Lismore council gains organic certification for compost
IN a first for Australia, compost produced by Lismore City Council from its green organics bins has received formal organic certification.
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IN a first for Australia, compost produced by Lismore City Council from its green organics bins has received formal organic certification.
In a statement, the council said the certification means organic producers on the Northern Rivers can now use compost from the council without endangering their own organic certification.
The council statement said the certification had been achieved through the use of screening processes "to remove plastics and other inorganic materials from the kerbside waste as well as stringent product testing and cleaning/hygiene controls".
"The Australian Organic certification is another feather in Lismore's cap and something we have wanted to achieve for quite some time," Waste Operations Coordinator Kevin Trustum was quoted saying.
"In 2012 we achieved organic certification for the green waste people drop off at the Lismore Recycling & Recovery Centre, but the kerbside certification was much more challenging. Now we have a full complement of composting products that are 100% organic certified. That's excellent news for organic producers and excellent for us in a business sense.
"We have totally closed the loop on our green waste services and that's something we can all be proud of. It means local organic producers can buy local and the money we generate can go into investigating and implementing further sustainability and recycling initiatives.
"The community wants Lismore to be a model of sustainability and being named the first council in Australia to gain this organic certification shows we're really serious about achieving that vision."
The certified organic compost can be purchased from Council's weighbridge for $35 per cubic metre. For more information phone 1300 87 83 87.
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