they should and nothing that they shouldn’t. The prizes are a $100 hamper of fresh fruit and vegetables and a range of environmentally friendly products. “People’s eyes really light up when they see the prizes” Mr Toms said. “ It’s great to reward people for doing the right thing, and it really brings home the idea that City to Soil is about compost and food production rather than waste.”

When asked what will happen with the compost now it is ready, Cecil Coe and Eugene said they were keen to start using the compost to grow fresh vegetables. "We would like to see how it goes in a market garden. It would be good to use the compost to grow fresh vegies for the Condobolin community”.

“Other options would be to bag up the compost to sell to residents, or to let it stockpile until there is enough to sell to a farmer in one large batch.”

Teacher Dennis Byrne from NSW TAFE is very pleased with how the trial has been going. “There is still a bit of testing to do to make sure our composting process breaks down any residual chemicals from people’s food or garden waste. We monitor the piles carefully for temperature and ph during the composting process. We are also testing for heavy metals and pathogens like salmonella or e-colli. The goal would be to produce a product that meets the Australian standards and is also eligible for organic certification.”

At the end of the day, the WCC needs to recoup the costs of processing the compost by either selling the product to farmers or the community or using it in either a market garden or nursery setting. Lisa Hibbert from the WCC said “It is early days yet, but everyone we talk to about the idea of a market garden thinks it is a great idea that would be great for Condobolin. Both Cecil and Eugene are qualified horticulturalists. With their great skills in this area, it could work really well.”

When asked what challenges they had had making the compost, Cecil mentioned that “Overall people are really good and only putting food scraps and garden waste in the bins. We have had some problems with a few households putting the wrong thing in but overall the response has been very good.”

“It is really important that the end product is something that people will want to use – and that means making sure there is no plastic or glass in the mix. Every piece of contamination put into the bins has to be pulled out by hand, so we really encourage residents to only put their food scraps and garden waste in the City to Soil bins.” said Gerry Gillespie

Audits undertaken in July last year show that 41.3% of materials in the general waste bins are organic and suitable for composting. A further 20% is paper, much of which is also suitable for composting. “The key to making the project sustainable is being able to get the organic material – the food scraps and garden waste out of the general waste bin and into the City to Soil bin. We need to see a quantifiable reduction in the amount of organic waste in people’s general waste bin to keep the project going in the long term.” said Mr Toms.

The introduction of City to Soil kitchen and garden waste collections in Lachlan, Goulburn Mulwaree, Palerang and Queanbeyan Council areas is being undertaken through a project known as Groundswell – which has been funded by a $1.96 million grant over three years from the NSW Environment Trust. The WCC has also received support from the Commonwealth government to build the composting shed at the landfill site.

More information can be found on the project blogsite: http://www.groundswellproject.blogspot.com/

As you can see, everyone is happy about the WCC's compost! And look how beautiful that shed is.

L-R: Michael Reynolds - Groundswell Economist, Eugene Coe - WCC, Cecil Coe - WCC, Dennis Byrne, TAFE Teacher, Simone Dilkara - Groundswell Project Manager

Farmers Join City to Soil

MEDIA RELEASE




CAP: (l-r) Agronomist Chris Houghton, City to Soil (Groundswell) Project Manager Simone Dilkara and Andrew Sieler ‘Strathmere’, Yarra, prepare for the on-farm trial of compost.


From City to Soil … farmers join unique composting trial

Two Goulburn area farmers have volunteered for a unique composting program involving organic waste from households being used to improve agricultural soils. The farmers will establish trial sites to test the benefits of compost compared to unfertilised soil and land treated with superphosphate.

Goulburn Mulwaree Council is currently preparing the compost for use on the farms. It is collected through an initiative known as City to Soil, which involves organic kitchen and garden waste being collected from some 9000 households in Goulburn and Marulan on a monthly basis.

This organic waste will then be transformed into high quality compost at Goulburn Waste Management Centre before being transported to the farms from autumn next year.

