Earlier this summer, trials of collecting the green slime from St Aubin’s Bay and taking it to the Green Waste section at the La Collette Recycling Centre began. The sea lettuce was then mixed with regular garden waste on a nine-to-one ratio.
In June Emma Richardson-Calladine, recycling manager for the Growth, Housing and Environment Department, said that it would take about four weeks for experts to ascertain whether the sea lettuce would be suitable for composting.
Now a spokeswoman for the department has said the composting was ‘going to plan’.
‘The test results show that the material with sea lettuce added is compliant and can be used as a soil improver. It is likely that the first batch of soil improver containing sea lettuce will go to land next week.
‘We will continue to monitor and develop this process and we will be able to take a limited amount of sea lettuce into our composting process each week. Other methods of using the sea lettuce are also under review.’
In July a government report was produced on seaweed harvesting and aquaculture in Jersey. It highlighted that sea lettuce was one of the best candidates for producing renewable biofuels developed from plants.
The report said that due to its high levels of sugar, it could be used to produce both liquid bioethanol and biogas.
