The Waste and Resources Action Programme is hoping to fund five or six major projects which will address the concerns of compost end-users as part of its compost standards programme.
Following the organisation's End User Dialogue Sessions in January and February 2002, which involved representatives from agriculture, horticulture, growing media and landscaping, five areas were identified where confidence in compost quality needed to improve.
Proposals should therefore focus on five areas:
- Test methods for measuring plant and human pathogen levels in compost
- The effect of the composting process on particular plant, animal and human pathogens known to be of concern for high quality end-uses
- Development of guidelines and specifications for the landscaping sector to supplement the national baseline standard for compost
- The benefits and efficacy of compost for different end-uses
- A review of information on composted products and availability
Louise Hollingworth of WRAP said: “The main expectation is that the research will stimulate a greater use of standardised compost. We need to get more people to make standardised compost and more people to buy it – we need to work on both ends.”
The research could run until WRAP, a not-for-profit company that aims to create stable markets for recycled materials, ends in March 2002.
It will feed into the development of a British Standards Institution-accredited compost standard (see letsrecycle.com story) but Ms Hollingworth said she could not reveal the total amount of funds available.
The deadline for tender bids is September 6 2002.
For more information contact Frances Pink, e-mail Frances.Pink@wrap.org.uk, or visit www.wrap.org.uk/Tender_detail.asp?TenderID=54.
