ANOR magazine - December
Welcome to the December edition of the ANOR newsletter complied by Dr Sara
Beavis and Gerry Gillespie from Australia.
RECYCLED ORGANICS IN NSW ON THE INTERNET.
The Recycle Organics Unit (ROU) at the University of New South Wales, is one offinest sources of information on research into Recycled Organic products in Australia.
ROU supports the sustainable and viable recovery of compostable organic materials,
and the beneficial application of a range of recycled organics products.
A small team efficiently managed by Angus Campbell has a considerable depth of
information on research and all other aspects of recycled organic products. A lot of
quality detail is available at their website:
http://www.recycledorganics.com/
Detail on a range of research can be found at the recently released Recycled Organics
Library at:
http://www.rolibrary.com/search.php
BAR CODING AND CREDITS TO REDUCE CONTAMINATION
Queanbeyan City Council on the Southern Tablelands of New South Wales is unusualin that has highly developed recycling programs that evolved with enthusiastic
council support.
Queanbeyan City currently recycles around 65% of its domestic waste stream.
Among the recycling programs available is a very advanced but technically simple,
organics collection and processing service where household organics are collectedfrom the home every fortnight. In addition householders can also drop off larger tree
trimmings at a recycling centre where they are processed through a shredder.
These shredded materials are processed into a range of high quality products. Some ofthese are mixed with biosolids from the sewage treatment works and used by staff ofthe Parks Section in the City’s parks and gardens, other products are returned tohouseholders for domestic use.
In April 2001, council produced a report which clearly demonstrated that theprocessing and reuse of this material had a net total benefit to the Queanbeyancommunity of between $35 to $46 per tonne.
The South East Office of the Department of Environment and Conservation has acommenced an on-farm soil evaluation trial, using Queanbeyan City’s high quality
product on a demonstration site at a local farm. This site is investigating soil changes
due to the addition of quality composted product. (See following story)

1Many of the soils in the region, apart from river flats are generally poor to very poor
with high acidity, low levels of organic material and low microbial activity. Manysoils have been overworked and require organic material for improved soil health.
The potential of developing markets for recycled organic product under thesecircumstances is high.
The efforts of Queanbeyan City Council in conjunction with the Department ofEnvironment and Conservation have created a scenario where an effective collection
and processing system for organics could result in a substantial market for highquality product.
What is required now is a methodology to ensure that the quality of product collectedfrom households is clean an uncontaminated.
At the commencement of organics collections Queanbeyan City Council were using arear loader vehicle with two staff. One driving, one inspecting and emptying bins. The
second person inspecting ensured that contamination levels were kept very low. If thematerial in the bin was contaminated in any way the bin was not emptied.
This method of collection was changed to a side-loading driver-operated vehicle in
the interests of efficiency. Contamination levels have since risen.
If collections were made using a rear-loading waterproof vehicle, with a second
operator inspecting the bins once again, for contamination and awarding low levels ofcontamination with a credit or reward, it is anticipated that contamination levels could
fall to zero.
The application of credits to such a system is being implemented with the addition ofa simple bar code sticker to the rear of each bin which will identify the house to acomputer but not to the individual operator emptying the bin. If the bin is found to beclean and uncontaminated the operator scans the bar code with a hand-held scannerand the credit recorded to the home on the bar code.
All households given a credit have their number entered into a draw for prizes of fruitand vegetables.
This system provides a model for reduced contamination levels in all forms ofrecycling collection, be it urban or rural.
In this instance the credits would be directly attributable to the quality of productreceived at the farm gate.
In the long term it is possible to adjust this credit system so that rather than an entry
into a draw for prizes the household could in fact receive carbon or community credits.
This would enable such a system to be used in a state or national scheme.

