Rocket composter will help to 'green' a tiny corner of Planet Earth

Composter produces 700 litres of good-quality compost every week

In the week that the world celebrates the 40th anniversary of the first Apollo moon landing, a much smaller ‘rocket’ is making its mark in Cumbria.

The ‘rocket’ composter is turning waste food into a valuable soil improver and mulch for the University of Cumbria’s Newton Rigg Campus gardens near Penrith.

	Con Maguire University of Cumbria

“It’s like a giant intestine,” explained Con Maguire, grounds manager at Newton Rigg.

“At its maximum output it produces up to 700 litres of good-quality compost every week.”

Waste food from the campus restaurant Brambles - including meat, fish and pizza - is fed into the composter every day.

Groundsmen Mark Jones and Phil Cornthwaite then add carbon-rich wood chips to balance the high nitrogen content of the scrap food.

The temperature in the rocket is then kept to between 60-70 degrees centigrade; this destroys any harmful pathogens or disease organisms and sustains the micro-organisms necessary to convert the mixture into compost.

“It’s been operating for a few weeks now and I am delighted by the results,” said Con.

“It’s important to get the balance right between the carbon and the nitrogen - what comes out at one end is only as good as what goes in the other.

“But so far the compost has proved to be very friable and easy to handle and it makes a very useful mulch and soil improver for our campus gardens.

“You could say it’s another small green step for the campus.”

The rocket composter - so-called because the speed at which it converts food into compost - is part of a wide range of green initiatives at the Newton Rigg Campus which aims to become a totally sustainable site within a few years.

Weblink to University of Cumbria

GREEN PIONEERS: A composter that really is Rocket science

COMPOST is normally a subject confined to allotments and Gardeners’ Question Time. A Macclesfield company, however, is turning it into a business.

Accelerated Composting began as a semi-amateur attempt to cut the time it took for garden waste to turn into compost and has developed into a business that helps hotels, restaurants, hospitals and large organisations such as councils and the RAF recycle their food waste instead of sending it to landfills.

A keen gardener, Simon Webb’s late father John knew the benefits of creating good compost – but he was impatient. “He was frustrated by the amount of time it took garden cuttings and horse manure to turn into useable compost,” said Webb.

“At the time I was working for an environmental company that used bacteria to control pollution. I heard about a process developed in a Japanese lab that created compost in 48 hours and told him about it. He started doing research into the processes involved and developed a prototype using his knowledge of microbiology. It worked really well.”

The father-and-son team soon realised that businesses and organisations that produced food waste could use their device and patented the technology Europe-wide in 2003. “There was never an intention to develop what was supposed to be a domestic device into a waste-treatment process, but we realised, more or less by accident, that we had developed a product that solved other people’s problems,” said Webb.

The product, called The Rocket, is an insulated steel tube that creates the ideal conditions for the different types of bacteria involved in breaking down food waste. The largest version can compost up to five tonnes of waste a week, breaking down all kinds of food waste, including meat and dairy products, into safe, usable compost free of pathogens within 14 days.

The benefits of composting waste are numerous, said Webb. “Aerobic digestion of waste, basically composting, produces a small amount of carbon dioxide whereas sending it to landfill produces methane, which is 20 times more harmful than carbon dioxide in terms of its effect on atmospheric warming.

“Putting food in an anaerobic digestor produces methane, too, and it’s expensive. To be commercially viable you also have to build large digestors, which means you have to transport the waste to them, whereas our customers process their waste on site and most of them use the resulting compost to enrich the soil in their grounds or gardens.”

Compost has another beneficial environmental role to play, said Webb. “We’re short of organic matter in our soil in Europe. We’ve been putting chemicals into it that leach organic matter from the soil and lead to run-off pollution and increased use of pesticides and artificial fertiliser,” he said. “Compost puts organic matter as well as nutrients back into the soil, restoring the natural balance, which is why organisations like the Soil Association and the Royal Horticultural Society are so keen on it.”

