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Dear knowledgeable people Can you help? I am looking for practical advice on large scale composting - do you know of any development organsiation or University working on this topic? ( I see there are many University courses on waste management but many seem to deal with legislation more than practical solutions). I help a very small environmental group in Kenya which runs projects on waste management, water, cookstoves, and education. The group has run 9 waste management bins for the last 2 years. The bio-degradable waste is turned into compost, the non-biodegradable waste is sent to landfill (when there is a vehicle). I know others are turning waste into energy which is another option but we are not looking at this at the moment. In essence we need to 'scale up' the composting and this is where I am asking if you can point me to any organisations working on large scale composting- I have been unsuccessful in my search to date. I have visited Keenans Recycling in Aberdenshire (therir business model would not work in Kenya, but their technology might). I have also been in touch with Ridan composters based in Cornwall - there is one composter in operation nearby; their Ridan composter is quite small scale but is used at schools etc. I have found another 'in vessel' composter 'hot rot' made in New Zealand - they have sold a system to Twycross Zoo which I have not visited yet. I have read the reports by Practical Action from Nepal - the case studies there had similar problems to those being experienced by the group in Kenya. The problems are acute in unplanned settlements with no planned infrastructure and municipal services - it must be a global problem. Developed countries are also having to face waste management and reducing waste sent to landfill. Is anyone looking at this problem in the context of the SDGs? The group currently works in a settlement (Kwa Muhia) of 7,000 people c 2,500 households. It has been asked to extend its work to another (Kamere) settlement of 23,000 people c 7,000 households - mostly labourers on flower farms. The following are 'ballpark' figures which are roughly accurate but which I've rounded to simplify the message. Each household produces 1.5 kg/waste/per day. Approx 1kg is bio-degradable and can be composted. This means that each household produces approx one third a tonne (0.36) of bio-degradable waste per year. (The remaining waste is non-biodegradable - this is sent to a rubbish tip 30km away, Kwa Muhia needs a 10 tonne truck to remove this non-biodegradable waste once a week.) Even in Kenya it is taking about 9 months to compost the bio-degradable waste. We have been looking at ways to accelerate the process - chopping it up, heating it up etc - this is what the commerical operators seem to do - either winnowing heaps which takes space or using 'in vessel' systems which seem less prone to vermin and pollution problems. Kwa Muhia produces approx 900 tonnes of bio-degradable waste per year. Kamere produces approx 2,900 tonnes. One compost bin can hold 1 tonne. Ratio of biodegradable waste to compost is approx 3:1. Very approx this means that I compost bin is needed per 10 households. There is not space for this number of bins in many crowded settlements and ceratinly not in Kamere.Therefore the group wonder if they should collect the waste, separate the bio-degradable waste and take it somewhere locally to turn it into compost(and leachate) - possibly using a modern 'in vessel' approach for composting to make comspot more quickly - quick throughput would reduce the number of composting vessels needed. Do you know of any organisations working on this problem that we could go to for advice? And can you suggest any possible funding sources? The group's ambition is to act as a model for others to follow (many people have already visited the group's existing waste management /composting system). This step would be a avery big step for a small group, so we would need partners to take it forward, so again any advice welcome. The group has no doubt that waste is a resource that should not be thrown away - they just need help to find modern ways of making compost at a 'village/settlement scale because there is no spece for household composting (cf many urban settlements in both the developed and developing world). Any advice or leads would be very much appreciated. In anticipation, with very best wishes Jill Matthews.

Dear knowledgeable people Can you help? I am looking for practical advice on large scale composting - do you know of any development organsiation or University working on this topic? ( I see there are many University courses on waste management but many seem to deal with legislation more than practical solutions). I help a very small environmental group in Kenya which runs projects on waste management, water, cookstoves, and education. The group has run 9 waste management bins for the last 2 years. The bio-degradable waste is turned into compost, the non-biodegradable waste is sent to landfill (when there is a vehicle). I know others are turning waste into energy which is another option but we are not looking at this at the moment. In essence we need to 'scale up' the composting and this is where I am asking if you can point me to any organisations working on large scale composting- I have been unsuccessful in my search to date. I have visited Keenans Recycling in Aberdenshire (therir business model would not work in Kenya, but their technology might). I have also been in touch with Ridan composters based in Cornwall - there is one composter in operation nearby; their Ridan composter is quite small scale but is used at schools etc. I have found another 'in vessel' composter 'hot rot' made in New Zealand - they have sold a system to Twycross Zoo which I have not visited yet. I have read the reports by Practical Action from Nepal - the case studies there had similar problems to those being experienced by the group in Kenya. The problems are acute in unplanned settlements with no planned infrastructure and municipal services - it must be a global problem. Developed countries are also having to face waste management and reducing waste sent to landfill. Is anyone looking at this problem in the context of the SDGs? The group currently works in a settlement (Kwa Muhia) of 7,000 people c 2,500 households. It has been asked to extend its work to another (Kamere) settlement of 23,000 people c 7,000 households - mostly labourers on flower farms. The following are 'ballpark' figures which are roughly accurate but which I've rounded to simplify the message. Each household produces 1.5 kg/waste/per day. Approx 1kg is bio-degradable and can be composted. This means that each household produces approx one third a tonne (0.36) of bio-degradable waste per year. (The remaining waste is non-biodegradable - this is sent to a rubbish tip 30km away, Kwa Muhia needs a 10 tonne truck to remove this non-biodegradable waste once a week.) Even in Kenya it is taking about 9 months to compost the bio-degradable waste. We have been looking at ways to accelerate the process - chopping it up, heating it up etc - this is what the commerical operators seem to do - either winnowing heaps which takes space or using 'in vessel' systems which seem less prone to vermin and pollution problems. Kwa Muhia produces approx 900 tonnes of bio-degradable waste per year. Kamere produces approx 2,900 tonnes. One compost bin can hold 1 tonne. Ratio of biodegradable waste to compost is approx 3:1. Very approx this means that I compost bin is needed per 10 households. There is not space for this number of bins in many crowded settlements and ceratinly not in Kamere.Therefore the group wonder if they should collect the waste, separate the bio-degradable waste and take it somewhere locally to turn it into compost(and leachate) - possibly using a modern 'in vessel' approach for composting to make comspot more quickly - quick throughput would reduce the number of composting vessels needed. Do you know of any organisations working on this problem that we could go to for advice? And can you suggest any possible funding sources? The group's ambition is to act as a model for others to follow (many people have already visited the group's existing waste management /composting system). This step would be a avery big step for a small group, so we would need partners to take it forward, so again any advice welcome. The group has no doubt that waste is a resource that should not be thrown away - they just need help to find modern ways of making compost at a 'village/settlement scale because there is no spece for household composting (cf many urban settlements in both the developed and developing world). Any advice or leads would be very much appreciated. In anticipation, with very best wishes Jill Matthews.