The report Risk Assessment of Garden Maintenance Chemicals in Recycled Organics Products is now available. This qualitative risk assessment of garden maintenance chemicals in recycled organics products has been completed for Resource NSW. The study was commissioned to evaluate the risk of domestically used garden maintenance chemicals on downstream recycling industries that use municipally collected garden organics as a feedstock material.

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Composting and re-use of organic materials is viewed by the public to be highly desirable, and is a necessary requirement for sustainable development. The process involves diverting organic material from disposal in landfill and reprocessing into a range of composted products. The public tends to assume that all compost is of a high and consistent quality, being largely free from harmful chemicals.

Recently, however, it has come to light that compost quality has been compromised by the presence of garden maintenance chemicals that persist through the composting phase and contaminate the end product. When this product is subsequently applied to gardens, phytotoxicity issues can arise.

• Review international research being undertaken to determine the risks of garden maintenance chemicals to users of recycled organics products
• Review mechanisms by which garden maintenance chemicals break down in soil and in the composting process
• Survey and identify potentially persistent garden maintenance chemicals in use in New South Wales
• Undertake a qualitative risk assessment to evaluate the risks of garden maintenance chemicals persistent after the composting process and affecting users of these products in urban and amenity markets, intensive agriculture and extensive agriculture markets.

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