Accelerated Composting had sales of £1m last year. It is a minnow in the waste-management and recycling sectors, but it finds itself on the right side of several trends that should see sales grow to at least £5m in three years, with potential to grow much further, said Webb.

Local councils are showing interest in composting and so are private operators, such as Aardvark Recycling in south London, which collects household food scraps, composts them in the Webbs’ Rocket and uses the end product to enrich local parkland.

Landfill tax rises are driving much of this activity. The next increases in the tax will take composting from being about as expensive as burying food waste to making it far cheaper, said Webb. From next year, local councils will also make schools bear the cost of disposing of their food waste, adding 16,000 to Webb’s potential customer base.

The firm’s sales have grown 30%-40% a year for the past two years and Webb’s problem is to decide how aggressively to pursue growth in Britain and in its fledgling export markets. In the past year Webb has primed the business for further growth by leasing and renting equipment as well as selling it, shortening the sales cycle and offering greater incentives to firms that might otherwise not be able to find the cash for upfront investment.

The business could grow much faster still, said Webb. Its first exports last year to America, Canada and the United Arab Emirates totalled £150,000 though the demand is vast, he said.

“We could grow by 400% a year or even 4,000% if we could pursue every opportunity, but the challenge is to keep control of the cash flow and not overstretch ourselves,” said Webb. “We have ploughed every penny back into the business so far, but we are starting to think about looking for an investor to help us realise all these opportunities.”

Weblink to The Sunday Times Online

Accelerated Compost Ltd were very pleased to be invited this year to provide the first ever on site food waste recycling - live - at the RWM exhibition at the NEC.

The Exhibition held this year over 3 halls in mid September had over 9000 visitors in the three days, the food waste generated from meals served at the show totalled over 390 litres and was processed by ACL staff at the rear of the exhibition halls whilst the exhibition was active.

General Manager Huw Crampton comments "The call originally came from the event organisers EMAP in August this year, after they learnt we had carried out a waste audit for the NEC on it's food waste at the show last year, it was a tentative proposal at first and we honestly thought it had been dismissed, but literally two weeks before the show was scheduled to open the doors the final call came from EMAP asking would we be able to ? of course our answer was yes ! I think given a little more notice we'd have had a proper outside demonstration area with all the trimmings that people expect, but the operation we had to get in place in less than two weeks didn't allow us that, but in hindsight what it did show was how simple and inexpensive a set up needs to be, the visitors thought it was brilliant and it took little effort on our behalf, we must however thank the event organisers EMAP for giving us this opportunity and the NEC staff who aided the collections of the waste and helped organise the activity as a whole"
The exhibition this year for Accelerated Compost Ltd was a magnificent success and the stand was busier than ever, a sure sign of how attitude is changing and the need for food waste solutions is being investigated more and more.

Pictured below Outside composting area at the NEC, MD Simon Webb with the two "Rocket Scientists" Chris and Callum, who helped us attract visitors in a slightly different way this year.

Food waste recycled from NEC shown

Accelerated Compost Ltd will be exhibiting again at the RWM 2009 Stand 136 15-17th September NEC Birmingham.

When keen gardener and inventor John Webb wanted to speed up his own composting process ten years ago little did he realise how his innovative solution would revolutionise food and organic waste disposal and treatment.

From these modest beginnings grew a dynamic business, Accelerated Compost Ltd (ACL), now recognised as the industry leader for the supply and installation of on-site food and organic waste treatment.

Simon Webb, MD of ACL, commented, “The last ten years have been phenomenal! Recycling has really taken off in the UK and many of our customers have seen their recycling rates soar dramatically with the addition of the Rocket^®.

“In the last year we estimate the Rocket’s^® have diverted around 3,700 tonnes of food and organic waste from landfill and this figure is growing. Deliveries later this quarter include Westminster City and Rhonnda Cynon Taff Councils, which shows that big scale municipal composting and AD plants may not necessarily be the right financial or environmental answer for the treatment of food and organic waste” 

Huw Crampton, General Manager, added, “In light of the recent council placed orders, the feeling is that the opposition by the public to large scale municipal plants is certainly having its effect on the plans of councils. Effectively our Rockets^® can “fly in under the radar” so to speak, and work locally without this opposition. The joy is that these systems are almost off the shelf, need little planning involvement for the councils, are easily implemented and already proven.

