6th National Cultivating Community Composting Forum Tour Day — St. John's University Presenters: Tom Goldsmith, St. John’s University and Gregg Twehues, Compostwerks

1. May 12, 2019
6th National Cultivating Community
Composting Forum
Tours of New York City Community
Compost Sites
Presenters: Tom Goldsmith, St. John’s University and Gregg Twehues, Compostwerks

2. 2
Queens Campus
•Second largest Catholic University
•105 acres, 26 buildings
•16,000 students, 2,300 resident students
•Chartwells dining service company
•5 part time student workers on composting
•Food waste pulping facility
•Academic Service Learning
•Food Recovery Network participant
•Community Garden & Compost site
•St. John’s Bread & Life (soup kitchen)

3. 3
Student Garden Site
2009
2017
2011
2010
2017

4. 4
3-Bin System Construction
Drain mixed with Garden french
drain piping system (storm water)
In-floor aeration system
3- bin system

5. 5
Composting Pre-consumer Food Waste 2012-15
3,000 pounds per week

6. 6
Pre & Post Food Waste 2016 -
•Pre-consumer blue barrels (each 30
gallon) placed in kitchens
•Post-consumer green bins (each 20
gallon) placed in dish washing room
Typical day
Somat
Model
SPC-50
located
inside a
modified
shipping
container
Food waste input Pulped food output
8,000
pounds
per
week

7. 7
Annual Pre & Post Consumer Food Source
Queens Campus 2.3 million S.F. Food waste collected 200 days per year (kitchen staff)
95% or more of food waste composted (student workers )
Food Waste Sources 3,500 meals served per day in one buffet style cafeteria
Daily food prepared for three other cafeterias and events
Spent coffee grinds from Dunkin and Starbucks
Annual Food Waste Data WEIGHT VOLUME
Pre consumer 88,000 pounds 44 tons 17,600 gallons 87 cubic yards
Post consumer 108,000 pounds 54 tons 21,600 gallons 107 cubic yards
Coffee grinds 8,000 pounds 4 tons 800 gallons 4 cubic yards
Food Recovery 6,000 pounds 3 tons ___________________________
Total 210,000 pounds 105 tons 40,000 gallons 200 cubic yards

8. 8
Food Waste Is Pulped (dewatered)
Annual Food Waste Data
WEIGHT VOLUME
Pre consumer 88,000 pounds 44 tons 17,600 gallons 87 cubic yards
Post consumer 108,000 pounds 54 tons 21,600 gallons 107 cubic yards
Total 196,000 pounds 98 tons 39,200 gallons 194 cubic yards
Pulped
60 % WEIGHT
40% VOLUME
Total 117,600 pounds 59 tons 15,680 gallons 78 cubic yards
Reduce by 40% Reduce by 60%

9. 9
ASP Feedstock Mix
Food waste, coffee and wood chips are
mixed on the concrete pad with help of
paid student workers
SJU staff operates small pay loader
to mix food waste, coffee and wood
chips that are loaded into ASP
2012-15 - 3,000 pounds /week, mix every 2 weeks
2016 - pulped 8,000 pounds /week, mix every week

10. 10
ASP Weekly Feedstock Mix
Pile capped off with
5 inches of finished compost
•Thermal blanket
•Odor control
•Fly control
•Retains moisture
•Improves aesthetics
Wood chips (4 cu yd)
•Ratio - 3 wood to 1 pulped food
•Mixture of fresh wood chips and
recycled, screened off wood chips
from compost pile
Pulped food (18 barrels per mix)
5 inches of wood chips at
base for good aeration
After 3 weeks in ASP
ready to unload
Pulped food needs more
wood chips (bulking material)

11. 11
Composting Process – Oxygen is Key
OdorVapor Odor
From O2 Compost

12. 12
Oxygen Depletion in Typical Compost Pile
0
5
10
15
20
25
Minutes
OxygenLevel(%)
Week 1
Week 2
10 20 30 40
Aerobic
Anaerobic
SJU’s
Aeration sys.
1 minute on
19 minutes off
From O2 Compost

13. 13
Aeration
Allows the Operator to:
Maintain Aerobic Conditions
Mitigate Impacts from Objectionable Odors
Manage Pile Temperatures
Reduce the Loss of Nutrients
Expedite the Rate of Composting & Curing
Produce Superior Compost Products
From O2 Compost

14. Temperature Change in a
Typical Compost Pile
TemperatureoF
40
60
80
100
120
140
160
A B C
Time for SJU is 3 weeks
active inside the ASP
A = Mesophilic
B = Thermophilic
C = Curing55oC (131oF)
70oC (158oF)
40oC (104oF)
Active Composting Phase Curing Phase
180
160
140
120
100
80
60
40
Time for SJU is 12 weeks curing
in a pile outside the ASP
Note:Plupedfoodbreaksdowninhalfthetime
andpilegetshotter,quickerthannonpulped
From O2 Compost

15. 15
Screening Compost & Finished Product
Sittler trommel screen with
¼” screen
(compost needs to be dry) Screening after 12
weeks in pile

16. 16
Full Service Organics Academic Service-Learning

17. 17
Compost & ASL Events

18. 18
Food Waste Reduction Campaign (ASL)

19. 19
Student Involvement (ASL)

20. 20
Compost Tea
Compost tea is made when the biology and
soluble nutrients attached to specially
produced compost is extracted into
oxygenated water and brewed for a 24 hours
Microbial foods are generally added to aid in the
growth and reproduction of beneficial microbes:
Fish Hydrolysate, Humic Acid, Kelp Powder,
Azomite, Unsulfured Molasses

21. 21
Initial Investment
Sterling System $ 8,000
Plastic Lumber $15,000
Pay Loader (used) $15,000
Trommel $15,000
$53,000
PULPER $55,000
SUBTOTAL $108,000
MAJOR COMPONENTS LABOR & MATERIALS
Site work $10,000
O2 construction $40,000
Roof, pipe & tarp $10,000
Trommel construction $20,000
Barrels, bins, hand truck $ 4,000
Spreader & Tea Brewer $ 4,000
Miscellaneous gear $ 2,000
$90,000
Pulper construction $45,000
TOTAL $243,000
SUBTOTAL $135,000
COMPOST
Compost opportunity report $600

22. 22
Annual Operational Hours
Daily Hours Weekly Hours Semi Annual Hours
Food collection 2
Pulping (2 workers 2.5 hours) 5
Number of Days 200
Hours Per Year 1,400
Get wood chips 1.5
Screening compost 1.5
Empty compost bin 1.5
Mix (4 workers, 4 hours) 16
Number of Weeks 28
Hours Per Year 574
Screen compost 25
Spread compost 50
Compost Tea (outsource)
Equip. maintenance (outsource)
Times Per Year 2
Hours Per Year 140
TOTAL HOURS 2,114

23. 23
Sample Soil Test Report

24. 24
Sample Living Soil Report

25. 25
Thomas Goldsmith
Director of Environmental &
Energy Conservation
St. John’s University
718.990.8008 office
goldsmit@stjohns.edu
It’s Worth The Effort
Environmental & Social Benefits
•Engage students (ASL)
•Educational resource
•Help alleviate hunger
•Diversion from landfill
•Improved soil quality
•Increase storm water retention
•Fight climate change
•Reduce pollution
•Less chemical dependency
•Create meaningful jobs
•University “brand value”
Thank You
Check out Youtube: “Full Service Organics”
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7KhbozglGME
Gregg Twehues and
Peter Schmidt, Owners
Compostwerks
487 MainStreet
Mt. Kisco, NY 10549
(844) 266-9375
wholesale@compostwerks.com