Linda Bilsens Brolis of the Institute for Local Self-Reliance Washington, DC

1. Linda Bilsens Brolis
Project Manager, Composting for Community Initiative
Institute for Local Self-Reliance
January 23rd, 2018
Cultivating Community Composting Forum
USCC Conference, Atlanta
Best Management Practices for
Community Composting

2. What is Community Composting?
It involves a relatively small-scale
system in which material is
converted into compost within a
local community.
• Local control, community access,
sometimes community
ownership
• Organic materials and nutrients
remain and are cycled within the
community
Growing Local Fertility: A Guide to Community Composting, ILSR

3. Why BMPs for Community-Scale?
To ensure public safety (extreme)
To prevent public nuisances (real or perceived)
Community-Scale is:
Generally exempt from permitting requirements
Often managed by volunteers
GREAT for educating the public about
composting…but not if mismanaged

4. How Big is “Small”?

5. How do BMPs change…
Based on:
Scale?
Feedstocks?
End use?
Urban vs rural?
How do we set a high bar for community composting,
while not discouraging potential composters?

6. For This Presentation
Focus on:
Community sites composting yard / garden / food scraps on-
site
Sites accepting yard / garden / food scraps from off-site
Sites producing a product being used for food production
Not discussing:
Backyard composting
Farms composting only their agriculture wastes
On-farm specific feedstocks like manures & animal
mortalities
Solid waste composting

7. BMPs: Before You Begin
Do your homework
Training!
Map out a plan: goal & team
What local resources do you have access to?
What rules are you affected by?
Choose an animal-resistant composting
system
In-vessel
Enclosed bins (hardware cloth)
Open pile systems
o Passively or actively aerated
o Biofilter “cap” is key!
Concrete or gravel pads for very active site
NSR Master Composter Program

8. Design by Urban Farm Plans (www.urbanfarmplans.com)
Raised off the ground for aeration
and less protection for animals
Enclosed in ½” hardware cloth
Paver stone-lined floor
No warped slats, no gaps, no loose corners
Red Hook Community Farm in Brooklyn, NY
Hot core!
O2 O2
Water Vapor Heat CO2
The Compost Pile “Chimney Effect”

9. BMPs: Before You Begin
Choose your location & develop a site
plan
• Who are your neighbors?
• Observation: avoid standing water if
possible
• Space for the entire compost process
• Access to reliable water
Identify site operators & managers
• At least 2
• Trained in BMPs
• Reliable, maybe even paid

10. Set yourself up for success!
You need space:
 To compost
 To store browns (carbon source &
bulking materials)
 To store temperature probe, scale,
recording binder
 To cure
 To screen
 To store finished compost
 To handle water
 To move around
 To breathe

11. BMPs: Getting Started
Think through your recipe
oAvoid: dairy meat, oils, fats, grease
oMaybe even avoid: diseased plants, aggressive grasses,
weeds that have gone to seed
Identify reliable browns*
Engage your neighbors
oBe proactive
oInstall informational signage
Start small & simple
Informational signage at Real Food Farm in Baltimore

12. Flow & Storage
Real Food Farm’s Compost Co-op System in Baltimore
Lockable bin
for Browns for
community
drop-off
(Leaves)
Lockable tumbler for
community food scrap
drop-off
Lockable bin for Co-op
tools, incl. scale and
data logs
Lockable 5-bin, rat-resistant
composting system for active
& curing piles

13. BMPs: Managing Your Compost
For sites composting large* quantities of food scraps,
particularly those creating compost for sale or for
use in food production:
Active management
Thermophilic conditions (>105°F, 110 – 150°F
recommended)
Process for Further Pathogen Reduction (PFPR)
guidelines met
Mixing bin & tarps used at
the DPR Compost
Cooperative at Howard
University

14. The Process for Reducing Pathogens
(PFRP)
Adapted from U.S. Composting Council, “Model Compost Rule Template” April 2013.
Average Temp Duration Notes:
Windrows: ≥ 131∘F ( 55∘C)
≥ 15 days, non-
continuous
During this period: ≥ 5 turnings, with ≥ 3
days in between turnings.
Aerated Static
Piles or
In-Vessel:
≥ 131∘F ( 55∘C)
≥ 3 days,
continuous The ≥ 14 days at ≥ 113∘F follows the ≥ 3
days at ≥ 131∘F
≥ 113∘F (45∘C)
≥ 14 days,
continuous
Compost processing time and temperatures should be sufficient to
kill weed seeds, and reduce pathogens and vector attraction.

15. Protecting Curing and Finished Compost at
the DPR Compost Cooperative at Howard University
Hardware cloth ”curing corral”
on pavers, secured with zip-ties,
and covered with agricultural
cloth
After sifting, finished compost is
stored in re-purposed tumblers
A recent rat-proofing retrofit:
adding gravel under and
around pavers that the
corral sits on

16. Management Considerations
 Monitoring: Check your compost regularly!
 Act on your observations: Don’t let small
problems become big ones.
 Training matters: Train your people!
 Communication matters: Be accessible!
 Clean up nicely: Site hygiene is key!
Observe, record, take action, repeat!

17. Planning Considerations
 Your microbe allies have predictable needs,
how will you meet them?
 Create a monitoring and management
schedule that meets these needs!
 What amount can your system handle?
 What schedule can your dependable labor
force handle?
New members of the Real Food Farm Compost-Coop get trained on the procedure for dropping off food scraps, recording
weights, and turning piles.
The Compost Food Web
NRC, 1981a