A sludge treatment centre in Botley has been approved to make fertiliser.

This means that the CSG Botley treatment plant, which opened last year, can give the biosolids it makes to local farms to use as fertiliser for crops.

The approval was given by the Biosolids Assurance Scheme (BAS) after the plant met all necessary safety standards.

Biosolids, which are rich in nitrogen, phosphorus, and micronutrients, are made by treating sludge from the wastewater recycling process.

The Botley plant processes 25,000 gallons of raw sewage every day from households and businesses across Hampshire.

The waste management specialist aims to produce 400 tonnes of enhanced lime-treated biosolids each year.

James Baxter, agricultural recycling manager at CSG, said: "We are delighted to have achieved BAS accreditation, which was the goal when we launched this new £1.3 million treatment centre.

"We have already produced over 125 tonnes of biosolids which have been sent to local farms to be used as fertiliser.

"This accreditation means the biosolids can now be used on fields where Red Tractor standard food for humans is grown.

"This includes the food you buy in supermarkets.

"Part of the CSG ethos is to find innovative recycling and recovery techniques that reduce environmental impacts and the creation of high-quality biosolids is a fantastic example of that."

The Botley treatment centre has boosted wastewater capacity in Hampshire for more than 8,000 off-mains households every year.

The treatment plant accepts domestic wastewater from thousands of households, hotels, and holiday parks in Hampshire and beyond, which are not connected to the mains and instead use septic tanks or cesspits.

CSG is a major national operator, dealing with 30,000 off-mains drainage households across the UK.

James added: "Facilities such as this in Botley are required to ease the wastewater capacity issues around the country.

"This plant has large capacity and is already making a significant difference."

The Botley site is built to the latest specifications and is fully licensed and permitted by the Environment Agency.