[USCC] Source Separated Food Waste Composting

[James Reale-Levis]

Greetings All,

I am a graduate student at NC State, and I'm doing a life-cycle
inventory of source separated food waste. As part of that, I am
looking to model the composting process. I have visited a local
facility and contacted another, but I'd like to know what the norm (if
there is one) in the industry is. Right now, I am considering static
aerated piles, and windrow composting under roof with odor control. Is
this reasonable, or are there prevalent in-vessel techniques that I
should consider? When is screening usually performed, and what usually
happens to the overs? Is it common to used recycled compost in the
original blend? As you can see I have a lot of questions. I want to
ensure that the model I create is robust enough to handle all of the
prevalent options in use in the industry today. If you can help with
these specific questions I'd really appreciate it, or if you have a
little time I'd really appreciate a chance to contact you. Thanks.

Jim

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James W. Reale-Levis
jwlevis at ncsu.edu