Bromley trial kicks up a stink

Wool waste mixed into organic waste is suspected of being to blame for a bad smell at a Bromley composting plant for the past two weeks.

The Living Earth plant turns organic waste collected in the green wheelie bins into compost for the Christchurch City Council.

Living Earth general manager George Fietje said the "spicy vinegary" smell may have been caused by wool scour or the building material gypsum being mixed into the kerbside waste as part of a trial.

Environment Canterbury (ECan) has received about eight complaints and about 30 calls to their pollution hotline over the bad smell. ECan has given Living Earth until December 14 to get the smell under control.

Fietje said he was disappointed the plant had caused a stink for the first time in nine months of operation. Wool scour and gypsum waste would no longer be used for composting, he said.

"It has been quite disappointing that in the last two weeks we have had this problem ... We will take a much more cautious approach to new materials in the future. If we knew this would happen before we started we would not have done it."

City council water and waste manager Mark Christison said there were financial remedies in the contract with Living Earth if they did not meet performance targets, including a requirement to operate within its resource consent.