Human waste fertiliser

Clytus

Looks like some cereal farmers in the UK midlands are using treated human sewage as a fertiliser...gives a whole new meaning to organic I suppose.

Human sewage used on crops in the Midlands
Jul 26 2008 By Jeanette Oldham

FARMERS are using treated human sewage as crop fertiliser on almost 3,000 Midland fields.

Severn Trent Water says demand for the waste has soared because it is now just a fifth of the cost of conventional animal-based fertiliser, which is closely linked to the price of oil.

The treated human sewage, known as sludge, is being used on fields to grow crops including maize, corn and oats.

Sainsbury’s and Waitrose admit some of their products have been treated with the waste but others, including Tesco and Asda, have banned the controversial practice following health fears.

Yet Severn Trent has defended the sludge sales which are backed by the Government.

Spokeswoman Sophie Jordan said: “The company has seen a 25 per rise in demand for biosolids since the start of 2008. We delivered sludge for use on 2,808 fields in the last financial year.

“Before 1998, sludges were disposed of at sea, in landfill sites, incinerated or recycled to land. Sea disposal is now banned.

‘‘All biosolids used in agriculture meet strict quality assurance levels and are treated to new prescribed standards.”

The water supplier said a large number of the Midland fields enriched with sludge are used to grow food for both human and animal consumption.

It means many of our breakfast cereals, like cornflakes, could have been made using corn fertilised with the treated human sewage.

Some of the fields are also used to produce vegetables destined for supermarkets, or to be used as cattle feed. Hence the milk on our cornflakes or the beef in our Sunday dinner could have come from a cow nourished on the waste.

The Sunday Mercury asked the major supermarkets if they sell sludge-associated products, and Waitrose and Sainsbury’s admitted doing so.

But Asda, Tesco and Marks and Spencer all ban sludge-fertilised foods or produce.

Asda said it had taken the decision to steer clear of the practice because of fears that it could cause food poisoning, while Marks and Spencer said: “We’re not interested in it.”

News that treated human waste is being increasingly used by farmers supplying British supermarkets will come as a shock to most consumers.

Although it has been allowed by law since 1998, it has until recently been used by only small pockets of the farming industry.

But the soaring price of oil – a key ingredient in most traditional fertilisers – has seen farmers across the Midlands and elsewhere turning to their local water companies for a ready supply of treated human sewage.

Severn Trent Water has been swamped by the demand for sludge from farmers and landowners, and only sells to those based in the region.

The company has a team of treatment managers working on the ‘sludge’ side of the business.

Supporters of the fertiliser say every effort is made to ensure there is no danger to human health, insisting that 99 per cent of the pathogens – bacteria, viruses or parasites that can cause disease in humans and animals –are killed in the treatment process.

But sludge is not without its opponents.

Some UK farmers who have converted almost entirely to spreading sludge on their land have received complaints from people living nearby about the smell –and the big food retailers are divided on the practice.

A Tesco insider said it was inconceivable that it would ever consider “allowing anything like human sewage near our products”.

And several international food companies, including Del Monte, Campbell Soup and certain baby food manufacturers, have erred on the side of caution and banned sludge use among their suppliers.

Del Monte developed a no-biosolids policy in the early 1980s over concerns that trace amounts of heavy metals and chemicals might find their way into the food chain.

Similarly, the soup maker won’t use produce grown on land treated with biosolids because of the “potential toxicological food safety risk posed by concentrated heavy metals in the soil.”

The use of human waste as fertiliser existed in the 1970s but began in earnest in 1996 when water quality agreements stiffened sewage treatment guidelines, thus creating more sludge.

Research has shown that grains, potatoes and leafy vegetables like lettuce and spinach readily absorb cadmium, one of the heavy metals that may find its way into sewage. Cadmium has been linked to loss of kidney function.

And there have been worries about the effects of the practice on animals. A UK study has showed that sheep reared on sludged pastures produce smaller, hormonally affected offspring.

