Victoria’s first soil recycling plant opened earlier this month, converting waste and contaminated soils into compost for beneficial reuse.

Gippsland Water Chairman Richard McDowell officially opened a new waste plant that will process 3000 tonnes of contaminated soils, 13,000 tonnes of organic waste and up to 20 megalitres of liquid waste a year.

The Soil and Organic Recycling Facility (SORF) at Dutson Downs, 20km southeast of Sale, will manufacture high-quality compost that will be used for pasture improvement, land rehabilitation or beautification projects.

"The facility will use proven treatment methods to produce reusable composted materials from resources such as organic contaminated soils," Mr McDowell said.

"Resource recovery is an increasingly important component in Victoria’s sustainability toolkit," he said. "Materials otherwise lost to productivity will be put back to work and the community is spared expensive disposal costs."

Contaminated soils retrieved from disused petrol stations or gas works can be treated and recycled at the SORF as an alternative in many cases to landfill disposal.

It will also compost other wastes, including animal fats and petrol-based pollutants, using naturally occurring microbes. These convert the waste into its component parts - carbon, water and beneficial soil organics.

The plant will also recycle liquids such as waste oils and washdown water from factories, food processors and machinery plants - including car washes.

Gippsland Water Managing Director David Mawer said "Contaminated water is a valuable resource that previously has gone to waste. This new plant can now take 20 megalitres a year. That’s water that once it is treated, can be reused for agricultural purposes.

"We believe industry will soon recognise the usefulness of this facility and it has been planned to further increase in capacity as demand grows." Mr Mawer added.