Community Composting Composting Joyfully Not Forcefully Eagle Song at Willows Lodge Resort

GMT Company History u Founded by two engineers in 1992 in VT u Offers systems from 50 lbs per day to 100,000 tons per year u Started with In-vessel Container Systems u Developed the Earth Tub in 1996 u Opened Seattle office in 2001 u Developed the Earth Flow in 2005 u First Large ASP system in 2007 u Approximately 300 sites worldwide

Aerobic Composting Process Food Scraps Up to 30% Green/wood waste Compost Vessel Curing Air Recipe: moisture C/N Ratio porosity 3-8 weeks Soil Amendment 6-8 weeks

GMT On-Site Compost Systems The Earth Tub ™ for Smaller on-site waste generators The Earth Flow ™ for Mid-sized waste generators

Odor Control u Process air collected from the Earth Tub headspace is blown thru a biofilter container to remove odors u Biofilter media is a mix of leaf mulch with wood chips and lime u Odors are degraded by microbes growing on biofilter media

The Containerized Compost System Hutchinson, MN 16 Container system for food waste

u Odor and Pest Control u Process Control u Materials Handling u Controlled Aeration u Reduced Site Development Costs In-Vessel Advantages

u CompLoader - Integrated Mixer & Conveyor u CompTainer - Composting Container u CompDACS - Computer Controlled Aeration Containerized Compost System™ Containerized Compost System™

Grinding, Mixing and Loading u Prepares compost mix prior to loading u No agitation inside vessel u 10 Minute Mix Time u Conveyor loaded to container

CCS System on PEI

What is an ASP? u Aerated Static Piles are forced aeration composting systems for carefully constructed and blended piles of organic residuals. u They provide adequate oxygen and control of pile temperature by adjusting the amount and direction of airflow u Control of air flow is done by using: – Suction and/or pressure blowers; and –On/off timers; and/or –Temperature feedback –Zone dampers; and/or –Bidirectional dampers

Alternating Direction ASP Positive w/Biofilter layer Perforated trench covers at 7” pressure Negative with Biofilter Pulled from pile at 10” suction

High Tech or Low Tech ASP Whether in-vessel or open pile, aerated static piles can be expensive or cheap, but either needs to be filled carefully and evenly to reduce short circuiting of air flow. Consistent porosity - Consistent moisture - No packing in or driving on pile edges - u West Yellowstone Compost Facility

West Coast Lawn Delta, BC 100,000 Ton Turned Aerated Pile (TAP)

Traditional View of Composting Options u Residential backyard composting u Curbside collection u Trucking to centralized facilities u Some states now have permit exemptions to encourage mid-scale or community composting

Lack of Compost Capacity

What Defines Community Composting? u Composting near generators u May not involve commercial collection and hauling u Local control and responsibility u Not driven solely by economics u May be driven by volunteer groups such as food banks or Zero Waste

Advantages of Community Composting u Easier to control odors u Reduces environmental impacts and cost of transport u Local communities take ownership for their own waste u Building community expertise in composting u Supports local economies u Creates local suppliers of compost product

Disadvantages Smaller facilities to manage and regulate More grinding and screening equipment required Redundant systems would tend to compete with each other for business Need critical mass in order to keep costs manageable and support commercial enterprises

Examples of Community Composting u Island communities u Food banks u Educational institutions u Urban and rural farms u Bike collection services u Prisons or retirement homes u Resorts and camps Grey Bears Food Bank

The Story of Composting in Seattle u First large composting facilities built in the 90’s for green waste composting in the scale of ,000 tons per year u Began curbside collection of food waste in 2003 u Centralized processing to two sites outside city limits u Facilities grew to 3-400,000 tons per year u Odor problems now forcing facilities to move to rural areas of eastern Washington

Case Study Vashon Island

Vashon Island Recycling Rate u Seattle and Vashon are both in King County and has a diversion goal of 60% by 2015 u Seattle has a recycling rate of 57% and has curbside collection of organics u Environmentally aware population of 11,000 on Vashon Island u Vashon has a recycling rate of 9% due to lack of recycling services and options

Organic Fraction on Vashon

Vashon Zero waste field trip to centralized composting site

Technology Matrix for Vashon

u Community Composting got highest ranking u Their biggest issue was scalability

Gibsons Case Study

Gibson’s Recycling u Operator is president of Zero Waste Canada u Provides curbside collection with electric vehicles u Crushes glass and extrudes Styrofoam with on-site equipment u Successfully diverting 55% of solid waste without composting

Gibson’s Drop-off Center

Gibson’s adds Composting 22’ long Earth Flow Composter

Martha’s Vineyard u Disposal cost above $150/ton u Rural with local agriculture u Solid waste district u Seasonal surge in population makes infrastructure difficult to scale and trucking difficult u So what is holding them back?

Grey Bears Adds Recycling

Grey Bears Adds Composting u Senior volunteer labor u Composting rejects from food bank u Offers compost to members to use in their gardens

My Favorite Installations u Deer Park Monastery, San Diego u Annapolis Royale, Nova Scotia u Islandwood, Bainbridge Is. WA u Coal Mining Camp, Norway u Crestwood Elementary Kent, WA u Parrot Cay, Turks & Caicos Is. u Zion Lodge, Utah u Gibson’s Landing, BC

Recommendations u Municipalities should prioritize –community-based composting –multiple, smaller composting facilities –award multiple contracts for geographic locations u States should establish regulations to provide simple permitting solutions for community-based composting facilities to function without onerous regulation designed for big facilities. u Move away from the “one size fits all” approach to regulation. u Just like community-supported agriculture (CSA), we can all advocate for community-supported composting (CSC) to keep nutrients and $$ in our local communities.