Environmental News 2.12.14 Part IV: Why waste the waste? It is great composting material says Latrobe Recycler. Now THIS is smart recycling. A facility once used to process Latrobe Valley’s sewerage and radioactive material from Esso’s nearby gas plant is now being used to convert thousands of tonnes of commercial, food and green waste from landfills in Melbourne’s south eastern councils into compost. We received 1,300 tonnes of dairy waste last month, said Manager, Mark Heffernan. Were also taking egg waste and random food waste such as chocolate, beer, bourbon and pizza toppings. The facility, which uses a two-step composting process – pasteurisation and maturation - is also taking an increasing volume of contaminated soils from old petrol stations and commercial waste such as oil from restaurants and fish-and-chip shops. Pasteurisation is where the pathogens and the seeds and the contaminants are killed off and the good bacteria and biology are promoted. Explained Heffernan. Maturation is where the product stabilises, breaks down further, becomes less volatile and the temperatures become quite consistent. Meanwhile, around 100,000 litres of liquid waste (oily water) is received each day at the site, and, this is pumped into holding ponds where sand, sludge and grease is taken out and pumped into one of several storage tanks. “The waste seperates after which the distilled water is pumped out for re-use and the rest is piped through to mixing vessels.” Said Heffernan who continued that the solution is then mixed with green waste, possibly contaminated soils and other ingredients such as milk and egg waste, covered with a tarpaulin and climate controlled. Its simply a matter of filling these vessels or tunnels with compost, putting the tarp cover on, the door on, then we let nature do its work. After 72 hours the compost is taken outside and mixed in with processed green waste which is turned frequently with a specialised machine, fed through a sifter and stock piled. “From when the waste is first received to finished product, the process takes an average of 10 weeks.” Said Heffernan. abc.net.au/news/2014-12-01/food-green-commercial-waste-turned-into-compost/5929926
Posted on: Mon, 01 Dec 2014 23:57:00 +0000
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