If you produce organic wastes and would like to consider an environmentally friendly solution that may deliver a profitable outcome you should consider our contract turning service.

We can provide you with our years of experience in producing premium quality organics fertilisers and soil conditioners to turn your waste into a sustainable and increasingly valuable product.

We provide the machinery, manpower and knowledge; you provide the waste material, water (wastewater is often suitable) and a location and together we can manufacture products that are increasingly in demand.

In some cases our clients use all processed material on their own land while others sell their compost into the local market. We can even help you to market yours by incorporating it into our products.

Making The Good Stuff Even Better

We can help you to reduce your environmental impact and improve the quality of your or your clients crops.

We offer:

• Value added products.
• 9 years composting industry experience.
• Programs that comply with DPI & EPA regulations.
• HACCP accreditation.
• Composting area design service.
• Provision of all necessary machinery.
• Access to markets in:
  o   agricultural,
  o   horticultural,
  o   landscaping.
• Pasteurizing service to kill pathogens and weed seeds also available.
   
   
  

Controlled Temperature Composting

Due to the control of temperature (55c to 68c) during the composting there is no evidence of the survival of harmful human pathogens (Salmonella, Listeria and E-coli), weed seeds, chemical residues and no GMO (genetically modified organisms) residues remain in the finished product.

The three stages of composting are:

1. consolidation when raw materials (feedstock) are mixed with water (to field capacity), formed into a windrow and the bulk density of the windrow is established.
2. active stage when the core temperature is maintained ideally between 50 and 60C; and curing stage when the core temperature drops and nutrients are released in the inorganic form. 
3. In a mature compost, microbes have converted the readily available organic matter into humic acids and microbial cells. In contrast immature composts may contain partially broken down chemicals which may be toxic, and excessive microbial activity which may induce nutrient draw-down if the compost is applied to growing plants.

Temperature change over time in a cotton trash windrow, describing the three stages of composting (Consolidation, Active and Curing). Bars show changes in the total phosphorus concentration over the three stages, with mineral P (available) in brown, and organic P (slow-release) in blue. Changes will vary with climatic conditions and frequency of turning.

If the compost is well mixed during the Active stage, then the survival of weed seeds and plant and animal pathogens will be minimal. Plant residues can be composted in their own right.

 (Click to enlarge).

Characteristics of Quality Compost

A quality compost should have about 20% of the P in the mineral (plant-available) form. To achieve this the compost must have undergone more than 4 weeks curing, during which time the water content of the mix will also decrease.

At sale the water content of the product should be about 30% by weight, providing enough moisture to minimise dust during handling.

At this stage, any chemicals that may be toxic to plants will have been broken down, and sufficient P and K will be available for plant growth. However N may still be predominantly in the organic form which plants cannot use. Therefore if used as an alternative to conventional fertilisers, additional mineral N fertiliser may need to be applied (eg. urea, blood or fish meal).

The compost should be screened before sale, to remove any stones or other large particles.

 

Cycling of nutrients in the soil. Straight arrows show the pathways of inorganic (plant-available) nutrients. Curved arrows show organic nutrient pathways. To become available for plant uptake, organic nutrients must be converted to inorganic forms by soil organisms (insects and other arthropods, and microbes).

(Click to enlarge).