Title: [GreenYes] Re: Indoor composting economics
I used to run a compost business that handled about 14,000 tons of
plant debris per year. The climate in our part of California is
milder than Boston's, but there are lots of deciduous trees and lots
of leaves in the fall. We were blessed with a pretty constant supply
of clean plant debris to shred and windrow. We didn't take
putrescibles back then; urban composting on such a large scale was
quite new.
But I'm wondering whether the supply if plant debris is as subject to
wild swings as people on this thread seem to assume. At our Compost
Farm there was some seasonality, but it was reflected more in the
content of the plant debris than its volume. That's because people
don't restrict gardening to leaf cleanup, and every season has it's
major tasks: in the winter people prune and cut and weed; in the
spring they clear land, cultivate and weed, in the summer they
deadhead blooms, harvest fruit and vegetables, and weed.
Composting plant debris is like haircutting; either the hair keeps
growing and keeps getting cut, or after awhile you're going to look
pretty disheveled.
By the way, human and animal hair composts well, too.
Dan Knapp
Urban Ore, Inc.
On Mar 31, 2008, at 4:45 AM, Mike wrote:
>
> The lead on the indoor composting project is Bryan Glascock, Director
> of the Environment Department, his number is 617-635-3850, email is
> "Glascock, Bryan" <Bryan.Glascock@no.address>
>
> On Mar 28, 3:29 pm, "Doug Koplow" <Kop...@no.address> wrote:
>> Anybody on the list familiar with the Boston proposal? I'm
>> wondering how the economics of this will work out, given that the
>> peak input is leaves, which are highly seasonal. If the plant is
>> sized for peak loadings in the fall, it would seem to be
>> uneconomic the rest of the year. If a levelized capacity is
>> targeted instead, there would seem to be storage and emissions
>> challenges.
>>
>> Certainly, integration of food waste might help reduce the surge
>> associated with yard waste, but I'm guessing not that much. If
>> the food waste is less seasonal, including it would boost the peak
>> supply of organics.
>>
>> Anybody know how these design challenges have been met?
>>
>> -Doug Koplow
>>
>> _______________________________
>> Doug Koplow
>> Earth Track, Inc.
>> 2067 Massachusetts Avenue - 4th Floor
>> Cambridge, MA 02140www.earthtrack.net
>> Tel: 617/661-4700
>> Fax: 617/354-0463
>>
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