A scheme that turns green waste into nutrient-rich compost for Devon farms has been singled out for national praise.

Despite a trend towards centralised facilities, Devon Waste Management Ltd (DWM) has been expanding its on-farm composting service because of the environmental benefits.
Its belief in on-farm composting as the way forward has now been endorsed by the Association for Organics Recycling (AFOR). It awarded Devon Waste Management the Sustainable Production Award in the AFOR Annual Awards.

The new award category seeks to promote environmental protection as a key consideration in the design and operation of modern organics recycling facilities. The award demonstrates that DWM’s farm recycling scheme ‘minimises the adverse impact on the surrounding environment and its inhabitants’.

Jeremy Jacobs, managing director of AFOR and a member of the judging panel, said: “Devon Waste Management demonstrated that through their model of managing a significant number of small composting sites, their impact on the environment is minimised through adherence to the proximity principle.

“The AFOR judges were impressed by the dedication and commitment shown by the entire DWM team.”

The 35,000 tonnes of green waste delivered each year into DWM’s Household Waste Recycling Centres (HWRC) is composted on its network of 45 farms.

The recycling centres ensure the garden waste is free of plastic bags and other non-compostable materials before it is moved to the shredding sites. A Jenz BA 720 high-speed shredder visits each site in one trip by rollonoff, saving multiple vehicle movements.

Shredding to 40mm in one pass reduces the need for further screening and saves 1.5ltrs of diesel per tonne and reduces carbon emissions by an estimated 134 tonnes-a-year. Less fuel is used in transporting a screen between farms and there are no traffic movements normally associated with removing oversized materials from the farms. The scheme also ensures that each farm receives the right amount of shredded green waste to compost ready for spreading to provide essential nutrients for crops.

DWM then monitors the compost for temperature and moisture and turns it three times, after which it is sanitised and stabilised. The compost is analysed for nutrient content and stored prior to spreading.

Chris Pope, DWM’s Operations Manager, said: “This award from the organics recycling body endorses our view that it is more beneficial to the environment to compost on the farm than through centralised facilities many miles away.

“Our scheme ensures that green waste is shredded first time down to just 40mm at our five shredding sites before being taken to a network of 45 farm composting sites nearby. The process we follow ensures minimal carbon impact because of reduced processing steps and fewer transport miles and as we don’t shred or screen on the farms there are no airborne spores, fungi or other contaminants that could potentially cause problems for them.

“This is a scheme we have invested heavily in and will continue to do so as a way of ensuring that agriculture can truly benefit from a rich resource of high quality composted green waste with minimal impact on the environment.”

DWM operates under two brands. Devon Waste Management manages public sector contracts while Coastal Waste provides waste management solutions to a growing portfolio of business and residential clients. In three years, Coastal Waste has increased turnover 100 percent.

The group has a staff of 100 and operates two landfill sites at Torrington and Kennford, 24 civic recycling centres throughout Devon and three transfer stations at Exeter, Crediton and Tavistock.