A community composting scheme

EAST LONDON COMMUNITY RECYCLING PARTNERSHIP

Nightingale and Landfield Estates, Clapton, London

In 2004 East London Community Recycling Project (ELCRP) were making a name for themselves by regularly winning awards; in just one year they collected:

• Best Community Initiative at the 2004 National Recycling Awards
• Best Community Initiative Composting Association Awards
• Special commendation for partnership working and innovation at the Composting Association Awards

They rounded off the year by becoming the first community group to receive positive
release accreditation, from the State Veterinary Service, for their food-waste compost. In 2005 they were becoming media stars, featuring on Radio 4's Costing the Earth programme, the One o'clock News and in national newspapers.

Not just Food Waste Pioneers

ELCRP are applauded for their pioneering kitchen waste composting but they also have a green-waste composting project at Hackney Marshes amenity site, collect dry recyclates from the same estates as the food waste collections, run a second-hand/recycling shop and have a programme of gardening and landscape improvements. Just as importantly they create employment opportunities for the long-term unemployed and people with learning difficulties as well as providing valuable experience in community initiatives for volunteers.

Background

The kitchen waste project began 12 months ago in Jan 2004 as a trial, just six months after the Animal By-Products Regulations were published. With all the uncertainty as to how the rules would be implemented by the regulators, the State Veterinary Service, this was a remarkable and brave move.

Whatever the system chosen by ELCRP, it would seem difficult for it not to have been an improvement on the one incorporated into the estate when it was built. This consisted of chutes at the end of each landing area, leading down to very large 'paladin' bins in the basement of each building. It was meant to be efficient and convenient, in practice it was unreliable because the chutes often blocked, smelly because they were very difficult to clean and a health hazard because the accumulated waste in the chutes and bins attracted infestations of rats, flies and other pests.

The Residents - the critical component

For the system to be a success it would have to serve the residents well by being easy to use and understand and cause less problems than the existing system. The prospect of keeping your old food waste in your apartment cannot have seemed attractive, however, ELCRP got around this problem by using a fermentation system to arrest the inevitable putrefaction. The residents are supplied with a 10 litre bin with a sealable lid, corn-starch biodegradable liners and a small bag of 'Bokashi' (bran inoculated a strain of yeast). The sealable lid not only prevents flies and maggots entering the food waste, it also provides a good growing environment for the fermentation organism.

Participation rates, the number of people signing up for the scheme and receiving a kit and instructions, are as high as 85% in Seaton Point high-rise block, the lowest rate of uptake is still an impressive 55%. The high rates can be attributed to the work put into knocking on doors, meeting residents and explaining what the project was about i.e. basic but intensive interaction with the community. The Tenants Association's (T.A's) have been a critical factor; if any of the T.A.'s on the estates approached by ELCRP are reluctant to adopt the scheme, it is not taken any further. The first principle is that the residents want and have ownership of a recycling project rather than it being imposed upon them as another 'deprived area improvement program' handed down from on high.

Collection

There are two collection teams: Michael and Greg, collect the food waste, Phil, Henry, and Tracy (and her helper Martha) collect the dry recyclables. Because of the high density of the households, a suitable collection vehicle might have been problematic to a less resourceful and imaginative group. The "toys for the boys" in this case are supermarket trolleys, cunningly adapted for the food waste by the addition of stackable lidded plastic boxes. This is a radical departure from the high spec. plant used by many waste management facilities and needs very little in terms of maintenance, parts or training, resulting in a greater degree of autonomy and reliability.

Although the capacity of the "vehicles" is small, it is only a short trundle back to the depot, a small one story brick building with two yards: one for the dry recyclables which are bulked up and transferred to storage by milk-float, the other is home to a large shed containing the "Rocket" system in-vessel composter, the maturation bays and a range of wormeries.

The Kit and the Animal By-Products regulations

Life hasn't been made easy for anyone trying to get to grips with the Animal By-Products Regulations (ABPR), but the task was especially difficult for ELCRP because of the lack of affordable, approved kit. The chosen in-vessel system "the Rocket" has an extra heat input, whereas the intention of the ABPR was that the required heat be generated by microbial action. ELCRP, and the Rocket's manufacturers argued and had to prove that it was a precautionary measure. The large surface area of a small machine meant that the heat generated could not be retained as easily as a larger system. The heating element ensured that the food waste on the outside of the cylinder was not chilled below an acceptable temperature. The SVS guidance on the ABPR has since changed to include this, making it much easier for anyone following in ELCRP's footsteps.

The food waste, cooked meat included, is loaded into the Rocket and composted for two weeks. The correct nitrogen/carbon ratio is achieved by adding cardboard (which previously used to block the chutes) and wood chips. The mix is kept constantly at a temperature of 60°C and heated to over 70°C for 1h daily to ensure that the time and temperature requirements of the ABPR are met. It is matured in either New-Zealand type composting boxes or worm bins.

Full monitoring and recording of readings and batches are kept by Jane, the Compost Manager, in accordance with a HACCP (Hazard Analysis and Critical Control Point) plan. These have to be submitted to the State Veterinary Service (SVS) along with results of pathogen testing to ensure safe processing and compliance with the regulations. There has to be a series of negative pathogen tests to prove consistency of method before ELCRP will be given full SVS approval but they are well on the way, having received permission to release their compost for use.

A better environment

Residents are talking of a Pied Piper effect, as a rat hasn't been seen on the Nightingale estate for over 4 months and even the foxes walk straight past the bins on their way to richer pickings. As well as this and the reduction of bad smells and flies, there has been a programme of landscape improvements carried out by the project. The low-rise old peoples block has had raised beds built, the soil improved with the green-waste compost followed by a planting scheme. A number of improvements have also been made to the hard landscaping to improve accessibility and safety, including new fencing and gates which don't impede visibility.

Coverage

ELCRP collect dry recyclables on Nightingale, Landfield and Beckers Estates covering 21, 000 households. Food waste composting is also happening on the same three estates and has now crept up to 1000 households taking part. There is now a workforce of 35 including Sonia the Senior Office Manager and Cam Matheson, the Project Manager, and a host of volunteers.

http://www.communitycompost.org/index.php/casestudies/66-elcrp