2 System Selection Guidance
Any Composting system you choose must meet your needs. First determine what these needs are in order to pick the best system that fits your space, time and budget.
Assessment of Needs
In order to determine the best system for On site Composting we need to assess your needs and your unique situation.
- How much space do you have to dedicate to Composting?
- Do you have space indoors or outdoors?
- What kind of budget do you potentially have for Composting? Or another way of looking at this is “ how much does your current garbage pick up cost and how much could be saved if you diverted approximately 40% of the waste.(and 100% of the smelly stuff)
- What type of materials would you like to be Composting? i.e. Food Scraps, vegetable waste, meat waste, pre- consumer waste (from the kitchen) post consumer waste (from the waste collection bins)
- How much material do you have to Compost? Is it a small coffee room, restaurant, Cafeteria, kitchen?
- Do you have animal issues on site? I.e. animals getting into garbage containers?
- Would you have a use for the end product?
- Compost Sales
- Landscape Use (Use around trees or lawn) (Give away to community members, or staff)
- Vegetable Garden Use (Give away to community members or staff)
- How much of a concern is the “ick” factor? Do you feel like staff might be squeamish about dealing with food scraps?
- How much time do you have to dedicate to a Compost system
Compost tables
| System Comparison Table | Vermicompost | In-Vessel barrel system | Backyard Compost pile | Windrow | Aerated Static Pile | Food Dehydrator |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Space | ||||||
| How much space do you have to dedicate to Composting? | ||||||
| Under 1 m2 | x | x | ||||
| 2m2 – 10m2 | x | x | x | x | ||
| 10m2 – 100m2 | x | x | x | x | x | |
| 100m2+ | x | x | x | x | ||
| Indoors or Outdoors | ||||||
| Indoors | x | x | x | |||
| Outdoors | x | x | x | x | ||
| Costs | ||||||
| (Those with multiple costs are dependent on Volume) | ||||||
| Under $100 | x | x | ||||
| $101-$1000 | x | |||||
| $1001 – $10,000 | x | x | ||||
| $10,000 – $40,000 | x | x1 | x | x | ||
| $40,000 + | x | x1 | x | x | ||
| Types of Feedstock | ||||||
| Food Scraps (Just vegetable Matter) | x | x2 | x | x | x | x |
| Food Scraps including Meats | x2 | x | x | x | ||
| Cardboard | x | x2 | x | x | x | |
| Sawdust | x | x2 | x | x | ||
| Wood chips | x2 | x | x | |||
| Fish Entrails | x2 | x | x | x | ||
| Compostable Plastics | x2 | x3 | x3 | x | x | |
| Volume | ||||||
| How much material do you have? | ||||||
| Less than 1kg/day | x | x2 | x | x | ||
| 1 – 10kg/day | x | x2 | x | x | x | |
| 10kg – 50kg/day | x | x2 | x | x | x | |
| More than 50kg/day | x | x2 | x | x | x | |
| Potential End product use | ||||||
| Sales | x | x5 | x5 | x5 | x | |
| Landscape Use (Use around non-edible trees or lawn) | x | x | x | x | x | x |
| Vegetable Garden Use (edible trees or lawn) |
x | x6 | x6 | x6 | x6 | x |
| 1 Equipment nee