No.  In fact modern ‘in-vessel’ composting facilities are the preferred option in built-up areas on the mainland and overseas because they do not emit strong smells, create flammable gasses such as methane, emit lots of dust or leak liquids.   The composting tunnels, tunnel loading and FOGO storage areas are fully enclosed and sealed with a specially-designed fans/extraction ducting and door mechanisms to maintain negative air pressure while composting, so there’s no smell escaping the facility from the building.

The tunnels are also inside a big shed so there’s no smell escaping while they are being filled.  Any bad odour that is created during composting is trapped inside these air-tight tunnels, then passed through a high-tech scrubbing unit – this converts the ammonia gas (the cause of the bad smells) into a liquid called Sulphate of Ammonia, which is an organic fertiliser sold in many garden centres.  The scrubbed-clean air is then passed through another bio-filter which absorbs any remaining strong-smelling gases. The final air, when released, contains no bad smells or nasty chemicals.  

For a complete, step-by-step description of the IVC process, download this document [.pdf, 1,383 KB]. 

Spread out over 50 weeks, we expect to have a total of 5 earth moving equipment mobilisations, 80 concrete panel deliveries, 50 concrete trucks, 5 mobile crane mobilisations and 25 plant/equipment and construction materials deliveries. 

When we re-open in 2025, we should return to our normal 4 Barwicks trucks a day (this is what we currently do onsite for our Boyer pine bark operations) and potentially another 4-5 contractor trucks delivering organic material for composting.  When we are fully operational, we intend to further reduce truck traffic by backfilling our own Barwicks trucks so they never leave the site empty.  If we can cut down on the number of empty trucks on the road it is not only better for the environment but also a common-sense cost-saving for our business.     

No.  An in-vessel composting facility is entirely closed-loop with respect to water run-off.

Any water that runs off the organic waste is captured in a series of drains within the building and re-applied to the composting material inside the sealed tunnels.  Any condensation is also captured within the tunnels. Since the composting happens inside and not outside like traditional windrow composting, heavy rains have no impact on the composting material.  

The site itself is located at least 300 metres away from the banks of the Derwent River.  Should there be Bureau of Meteorology warnings of extreme rain events or flooding, we have emergency management plans in place which include refusing to accept incoming organic material and using our own onsite vehicles to move any material to our Bridgewater site until the threat has passed.   

Should there be an incident at the neighbouring Norske Skog factory that may impact our own facility, we are on their list of proximity contacts and will be informed of any steps we need to take as part of their emergency management plan.

For a complete, step-by-step description of the IVC process, download this document [.pdf, 1,383 KB]. 

We believe we were awarded the grant funding for several reasons:

• Our experience making, selling and distributing quality composts and landscaping products for over forty years.
• Our experience with an industrial composting facility that accepts household food and garden waste (FOGO waste). 
• Our partnerships with KPMG, Pitt and Sherry, Orez and other industry experts to ensure not only was our project economically sustainable but that it will provide the best outcome for Tasmanians.
• Our commitment to include an onsite Education Centre that will help Tasmanian teachers and students learn about the value of organic resource recovery and composting processes.
• Our 60% percent contribution to the cost of building the facility.  

The Tasmanian Liberal Government provided $3m seed funding as part of their investment towards establishing a circular economy in Tasmania. An additional $3m grant has been awarded under the Australian Government’s Food Waste for Healthy Soils Fund.

In a nutshell – methane.  When food and garden waste (together called ‘organic waste’) is buried in landfills it breaks down anaerobically (without air) and produces large volumes of methane, a very potent greenhouse gas over 26 times more powerful at trapping heat than carbon dioxide.  But if this same organic waste is composted, it doesn’t produce methane but instead turns it into a valuable resource for farmers and landscapers. 

Stopping organic waste being buried in landfills is a priority at every government level.  The Federal Government has a national waste target to ‘halve the amount of organic waste sent to landfill for disposal by 2030’.   The Tasmanian government also has a state-wide  waste target to reduce the volume of organic waste sent to landfill by 25% by 2025, and 50% by 2030.   Local governments around Tasmania are also looking at ways to reduce the costs of waste disposal for their communities by reducing the volume of waste being sent to landfill.   

