July 2010

Welcome to the July 2010 edition of Fertile Minds, the newsletter of Sydney Environmental & Soil Laboratory.

This month we are delighted to announce the appointment of our first plant pathologist, Mariam Begum, who brings to SESL a wealth of experience in plant disease identification. Mariam is a highly knowledgeable scientist, and we look forward to working with her. We also alert our turf growers and managers to a newly uncovered legal problem with using turf scarifying chaff to establish new turf: this is currently against the law. Read our article to understand why, and what you should do about it.

If you have any questions you would like answered in Fertile Minds, please write to info@sesl.com.au. If you have any special requirements, we would be pleased to talk with you and tailor a package and price. Please contact the office on (02) 9980 6554 or write to us at info@sesl.com.au.

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In this issue

The Loam Ranger – “Clean fill”
New plant pathology service!
Turf scarifying – you may be breaking the law
Sodicity, salinity – which is which?
Did you know ... ? Nike jerseys: 100% recycled plastic bottles

The Loam Ranger – “Clean fill”

Dear Loam Ranger,

I used to be able to strip soil off one site and drop it at another site as “clean fill”, but now I’m told I can’t do that anymore. Why not? Can’t I sell clean fill anymore?

Yes, you still can, but government regulations now define what you can and can’t sell. In addition, the term “clean fill” may not be used anymore, but instead various terms are now used describe different categories of fill.

In NSW, the Protection of the Environment (Operations) Act 1997 (POEO Act) regulates all activities that could have harmful effects on the environment. When you dig material from a site, even one that looks clean, you can’t tell just by looking that the site hasn’t been contaminated at some time in the past, perhaps through illegal dumping, perhaps by a long-vanished industrial process. The only way to tell, as the POEO Act recognises, is through sampling and testing.

Click here for your obligations under the POEO Act (600 words, 2 minutes)

New plant pathology service!

As we announced 2 months ago, we have created a new disease identification service. We are now very pleased to announce that we have hired a world-class plant pathologist to run this service.

Mariam Begum comes to us from CSIRO, where she worked for 13 years as a food microbiologist. Mariam brings over two decades’ experience in all aspects of plant pathology, including bacteriology, mycology (the study of fungi), crop diseases and soil diseases.

Click here to meet Mariam Begum and to see the new service (500 words, 2 minutes)

Turf scarifying – you may be breaking the law

A worrying situation has come to light this month with the realisation that the time-honoured practice of gathering up turf scarification chaff and spreading it at new sites to establish new turf is illegal under the NSW Protection of the Environment (Operations) Act 1997 (POEO Act). (See also our article on “clean fill” in this issue of Fertile Minds.)

The intentions of the POEO Act are good: to ensure that waste is minimised through reuse, reduction, substitution and recycling. Unfortunately, the rigid implementation of the Act doesn’t match the flexible nature of the real world.

Turf managers who scarify every year need to dispose of the chaff. The chaff is trucked to a new site, where it is spread and rolled and then watered well until the sprigs take root and grow into new turf.

By rigidly defining what can and cannot be reused, the POEO Act has shifted the goalposts, making illegal a practice that meets its aims.

As the law stands, if you scarify your turf, you must dispose of the chaff to landfill. You must not reuse it to establish new turf, or you could be liable for a hefty fine.

Click here for our advice on making a submission to DECCW (700 words, 3 minutes)

Sodicity, salinity – which is which?

It’s common knowledge that many Australian soils are saline, and the problem is getting worse. (“Saline” simply means salty.)

It’s much less commonly known that up to a third of Australian soils are sodic, and that this problem is as equally serious as salinity.

Both are associated with sodium, but what’s the difference?

Click here for an explanation of sodicity and how to fix it (1000 words, 4 minutes)

Did you know ... ? – Nike jerseys: 100% recycled plastic bottles

During the recent World Cup in South Africa, Nike outfitted nine teams (including Australia) in clothing made of recycled PET bottles. The same clothing can be bought from Nike retailers. Each jersey, made entirely from recycled polyester, is made from up to eight bottles. Nike announced:

“To make the 2010 national team kits, Nike’s fabric suppliers sourced discarded plastic bottles from Japanese and Taiwanese landfill sites and then melted them down to produce new yarn that was ultimately converted to fabric for the jerseys.

“This process saves raw materials and reduces energy consumption by up to 30% compared to manufacturing virgin polyester. By using recycled polyester for its new range of national jerseys, Nike prevented nearly 13 million plastic bottles, totalling nearly 254,000 kg of polyester waste, from going into landfill sites. This amount would be enough to cover more than 29 football pitches. If the recycled bottles used to make the jerseys were laid end to end they would cover more than 3000 kilometres, which is more than the entire coastline of South Africa.”

Click here for a picture and further info (200 words, 1 minute)

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