FIRE PREVENTION AT COMPOSTING, MULCH FACILITIES

BioCycle December 2004, Vol. 45, No. 12, p. 30

There is no scarcity of materials that can burn at composting facilities. The wonder of it is that fires are not more common.

Lew Naylor

AS we examine the causes of fires experienced at compost and mulch facilities, we discover some commonalties: Fires are more likely to occur where the piles are dry, and have enough porosity to allow heat and air to enter or leave. Older, large, deep - and especially ignored - piles can be a problem!

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LANDFILL GIVES BIRTH TO ECOINDUSTRIAL COMPLEX

BioCycle December 2004, Vol. 45, No. 12, p. 24

The Burlington County, New Jersey Resource Recovery Complex combines the day-to-day workings of waste management facilities into a unique partnership with Rutgers University's sustainable business initiatives.
Part I

Nora Goldstein

IT'S NOT OFTEN you follow a garbage truck into a landfill and discover a whole, new world of ecoentrepreneurism. But turn into the Burlington County, New Jersey Resource Recovery Complex and you'll find just that, starting with the Rutgers University EcoComplex right by the entrance, which houses a sustaina

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CHARACTERIZING THE COMPOSTING INDUSTRY

BioCycle December 2004, Vol. 45, No. 12, p. 20

The first step in characterizing an industry is defining who belongs. The next step is identifying tools to measure its economic vitality.

Craig Coker and Nora Goldstein

THE composting industry has grown tremendously in the past 30 years, and there now is a need to develop an industry-wide understanding of this sector in order to help composters achieve industry-specific goals. These goals consist of increasing sales of compost and compost-amended products, increasing support

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Spain: Composting In The Catalonia Wine Industry

BioCycle December 2004, Vol. 45, No. 12, p. 50
With new restrictions on direct application of residues from vineyards, research results showing how compost can reduce pathogens and increase soil organic matter are becoming more critical.

Xavier Sort, Teresa Gea, Adriana Artola and Antoni Sánchez

SPAIN has one of the largest vineyards in the world, with approximately 1.2 million hectares (3 million acres) of land under cultivation - amounting to one-

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CAN HORMONES INCREASE EARTHWORM BIOMASS PRODUCTION?

BioCycle December 2004, Vol. 45, No. 12, p. 49

When treatments were applied at right levels, impact of waste conversion by worms was increased more than 50 percent.

Shova Patrabansh

VERMICOMPOST biotechnology can contribute to efficient conversion of organic solid wastes into easily handled and readily available products for plant growth. Research is being done to devise new ways to utilize worms in waste

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VERMICOMPOSTING IN ONTARIO

BioCycle December 2004, Vol. 45, No. 12, p. 47

Neighbors and school children are getting the message that Toronto's organic residuals can be better managed in worm bins than in Michigan landfills.

Larraine Roulston

UNTIL 2002, Cathy Nesbitt - now the owner of Cathy's Crawly Composters in Bradford, Ontario - was employed as a social worker. Like many residents in the Toronto area, she is a good recycler and backyard composter, but upon hearing continual reports about the region's trash being transported to Michigan, she wanted to do much more.

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MAKING A REALITY OF BIOGAS POTENTIAL

BioCycle December 2004, Vol. 45, No. 12, p. 45

Continuing breakthroughs in developing projects and new systems for utilizing organic residuals build high hopes for the stalwart innovators.

Jerome Goldstein

DIVERSITY is a prime characteristic of the growing optimism for turning biomass into renewable power sources. Just one year ago, a BioCycle report focused on how the knowledge base, technology breakthroughs and supportive public policies were strengthening the infrastructure for biomass energy. During the past 12 months, investments from generators of organic residuals as well as

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RENEWABLE ENERGY MARKETS

BioCycle December 2004, Vol. 45, No. 12, p. 38

Analysis of how customers buy into biomass energy technologies, examples of renewable power suppliers, how Renewable Energy Certificates work, and where providers are now operating. Part I

Jennifer Weeks

MARKETS in the U.S. for electric power generated from biomass and other renewable fuels are expanding at a fast pace, driven by concerns such as reducing air pollution, mitigating climate change, and reducing dependence on imported oil. But prospects vary widely among different renewable energy

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TRANSFORMING LUMBER SCRAPS INTO COMPOST, MULCH AND FUEL

BioCycle December 2004, Vol. 45, No. 12, p. 36

Gigantic piles of discarded wood - 500,000 tons - from a Maine paper mill are turned into mulch for soil products and boiler fuel for cogeneration.

Dan Emerson

NEARLY 30 years ago, when the paper mill now owned by South African-based Sappi Fine Paper began operating in Skowhegan, Maine, there wasn't much of a market for the scraps of wood and tree bark left behind in the papermaking process. Rocks, dirt and pieces of scrap metal mixed in with the wood made it impractical to use as boiler fuel.

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USING COMPOST TO REDUCE IRRIGATION COSTS

BioCycle December 2004, Vol. 45, No. 12, p. 33

Field trials in Illinois examine cost savings from using on-farm generated compost and fewer irrigation cycles to grow crops.

Duane Friend

THE number of on-farm composting facilities in the Midwest has steadily increased over the last five to ten years. Several livestock producers in Illinois - particularly those near urban areas in the central and northern parts of the state - have initiated projects utilizing livestock waste and yard materials. Finished compost usually is applied to crop fields operated by these producers.

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Regional roundup

Baltimore, Maryland
BIOSOLIDS COMPOST FOR “PRESIDENTIAL PARK” AT WHITE HOUSE
Approximately 1,500 cu yds of biosolids compost from Baltimore's municipal facility have been used for the conversion of Pennsylvania Avenue in front of the White House next to Lafayette Park into a pedestrian park. With the removal of this section of Pennsylvania Avenue, the north lawn of the White House becomes a contiguous planted area with that of Lafayette Park. The sales process for Orgro began in November of last year, when the Federal Highway Administration contacted the U.S. Composting Council for producers meeting STA testing

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Editorial

BioCycle December 2004, Vol. 45, No. 12, p. 4

ECOLOGICAL INSPIRATION

WHEN we were planning the field trip for BioCycle's National Conference in Philadelphia last June, someone mentioned that we might want to tour the Burlington County (New Jersey) Resource Recovery Complex and the Rutgers University EcoComplex. We were familiar with the biosolids composting plan

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