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Linking the City and the Farm
The Department of Environment and Conservation and Queanbeyan City
Council are trying to expand markets for organic wastes through a seriesof soil improvement research projects on local farms.
In the first research project which is being conducted at Danny and Kate O’Sullivan’s
vineyard in Yarrowlumla Shire, a combination of compost and vermicast is being
added to soil to test its potential to help local farmers improve soil qualities andreduce chemical fertiliser use.
For many years Queanbeyan City Council has produced a high quality compost
product for use on local parks and gardens by composting the biosolids from its local
sewage treatment plant with household green waste which is collected as part of the
kerbside service.
Vermicast, which promotes healthy microbial activity in the soil, is being produced
on–site at the vineyard from sheep manure which is collected and placed on the worm
bed along with sheep wool off-cuts and hay, and converted to worm castings.
Early indications from the project are already promising, with changes in the nature of
the soil and moisture retention.
The trial is being supervised by Dr Sara Beavis a Research Fellow in Earth Sciencesat the Australian National University.
PROTECTING ROADS WITH COMPOSTED ORGANICS
In conjunction with EA Systems, Yates Saltgrow trees, NSW RTA and the Wakool
and Berrigan Shires, the Department of Environment and Conversation are funding a
study to investigate the effects of high water tables and salinity on road pavement
condition, and the potential of roadside tree plantings using composted organic
materials to achieve a localised lowering of the water table beneath the pavement
surface.
The study will attempt to define the set of conditions (in terms of pre-planting watertable depth, water table salinity, soil salinity, leakage to the groundwater fromadjacent land use, tree water use, total depth of water table and saturated hydraulicconductivity, width of tree belts and spacing between tree belts), wheretrees may be able to achieve a localised influence sufficient to lower thewater table beneath the pavement surface to a target depth of >2m.
The study will include various organics treatments to attempt to improve tree survivaland growth and hence water-use under relatively adverse soil conditions.
Assuming a change in water table depth beneath the pavement can be achieved,
long-term effects on pavement condition will be monitored.

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There is no assumption on whether salinity or water logging is the major cause ofpavement degradation, and sites have been selected to attempt to eliminate poor
quality of road base and pavement material as a cause.
The only assumption with respect to salinity is its negative effect on tree water use.
The trial will continue for several years.
Waste management in prisons
Dr Sara Beavis
Research fellow, centre for Resource and Environmental Studies, Australian national
University, Canberra, ACT, 0200, Australia

Waste management is a process which has increasingly been associated with thedisposal of rubbish to landfill. However, a growing belief that waste represents a
potential resource that can be diverted from landfill and either recovered, recycled orreused has emerged as the new paradigm for planners, managers and decision makers.
In response, strategies have been developed, largely by Government, which address
the need for new waste management and minimisation practices. Education programsand the introduction of new methods of waste collection services prompt community
responses to the management of stocks and flows of waste. However, in addition tothis process are smaller, institutional communities where waste management involves
not only environmental but also social considerations. Australian prisons represent aunique institutional setting where waste management usually involves the collectionof waste and its disposal to landfill, with some limited processing such as paper
shredding of documents. All materials leaving a prison have an associated security
risk, and therefore waste generation, as well as its disposal, is an issue that prisonsneed to address on a daily basis. Research undertaken at the Australian National
University has shown that alternative approaches to waste management can be
developed successfully, with significant environmental, economic and social benefits
to both the prison and the broader community. Strategies can be developed thatrecognise the specific needs of each institution within a local and regional context.
Identification of environmental needs of local and regional communities can form thebasis for focussed recycling, reuse, or recovery operations. Examples include thedevelopment of small scale industries that:•
support environmental rehabilitation projects in the broader community (suchas salinity, soil erosion, water quality and biodiversity issues);•
recycle toys and educational equipment for underprivileged children and/or
schools;•
use recycling processes to generate fuel for supply to the underprivileged;•
provide sources of income to the prison through agriculture/horticultural
production;•
support the acquisition of new skills by prisoners.
System design is based on the principles of ecologically sustainable development, andis underpinned by sound knowledge of key social, economic and environmental issues.
Further information can be obtained from Dr Sara Beavis at sara.beavis@anu.edu.au.

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Utilisation of domestic organic waste in viticulture

Dr Sara Beavis
Research Fellow, Centre for Resource and Environmental Studies, Australian
National University, Canberra, ACT, 0200, Australia