The Federal and State governments have offered grant funding to set up additional composting facilities in both the north and south of the Tasmania. 

We will be composting the organic waste collected by Councils from their residents (food and garden waste) and the organic waste from our existing customers and local businesses.  We’ve been making compost for over forty years and with this new in-vessel composting facility we will be building up our customer base carefully – new customers must pass a scrutiny test to ensure we know the source and type of organic waste they will be bringing onsite for us to compost.     

FOGO stands for Food Organics Garden Organics, and it’s a waste collection service provided by councils to their residents – normally via a wheelie bin with a lime-green coloured lid.   A FOGO bin collects garden waste such as lawn clippings and prunings, plus all types of food scraps (including meat bones, shells, skins, meat and shellfish).  Most councils also allow compostable packaging, greasy pizza boxes, pet waste (pet hair and pet poo), organic kitty litter, untreated/ unpainted wood off-cuts and other paper-based products like paper towel and tissue – check with your local council to find out if they offer a FOGO service and what they accept.

FOGO is rapidly becoming the expected standard for household waste collection services around Australia due to its positive environmental impact and ability to convert household waste back into a valuable resource for agriculture and landscaping.  To see which local councils around Australia are providing Food and/or Garden Organics collection services visit this map.

All our composts are made to meet or exceed the Australian Standard for composts, soil conditioners and mulches – AS4454-2012. To meet this Standard composting material must be pasteurised (kept at a high temperature for an extended period).  This high heat over time significantly reduces plant and animal pathogens and plant propagule (a plant bud, sucker or spore).   

When our in-vessel composters are operating, the compost is pasteurised twice – once in each tunnel.  When the heat drops in one tunnel, we move the material to another tunnel and add water if needed – this helps dampen and aerate the material which starts the composting process again and raises the heat once more to pasteurising levels.

We also screen the material twice to remove contamination – before composting begins and after composting as an extra precaution. 

Lastly, when we have finished a batch of compost, we take samples from six different areas of the batch and send them to an independent laboratory for testing against the Australian Standard AS4454-2012.  The lab tests for any traces of residual pesticides, herbicides, fungicides, PCB, PAH, eColi and a variety of heavy metals. Should any of the tests fail, we are alerted immediately and the batch quarantined for disposal.    

For a complete, step-by-step description of the IVC process including photographs, download this document [.pdf, 1,383 KB].  

Yes.  Please visit our Barwick’s Landscape Supplies website for information on the locations of our retail outlets, distributers and how to buy.

No. All incoming material is booked in advance so we know what to expect.  As this is a commercial site we cannot allow individuals or small businesses to deliver their organic waste directly to us – it would be extra traffic and an extra hazard for our drivers.   We recommend contacting your local council to identify what options are available to you.   

We welcome anyone who has an interest in learning more about in-vessel composting and our proposed new facility.  Register your interest here.

Yes.  Please get in contact and let us know what part of the project your group would like to hear more about.   Register your contact details here. 

Please get in contact via our main website, we would like to hear from you.

We are planning to add a Education Centre to the facility once it has been built and running smoothly, this should be in early 2025.  We can also offer visits to our Bridgewater FOGO receival site (weather dependent).  Please fill in our feedback form here and provide your contact details and the name of your school and grade level/s in the comments, and we will be in touch.      

Critical plant and equipment has been selected with reliability/maintainability-in-design principles in mind.  Reliability centred (predictive/preventive) maintenance practices will be applied to facility with condition monitoring of critical components included in routine operational/maintenance inspections to detect potential failure events with sufficient lead time to effect repair prior to failure, thereby reducing the duration of the planned downtime event.  Critical/insurance spares will be procured and held on site as mitigation.  Equipment suppliers have confirmed that they will also hold an inventory of critical components in-country or best-case with a third-party within Tasmania to reduce lead times/supply chain risk.