Documente Academic
Documente Profesional
Documente Cultură
F g:
'N tin
o d o s str y e n t
o p In du g em
W o mma ll a n a sk a
C Sa ste Min A la n
il
Ut s
i z a ti
on
s te
W p o i ti e
W a
s ho r tu n o o d 1
r k p o W 0
Wo O p a nd 1 , 2 0
A 1
F i s h pri l
f or A
1
Table of Contents
Click on any entry to jump to that article
2
Dr. Jessie Micales
USDA Forest Service, Forest Product Lab, Madison, Wisconsin
proaches from the sides and with a somewhat fluffy base The base of windrows are
The basic mixture is 3 parts then is diffused through the pile. layer, that should be about 1 foot often about 8 feet across. Height
carbon to 1 part nitrogen Another passive method is to deep. This will help the pile is often about nine to 10 feet,
assuming a proper moisture insert drainage perforated pipes drain, provide aeration and although some operations will
content. Three or four parts wood into the pile. For a more active intercept leachate. Could be peat go up as high as 14 feet. A lot
waste to one part fish waste by method, air can be blown moss or bark. depends on the kind of machin-
volume is a good start. through the pipes. The airflow ery you have.
can be maintained with exhaust Then comes the com-
7
After the first period of is often coupled with a biofilter. ent temperature. Are you just using compost for
decomposition, piles may be The carbon to nitrogen waste reduction or disposal? To
turned to aerate and bring fresh Fish waste will decom- ratio in finished compost would take care of your wood waste or
nitrogenous material against pose in two weeks under proper be about 15:1, and it would fish waste? Are you trying to
fresh nitrogenous carbon mate- conditions. All that will be left contain no pathogens, and no make a profit from composting?
rial. The amount you need to are the gill plates. A 36 lb toxic chemicals To make money, there is a
turn depends on the shape and salmon would decompose to whole range of considerations.
size of your pile and the amount nothing but gill plates in two To determine if the compost is
of moisture. There are several weeks. ready, look at it. Do you notice Do you want to do it on
types of commercial turners. Carbon sources are much odors or not? Does the compost a large scale or a small scale?
There are expensive self-con- slower to decompose, and can still have a sulfury or ammonia
tained units or ones that attach take one to two years, so particle smell? You can also order or Do you want to become
to an external power head. size is important. perform a chemical analysis. a central place where people
bring you their waste and you
Another composting strategy A good check is to charge them to take it?
for aeration is passive taking throw a handful or radish or
PVC pipe and putting holes in it cabbage seeds onto a small pile A market analysis is a
and placing it in the base. This of compost and see if they grow great idea before beginning a
can be done length or width Curing
Just because compost has and if they appear healthy. commercial composting enter-
depending on the size and shape prise. Different markets may
of the pile. As heat is emitted dropped in temperature doesnt
mean you are ready to put it on require modifications in the
from the top of the pile, new air product uniformity of particle
is pulled in on the sides and plants. It must first be cured,
which results in certain organic size, for instance, or the size of
bottom. the bag.
acids and other chemicals break-
An active system can be ing down. If the compost is used
too early, these chemicals can be Transportation will be the
rigged with sensors, so if the pile major expense.
gets too hot, it can be cooled harmful to plants. Financial Considerations
down by fans throwing air Is composting going to pay?
through the pile. An active Compost maturity can Profitability depends on your
system using negative pressure be judged by its return to ambi- strategy in producing compost.
8
Dr. Thomas Richard
Iowa State University, Department of Agriculture and Biosystems Engineering, Ames, Iowa
To please customers, be on
spec, on time. Be someone your
customer wants to come back
and do business with again, and
again, and again.
16
John Dean: Recycling for Profit
Environmental Recycling of Anchorage
Since 1993, John Dean collection firm offered customers So why do contractors bring their Such a value-added
has been forging real world weekly pickup of yard waste for wood to Dean? service-oriented approach is
solutions in the tough world of $2 per month, and paid Deans what sets Environmental Recy-
commercial recycling. Dean is firm $10 per ton to take it.
