A pilot study was conducted at the University of Georgia's Bioconversion Research and Education Center to test the feasibility of composting pre- and postconsumer institutional food residuals. The university has been composting its yard trimmings for several years in windrows.
The cafeteria food residuals were pulped to reduce moisture content from 90 percent to 70 percent. They were mixed with ground yard trimmings in a roughly 2:1 ratio by volume and loaded into three Earth Tubs. Some of the results recorded were: Compost exceeded 55C for well over 72 hours to provide pathogen kill and weed seed reduction; Leachate production ranged from 35.5 to 117.5 liters; Ammonia levels peaked at 560 ppm; and Inerts ranged from 0.4 percent to 0.6 percent in the cured compost. Other parameters studied were temperature and percent oxygen inside the composting matrix, compaction rates, weight and volume reduction, moisture content, container air flow rates, C:N ratios, nutrients and bulk density.
The compost was scheduled to be land applied in two separate demonstration plots. One is a roadside demonstration sown with Bermuda grass to exhibit the immediate benefits of compost in Georgia's red clay soils. A second plot is being used as an educational tool to illustrate differences between surface application and soil incorporation of compost. For more information, e-mail Britt Faucette at britt faucette@hotmail.com, K.C. Das at kdas@bae.uga.edu, or Mark Risse at mrisse@bae.uga.edu.
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