A current project being undertaken by the NSW Department of Environment andConservation is exploring the development of markets for household collectedorganics. The principal aim of the project is to secure long-term viable markets forcomposted products. These products are derived from yard wastes which are a part oflocal Government kerbside collection in the City of Queanbeyan in NSW, Australia.
Difficulties exist for Queanbeyan City Council to market this material as a mulch due
to competitive neutrality issues and market availability. The project has been
established to address current knowledge gaps with relation to the impacts ofmulching and composting on cool climate vines, and to explore market potential fororganics/green-waste generated from domestic sources in the City of Queanbeyan. In
particular, the project intends to explore the efficacy of the product in improving soil
quality and weed suppression as a means of identifying a potential market.
The study site is located in undulating terrain which has experienced extensive
clearing in the past, and is regenerating to produce scattered timber and light scrub
within broader areas of completely cleared land currently used for grazing or rural
residential development. Due to its close proximity to Queanbeyan and Canberra,large grazing properties have been subdivided for smaller holdings including hobby
farms and commuter blocks. This development has profound impacts on catchmenthydrology and ecology. The study site itself is a cool climate vineyard which ismanaged through a drip watering system which delivers fertiliser enriched water
through gravity feed.
Degraded soils may become less productive because of the export of nutrients in theform of plant and animal products or through sediment losses by erosion. In addition,
the capacity for plant uptake of nutrients in soluble form is impacted by soil moisture
content. Amelioration of degraded soils traditionally involves a number of treatmentsthat replace these losses. Artificial fertilisers are designed to replace the essential
nutrients (nitrogen, phosphorus, potassium, calcium, magnesium and sulphur) andmicro-nutrients (including boron, chlorine, copper, iron, manganese, molybdenum,
selenium and zinc) as the basis of maintaining profitable and sustainable agriculture,horticulture or viticulture. However, depleted soils also require replacement of lostorganic matter and microbial activity. Both of these are important factors inincreasing the availability of nutrients to plants (including the fixation of nitrogen andmicronutrients in the organic soil fraction), and developing good soil structure.
This project is trying to demonstrate what changes occur to soil physical, chemical
and microbiological properties, and associated improvements to vine growth, in
response to the application of composted material derived from organcis/green waste.
The assumption which drives this study is that:5Composted /organcis/green waste has the potential to maintain soil moisture content,
reintroduce organic matter and micro-nutrients, and increase microbial activity.
Early results in the trial indicate that plant growth increases in response to applicationof organics greenwaste. There is also positive evidence of improved soil physical andchemical condition. Further analyses will be undertaken at the end of the growing
period and at harvest to quantify any changes in vine productivity and attempt to linkthese, if present, to soil physical, chemical and bacteriological properties.

6Waste Wise Schools: an educational approach to waste
Dr Sara Beavis
Research Fellow, Centre for Resource and Environmental Studies, Australian
National University, Canberra, ACT, 0200, Australia
Waste management within the Australian Capital Territory (ACT), Australia, is the
responsibility of ACT NOWaste within the Department of Urban Services. Its
primary role is to implement the ‘No Waste by 2010’ strategy through the provisionof collection, disposal and recycling services, and policy advice that addresses waste
minimisation and diversion of waste from landfill. The zero waste strategy of
NOWaste, which was introduced in 1996, represented the first government zero waste
initiative in the world. As an extension to this strategy, educational activities andresources have been developed for schools in order to establish sound waste
management practices and a better understanding of key environmental issues inschool age children and teenagers. ACT NOWaste acknowledges the pivotal role ofeducation in achieving its zero waste goals in its strategic plan (ACT Urban Services,
2002). In 2002, the ACT Government purchased a licence for the Waste Wise
Schools Program from the Gould League Victoria, which has developed the scheme
for
the
waste
management
Stateagency,EcoRecycle(http://www.ecorecycle.vic.gov.au). It was from this point that a Waste Wise Schools
Program started development and implementation within the ACT, focussing on thespecific requirements of the Territory.
Waste Wise Schools are supported by ACT NOWaste to change their practices inpurchasing, use of resources and curriculum development. Students and staff are
motivated through award schemes, professional development opportunities, cost
efficiencies and improved appearance of school buildings and grounds. Some of theactivities that students become involved in include the construction and use of worm
farms for composting, developing garden/horticultural plots, designing andconstructing new technologies for resource recovery, and being involved inenvironmentally sensitive design of school grounds and classrooms. The Program has
been most successful in schools in Victoria, Australia, where curriculum development
is a major component within areas of science, language, the visual and performing
arts, agriculture, geography and mathematics. Key outcomes that have been identifiedin participating schools include:
•
•
•
•
•
•
•
•
•

Cost benefits to the school due to decreased need for collection services and officesupplies
Changed purchasing in school canteens in response to student pressure(minimising packaging)
Reduced hours of work for cleaning due to a tidier/cleaner environment
A sense of pride amongst students and staff
Local, regional and State awards for waste management
Focus of support for other schools interested in participating in Waste Wise
Revised, integrated curricula
Changed eating patterns and school ground design and infrastructure
Links to community

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Processes of development of the Program within the ACT can be viewed on the
NOWaste website http://www.nowaste.act.gov.au/ed/education.html

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