Inventor scoops premier award (From Western Telegraph)

Inventor scoops premier award

AN environmentally-friendly liquid composting system developed in a garden near Whitland has earned its inventor a top national award.

The Envirocomp, which can produce 200 litres of liquid fertiliser for just 17p, is the brainchild of Linda Vickerage.

She is now planning to go into production of the system, which attracted attention from as far afield as the USA, Africa and Estonia after it gained an accolade at the British Female Inventor of the Year award ceremony in London.

"Everything is a bit of a whirl at the moment because I'm in negotiations with people over production and marketing," said Linda, of Ciffig, near Whitland, who lectures in public health and sociology.

She was nominated for the award by the Welsh Development Agency and was delighted to receive the Special Recognition for Excellence award.

"I've always been a keen gardener and have tried to use environmentally-friendly methods, so this system really developed naturally from there," explained Linda.

"It's a self-contained system and comes in a variety of sizes, which means that liquid fertiliser can be produced for a range of needs - from someone with just a collection of house-plants to a keen gardener with lots of land.

"I'm very conscious that the Government wants to encourage the composting of household waste and pleased that as well as being kind to the environment, my invention may also generate jobs in this area."