The Soil Association, the UK’s main certifier and promoter of organic farming, has certified SITA’s organic compost product for use in organic farming. The award follows the recent announcement that SITA has gained organic status from HDRA.
The award is for compost produced at SITA’s facility at Lount in Leicestershire. To achieve certification standard, SITA had to pass stringent auditing and prove that its production procedures met the association’s controls that ensure that genetically modified organisms are not present in the final product.
SITA’s quality control system played a significant part in it achieving the certification. Developed by SITA’s composting manager, Dr Stephen Wise, the Management and Auditing System for Compost (MASC), provides a comprehensive audit trail which shows where the initial material for composting came form and the SITA workers involved in the process.
Dr Stephen Wise said: “There is a large market out there that we can provide a good quality product too. SITA’s recent award from the Soil Association shows that SITA is committed to producing a product that can meet the stringent standards of the organic food production industry and achieve the standards of soil improvement required for successful crop production.”
SITA’s composting facility at Lount is one of the largest purpose built sites in the UK and is able to treat around 25,000 tonnes of green waste a year.
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