The Introduction of a Central Composting System; And

STIRLING COUNCIL THIS PAPER RELATES TO ITEM 5 ON THE AGENDA TECHNICAL AND COMMERCIAL SERVICES ENVIRONMENTAL QUALITY COMMITTEE 6 FEBRUARY 1997 NOT EXEMPT The lntroduction of a Central Composting System 1 PURPOSE 1.1 To introduce a scheme to compost green waste collected at Lower Polmaise Civic Amenity Site as a pilot compost project. 1.2 To highlight the possibility of implementing a separate organic household waste collection dependent on the success of composting civic amenity green waste. 2SUMMARY 2.1 This report highlights the importance of composting in terms of environmental and financial benefits. It proposes an initial pilot project for composting civic; amenity green waste to pave the way for implementing a separate household organic waste collection next year. 3 RECOMMENDATIONS 3.1 That the Committee notes:- 3.1.1 the introduction of a central composting system; and 3.1.2 that a further report will be brought to Committee, detailing waste disposal charges for 1997/98. These charges shall be increased to reflect the additional set up costs associated with this project. 4 CONSIDERATIONS 4.1 The removal of organic material from the landfill waste stream has many benefits, particularly environmentally and financially. The initial proposal is to remove the civic amenity green waste from landfill disposal and set up a separate compost scheme. For the purposes of the pilot scheme green waste can be best described as waste that arises from landscape gardening companies, e.g. trees, shrubs and cuttings etc. 4.2 The environmental effects of landfilling organic waste are many. The following are the major concerns relating to this issue:- 4.2.1 Organic matter buried within a landfill site undergoes bacterial digestion in the absence of oxygen. The byproducts of this process are methane gas and a liquid effluent. known as leachate. • Methane gas is a major contributor to global warming. • Leachate is a toxic mixture of organic complex's which can potentially pollute ground and surface waters. 4.3 The reduction of landfilled organic waste will have the effect of reducing methane gas production and leachate build up. 4.4 Financial savings would be gained by composting as the £7 per tonne landfill tax is not liable an waste materials used for the purpose of recycling. The estimated volume of green waste which is to be composted is 3,000 tonnes per annum. This would be a tax saving of £21,000 per annum, assuming all finished compost is removed from the site. 4.5 A further benefit would be that the Lower Polmaise Landfill Site life span would be extended by organic waste diversion. Assuming the site has 10 years life expectancy, the recycling of civic amenity green waste alone would save an estimated further one year of landfill space. 4.6 Separated green waste will be available from the Civic Amenity Site by the middle of February 1997. Therefore it is proposed that a compost scheme is invested in as soon as possible. This will allow the system to be operational before early Spring. 4.7 The collection of green waste is only possible with the current re- development of the Civic amenity site, where different fractions of waste are separately collected in specific containers. In addition to green waste being collected there will be separate containers for waste wood and scrap metal. 5 THE WAY FORWARD 5.1 The recommendation of this report is to seek the approval for using increased tipping revenues to fund the construction of an area 50m x 70m of hardstanding and provide associated drainage works, on which a composting operation may be instigated. The annual running costs ill be financed by the saving in landfill tax payments, and are detailed as follows:- Monthly hire costs of equipment for shredding waste and turning compost: Shredder £1,000 Turner £100 Monthly Total £1,100 Annual Total £3,200 Waste management license application:- Annual £800 Total annual £14,000 5.2 The success of composting green civic amenity waste will give useful indications towards the feasibility of implementing a separate kerbside collection scheme for garden and possibly kitchen waste for the purpose of producing compost. This would help the Council attempt to achieve the Government’s target of recycling 25% of domestic waste by the year 2000. As a pilot project it will allow for compost markets to be explored and the refining and improvement of finished compost can be experimented with to suit different markets. Next year, with the necessary infrastructure and composting experience in place, a kerbside organic collection may be considered and where it is difficult or uneconomic to provide a kerbside collection then home composting bins could be considered. 6 POLICY IMPLICATIONS 6.1 The removal of organic waste from the landfill waste stream is strongly considered as working towards sustainable landfill practices, which is in line with the Council's strategic aim of working towards sustainability, 7 CONSULTATIONS 7.1 For a full landfill tax saving on composted material, the finished product must leave the landfill site. The Countryside Ranger Service in Environmental Services have identified a number of sites within the Council area where the material can be used for the purpose of restoring derelict land. 8 RESOURCE IMPLICATIONS 8.1 This proposal does have financial resource implications. Initial funding is required to finance the construction of the hardstanding and drainage works to the amount of £50,000. However, the annual cost of tending and processing the compost (£l4,000), would be funded by the landfill tax saving (£21,000). giving an overall saving of E7.000 per year. Author Approved By: Designation Tel No/Extension Tom McCormack Director of Technical & Commercial Services Date: 28 January 1997 Ref: REP22.SAM .

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