microorganisms and for plant uptake. There is certainly more work to be done on the
actual impacts by heavy metals to plant uptake, soil quality and leaching to both
surface and ground waters and, in particular, the transport and availability of new
and emerging organic contaminants entering the market. Future research and regulatory assessment/conditioning must consider long-term impacts as well as immediate environmental risks. All stakeholders must continue to be vigilant to monitor and
determine the significance of emerging OCs and plastic particles in biosolids. This
research is essential for ensuring the long-term sustainable agricultural use of biosolids and in compost manufacture, whereas mitigating the risks of individual
contaminants will require a range of possible policy, industry and consumer
responses.
8.9 Assuring Organic Product Quality
A soil ameliorant must have a property that corrects an identified agronomic
deficiency in land to which it is applied or, if incorporated into a soil conditioner
product, properties on balance beneficial to safe use of that product. There are a
range of Australian standards which apply to particular secondary-resource products,
for example, AS4454 (Australian Standards 2012). This standard specifies minimum
requirements for organic products which are used to amend physical and/or chemical
properties of natural or artificial soils and growing media. The standard specifies
physical and chemical requirements for composts, mulches and soil conditioners.
Whilst many technical and management standards are not mandatory, they can
represent best practice and can assist in improving the broader performance and
perception of a company or facility. Standards are adaptive documents which are
amended to reflect progress in science, technology and systems and should therefore
represent best practice/guidance. However, the time associated to update these
documents is prohibitive, and many of the Australian standards for organic products
do not reflect ‘emerging contaminants’ or public concern around those contaminants.
In 2013, the Queensland Government produced a guideline for open windrow
composting conducted under environmentally relevant activity (ERA)
53 composting and soil conditioner manufacturing (Queensland Government
2013). The aim of the guideline is to provide clarity to project proponents and to
ensure consistency in approval conditions (by government personnel) for open
windrow composting, the most common type of composting in Queensland. The
guideline has also been developed to create clear expectations for operators, communities and local governments and provides advice to assist facility operators in
assessing the risks of environmental harm in the design and operation of their
facilities, as well as complying with the general environmental duty (GED) per
Section 319 of the Environmental Protection Act 1994. It is intended that the use of
outcome focused instead of prescriptive conditions will result in shorter development assessment timeframes and more consistent conditions of approval. Under this
guideline, and indeed the regulatory definition of compost manufacture (see ERA53,
8 Sustaining Queensland’s Agricultural Sector: Challenges and. . .
133
actual impacts by heavy metals to plant uptake, soil quality and leaching to both
surface and ground waters and, in particular, the transport and availability of new
and emerging organic contaminants entering the market. Future research and regulatory assessment/conditioning must consider long-term impacts as well as immediate environmental risks. All stakeholders must continue to be vigilant to monitor and
determine the significance of emerging OCs and plastic particles in biosolids. This
research is essential for ensuring the long-term sustainable agricultural use of biosolids and in compost manufacture, whereas mitigating the risks of individual
contaminants will require a range of possible policy, industry and consumer
responses.
8.9 Assuring Organic Product Quality
A soil ameliorant must have a property that corrects an identified agronomic
deficiency in land to which it is applied or, if incorporated into a soil conditioner
product, properties on balance beneficial to safe use of that product. There are a
range of Australian standards which apply to particular secondary-resource products,
for example, AS4454 (Australian Standards 2012). This standard specifies minimum
requirements for organic products which are used to amend physical and/or chemical
properties of natural or artificial soils and growing media. The standard specifies
physical and chemical requirements for composts, mulches and soil conditioners.
Whilst many technical and management standards are not mandatory, they can
represent best practice and can assist in improving the broader performance and
perception of a company or facility. Standards are adaptive documents which are
amended to reflect progress in science, technology and systems and should therefore
represent best practice/guidance. However, the time associated to update these
documents is prohibitive, and many of the Australian standards for organic products
do not reflect ‘emerging contaminants’ or public concern around those contaminants.
In 2013, the Queensland Government produced a guideline for open windrow
composting conducted under environmentally relevant activity (ERA)
53 composting and soil conditioner manufacturing (Queensland Government
2013). The aim of the guideline is to provide clarity to project proponents and to
ensure consistency in approval conditions (by government personnel) for open
windrow composting, the most common type of composting in Queensland. The
guideline has also been developed to create clear expectations for operators, communities and local governments and provides advice to assist facility operators in
assessing the risks of environmental harm in the design and operation of their
facilities, as well as complying with the general environmental duty (GED) per
Section 319 of the Environmental Protection Act 1994. It is intended that the use of
outcome focused instead of prescriptive conditions will result in shorter development assessment timeframes and more consistent conditions of approval. Under this
guideline, and indeed the regulatory definition of compost manufacture (see ERA53,
8 Sustaining Queensland’s Agricultural Sector: Challenges and. . .
133