CASE STUDY
‘
Aside from
the clear
aesthetic
improvements
the cost
savings were
apparent too
’
semi-natural character. Because BSI PAS
100 compost is mostly made from municipal
food and garden waste, it is rich in nutrients -
such as nitrogen, phosphorus and potassium
- making it an ideal substrate to ameliorate
acidic spoil conditions and provide organic
matter to boost wild flower growth.
It is also quality assured, thanks to the
2002 Publicly Available Specification for
Composted Materials (BSI PAS 100) and the
2007 Quality Protocol for Compost, which
meant that the Land Restoration Trust could
have complete confidence in its reliability,
consistency and safety.
Importantly, compost that meets the
requirements of the Quality Protocol can be
classed as a product and no longer as waste,
so compost users are encouraged to only use
products that have been produced within
these strict guidelines.
TEP - working in conjunction with
Baldwins landscape contractors - sourced
the compost locally from White Moss
Horticulture and applied it to designated
areas across the site during April and
May 2007. By June 2007, and helped by high a conventional approach. In contrast, using
The core specification was to incorporate levels of rainfall, the composted areas had quality compost and spreading it to a depth
a 30mm layer of quality compost into the top blossomed into lush green turf whereas the of 30mm and incorporating it within the top
120mm of spoil and seed with a wild flower non-composted areas remained relatively 120mm of spoil cost £0.28 per square metre
grass seed mix. Several other areas were bare. The significant differences between or £2,800 per hectare - an 88% saving.
either left untreated, or treated with differing the non-composted and the composted areas The restoration of Cronton Colliery
mixtures. remained stark into 2008 where many of the proves that when industrial land is being
Visually, the results were dramatic, and wild flowers that had germinated in 2007 turned once again into a wildlife rich habitat,
the areas of existing vegetation that were flowered for the first time. the use of quality compost is a practical way
simply top dressed with green compost But aside from the clear aesthetic to create sustainable growing conditions.
showed more vigorous growth than the improvements, the cost savings were
adjacent areas that had not been top dressed. apparent too. Paul Mathers is programme manager for
More impressive, however, was the The cost of importing enough soil for landscape and regeneration at the Waste &
enormous contrast between the bare areas the project - had it been used - would have Resources Action Programme.
where compost had been incorporated before worked out at approximately £2.25 per For more details, visit
www.wrap.org.
seeding, and the areas where it had not. square metre, or £22,500 per hectare using uk/composting
SuStainable SolutionS apri 2009 31
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