Because, he explains, the cling apart. While many recycling
in-town transfer station requires
owner of Environmental Recy-
cling, a commercial firm operat-
However, in the summer
of 2001, the local refuse com-
ing near the Anchorage Interna-
tional Airport.
Environmental Recycling
pany decided that even the $10
a ton (tipping fee) was too
expensive and cancelled this
A value-added service-oriented
approach is what sets
Environmental Recycling apart.
composts organic wastes, mak- possibly very beneficial program.
ing a product meant to be mixed
with poor quality or mineral soil
Environmental Recycling the wood to be cut to 3 foot
also charges a tipping fee for efforts exist with solid govern-
to create a rich growing medium. lengths and that can be time
construction-generated and other ment support, Deans has to
The firm also recycles glass. consuming. Driving all the way
wood waste being brought to make it in the real world of
out to Anchorages main landfill
In 2000, for instance, Environmental Recyclings 2.5-
takes both time and gas. Dean
commerce.
Environmental Recycling col- acre facility. Contractors bringing
lected 800 tons of Anchorage Dean wood waste are charged
accepts wood waste of larger Overall, Environmental
sizes, cuts and grinds it to the Recycling collects 3-4 thousand
grass clippings otherwise bound $60 per ton. At the municipal
sizes he needs and composts it. tons of wood, fish waste and
for the municipal landfill. A landfill, the charge is only $45.
17
other waste materials annually. information. Environmental yard is a lot of work. So what although he services landscapers
But with Anchorages total Recycling sells compost to most happens is they were now famil- and bulk buyers according to
compostable waste stream of the lawn maintenance compa- iar with composting and familiar their schedules. Starting in June,
topping 75,000 tons, Dean nies in and around Anchorage, with the results of using com- he says, he starts to receive his
points out that his companys Dean says. post, so they buy it from me. compostable materials for the
needs are minuscule, and that next year. This material is stock-
the industry has plenty of room
For those interested in Dean notes that 150,000 piled, then composted in the
using compost at home, Dean sacks of potting soil and other
to expand. nine months following and is
teaches workshops both in home garden products are imported
ready to be sold the following
Environmental Recycling composting and in the proper into Anchorage annually a
May.
operates on a 2.5 acre site, with use of commercially-produced sign of a healthy consumer base.
100,000 square feet of asphalt compost. Despite instructions
pads covered with a 60 mil printed on the sacks, too many
Dean says he sells com-
post from May through July,
plastic liner, with 4 inches of home gardeners wrongly as-
gravel on top and then asphalt sumed Deans brand of compost
on top of that. was meant to be used full-
strength. Dean tells his class that
Advertising, advertising compost products like his are
and, oh yeah, advertising. Thats
meant to be mixed with potting
the secret to selling your com-
or other soil.
post product, says Dean. He has
tried advertising on radio and on But Dean also culti-
public transit bus signs, before vates a good number of com-
deciding that the most effective post consumers by teaching the
option for his business albeit classes.
an expensive one is on televi-
sion.
What I found was that
people would compost in their
Dean says he also makes back yard and then use their
a point of visiting commercial
compost and like the results,
greenhouses, landscaping and
theyd get good flowers and a
lawn maintenance companies
nice lawn, Dean says. But
with samples of compost and
making compost in your back-
18
Al Poindexter: Composting With Fish and Peat
Wastes A Business Perspective for
Identifying Opportunities in Local Markets.
