Natural World Products (NWP) has become the first compost producer in Northern Ireland to achieve certification from The Composting Association to BSI PAS 100, the quality standard for composted materials.

Based in Keady, County Armagh, NWP takes in and composts 35,000 tonnes of green waste every year from many of the District Councils in Northern Ireland. The company gained certification to the scheme for its soil conditioner branded " Rosey Lee" following verification that its quality managed composting process achieves high quality compost.

BSI PAS (Publicly Available Specification) 100 for composted materials was launched in 2002 by WRAP (the Waste & Resources Action Programme), The Composting Association and BSI Professional Standards Services. The standard enables producers of composted materials to assure end users of the quality, consistency and reliability of their products. Participating companies are required to regularly monitor, record and evaluate process performance in connection with compost quality. They must also document all their procedures and provide accurate, up-to-date key information about their products.

To achieve the quality standard Natural World Product's compost has to regularly undergo a very comprehensive suite of tests which are carried out with Bord na Móna, Newbridge, Co. Kildare. Bord an Mona are testing the compost according methods outlined in the quality standard methods. These tests include chemical properties such as pH, electrical conductivity, nutrients and potentially toxic elements, physical contaminants and pathogens.

Brendan Woods, Managing Director of NWP, said: " We are delighted to be the first company in Northern Ireland to have achieved this much sought after certification and to have done so in such a short time. This certification reaffirms to our customers that NWP can deliver a consistently high-quality product which is also environmentally friendly."

Ian Garner, WRAP's Northern Ireland Liaison Officer, said: "BSI PAS 100 allows composted products to be used with confidence and NWP certification demonstrates that good quality products are being manufactured from the resources which would otherwise have been consigned to landfill."

To achieve the quality standard Natural World Product's compost has to regularly undergo a very comprehensive suite of tests which are carried out with Bord na Móna, Newbridge, Co. Kildare. Bord an Mona are testing the compost according methods outlined in the quality standard methods. These tests include chemical properties such as pH, electrical conductivity, nutrients and potentially toxic elements, physical contaminants and pathogens.