About the Project
"Revision of AS4454 -- Composts, Soil Conditioners and Mulches” is an initiative funded by the Department of Climate Change, Energy, the Environment and Water. Find out more about the project here and scroll down to meet the project team members.
Food Waste for Healthy Soils
As part of the National Soils Strategy, the Australian Government administers the Food Waste for Healthy Soils (FWHS) Initiative, which aims to support the diversion of organic waste from landfill to beneficial use in agriculture.
The Initiative supports the organic waste processing industry to produce clean, consistent and safe recycled organic products such as composts, soil conditioners and mulches.
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More specifically, our project seeks to address barriers and constraints to the widescale acceptance and use of recycled organic products, particularly in agriculture.
Project Scope
We seek a better understanding of the means available to manage quality across the entire recycled organics supply chain (from feedstock collection through to end-product use). This will include the following areas of investigation:
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Alternative approaches to managing physical, chemical and biological contaminants
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Feedstock hazards and controls
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Incentive systems -- e.g., for supply of clean feedstock or for increased uptake of quality assurance systems such as AS4454
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Regulation and education
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Innovative end-product testing methods
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Short, medium and long-term options for change
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R&D requirements to fill gaps in knowledge
Stakeholder Engagement is Critical
Making real and lasting change is an immensely challenging and exciting prospect. And it cannot be done without your input! We welcome and will be seeking alternative views from a wide range of industry and government stakeholders. We need your input, perspectives, views and solutions!
While we will reach out to many of you during the project over the next 12 months, let us know if you’d like to be involved.
Our Team
Meet the project team. A collaboration between Frontier Ag & Environment, Science into Action, Murrang Earth Sciences Pty Ltd, Australian Environment Agency Pty Ltd and CROWN (The University of Queensland). Find out more about us below.
Dr Kevin Wilkinson
Project Leader
Director and founder of Frontier Ag & Environment, Kevin is an agricultural scientist with more than 25 years research and consulting experience in organic waste management. His work has touched on many subject areas including soil science, agronomy, food safety and biosecurity. Kevin has been engaged in compost standards development since the mid 90s.
Dr Chris Lee-Steere
Technical Co-Lead Contaminants
Chris is the director of Australian Environment Agency Pty Ltd. For 30 years he has been involved in the agricultural/veterinary and industrial regulatory industry in Australia, primarily in the field of environmental risk assessment. Chris has been actively involved in a technical capacity on several national and international programs within this area.
Dr Anthony Boxshall
Stakeholder Engagement Lead
Anthony is the Principal and Founder of Science into Action. An experienced executive, board member and science leader with expertise in climate adaptation, environmental pollution and conservation science. He is a co-creator of Authentic Co-design (link: https://www.authenticcodesign.com/), an approach that involves deep collaboration and co-design to jointly find solutions to gnarly problems.
Mr Johannes Biala
Technical Lead Organics Supply Chain Solutions
Johannes is Director of the Centre for Recycling of Organic Waste and Nutrients (CROWN) at The University of Queensland. For over 30 years, he has worked as a consultant and researcher in all key areas of the organics recycling supply chain, including the use of recycled organic products in agriculture and horticulture.
Dr Julia Jasonsmith
Technical Co-Lead Contaminants
​Julia is an environmental chemist with Murrang Earth Sciences focused on mitigating pollution in soil and water. She has delivered numerous national waste to land projects relating to agricultural land, biosolids, and composts, working also in the field of contaminated lands and conducting pollution research.