Composting Unpeeled - What You Need To Know

June 26, 2008 - PRLog -- It used to be so simple: you ate it, threw the scraps on the compost, turned the heap over now and then, and then spread it on your seedlings in spring. It’s more complicated now because composting works so well. The sweetest part of composting is that it keeps a huge amount out of land-fill – so not surprisingly everyone wants to do it now.

So... here’s a beginner’s guide to composting. Composting is a biological process where micro-organisms convert biodegradable organic matter into a stabilised residue – in other words: compost.

Let’s put it simply:

potato peelings    +       bacteria       =       compost

But not a lot of people know that there are actually two ways to commercially compost: anaerobic and aerobic. One produces methane and the other doesn’t.

Anaerobic in-vessel composting systems

Compost is created by using microbes that do not use oxygen to breakdown the organic waste, and methane is a by-product of this anaerobic process. Many anaerobic facilities capture the methane and use it as a renewable biogas to turn into energy.

Aerobic in-vessel composting systems

Aerobic facilities make compost by utilising microbes that use oxygen to break down the waste into compost. Additional matter, such as wood chips, are introduced ensuring that air pockets are maintained in order to provide oxygen to the microbes.

At Mars Drinks, as part of our ‘Thirsty for Change’ initiative, we are striving to dramatically reduce our impact on land-fill. Earlier this month, we launched a compostable drink vending cup – the N-viro cup (http://www.marsdrinks.com/mars-drinks/en/Sustainability/Y... ). This is a commercially compostable paper-board cup, harvested from sustainable sources under the management of the Sustainable Forestry Initiative. After use, the N-viro cups are collected via the Save a Cup (http://www.save-a-cup.co.uk/) scheme and taken to industrial composting facilities. Here they break down into compost for later use on farms and horticulture facilities across the UK.

So there we have it - the beginner’s guide to composting.