Al Poindexter is a busy man, fertilizer, he says. The microbes composting in autumn and early Peat. The truck returns laden with
between his Anchor Point Green- create all the proper nutrients. winter. And he now uses less bags of fish meal enough to
houses and his work with the These days, Poindexter creates odorous fish meal, which can last Poindexter for the entire
Homer Soil and Water District. A Fishy Peat from fish meal, sea- also be easily stored. season.
long-time resident of the Kenai weed and peat dug In what has to be one of the
Peninsula, Poindexter is a retired from muskegs, all more pleasant
T
teacher for whom instructing naturally harvested tasks in Alas-
he reason we use seaweed is
would-be composters comes in Alaska. kan agricul-
naturally. Poindexter said for the micronutrients. Theres just ture,
Poindexter produces Fishy he started off using about every micronutrient a plant Poindexter
Peat, a potting soil mixed with crab and raw fish would ever want to use in the seaweed. says he drives
compost that he says is far waste in Fishy Peat, his pickup
superior to the usual stuff. The which resulted in a truck slowly
secret of Fishy Peat, Poindexter product even richer than what he along the beach near his home
says, is active microorganisms sells today. At another time, he at low tide. A helper walks
that help plants thrive living used herring, also with superior Fishy Peat Sails alongside the truck, loading in
rather than sterile soil. results. But he found it much Poindexter says he sends his seaweed with a pitchfork.
If you have the right combi- easier especially in terms of pickup truck on the Alaska The reason we use seaweed
nation and they colonize the not attracting flies that could Marine Highway ferry to Kodiak, is for the micronutrients,
plant roots, you dont need any annoy neighbors to do his piled high with bags of Fishy Poindexter says. Theres just
19
about every micronutrient a plant measure their ingredients and 140 degrees F., where beneficial per bag, a feat that amazes him.
would ever want to use in the the resulting compost carefully, microbes will start to die. But The Japanese, long respected
seaweed. in order to achieve consistency between 120 to 140 degrees F. for their appreciation of quality,
Poindexter says he tries to and reliability for their customers. only pathogens and weed seeds were thrilled with an ad for Fishy
harvest equal amounts of red, are killed. Poindexter turns the Peat that appeared in a State of
green and brown seaweed for piles when they get too hot Alaska export catalog, but are
their differing properties. He also sometimes four times a day at not able to import biologically
adds some rock phosphorus, Loading Windrows certain points in the process, he active substances into the coun-
which the plants need. Poindexter says his first step is says. try. Too bad, says Poindexter, for
As for Fishy Peats peat to form a long windrow of pure Poindexter sets up the wind- both the Japanese and Koreans
component Poindexter digs peat. The finished windrow will rows in October and thus is were willing to buy vanloads of
about 500 cubic yards from a be about 30 feet long, six feet done processing the compost by Fishy Peat.
muskeg bog a mile and a half wide and four feet high. Christmas. The material is And, Poindexter says he is
from his home. He runs the peat Poindexter forms a trench in bagged, but allowed to cure until constantly assailed by commer-
through a shredder and adds a the windrow and adds a load of the following spring. cial fish processors and charter
little lime. Then he wets down seaweed. He then adds fish or Poindexter produces about 25 fishing firms looking to dispose
the material before use. bone meal that has been soaked cubic yards of compost a year, of fish waste. Someday,
Alaska has probably more in water into a slurry-like consis- and adds value to the product by Poindexter says, he will buy
peat supplies than Canada ever tency. bagging the potting soil mix he some kind of digester that can
thought of having, Poindexter Like Cream of Wheat, it has named Fishy Peat. Poindexter take raw fish waste and partially
says. We thought (making Fishy swells up when it gets wet, sells about 12,000 cubic feet of process the material into some-
Peat) would be a neat way to Poindexter says. potting soil per year, about 9,000 thing that wont attract dogs,
utilize (the resource.) The next addition is of rock of that on the Kenai Peninsula. birds and, especially, flies.