“Rhonnda and Westminster are just some of the councils we are proudly working with as suppliers this year; some other fantastic projects involve multiple school applications, again funded by the councils, it’s almost an instant solution for them! One or two Rockets^® may provide treatment for relatively low volumes of organic waste in comparison with a 50,000 tpa site, but try getting a 50,000 tpa site built and operational in six weeks! As more Rockets^® are installed we will gradually chip away at the UK’s food waste mountain, while the planners of the 50,000 tonne site are still battling with objections and looking for another site location!”

The Rocket^® provides a sustainable, closed loop recycling system. Food and organic waste produced on-site and the resulting end product – compost – can also be used on-site. This saves costs on waste disposal, landscape maintenance and reduces carbon emissions caused by transporting materials on and off site.

Graeme Holland, Facilities Manager at the University of Salford, who recently attained ABP approval for his site, said when asked about the Rocket^® system installed two years ago, “I think it’s brilliant...All food waste can be treated on-site which is fantastic for solving our problems.”

ACL Cheshire Team pictured left to right Dan, Mark, Huw, Chris, John (Webb), Simon, Dave, Sam

URBIS Manchester, Urban Gardening.

Aimed squarely at the non-gardener the exhibition aims to show how everyone can get involved in greening their city - even with no experience and with the tiniest of spaces - to make it a happier, healthier place to live. 

Visitors will be taken on a journey from an inner city balcony through to the residential suburbs exploring how they can green their city and why they should get involved, being shown the best examples of Urban Gardening from around the world along the way.  People will be encouraged to get their hands dirty and give it a go in one of the living displays.

The Rocket exhibits at the "Urban gardening" to show the practicality of composting food wastes in what would appear to be small, enclosed spaces. Client projects that can be seen in these web pages, such as the fantastic EC1 project, the pioneering Edinburgh Greens project and some of our more well known clients, the London based Aardvark,  ELCRP and Uk Food waste being examples of how food waste composting is already happening in areas not usually attributed to "composting".

Click here to open PDF floorplan of URBIS Manchester

2008 saw a landmark event for Accelerated Compost, the launch of the first in a batch of the new A1200 Composter. At 6 meters long and weighing in at 3 tonnes, this monster of "on site" composters is set to make its mark on the Uk's food waste mountain.

Major new additions as standard on the model including almost silent motors, new mixing blades and on site remote dial up to factory for updates and diagnosis continue to take in vessel composting of this scale even further forward.

Complementing the already market leading range of composters the A1200 is expected to see service in large scale commercial food waste collection projects, multi campus university food waste applications and council recycling facilities.

(Pictured; Cheshire Built A1200 Composter readied for delivery with 4 more scheduled for delivery by March)

'Rocket composter' for uni waste

A new composting machine is turning students' leftovers at Aberystwyth University into food for plants.

Known as the rocket composter, it can cope with 1.2 tonnes (1,750 litres) per week and takes just 14 days to convert waste from cafes into garden food.

Leftovers from kitchens at the students' union and the nearby arts centre are being combined with waste wood to form the compost. The leftovers include: Salads, Cakes, Pasta, All types of meat and Pizza.

The university said the food would normally have been sent to landfill.

The new machine was bought with a £25,000 grant from the Welsh Assembly Government, and the compost it is producing is being used to nourish plants and shrubs at the university.

Pro vice-chancellor John Harries said:

"This is the latest in a series of developments that emphasise the university's commitment to enhancing its environmental performance."

People living and working in Aberystwyth think the rocket composter is an excellent idea.

Laisa Lloyd-Presland, 29, from Lampeter, is a receptionist at Aberystwyth University.

"I think it (the rocket composter) is a fantastic idea. I'm an avid recycler and I recycle everything that from waste food such as peelings, eggs and tea bags to bottles. "But I had no idea you could recycle chips and pizza - it's really innovative and new."