A popular misconception about sludge usage is that is cannot be applied to salad crops like lettuce, fruit or root vegetables.

But the Safe Sludge Matrix (Government and industry regulations governing the practice) permit this, providing that the soil is turned well and that there is a significant interval of between 10 and 30 months between soil application and crop harvest, depending on what crop is being grown and whether it will be eaten raw, like lettuce.

In a statement, Sainsbury’s said: “We don’t ban the use of sludge on agricultural land, but in practice a very limited amount is used. Along with the rest of the industry, we insist that very strict controls are met for its use.

“Sludge has to be treated in accordance with strict controls defined in the Safe Sludge Matrix which is enforced by the Environment Agency.

‘‘These guidelines have been developed in conjunction with the Food Standards Agency.

‘‘This includes restrictions such as long time periods between application and harvest.”

Asked which of Sainsbury’s products are grown on sludge-fertilised land or contain ingredients that have been grown there, the supermarket group said: “There are no specific products to mention, as actually we have never specifically agreed it can be used.

“That is, we don’t tell our farmers you can, or can’t, use sludge.

“However, our policy is that if it is used it must be in accordance with the Safe Sludge Matrix.”

A Waitrose spokeswoman said: “At Waitrose all our suppliers adhere to the Code of Practice for Agricultural use of Sewage Sludge published by the Department of the Environment, Transport and the Regions (DETR), but do not permit our suppliers of fruit, vegetables or salad to use sludge in their production.” But Tesco said it has a strict policy banning the use of human sludge-produced products. “Under our Nature’s Choice policy, no untreated animal waste and no human waste are used by any of the farmers who supply Tesco,” a spokesman said.

Alun

That's odd. I was watching a program the other night on the BBC where they were looking at ways farmers had diversified. One guy was growing willow for biomass for a local power station, and one of the advantages of doing this was quoted as being that, since it wasn't being grown for human consumption, that he could use human sewage to fertilize, and that seeing as it couldn't apparently be legally used for anything else, it was as cheap as chips.

Clytus

alot of the multiples were quick off the mark as soon as this hit the press...some of the technical people were almost in panic mode making sure suppliers werent using sludge.

Mr Magnolia

Moved from F&D with a redirect.

Mods - feel free to throw this back if it doesn't suit here. Thanks

Kama

I just want to see it labelled:

Pure Organic and Biodynamically Grown - May Contain Traces of Poop


What with increasing fertiliser costs, gotta get those nutrients back into the soil somehow

maniac101

Clytus wrote: »

Looks like some cereal farmers in the UK midlands are using treated human sewage as a fertiliser...gives a whole new meaning to organic I suppose.

This has been standard practice in Ireland for a number of years, see here. There's a code of practice, similar to the UK one, that has to be adhered to in this country also.

BTW, the statement by the "Tesco spokesperson" in the article above is of course complete sewage!

muggyog

+1, maniac101.

No different to letting your kitchen scraps rot on the compost heap and growing your vegetables in the biodegraded results. In fact what about Urea and the advice to gardeners to urinate on their compost heaps to accelerate decomposition.

Yes, Tesco person was talking sh**e.

starbelgrade

I dumped on my tulips yesterday. They are now in full bloom.

ART6

Kama wrote: »

I just want to see it labelled:

Pure Organic and Biodynamically Grown - May Contain Traces of Poop


What with increasing fertiliser costs, gotta get those nutrients back into the soil somehow

Or "may contain nuts"?

Rented Mule

Are they looking for donations?

This is a cause I could really get behind.

djpbarry

muggyog wrote: »

No different to letting your kitchen scraps rot on the compost heap and growing your vegetables in the biodegraded results. In fact what about Urea and the advice to gardeners to urinate on their compost heaps to accelerate decomposition.

You think it's a good idea for people to spread human waste in their gardens?

Macha

As far as I know, it's not considered a good idea to spread human waste directly onto plants that will be eaten. There are issues around pathogens, I think.. However, it can be put indirectly on plants, eg around the base of fruit trees.

Composting toilets are another option.