Composting

The principle of collective composting is simple:

From compost bins are installed on a plot of land reserved for this purpose.

The initiative must be supported by the community (tenants, transients).

This process must have a minimum number of participants (about 10 households).

One or more people should monitor the waste processing.

How does collective composting work?

The operation of collective composting includes several phases

1. recovery and storage of waste in piles,
2. fermentation and regular turning of the heap and the waste,
3. maturation and distribution of the compost thus created

Objectives of this composting

The objective of collective composting is to :

• reduce the city's green waste and the household waste of local residents,
• manage waste in the continuity of selective sorting,
• create a social link.

Advantages of collective composting

• The cooperative provides the structure and manages the entire process of waste transformation.
• You reduce your household waste by bringing it to the dedicated site.
• The fermentation and transformation process is handled by the cooperative.
• Free compost ready to use.

What can be composted?

All garden wasteWe can also use household waste: grass clippings, dead leaves, dead flowers, hedge and shrub trimmings, wood chips, weeds, as well as vegetable and fruit peelings, coffee grounds, tea bags, eggshells, cardboard cuttings, paper towels, litter from small herbivorous animals.

The more varied the waste, the richer the final compost. To be avoided: animal waste. Prohibited: non-biodegradable products such as plastic or scrap metal, or products containing pollutants such as textiles, glues and varnishes, sawdust from carpentry, coal ash, vacuum cleaner dust.

How to make a successful compost?

We start with a layer of cut branches to promote the ventilation of the compost. Then the green, wet material is alternated with brown, dry waste in successive layers of 10 to 20 cm, adding little of the same material at a time. The amount of green material should be twice as much as the amount of dry waste.

Avoid making large additions of grass clippings at once and let them dry out in the sun a little before adding them to the compost. Water the compost if necessary to keep it moist.

If you compost in a pile, turn it after two months to encourage air circulation and avoid bad odours. When composting in a barrel, the materials must be mixed once a week by turning an aeration rod in the compost.

When is the compost ready?

The process depends on the outside temperature. Decomposition is faster in summer and autumn, slower in other seasons. In the first few days, the waste pile heats up due to microbial action. The heat released by the compost is a consequence of its proper functioning. It is mainly a function of the volume of material to be composted.

The following breakdown takes place the following month and is accompanied by a strong release of carbon dioxide. An ammonia smell can be caused by too high a temperature or when there is too much nitrogenous material (grass clippings) and not enough air.

The stabilization phase starts after 2 to 3 months. The diverse micro-fauna gives the compost its dark colour, lumpy appearance and forest floor smell.

After 6 to 9 months, the compost is ready to be used to enrich the soil of seedlings in the vegetable garden, to repot houseplants or balcony plants, to take cuttings or to plant flowers and bushes in the garden beds.