Asp Compost System

[Domenec Reynolds]

Composting is a controlled, aerobic (oxygen-required) process that converts organic materials into a nutrient-rich, biologically-stable soil amendment or mulch through natural decomposition. The end product is compost. Microorganisms feed on the materials added to the compost pile during the composting process. They use carbon and nitrogen to grow and reproduce, water to digest materials, and oxygen to breathe.

If you are a community looking to support your constituents in their efforts to compost at home, or wish to increase participation in a curbside collection program, you may be interested in the following resource: Composting Food Scraps in Your Community: A Social Marketing Toolkit.

Determine how you will collect and store your browns and greens.
Collect and store your fruit and vegetable scraps in a closed container on your kitchen counter, under your sink, or in your fridge or freezer. For browns, set aside an area outside to store your steady supply of leaves, twigs, or other carbon-rich material (to mix with your food scraps).

Set aside space for your compost pile and build or buy a bin.
Choose a space in your yard for your compost pile that is easily accessible year-round and has good drainage. Avoid placing it right up against a fence and ensure there is a water source nearby. Your compost pile will break down in sun or shade. Next, choose a type of bin for your pile. Bins can be constructed from materials such as wire, wood, and cinder blocks. They can also be enclosed and include barrels and tumblers.

Prepare your ingredients for composting.
Before adding your browns and greens to the pile, try to chop and break them up into smaller pieces (e.g., corn cobs, broccoli stalks, and other tough food scraps). Doing so will help the materials in the pile break down faster.

How to build your compost pile.
Start your pile with a four- to six-inch layer of bulky browns such as twigs and wood chips. This layer absorbs extra liquids, elevates your pile and allows air to circulate at the base of the pile. Then layer your greens and browns like lasagna. If needed, add a little water to dampen the pile.

Having the right proportions of ingredients in your compost pile will provide the composting microorganisms the carbon, nitrogen, oxygen, and moisture they need to break down the materials into finished compost.

When adding browns and greens to your pile, add at least two to three times the volume of browns (such as dry leaves) to the volume of greens (such as food scraps). Always ensure your food scraps are covered by four to eight inches of dry leaves or other browns.

Air and water are the other key ingredients in your pile. To ensure air circulation, add enough browns and turn your compost occasionally. To maintain moisture in your pile, ensure your combined materials have the consistency of a wrung-out sponge.

Maintain your compost pile.
As the materials in your compost pile begin to decompose, the temperature of the pile will initially begin to rise, especially in the center. A backyard pile, if well maintained, can reach temperatures of 130 to 160 F. High temperatures help reduce the presence of pathogens and weed seeds.

Turning and mixing your pile from time to time will help speed up the decomposition process and aerate the pile. Use a garden fork to turn the outside of the pile inward.

Monitor your pile for moisture, odor, and temperature and make adjustments as needed.

Harvest your finished compost.
When your compost pile is no longer heating up after mixing, and when there are no visible food scraps, allow your pile to cure, or finish, for at least four weeks. You can relocate the oldest compost at the bottom of the pile to a separate area to cure or stop adding materials to your pile. After curing, your pile will shrink to about one-third of its original size.

Worm composting, or vermicomposting, is another method of composting you can try at home. It takes up little space, the materials are simple and inexpensive, and it can be done indoors or outdoors. You will need a container or bin, bedding material, worms, and food scraps. If your worm bin is properly maintained, it should not emit odors or attract pests. The resulting product is vermicompost, a soil amendment.

You can purchase a worm bin or make your own of untreated wood or plastic storage bins. The bin should have a tight-fitting lid and be a dark color to keep out light. If using plastic storage containers, drill air holes around the upper sides of one bin near the lid and drainage holes on the bottom of the same bin. Place the bin with the drilled holes inside the other bin. (The bottom bin will catch any liquid that drains out of the top bin.)

Choose a space for your worm bin.
You can keep your worm bin indoors (e.g., under a sink, in a closet or basement) or outdoors in the shade. If your bin is outdoors (e.g., garage, carport, porch, deck, or apartment balcony), insulate the bin with blankets, straw, or other materials to keep it warm during colder months. You want to maintain a bin temperature of 59 to 77 F; however, the worms can survive at 32 to 95 F if they have at least four inches of bedding.