Idris Humphreys, 55, from Aberystwyth, is a cleaner.

"This is a great idea. "I haven't heard of it before. "This food would have ended up in landfill otherwise. "I compost waste food, although it's not new everybody did it years ago. It's starting to become popular again and that's a good thing. "The university has taken it to another level though with its new composter."

Gwynfor Jones, 55, from Aberystwyth, he started as a cleaner just six weeks ago after 35 years as a postman.

"I never thought much about recycling until I started my new job. The university seems to have really embraced recycling and I think it's a good idea. "I've never been one to waste things and if I can make use of things I will. The rocket composter it taking that a step forward."

This is just one of a number of recycling projects the university is involved in.

A spokesman said the university already had collection bins for recycling bottles and cans, but officials have also pledged to reduce the amount of paper used in all university photocopiers by 500,000 sheets per year.

About 2.5m sheets are currently used, and the university has just switched to using recycled paper.

Canolfan Conway Centre:

Company Profile

With 420 beds, the Conway Centre is one of the largest residential education centres in the UK. Situated in the grounds of Plas Newydd, beside the Menai Strait, it delivers activities including art, drama, dance, field studies and outdoor pursuits to 18,000 visitors a year, ranging from Year 2 to adult. The Centre employs 61 staff and has a turnover of £2M.

The Rocket Composter - described in the composters in use section later in the web site, was installed to treat all the food wastes generated at the centre, this installation has greatly reduced the pollution and environmental impact caused by previous disposal methods, and as such has been rewarded with the Award in recognition of the work done.

EC1 new deal, runners up at Composting Association National Recycling Awards for pioneering project involving A700 Rocket Composter.

More details to follow shortly.

The 1.7 tonnes Skoda Fabia car cake, made famous recently in a television advertisement, has been recycled into garden compost on the regenerating Nightingale Estate in Hackney by the East London Community Recycling Partnership using Rocket Composters.

Being considered unfit for human consumption after lengthy time under the Shepperton Studio lights, despite zero miles on the chocolate tachometer, the car confectionary was scrapped and put into sealed 25kg boxes and delivered to recycling facilities in Hackney.

East London Community Recycling Partnership (ELCRP), which operates composting facilities on the estate , took delivery of the load in May containing the foodstuff that had taken a team of bakers 10 days to shape into a full-size car for the advertisement produced by agency Fallon

ELCRP director, Michelle Carey said: "We delighted that such famous confectionery can be ecologically recycled back to the natural environment through our composting project to reduce the advertisement's carbon footprint and benefit local residents, instead of merely being used to make up more landfill.”

Click play in the video window to the right to watch the making of the car via YouTube

Residents living on estates in EC1 are now benefiting from door-to-door food waste collection and recycling services.

Four pilot schemes have been launched across the EC1 New Deal for Communities area with an aim to make recycling on estates as easy as refuse disposal.

Today (Friday 15th June) saw the launch of a state-of-the-art composting machine known as the ‘The Rocket’ on Braithwaite House,

EC1 - providing residents with a door-to-door food waste collection service that is composted on site.

EC1 New Deal for Communities (NDC), in partnership with Islington Council and Homes for Islington is funding the project that will offer estate residents the type of convenience which is usually only available to residents living in street properties.

Developed in close consultation with residents, the project is trialling a variety of recycling schemes to ascertain the most effective method with a view to rolling out a permanent service in the future.

Matthew Humphreys, Chair of the EC1 New Deal for Communities board, explains that providing estates with a comprehensive recycling scheme is a major challenge, but a necessary one:

“Historically, residents on estates have been left out when it comes to good quality, easy-to-use recycling services.  We should all try to recycle more and waste less and so it is important that all residents in EC1 have the same opportunities to recycle their refuse.”

