A new state-of-the-art compost facility for garden organics has been launched by Byron Shire Council, and aims to close the loop on garden organics for local farmers and residents.
Until recently, Council says all garden waste that people took to the Byron Resource Recovery Centre at Myocum was then sent to a processing facility outside of the Shire.
Lloyd Isaacson, team leader Resource Recovery and Quarry, said the new Mobile Aerated Floor (MAF) system uses an innovative composting technology and system tested in Australia.
‘This is really impressive stuff, with a series of pipes installed underneath the compost piles to aerate the compost to speed up the process,’ Mr Isaacson said.
‘This technology will be able to take garden waste and turn it into beautiful, rich, compost in six to eight weeks, which is half the amount of time it would normally take,’ he said. ‘We are now able to transform approximately 3,000 tonnes of waste a year into high-quality compost.
‘The MAF produces composted mulches and soil conditioners that can be used for home gardens, agriculture, urban landscaping and land rehabilitation,’ Mr Isaacson said.
The compost is available for purchase for $30/cubic metre to members of the public, farmers or businesses.
The MAF system was funded by a $118,000 grant from the NSW government.
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