DECEMBER NEWS 2010

Professor Stephen R. Smith has collaborated with Dr Tim Pettitt of the Eden Project

Professor Stephen R. Smith has collaborated with Dr Tim Pettitt of the Eden Project, St Austell, Cornwall,  to optimise the invessel  composting of foodwaste from the on-site restaurants to reduce landfill disposal and produce an effective soil conditioner product for use in the botanic gardens. The research was recently presented at the 4^th Global Botanic Gardens Congress in Dublin and the full paper is available at:  http://www.bgci.org/files/Dublin2010/papers/Pettitt-Tim.pdf.

Professor Stephen R. Smith was a member of the Biosolids Working Group revising the UK fertiliser recommendations and results from his research on the fertiliser value of sewage sludge biosolids have been incorporated into the recently published UK Fertiliser Manual (RB209). The manual can be downloaded from: http://www.defra.gov.uk/foodfarm/landmanage/land-soil/nutrient/nmu01.htm.

The Soil Association is responsible for administering the organic farming certification scheme in the UK. Sewage sludge biosolids are not permitted internationally in organic farming due to concerns about contaminants, however, following advice from Professor Stephen R. Smith, and other international experts, the Soil Association is recommending a change in EU regulations to remove the ban on biosolids in organic farming in Europe. This change in policy is based on the realisation that using biosolids for food production is essential to close the P nutrient loop, and also recognising that the chemical quality of biosolids has improved very significantly in the past 20-30 years. The full discussion can be found in the paper published by the Soil Association: ‘A Rock and a Hard Place’, available at: http://www.soilassociation.org.

Congratulations to Babak Mirshahi for successfully defending his PhD thesis entitled "Hydrological modelling in data-sparse snow-affected semiarid areas" at his recent Viva.