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Community Composting in Windmill Hill |
Site details Tools and equipment
Insurance Waste licensing and regulation
This page outlines the community composting project at Windmill Hill.
History The project was started in March 2000 as a way of reducing compostable waste in the Windmill Hill area of Bristol. When the project becomes more profitable the revenue will support the work of Windmill Hill City Farm. The site is run by volunteers who come from the local community. The suppliers of the compost and the volunteers who run the scheme are all part of a 'composting club'*. [Top]
Site details The project is sited on Windmill Hill City Farm on approximately half an acre of land.
Method of composting Composting is carried out in wooden bins
with slatted wooden fronts. These can be removed so that the compost can be loaded and
turned. The bins were constructed from old pallets supplied
by a local printers firm. The bins are lined with cardboard for
extra insulation and the composting material is covered with black
plastic. The composting material is made up of kitchen
scraps and shredded cardboard mixed in a 1:1 ratio. Heaps are
turned once a week into adjacent bins. During the summer the
compost is produced in approximately six weeks. The colder
autumn and winter weather we are now getting has slowed the process.
500 litres of kitchen
scraps are collected per week and approximately half a tonne of
cardboard is collected per month from Asda. Garden waste is
shredded and composted separately from the kitchen scraps and
cardboard. [Top]
Collection of material Kitchen scraps are collected weekly from 55 houses on Windmill Hill using the City Farm's van and trailer. Containers are supplied to store one weeks material for a one-off cost of £2. Garden waste from the community gardens and from the farm is delivered to the site by the community garden holders and farm workers. The weekly cardboard collection from Asda is also carried out with the van and trailer.
Compost produced The end product is sold as a soil conditioner. Customers are responsible for filling their bags - in some circumstances help can be arranged. Customers are also welcome to buy the compost in bulk at a reduced rate.
Tools and equipment At present the project has four wheel-barrows and a number of hand tools all donated by volunteers or the farm. [Top]
Labour Three volunteers ran the scheme working three and half days a week between them. They also have less regular help from a group of other volunteers who are connected with the scheme. At present the following work is carried out every week : one day for the collection of kitchen scraps, half a day for the collection and shredding of cardboard, one and a half days for turning the compost and building the heaps and half a day for shredding the garden waste.
Monitoring Monitoring of the compost to test for temperature and moisture levels is done by hand and feel.
Income and funding A gate fee of £10 per ton is charged for collecting the cardboard. The compost is sold at £4 for a 40l bag and at £40 per tonne. Bristol City Council have been approached about paying recycling credits* for each tonne of waste diverted from landfill. This could amount to £15 per tonne. Funding applications have been submitted to a number of organisations. [Top]
Insurance Insurance is supplied by Windmill Hill City Farm
Waste licensing and regulations A composting club* has been created so that a license exemption can be applied for from the Environment Agency*. As the City Farm is already being used for farming the local authority had no planning objections.
Plans for the future The scheme is in the process of negotiating with Bristol City Council to rent some of the land on one of the local parks as a way of expanding the amount of composting being carried out. European funding has been applied for to aid this expandtion. If successful a piece of equipment called the Bio-quick-reactor will be purchased. This can produce compost in an astonishing 24 hours and will greatly increase the tonnage of compost coming through the project each year. Watch this space!