GROWING LOCAL FERTILITY: A GUIDE TO COMMUNITY COMPOSTING A COLLABORATION OF HIGHFIELDS CENTER FOR COMPOSTING AND THE INSTITUTE FOR LOCAL SELF-RELIANCE GUIDE TO COMMUNITY COMPOSTING 1 The Highfields Center for Composting and the Institute for Local Self-Reliance are equal opportunity providers and employers. GROWING LOCAL FERTILITY: A GUIDE TO COMMUNITY ABOUT HIGHFIELDS CENTER FOR COMPOSTING COMPOSTING www.highfieldscomposting.org April 2014 | Hardwick, Vermont Highfields Center for Composting is a non-profit, mission-driven Authored by Brenda Platt, Institute for Local Self-Reliance and James organization dedicated to closing the loop on sustainable food and McSweeney and Jenn Davis, Highfields Center for Composting agricultural systems, thus addressing soil health, water quality, solid waste, farm viability, and climate change. Highfields conducts research, offers educational resources, develops community-operated composting ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS programs, and provides technical services with the goal of recycling 100% Thanks to the many practitioners in the field demonstrating the viability of Vermont’s food scraps by 2017. of community-based composting! We appreciate all who took the time to participate in our survey, and answer multiple emails and questions. We are grateful to the significant research contribution made by Lore ABOUT THE INSTITUTE FOR LOCAL SELF-RELIANCE Rosenthal. Bobby Bell of the Institute for Local Self-Reliance also assisted www.ilsr.org with some of the research, as did intern Kaleigh Gregory. Many thanks to our reviewers, Maia Hansen, Karen Wiseman, and Tom Gilbert, of The Institute for Local Self-Reliance (ILSR) is a national non-profit the Highfields Center for Composting; Pat Sagui of the Composting research and technical assistance organization that since 1974, has Association of Vermont; Liz Gleason of Vermont Farm Viability; championed local self-reliance, a strategy that underscores the need Nora Goldstein of BioCycle; David Buckel, consultant to Red Hook for humanly scaled institutions and economies and the widest possible Community Farm; and David Morris of the Institute for Local Self- distribution of ownership. ILSR’s Waste to Wealth program focuses Reliance. This document was laid out and designed by Kim Mercer. Tom on converting waste from liabilities to valuable assets. It is unique in Gilbert and Noah Fishman, formerly with Highfields, deserve significant promoting zero waste planning specifically aimed at maximizing the credit for content and conceiving of this project. economic development potential for local communities. Under our Composting Makes $en$e Initiative, ILSR has documented model This material is based upon work supported under a grant by the Utilities composting initiatives, the job creation benefits of composting, and the Programs, United States Department of Agriculture and was produced by link between expanding composting and climate protection. More recently ILSR’s Composting Makes $en$e Project and the Highfields Center for it has researched states with model compost facility permitting regulations Composting. We thank all of our many funders. and other model policies to promote composting, and has led a peer-to- Any opinions, findings, and conclusions or recommendations expressed peer technical assistance program for farmers interested in composting in in this material are solely the responsibility of the authors and do not the Mid-Atlantic region. necessarily represent the official views of the Utilities Programs. 2 GUIDE TO COMMUNITY COMPOSTING Contents Part 4: How to Plan a Community Compost Project ....... 71 Introduction...................................................................... 5 Step 1: Clarify goals .................................................................................. 71 A Word about Our Research & Methodology .............................................. 6 SPOTLIGHT: Tinmouth Compost, Tinmouth, Vermont .............. 71 Part 1: Why Community Composting? ............................. 7 Step 2: Decide which parts of the process to undertake ..................... 72 .......................... 73 What and Why Compost? ............................................................................... 9 Step 3: Identify potential partners and collaborators SPOTLIGHT: Public-Private Partnerships ...................................... 73 Benefits of Community Composting ........................................................... 10 SPOTLIGHT: Greenway Environmental Services, NY ................. 74 Why is community participation and education a necessary ................................... 74 component of community composting? .......................................... 12 Step 4: Select materials to compost and collect SPOTLIGHT: Access to compost testing ...................................... 75 Part 2: Composting Systems .......................................... 13 SPOTLIGHT: Roots Composting LLC ........................................... 75 Turned Windrows .......................................................................................... 13 Fig. 1: Types of Materials Accepted by Profiled Programs ........... 75 Bin Systems..................................................................................................... 14 Table 4: Potential Partners to Address Possible Project Needs ......... 76 A Word about Regulations and Facility Management .................................. Common Compost Ingredients ................................................. 77 Requirements ........................................................................................ 15 Fig. 2: Source of Compost Materials in Profiled Programs ........... 78 Odor and Rodent Considerations ............................................................... 16 Step 5: Research Food Scrap Generators and Other Aerated Static Pile (ASP) ............................................................................... 17 Sources of Material ........................................................................... 78 Passively Aerated Static Pile ......................................................................... 18 Step 6: Planning your compost site ........................................................ 78 In-Vessel Composting ................................................................................... 18 Food Scrap Generator Sectors ......................................................... 79 Food Scraps Can Be Used as an Animal Feed ........................................... 19 SPOTLIGHT: Estimating Food Scrap Generation ....................... 80 Vermicomposting (Worm Composting) ..................................................... 20 Bulk Density Will Help You Estimate Weights and Static Pile ......................................................................................................... 21 Volumes of Materials ................................................................. 83 SPOTLIGHT: Energy from Organics ............................................. 22 SPOTLIGHT: Zero Waste! ............................................................... 84 Table 1: Utilizing Anaerobic Digestion for Food Scrap Recycling ....... 23 Step 7: Learn state and local zoning, permitting, and regulatory requirements ...................................................................................... 84 Part 3: Model Programs .................................................. 24 Step 8: Develop a financial plan ............................................................. 85 Ten Basic Types of Community Composting ............................................ 25 Key factors to address before choosing a composting scenario: 85 Table 2: Composting Systems and Estimated Volumes SPOTLIGHT: BIKE HAULING ......................................................... 86 Processed at Select Community-Based Operations ................... 29 Step 9: Organize your finances ............................................................... 87 Table 3: Community Based Composting By Type ............................. 30 Step 10: Identify potential funding sources .......................................... 87 Worker-owned Cooperatives ....................................................................... 32 Table 5: Potential Funding Sources ..................................................... 87 Profiled Programs .......................................................................................... 33 Table 6: Costs Estimations of Food Scrap Collection Materials ....... 88 GUIDE TO COMMUNITY COMPOSTING 3 Table 7: Costs Estimates of Compost System Materials ................... 89 SPOTLIGHT: Master Composter .................................................108 SPOTLIGHT: Sample Budget ........................................................ 90 TIP: Manage your compost site well .....................................................109 SPOTLIGHT: Funding ..................................................................... 92 TIP: Handle food scraps immediately to avoid problems ..................109 Step 11: Assess project feasibility ........................................................... 92 SPOTLIGHT: Quality Guidelines .................................................109 Step 12: Define your project .................................................................... 93 TIP: Be wary of composting challenging materials .............................110 TIP: Be innovative and frugal ..................................................................111 Part 5: Tips