Direct Client: Landscape Plus
Head Contractor: Hutchinson Builders
Location: Clyde North Secondary School, Clyde North Primary School & Greenvale School.
Service: Soil recycling
The three schools included in our scope of works were Clyde North Primary School, Clyde North Secondary School and Greenvale School. The Clyde North schools had a great starting point being an old celery farm – so the soil was sandy and easy to work with, but did lack nutrients due to the porous structure.
Greenvale Secondary was a challenge as the existing soil was high in clay content and very wet. The soil had poor structure due to the method of stripping and compaction once stockpiled. In the dirt game, we love when the soil is not compacted. Less machinery on stockpiles before treatment is our aim. Why? Because soil is a living thing and it needs air and water to filter through it. We want to avoid tracking machinery over the topsoil for this reason.
The job was to process 3,955m3 of topsoil that was previously stripped from site by the civil contractors over the three schools on the latest Victorian Schools Building Authority package 2021/22.
We proposed a separate blend for each school which included soil amendments of gypsum, fertiliser and compost which was mixed offsite.
We left the three schools with a healthy soil blend that will be used for large, open space grass areas and garden beds.
The site managers at Landscape Plus were stoked with the ease of our process and time onsite, and the fact that healthy soil is readily available in stockpile for immediate use on the project – a huge plus because it negates the need for importing more soil, using trucks and waiting on that supply. Time and money saved.
Soil recycling means that we can close the circular economy for compost production, as we’re able to blend with the onsite soil. In other words, your green waste bin is going to good use! If you don’t have one, order it through your council. That waste is composted at the perfect temperature over a 16 week period under instense scrutiny. Then, we use it as part of our soil improvement blend. It’s the circular economy at its finest, and it’s a tangible way that every person can contribute to positive climate change.
Importantly, our involvement saved truck movement (and all the emissions they (produce) that would otherwise have been necessary.
As always, we offset our process with Green Fleet, saving 3.83t of carbon being introduced into the atmosphere.
The end client saved over $250,000 by thinking outside the box. The savings were made because they didn’t need to import soil or dispose of the existing soil. Everyone’s a winner!
If you're like to chat about soil recycling or how we participate in the circular economy, get in touch.