Schemes in addition to the Braithwaite House Rocket include:

• Braithwaite House mixed recycling
  
  
• Mixed recycling bins have been provided on each corridor

• Quaker Court
  
  
• Door-to-door collection of food which is composted at Braithwaite House
• Mixed recycling with reusable bags

• Lagonier House
  
  
• One of the two existing refuse chutes is dedicated to recycling

• Epworth Street
  
  
• Door-to-door recycling collection

Further information about recycling in EC1

• The recycling programme started earlier this year on 10 Epworth Street, Braithwaite House, Quaker Court and Lagonier House.
• Materials that can be recycled include glass, paper, plastic and cardboard which will be collected in clear plastic bags
• Additional schemes include food waste composting which has been introduced on some of the trial estates
• The recycling project is being managed by Sauce Consultancy working with London Remade and The Campaign Company.

About EC1 New Deal for Communities

EC1 New Deal is a ten-year regeneration programme focused on a small, deprived neighbourhood in the southern part of the London Borough of Islington.

It was set up in 2001. It was awarded £52.9 million by the Department of Local Government & Communities (then the Office of the Deputy Prime Minister) to be spent by 2011 to generate sustainable improvements in employment, crime, health, education, community engagement and the local environment.

EC1 New Deal is one of 39 New Deal for Community programmes across England. For information about the national NDC programme see http://www.neighbourhood.gov.uk/page.asp?id=617

Key achievements of EC1 New Deal so far have included:

• Police Community Support Officers
• New Doctors in local surgeries
• Funding local youth clubs to extend their hours
• Providing extra activities for young people, including the nationally recognised EC1 Gunners football programme
• Improving household security with electronic entrance systems introduced on a number of local estates
• Supporting job and training schemes including the Goswell Centre employment agency
• Building new playgrounds on local estates
• Improving support to local schools
• A grants programme which has funded hundreds of local community groups

For more information visit www.yourEC1.com

Contact Accelerated Compost for further details.

In an effort to reduce our carbon footprint Accelerated Compost Ltd are now going to offset the carbon produced by a number of our activities.

• All the CO2 produced by our vehicles whilst delivering Rocket in-vessel composters will be offset. It is estimated that we produced around 3 tonnes of CO2 in 2006 and with 2007 being busier than ever we can expect to offset considerably more by the end of the year.
• We can also offset the CO2 produced by the generation of electricity required to power the machines. We will offset the emissions produced over the first ten years of the machines lifespan*. The Rockets use minimal electricity to run however to ensure that your purchase is as ethical as possible you can be sure it is also Carbon Neutral.

We will offset the Carbon using the Carbon Neutral Company. Upon delivery of the machine we will make the relevant donation to the Carbon Neutral company and clients will receive a certificate of confirmation. The Carbon Neutral Company will then use the money to assist various projects around the world, these include : -

• Renewable energy projects – The projects make use of renewable energy. Technology harnessing these energies can replace power generation through fossil fuels, leading to reduced emissions.
• Energy Efficiency - Using energy more efficiently is important in the transition to a low-carbon future. Projects such as those promoting the use of energy efficient light bulbs help to save emissions back at the power station.
• Methane Capture - Methane is a potent greenhouse gas - 21 times more powerful than CO2. Sources include landfill sites and projects capturing these emissions have clear environmental benefit.
• Forestry – Trees absorb CO2 and produce oxygen; the more trees planted the more CO2 absorbed.

For more details on the Carbon Neutral Company visit www.carbonneutral.com

* Contact Accelerated Compost for further details.

The Environment Agency has this week published new rules on landfill, in compliance with the Landfill Directive.

Details are available here: Environment Agency Weblink or click here to download.

Delivery of waste to landfill site	Work at a landfill site.

BBC North East Interview Accelerated Compost at the great waste debate.

The Rocket is back in town this weekend, where it will be one of the main features of the Great Waste Debate at the Newcastle Community Green Festival taking place in Leazes Park on Saturday 3 and Sunday 4 June.

However, this Rocket isn’t Stephenson’s famous steam engine but a revolutionary new kind of accelerated composter that can turn up to 7,000 litres of kitchen and garden waste into nutrient rich compost in just 14 days.