And, Poindexter notes, wet- phosphorus. He then covers the Customers must want a Hell do that right after he
lands laws do not come into play top with a layer of processed premium product, though. figures out how to employ more
because state and federal envi- compost, and completes the Poindexter says it costs about $3 than 5,000 cubic yards of saw-
ronmental officials consider windrow with more peat. for him to produce a bag of dust a good carbon source to
digging holes that fill with water Poindexter insets long probes potting soil, which he then sells offset all that nitrogen from fish
to be enhancing the wetlands. into the piles to stay apprised of for $4. But big box department waste sawdust Poindexter
Poindexter warns commercial temperatures he does not stores are selling potting soil laments is just sitting there.
compost producers to test and want to let the piles rise above imported into the state at $1.99
20
Dr. Susan Thomas:
Fungi and Compost
A spider does not eat a to break down things that bacte- Cleaning and other fungi come in and
web-trapped fly the way we eat ria and other organisms cannot break things down further.
a tomato. Spiders inject their like lignin in wood, for in- with Fungi Besides breaking down
immobilized prey with enzymes stance. There are wood-degrad- complex molecules, fungi also
that turn the flys insides into fly The fungus ability to ing fungi, she continues. Here can change the pH of a substrate
juice. Which the spider then break down lignin gives it great is a big chunk of lignin, a com- to suit itself, greatly affecting the
sucks out for food. potential in composting wood
Fungi work the same way, and wood products, says Tho-
says Dr. Susan Thomas of Battelle
Marine Sciences Laboratory in
Sequim, Washington. Dr. Tho-
mas.
Thats one of the main
jobs of fungus in the world is to
T hats one of the main jobs of
fungus in the world is to break
down material, whether its corpses
mas expertise in fungal organ- break down material, whether or wood or whatever.
isms is so deep, she declares its corpses or wood or what-
herself to be quite fond of ever, she says matter-of-factly.
them. plex molecule that is hard to presence and health of other
Like our juice-drinking break down. Nothing can get members of the local plant and
spider, fungi have the ability to through it but fungus. Bacteria microbe even insect
digest things outside their body, cant break it down, but a fungus communities.
by introducing enzymes into the can break the molecule into Because they digest
environment. This permits fungi smaller pieces. And then bacteria outside their body, fungi can
21
tolerate toxic material that would including aquatic and marine treated with creosote or pen- samples and then incrementally
kill bacteria or other organisms, species, as well as those that livetachlorophenol. increasing the size of the con-
making fungi an excellent ally in on land. Fungi also might be able taminant concentration in the
bioremediation efforts, Thomas to pretreat fish waste, Thomas substrate on which the fungus
says. says, but adds that she knows of grows.
Bioremediation, says no experiments conducted in She notes that it is pos-
Thomas, is defined as the appli- that area. sible to condition a fungus so
cation of mycelium and the Thomas says the that it actually prefers contami-
enzymes, organic acids and bioremediation or pretreating of nants as a nutrient source.
solvents that the fungus pro- substrate can result in the pro- What we do is not
duces to break down contami- Fungi and Wood duction of a valuable cash crop genetic engineering, says Tho-
nants. Those doing the edible mushrooms for the mas, but rather, we build on the
Fungal tolerance for high composting of wood and fish U.S. and Asian markets and natural biology of the organism.
levels of salt makes applications wastes might benefit from the medicinal mushrooms for Asia.
in marine environments possible. introduction of fungi into their The only exception would be in
Fungi also tolerate a wide range process in several ways, Thomas cases in which metals are in-
of temperatures and can some- says. volved. The few, select fungi that
times can be seen growing She explains that fungi are metal accumulators tend to
adjacent to the snow line. could be used as a pre- concentrate mercury, cesium or
Much of Thomas work composting step to break down other elemental metals in the
deals with hydrocarbon contami- lignin, which includes many fruiting bodies (mushrooms), Sci-Fungi
nation both in the marine envi- benzene rings, reducing the making them unsafe to eat. The science fiction world
ronment and on land. But, she woody fiber to smaller and However, these special fungi of fungus research includes
notes, fungi could be used to smaller molecules that secondary could used to test for the pres- organisms sophisticated enough
clean up toxic or hazardous organisms than digest further, ence of such metals, and possi- to attract and trap tiny nematode
materials on battlefield sites and until there is nothing left but bly to remediate metals-contami- worms, before injecting their
to neutralize explosive residue. carbon dioxide and water. Fungi nated sites. victims with enzymes and invad-
Thomas says Battelle could also be used to neutralize Thomas says fungal ing their bodies with fast-grow-
continually expands its collection other toxins in, say, a load of strains can be found and cultured ing fibers.
