Consider the end result when starting a large-scale compost project, a master composter advises.
Larry Mullen of the Saskatchewan Waste Reduction Council said it’s easy enough to start composting but then what?
“What are you going to use it for?” he asked representatives of municipalities and organizations at a recent field day.
There is no shortage of feedstock but large-scale composting just for the sake of it is not necessarily economically viable.
Questions of who will use the compost, where and in what amounts should be asked and answered.
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For example, community parks can be large users of compost but won’t likely be able to use it all. Making compost available to the public seems obvious, but how will they pick it up and at what cost?
Mullen said internal use, such as parks and flowerbeds at government or municipal buildings, are the best place to start.
Bagging compost and selling it moves the project into the realm of federal regulation. There can be issues with E. coli and salmonella if animal manure has been added to the pile.
“Start small,” Mullen advised. “If you goof up, it’s not a problem.”
He told equipment operators at the field day that their jobs are the most important in the process. They have to know how to build and turn the piles to keep the temperature at the right level.
Large-scale projects should be staffed, whether the sites are accessible to the public or not, Mullen said.
“That is simply a cost.”
He has seen disasters at open sites where garbage and non-compostable material has been added to the pile.
Mullen uses the city of Yorkton’s compost project as a good example of site selection and management.
Susan Antler, executive director of the Composting Council of Canada, said large composting projects can be risky. Markets can be tough to develop and transportation costs can kick in if markets are too far away.
She also said agriculture has not traditionally been a strong supporter of composting. She recalled a letter she received two decades ago from a Saskatchewan agriculture minister who said composting wouldn’t work.
The horticulture industry has been much more appreciative of what composting offers.
“Composters are the only ones producing organic matter,” she said, adding that is noteworthy in this international year of soil as designated by the United Nations.
