Federal Environment Minister Greg Hunt will see the results of an organic composting trial at a Victorian farm on Friday as part of AORA’s campaign for International Compost Awareness Week.
Between 2 and 8 May, AORA is joining forces with the European Compost Network, Composting & Anaerobic Digestion Association of Ireland, the Compost Council of Canada, and the US Composting Council in a campaign to encourage the recycling of organic residuals and compost use, for soil and other environmental benefits.
On Friday, Mr Hunt will join attendees at 100Hunts Vineyard in the Mornington Peninsula for a walk around the grounds with representatives from AORA and the National Landcare Program. The property owner, Joe Vaughan, will show the results and discuss the benefits of using compost under his vines for the last two years. There will also be a presentation from expert speaker Declan McDonald on his analysis of compost trials.
AORA published a number of key facts and benefits about organics recycling and compost use to coincide with International Compost Awareness Week:
- The use of landfill space and incineration can be reduced by at least one-third when organics are recycled. Focused attention on recycling organic residuals is key to achieving high diversion rates.
- Methane, a greenhouse gas twenty-five times as powerful as carbon dioxide, can be significantly reduced through the recycling of organics instead of their being landfilled.
- Soil erosion is mitigated and water-holding capacity improved through compost’s enhancement of soil structure which helps bind soil particles together. Without good soil structure, soil erosion can remove nutrients from the soil as well as carry sediments into waterways thereby creating new sources of pollution.
“Through organics recycling, quality soil can happen naturally. But it’s based on one main equation: what you take out, you must put back in. The ongoing addition of organic matter and compost provides soil with the texture, structure and nutrients needed to create a positive environment for plant growth,” said Paul Coffey, Chairman of AORA.
“AORA also sees International Compost Awareness Week as a great opportunity to highlight the problem contamination in our organics recycled streams, banning of single use plastic bags and the use of certified compostable bags can assist in the source separation of organics and enable the best compost to be produced.”
Those from the organics recycling sector interested in attending Friday’s free event can fins more details on the AORA website and register online.