of fungi, with more than 200 contaminated wood: for ex- that prefer certain substances, by The fungus grows very
species now in active culture, ample, wood that had been making tests on small initial quickly, so fast that you can
22
watch it happen under a micro- and using it to actively destroy cal locations. websites such as the big hairy
scope, Thomas says. The fecal coliform bacteria out of a But she reiterates that index of mycology (http://
strands fill up the worm and the wastewater stream. fungus can perform many useful biodiversity.bio.uno.edu/~fungi/
enzyme converts the worm into Thomas says she starts functions in the pretreatment of findex.html).
worm juices and drinks it up. culturing a fungus in a petri dish. wood for compost, or www.fungi.com.
Thomas experiments with The fungus is then cut into pieces bioremediation of contaminants
petrochemical hydrocarbons also and mixed into sterilized grain in and the production of valuable
show the great ability of fungus a gallon jar. products. She says a wealth of
to break down even difficult They are all part of the information can be found in
chemicals. same organism, Thomas says, the many books pub-
When faced with Bunker so the pieces recognize each lished on fungi, or at
C oil, which can form into as- other and they all grow back
phalt-like chunks, the first thing together again.
the fungus does is release a The now larger pieces of
surfactant that liquifies the fungus in the gallon jar are then
clumps. broken apart again and placed in
We did early work with a still larger container with
hydrocarbons using gallon jars sawdust or wood chips. The
full of soil and wood chips, like a fungus grows out again in a
miniature compost pile, Thomas week or two.
says, Then we added Bunker C Its not long, Thomas
oil, diluted with a little bit of says, until you have a truckload
Number Two diesel oil. In eight of material that you can use to
weeks we ended up with a 97 inoculate a compost pile.
percent reduction of polycyclic Thomas did warn how-
aromatic hydrocarbons, which ever, that although many fungi
are the most toxic and difficult are worldwide in their distribu-
fraction of oil contamination to tion, it is important to avoid
remediate. introducing non-native fungal
Scientists also got good species to compost shipped to
results growing fungus on straw customers in different geographi-
23
Deric Marcorelle: Alaska Compliance Issues
Related to Wood Waste Composting
Through the late spring lbs/day of halibut waste All this to try and put some of these
and early summer in Ninilchik, being disposed on the wood was being waste streams to good use and
on the Kenai Peninsula, more Deep Creek beach be- burned, some days put these people to work.
than 400 customer-laden charter tween Memorial Day and generating smoke After about two years
fishing boats head out on a the Fourth of July. so thick that high- effort, the Compost group had
normal sportfishing day. Each Elsewhere on the ways were closed some success. Marcorelle says
angler has paid dearly for the Peninsula, log- and people were the work groups influence could
experience and is intent on gers working in forced from their be traced from a wood-and-fish
catching the limit of fish. the forests were homes. waste composting facility in
If the fishers return trium- generating Hence a need to deal Metlakata, in extreme southern
phant, their fish are cleaned thousands of with this fish and wood waste. Alaska, to helping ARCO com-
generating a lot of fish waste. tons of wood Marcorelle said that in post their Prudhoe Bay kitchen
Think of the waste on one hali- waste. Loggers 1997, the Alaska Science and waste and use it to revitalize
but. Now multiply by 500. trim off Technology Foundation and gravel pads.
