| GRN Recycle Talk FAQ Answer |
Date: Fri, 13 Dec 96 10:45 WET From: FRIEDMAN.FRED@EPAMAIL.EPA.GOV (Fred Friedman) Subject: Re: Organic waste recycling, latest technology (d Mcalinden)
December 13, 1996
Dear d Mcalinden,
What latest technologies there are for composting depends upon what you are composting. Those for MSW generally will be different than those for yard wastes; those for cocomposting sludge and MSW will be different than agricultural composting.
For typical MSW composting, there are no end of equipment types being marketed: shredders, tub grinders, windrow straddlers, in-vessel digesters, etc. Scale will also pay a large part in how much technology is needed. Wet vs. dry composting is a major choice for yard waste. Snowblowers have been retrofitted to be compost windrow turners by the composting program at the Clean Washington Center.
I d suggest that you either specify your scale, material(s), and present status here, and/or contact the Composting Council, Alexandria, VA (703-739-2401).
Another answer to your question is that composting really hasn t changed all that much despite the introduction of machinery, when it comes to simple MSW composting.
The places that carry out composting research are:
The Composting Council
Clean Washington Center
SWANA
University of Hawaii
Cornell Cooperative Extension (and many other State Cooperative Extensions)
US Dept. of Agriculture - Agricultural Research Service
University of Florida
Food for the Earth
Rutgers University Cooperative Extension Service
and others