The Rocket will be just one of a number of items on display at the Great Waste Debate, which has been designed to generate interest in waste, recycling and composting in the run up to the City Council’s public consultation on its 20 year waste strategy.

The Great Waste Debate area will also feature information on a wide range of new technologies and will be livened up with stilt walking litter-pickers, a display of a month’s worth of waste from a typical Geordie family, a bike repair stall, real nappy workshops, interesting things to do with carrier bags, quizzes, raffles and prizes and displays by Walbottle Campus students.

With junk mail clogging up so many people’s letter-boxes, staff at the Waste Debate zone will also explain how you can put an end to this bane of modern life at the simple stroke of a pen. They will also help you have your say on just who is responsible for all of the packaging waste filling our bins.

Waste Debate Zone organizer, Penny Bradley, said: “People are increasingly recognizing that we must change the way we deal with waste and the Green Festival will be showcasing just how that can be done. It will be featuring some of the best waste solutions available and will be putting its own words into practice by running its main stage off recycled chip fat, composting its food waste, using biodegradable cups and plates and recycling all of its plastic bottles, cans and glass. This year’s Festival promises not only to be a musical and entertainment treat but also to be a full-on, high-powered, learning experience!”

Newcastle Council Waste Strategy Officer, Gearoid Henry, added: “Kitchen and other food wastes make up 23% of the average household dustbin and, when landfilled, create methane gas, one of the major contributors to global warming. The City Council is keen to encourage local residents to start thinking about how it should deal with this and our other waste issues in what promises to be a fun and friendly Festival environment. We would encourage everyone to come along and contribute their thoughts and ideas.”

Weblink: Newcastle City Council

Recycling Action Yorkshire, funded by Yorkshire Forward, ERDF and BREW, have actioned an organics recycling programme affectionally named CLOE – Closed Loop Organic Exemplar.

In this project, partners within Yorkshire and the Humber were asked to express their interest in a new way of treating their organic wastes. Instead of being disposed off-site, the organic waste is being recycled into products such as soil conditioner, mulch and top dressing for use on-site.

The final sites chosen by RAY were funded to become an exemplar in their sector and help the promotion of on-site “closed loop” waste treatment methods, disseminating information the new working practices and their findings to others within their own particular sector.

Two of these sites, Carr Green School in Rastrick (with the help and assistance from Halifax based Urban Mines) and Nostell Priory National Trust Estate have chosen to use the well known “Rocket” In Vessel Composter from Accelerated Compost.

Huw Crampton from Accelerated Compost, states that “we’re extremely proud to be supplying machines to this programme and all the participants are assured of our help, assistance and support in the coming stages of the project – we’re really looking forward to working with them” 

The project aims to prove that on site organic waste treatment and recycling solutions are available and a very real and very practical future cost and ecological saving solution. Other product uses sponsored by RAY, include a Big Hanna, JORA JK 5100, a worm bed and open composting operation.

Matt Hill from Recycling Action Yorkshire (RAY) comments: “Thousands of tonnes of organic waste each year are generated from catering and grounds management operations at visitor attractions, schools and colleges, hotels, golf clubs, local authorities and prisons. These organisations often buy in mulch, soil conditioner and top dressing products that could be replaced by the products from on-site organic waste processing. Substitution of purchased products by waste-derived products will reduce the climate change impact of transporting waste from sites to landfill and manufacturing and delivering products to the same sites. CLOE will identify the financial impact of closed loop organic waste processing. Hopefully this will be positive and, if taken up by other organisations within each sector, will make their operations more cost effective, as well as reducing climate change”.

Weblink: www.recyclingaction-yorkshire.org.uk

CESHI (Create an Ethical Sustainable Hospitality Industry) have commissioned Accelerated Compost Limited to supply machinery, England wide, for their Hotel Catering Waste Project in 2007.

The Rocket^® Range has now been pre validated by the State Veterinary Service (SVS) on behalf of DEFRA for the composting of catering waste.

Contact Accelerated Compost for further details