Deric Marcorelle, who branches, tree tops and log butt ADEC teamed up to form the
works on compliance assistance ends as a matter of course. The Compost Work Group.
and pollution prevention projects normal load was compounded The pulp mills and saw-
for the Alaska Department of by a massive amount of timber mills were closing down and
Environmental Conservation, felled as a result of the spruce there were a lot of people unem-
says one study showed 4,000 bark beetle infestation. ployed, he says. The idea was
24
Thinking of starting up a between myself and the opera- Such certification could be estab- controls and disease vectors; fire
commercial compost operation? tor. lished with a logo, similar to prevention; control of runoff;
Concerned about pollution from DEC strongly supports Made in Alaska. The label odor prevention and monitoring
your home composting? Assis- compost producers embracing could also disclose the particle of the waste piles to prevent
tance from ADECs Compliance some form of state standards, size, moisture content, pH, or other pollution.
Assistance Office, says says Marcorelle, to prevent other properties of the compost, Alaska state composting
Marcorelle, can be non-enforce- someone from just mixing Marcorelle notes. standards and other important
ment and regulatory free horse manure with gravel and Marcorelle says facilities information can be found at
when a property or business calling it compost. treating more than five tons of www.uaf.edu/coop-ext, the
owner needs advice on how to A certified Alaska waste daily or 10 tons in any Cooperative Extensions web site.
proceed with construction or product would protect both one batch require a permit.
remediation. compost producers from unscru- Permitting will cover such issues
Nothing gets reported to pulous competitors and consum- as property ownership; the long-
the EPA or other divisions, ers from using a substandard term storage of materials; the
Marcorelle says, It would just be product on their home gardens. use of fence and covers; animal
25
Jan W. Allen, P.E.: Composting Techniques
Suitable for Wood and Fish Waste Systems
A Comparison of Aerated Static Piles
vs. Windrow Systems.
You might not know it at Namely, copious amounts problems often can be traced process, is also vital.
first, but the state of Alaska has of wood and fish waste in the back to mistakes made at the The most important
excellent potential in the 49th State. beginning of the process. parameters density, moisture
composting industry, says a In the final presentation
Seattle environmental consultant, before the 2001 Wood N Fish
T
who has worked with many of Composting conference, Allen he most important parameters
the major composters of the described Alaskas bark, wood density, moisture and porosity
Pacific Northwest. and fish combination as syner- are really closely related. ...chances
In Alaska, you have the gistic the whole being more
are the carbon-nitrogen ratio and all
potential to do some incredible than the sum of the parts.
things in composting with the your nutrients, ...[will] fall into place
feedstocks you have, says Jan If you get the first three right.
Allen, a senior technologist with Good Roots
CH2MHill in Seattle, one of the Absolutely vital to a
environmental engineering successful composting system, A proper working sur- and porosity are really closely
industrys leading firms. Most of Allen says, is to get the material face, appropriate to the type of related, he says. If you get that
the country does not have feed- being composted to be the right composting method being used, right, chances are that the car-
stocks as clean and abundant as mix of density, moisture and with the right amendments bon-nitrogen ratio and all your
you have. porosity. He says that later added at the beginning of the nutrients, theyre all going to fall
26
into place. If you get the first further and achieve a better ratio Windrow systems are He mentions a company
three right. of density, moisture and poros- considered inexpensive espe- in Oregon that sells kits for
For a simple field test of ity. cially since they can be con- installing a ventilation system
those parameters, Allen recom- For operations using fish, structed on undeveloped ground. into aerated static piles. These
mends filling a five gallon bucket Allen recommends using no
more than 650 to 900 lbs. of A mid-range system kits come with piping, manifolds,
with compost, top off with water, fans, control systems, even a
feedstock per cubic yard with both in terms of expense and
and then measure the amount of biofilter. The company offers a
fish being about 1/3 the weight control of the composting pro-
water you can add to the 10hp and 50hp model, with the
of the mixed material to be cess is known as aerated static
sample. More water more 50hp model aerating 5,000 cubic
composted. To go over 1,000 lbs. piles. These are piles of material,
pounds of water in the bucket yards of material and operating
per cubic yard is to risk odor and like windrows, but with ventila-
means more porosity. in either a positive or negative
other problems, Allen says. tion pipes buried in the base pad
Allen says for further and/or placed throughout the mode.
