News Release:
Industrial waste a real option for tomato grower
| Date 26/11/03 No 211/03 Research by the University of New England has shown that it would be economically feasible for a Tamworth hydroponics company to use waste gas from a nearby abattoir to increase the production of its tomatoes. The research, by final-year Natural Resources student Annie van der Meulen, is part of a UNE-based project looking at ways of "closing the loop" between industrial waste and reusable resources in regional centres. "Carbon dioxide enrichment" is a technique for increasing greenhouse productivity used widely in Europe and Canada. The UNE research is believed to be the first in Australia to assess the feasibility of using waste gas from an adjacent business rather than gas generated in the greenhouse itself. The overall waste-management project, titled "Industry Ecosystems", is an initiative of UNE and its Institute for Rural Futures. The companies involved in Annie's study, Quality Food Production (the hydroponics company) and Peel Valley Exporters (the abattoir), are about 200 metres apart on the Glen Artney Industrial Estate in West Tamworth. The carbon dioxide is a waste product of the abattoir's propane-fired boilers, and can be an important ingredient in the production of hydroponic tomatoes. One of Annie's supervisors for the project, Rex Glencross-Grant from UNE's School of Environmental Sciences and Natural Resources Management, said her work showed how a waste product could be turned from "a greenhouse-gas problem" into "a resource for greenhouse production". "As well as being cost-effective, such measures can help to limit the amount of industrial waste making an impact on the environment," he said.
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The Manager of Quality Food Production's Tamworth Division, Mr Rod Cameron, said Annie's study had shown that the use of the abattoir's waste gas could enhance his company's profits. "In the light of her finding, I would be interested in participating in any future movement towards large-scale integration of waste and resources among rural industries," he said. Another final-year Natural Resources student, Thaisa Erwin, has also conducted a study related to the Peel Valley Exporters site in Tamworth. Thaisa assessed the feasibility of establishing a wetland on the site for the biological treatment of waste water. After establishing its feasibility, she outlined a wetland design that would make waste water (including that from inside the abattoir and from the company's car park) suitable for agricultural use. Mr Glencross-Grant said the "Industry Ecosystems" project as a whole, and the students' research results in particular, could affect the future design of industrial estates by promoting a more effective "closing of the loop" between one company's waste and another's resources. Media contact: Rex Glencross-Grant, School of Environmental Sciences and Natural Resources Management, UNE, Armidale (02) 6773 2668 or Jim Scanlan, Public Relations, UNE, Armidale (02) 6773 3049. |
