West London Composting (WLC), the UK‘‘s first recycling centre modeled on advanced European standards, has signed an agreement with the London Borough of Harrow to process daily deliveries, of green and household kitchen waste including cardboard from the borough‘‘s kerbside collections.

Designed to support Harrow Council‘‘s kitchen recycling trial in conjunction with selected households, WLC will compost kitchen scraps including fruit, vegetables, meat and bones together with green waste - in a bid to help the borough reach government recycling targets to increase the amount of waste recycled to 25 per cent by 2005 / 2006.

Loads received at WLC‘‘s £2m recycling facility at Highview Farm in Harefield, west-London will undergo a rigorous decontamination process in line with government guidelines. This includes material remaining in a controlled environment in two separate areas for up to three weeks. During this time it twice reaches in excess of 60 degrees centigrade for two consecutive days.

The deal with Harrow Council is designed to meet with the proximity principle of the EC Framework Directive on Waste, as incorporated in the National Waste Strategy Waste Strategy 2000. The principle states that waste should generally be managed as near as possible to its place of production, because transporting waste itself has an environmental impact.

The process

Once at the site, refuse collection vehicles are weighed on a weigh-bridge before the waste is discharged into a purpose-built reception building. The material is then processed in a Crambo shredder. From here it is transported in to one of eight vessels that comprise ‘‘barrier one‘‘. Each vessel has a capacity of 150 tonnes.

The waste remains in this controlled environment between seven and 11 days, during which time the batch will have achieved a temperature of 60ºC for two consecutive days, inline with Government guidelines. The material is then transferred to ‘‘barrier two‘‘ (comprising eight further vessels), and the process is repeated, before being transported to an open-windrow composting facility where it remains for up to 10 weeks, depending on the end-market requirement.

The trapezoid-shaped windrows are turned at regular intervals in order to add oxygen and mix the material. While some materials such as highly active organic waste can produce an unpleasant smell, the sophisticated processing techniques employed by West London Composting, are specifically designed to eliminate any odours.

Once matured, the material is screened before being subjected to the tightest quality controls. The end result is compost that is friable, moist and odourless, suitable for a wide variety of individual or commercial requirements. The standard product will be 10mm general compost ideal as a soil conditioner or for blending with sands.