refinement, a sample could be While a windrow system
pile itself.
sent to a testing lab, where the
These pipes allow air to may take up to six months for
exact correlation between the
be blown through or drawn from processing, an aerated static pile
rough bucket method and more
the pile as needed, to control can do its work in 4-9 weeks.
refined measuring can be worked
out. aeration, temperature and odors. This is the second gen-
Allen worked with a big Static is partially a misnomer, eration of aerated technology,
facility in Seattle that measured Aerated since the piles are turned, al- Allen says.
the tons of compost yielded per Static Piles though much less often than in
batch as a way of monitoring the conventional windrows. Overall,
There are three main aerated static pile facilities are
density, moisture and porosity
types of composting systems. more compact that a windrow
factors. The facility ran well at
First is what Allen calls Cadillac facility with similar capacities and
3,000 tons per batch. But when
or so-called in-vessel systems. they require less labor.
the weight of the batches went
The expense for these systems
up to 4,500 tons per batch, those
comes from the complex hop-
Allen says the aerated Odor Control
parameters collapsed. Allen said static pile system is seen as an Allen stresses that many
pers and other machinery needed
the facility has since lowered its excellent compromise for cost- odor problems can be traced
to process and contain material
target to 2,500 tons per batch or conscious small- and mid-range back to conditions of the
until it is mostly composted.
less, to improve efficiency even businesses to consider.
27
composting pad or the mix of Dont Be Fooled By Screening is a good idea carried out as a pollution
materials. Yet, even when condi- preventer, a cost-avoidance
tions are perfect, the composting
Vendor Promises to control the materials in the
measure and a product-making
Allen says that using mix, Allen says, and roofs may
process may produce some process. Compost can be pro-
be a good investment as well.
odors. chemical masking agents to duced as a high-volume product
That is especially true in an
Its dangerous to say you control odors is merely treating or a high-value product.
aerated static pile system with a
the symptoms. The disease, he For a smoothly function-
are going to have an odor-free ventilated base pad, where a
says, comes from problems with
facility, Allen says, noting that a high percentage of the cost of ing system to continue to do so,
the initial mix again, density,
$25 million technologically the entire facility will be in build- it is important to keep careful
moisture and porosity. A good
extravagant in-vessel system in ing the pad. records to improve quality and
working surface is paramount.
Oregon still had odor problems. efficiency.
And the type or quality of
In aerated static pile amendments added to the mix But one of the good
systems, a negative air feed can can greatly affect the odors things about composting, Allen
direct odors through a biofilter, produced. comforts, is that no matter how
reducing odors that could annoy He says to beware claims many things you do wrong, it is
neighbors. made by some in-vessel system a self-healing process.
A lot of the work I get is vendors that their systems can
troubled windrow facilities with produce compost in 10-14 days.
odor problems with their sur- The material will still need a To Market
rounding communities, Allen curing time of about 40 days
says. The trend is for many before being salable, Allen says. The Fourth of July is a
facilities to go to negative air for The need for grinders can key date for commercial
that reason. composters, as well as a holi-
be overstated, Allen cautions.
Good-sized woody debris will day, marking the effective end
degrade in a healthy composting of the retail buying season for
pile. Allen mentions 17-foot compost products, Allen says.
deep composting piles in one That makes composting a sea-
Washington facility that could sonal industry, like agriculture,
break down wood up to six- he notes.
inches in diameter. Composting may be
28