BASF closes the loop on composting showcase at Chinaplas 2013

BASF and Guangzhou Joraform Environmental have announced that compost produced from a joint composting project at Chinaplas has come full circle and will be used to improve soil quality at the Guangzhou Nansha District Dagang Institute of Agricultural Sciences farm in Guangzhou. The compost produced has been tested and proven to be of high quality.

The compost was produced from the collection of food leftovers and fully biodegradable plates and cups in certified compostable bags, made with BASF’s ecovio, at the international plastics exhibition and conference Chinaplas, which took place from 20-23 May in Guangzhou. These bags were then sent to Joraform’s facility, placed in its mobile composting machine and quickly and cost-effectively converted into high-quality compost. Non-organic and non-biodegradable waste, such as sweet wrappers or plastic bottles, was disposed in separate bins to ensure that it would not enter the composting waste stream.

“The high quality of the compost attests to the importance of using only certified compostable bags, cups and plates. It also demonstrates that the closed loop concept works,” said Thierry Wong, Technical Consultant, Joraform, operator of the mobile composting facility and laboratory tests.

The project follows BASF’s recent successes in Australia and New Zealand. Last year, the company won a United Nations Association of Australia award for its Cooperation for Organics Out of Landfill (‘COOL’) compost project, which was a cooperation between BASF Australia, Woolworths, Compost Australia, Zero Waste Australia and the Murrumbidgee Shire Council. The project showed that the composting of organic waste collected from household and commercial premises can be achieved hygienically and at a low cost with the use of compostable plastic bags made from BASF biodegradable plastics.