The "Good Cause" ("Guter Grund") Soil

Type of practice Recycle

Name of practice The "Good Cause" ("Guter Grund") Soil

Name of main actor Department of Waste Management, Street Cleaning and Vehicle Fleet, Vienna

Type of actor(s) Public authority

Location Austria

Stage of implementation End-of-life

Year of implementation 1991

What was/is being done? Since 1991, the collection of organic waste has been organized in Vienna and in the same year the Lobau compost plant was opened. The "Good Cause" soil contains compost from Vienna (37.5 percent) and other organic components and no peat has been added to it. The Viennese flower or garden soil fulfills the strict requirements of the Austrian eco-label and can be used for all plantings in the house and garden area, and for improving the soil in flower and vegetable beds.

Outcomes and impacts Within two decades, two million tonne of bio-materials have been delivered to the composting plant Lobau and processed into compost. This resulted in 650,000 tons of compost for agriculture, organic viticulture, and thousands of people in Vienna who have used it in garden plots as well as community gardens. About 115,000 tons of organic waste is collected from the 70,000 waste bins in the greenbelt of the city each year. This is turned at the composting plant Lobau to 40,000 to 50,000 metric tons of the highest quality compost, which is even suitable for organic farming. All the machinery is operated with environmentally friendly biodiesel, which is produced from approximately 320,000 kg edible oils and fats, which are provided by the Viennese. The 40 liter bag of soil saves up to 36 liters of peat together with other additives such as bark. This means a reduction of at least eight kilograms of CO2 per 40-liter bag.