Getting the most from compost

Journal Article · Tue Nov 01 00:00:00 EST 1994 · Waste Age; (United States)

OSTI ID:6838077

Dabaie, M

Composting, throughout history, has been one of the oldest, cheapest, and most environmentally friendly waste management tools. Yet, in the modern era, composting on a large scale has run into many economic and operational snags--especially in municipal programs--despite the rosy predictions of the compost industry's waste diversion potential. What has kept this natural, seemingly foolproof municipal waste management method from wholesale success According to many, it is a combination of poor planning, anemic budgets, and a general lack of understanding of the science of composting--understanding that can usually be found in the private sector. ''In my experience, there's a hell of a lot of municipalities doing small operations, but most of the large operations are private,'' says Steve Jones, vice president of DK Recycling Systems, Inc. (Lake Bluff, Ill.), which operates 12 composting facilities in northern Illinois. According to Robert Gillespie, DK's president, the composting success hinges not only on the source of funds, but on the people involved as well. For a composting system to be successful, the designer--either privately or publicly funded--must be sensitive to the biology of composting and how field applications differ from laboratory settings. Some companies compost only leaves, brush and wood, while others also take grass clipping and food wastes.

• OSTI ID: 6838077
• Journal Information: Waste Age; (United States), Vol. 25:11; ISSN 0043-1001
• Country of Publication: United States
• Language: English

Related Subjects

32 ENERGY CONSERVATION, CONSUMPTION, AND UTILIZATION
ORGANIC WASTES
COMPOSTING
RESOURCE RECOVERY FACILITIES
EVALUATION
WOOD WASTES
ENERGY CONSERVATION
RECYCLING
WASTE PRODUCT UTILIZATION
ENERGY FACILITIES
INDUSTRIAL PLANTS
MANAGEMENT
PROCESSING
SOLID WASTES
WASTE MANAGEMENT
WASTE PROCESSING
WASTE PROCESSING PLANTS
WASTES
320604* - Energy Conservation
Consumption
& Utilization- Municipalities & Community Systems- Municipal Waste Management- (1980-)