Start your bin and feed your worms.
Place worms on top of the bedding in the bin. Once the worms have settled in the bin, add some food scraps on the surface of the bedding. Each time you add food scraps, make sure to cover them with two inches of bedding. Adding the proper ratio of materials to the bin and covering them is important. Worms eat about 25 percent of their weight each day. As worms reproduce quickly, you can increase the amount you feed them. Always ensure the food scraps have been eaten before adding more.

You can add compost to your flower and vegetable beds, window boxes, and container gardens; incorporate it into tree beds; mix it with potting soil for indoor plants; or spread it on top of the soil in your yard.

Compost can be used as a soil amendment or as a mulch. As a soil amendment, mix in two to four inches of compost to the top six to nine inches of your soil. As a mulch, loosen the top two to three inches of soil and add a three-inch layer of compost on the surface, a few inches away from plant stems and tree trunks.

Mention of or referral to commercial products or services or links to non-EPA sites does not imply official EPA endorsement of or responsibility for the opinions, ideas, data, or products presented at those locations or guarantee the validity of the information provided. Mention of commercial products/services on non-EPA websites is provided solely as a pointer to information on topics related to environmental protection that may be useful to EPA staff and the public.

ECS is committed to helping our customers maximize composting stabilization while minimize capital cost. Our designs focus on optimizing process control, which thereby:-speeds up the process-shortens the required retention time-minimizes the footprint and associated costsHere are some examples where we have helped deliver systems within customer defined budgets.

Composting is a biological process which slows down when material freezes. Fortunately, ECS has developed some cold weather techniques to facilitate semi-optimized process conditions even during harsh winters. See some of our cold weather deployments below, and contact us to learn more.

ECS applies composting science and best engineering practices to our equipment designs to facilitate process control and enable our customers to achieve low odor operations. We also work to provide operator training and the automated tools to monitor key performance indicators. Learn more below, or contact us to schedule a visit and 'smell the difference'.

ECS strives to understand our customers target markets and stability goals to help us develop correctly sized systems. We use a mix of technology and operational procedures to optimize process control and stabilization rates. See some of our example projects below that use different ECS tools to meet customer Product Maturity goals.

There are cons to every system so I wanted to share some of those that come with our (main) deep-mulch composting system. The temptation in social media is to be all puppies and rainbows and curate what you're doing to look, well, instagram ready. But I don't think that's always helpful.

With over 200 reference plants worldwide, we are a successful supplier of expertise in biological waste treatment. As a leader in solutions for the utilization of organic raw materials, we supply efficient engineering and products for the mechanical and biological treatment of a wide variety of waste streams. Our innovative products and services contribute significantly to conserving resources and groundwater, reducing emissions, and increasing the efficiency of our ecosystem. Each year, the plants we design cut down on several million tons of CO2 equivalents, exactly same quantity generated annually by Austrian Airlines.

All of our composting systems convert raw organic residuals into stable compost in roughly 60 days, yielding a nutrient-rich product that is effectively free of pathogens, parasites and weed seeds. In addition, our composting systems mitigate impacts to surface and ground water resources, significantly reduce vectors (i.e., flies, birds, rodents and larger wildlife), and eliminate offensive odors.

Dawn C. aspired to "manage a premier compost production" at her ranch. When her attempt to compost by irregularly turning a static pile of horse manure was unsuccessful, she reached out to O2Compost and constructed an aerated Benchmark Compost System.

River Heights Ranch is also home to a... View Project Featured Project Edgewood Farm Campbellville, Ontario Paul G. and Leslie L. have 14 horses on wood pellet bedding. Their decision to construct an O2Compost Cornerstone System has met their need to reduce manure waste to a manageable level. The finished product is spread on their paddocks and fields, and also used on a neighbor's corn plot area.&nbsp... View Project Featured Project Small Horse Farm Bend, OR Gary B. and his wife Beth constructed an O2Compost Benchmark System to manage the manure generated by two horses and assorted chickens. Their system includes three small aerated bins, a storage room, and an indoor/outdoor chicken pen. It is a perfect example of a multi-use, detached farm structur... View Project Featured Project Wilson Training and Bloodstock Sorrento, FL Mickey B.'s property tenant (Wilson Training and Bloodstock) has 40-45 Arabian horses on site. The high cost of manure removal, the unsightly dumpster, and the environmental impact on the property prompted Mickey to install an O2Compost Aerated Bay system.

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