Andrew Sieler, who runs the 600 acre fine wool property ‘Strathmere’ at Yarra, said he joined City to Soil to both support efforts to reduce landfill and assess the benefits of compost in a farm environment.

"The project has a lot of potential to remove waste from landfill and put something back into soils at the same time," Mr Sieler said. "We don’t really use compost on a larger scale and it will be interesting to see what happens. If it turns out to be commercially viable for Councils and landholders then it will benefit everyone."

The second farm involved in the trial is the 800 acre Narranbulla Partnership at Marulan. Farm Manager Mark Hart, who runs Angus cattle at Narranbulla, said involvement in City to Soil provided an opportunity to further their interest in organic fertilisers and assess the viability of compost on a commercial farm.

"We have always been interested in organic fertilisers and when we saw an Expression of Interest advertised, we thought our property would be suitable for the trial," Mr Hart said.
The on-farm trial will involve both farmers setting aside approximately 30 acres of land. This will then be divided into three plots, with one left unfertilised, one treated with the commonly used superphosphate and the other fertilised with the City to Soil compost.

Agronomist Chris Houghton will oversee the trial and assess the stocking rate of each plot, measured in DSEs (Dry Sheep Equivalent). "The three plots on each property have a uniform soil type and pasture," Mr Houghton said. "Soil tests have been taken before the trial starts and we will assess each area for carrying capacity over the next two years. Both Strathmere and Narranbulla are ideal for the on-farm trials as they have large enough areas with consistent soil. Andrew and Mark are both happy to fence off around 30 acres for the trial to take place."

Mr Houghton said the Goulburn and Marulan communities had been very supportive of the City to Soil program. Organic kitchen waste, plus garden waste, has been collected from the Goulburn suburb of Eastgrove since July this year. Specially designed kitchen waste bins are now being delivered across the remainder of Goulburn and nearby Marulan.



"I have been really impressed with the level of enthusiasm shown by the community," Mr Houghton said. "City people are interested in the whole food cycle and feel that by having their organic waste composted they are contributing to the quality of food they receive and helping farmers at the same time. Particularly with the drought we have seen in recent years, City people know that farmers do it tough and want to help."

Goulburn Mulwaree is one of four Councils involved in the City to Soil Project, which is being implemented through a project known as Groundswell. The other Council areas involved are Lachlan, Palerang and Queanbeyan.

Groundswell is funded by a $1.96 million grant over three years from the NSW Environmental Trust.

MEDIA INTERVIEWS:
Please contact:
Agronomist Chris Houghton on 0409 816 433.
City to Soil (Groundswell) Project Manager Simone Dilkara on 0447 273 099.
To arrange an interview with Andrew Sieler, please call Simone Dilkara or Goulburn Mulwaree Council’s Communications Unit on 4823 4412 or 4823 4548.




CAP: (l-r) Farm Manager Mark Hart and Andy Divall from ‘Narranbulla’, with agronomist Chris Houghton and City to Soil (Groundswell) Project Manager Simone Dilkara on the site where compost will be trialled at the Marulan property.

Goulburn Mulwaree Council
LOCKED BAG 22 GOULBURN NSW 2580
Telephone: (02) 4823 4444
Fax: (02) 4823 4456
www.goulburn.nsw.gov.au

Lots and lots of compost!

Thought you might like to see Goulburn's first WHOLE of town City to Soil collection. Here it is - almost 100 tonnes of food and garden waste composting along nicely. David our composter extraordinaire has really got the process down pat - the temperatures have been hovering around 60 - 70 degrees, and everything is breaking down beautifully. It even smells nice!

And what about contamination? Well, I am very very happy to report that Goulburn and Marulan folks were EXCELLENT at keeping contamination out of the collection. The biggest problem we are having is with people putting their lawn clippings into plastic bags - please don't they STINK! and it can be quite tricky to get the grass out of the bags without breaking the bags up and leaving bits of plastic in the compost.

Well done Goulburn and Marulan folks! I can't wait to get out there and see how this week's City to Soil collection is going.