MEMORANDUM BY DEVON COMMUNITY COMPOSTING
NETWORK (DSW 28)
The Governments' waste strategy entitled "Waste
Strategy 2000: (England and Wales) cites the Devon Community
Composting Network as an example of best practise. The following
section is contained in a box on page 76 of the strategy (between
paragraphs 5.46 and 5.47)
"This Group started off in 1993 with the
launch of three projects, partly in response to the diminishing
landfill space in the county, but also to help promote Agenda
21 principles generally. The Devon Community Composting Initiative
evolved and developed into the Devon Community Composting Network.
A small fleet of mobile chippers (including a shredder) visit
individual local projects when enough material has been stockpiled,
leaving the group, usually volunteers, to concentrate on making
compost. The end result is that groups do not have to purchase,
insure, store and maintain potentially dangerous machinery. Start-up
grants are match-funded from other bodies; this usually pays for
setting up the site, producing publicity material and so on. The
Devon Authorities Waste Reduction and Recycling Committee also
lends out shredders, trailers and rotary sieves. Some 1700 tonnes
of green waste will have been composted by March 2002, at an average
cost of £15/tonne. This compares with hiring a skip for landfill
which can cost up to £75 a tonne."
Devon Community Composting Network (DCCN) wish
the Government to recognise that:
— Community composting groups are increasingly
developing service level agreements with Local Authorities and
aim to act as subcontractors or contractors in the near future.
CCN (Community Composting Network) members are capable of providing
a wide range of organic waste management services, such as home
composting support, organic waste collection, compost site management
& marketing, with added social and economic benefits, and
so provide Best Value.
— The most successful community composting
projects in the UK are supported by the payment of Recycling Credits
by Local Authorities to third parties CCN (Community Composting
Network) urge all Local Authorities to adopt this practice.
— Community composting groups are developing
partnerships with the private sector to deliver significant waste
diversion with added social value.
— CCN (Community Composting Network)
is currently developing the first national training programme
in community-based composting. CCN (Community Composting Network)
is delivering a landfill-funded project which is establishing
15 "Composting Demonstration Sites" across the UK. By
March 2001, all 15 Sites will have run a regional composting training
event, conducted at least 3 site visits and established a composting
telephone advice line.
CARLTON TELEVISION
The Devon Community Composting Network Co-ordinator
was approached by Carlton Television to take part in a series
called "Country Lives" to be broadcast in November 2000.
They were particularly taken by the concept of community composting
and its potential for further community development. The filming
took place in Chagford and involved the "Proper Job"
project which the co-ordinator helped to initiate.
RADIO 4
The Devon Community Composting Network Co-ordinator
was interviewed for Radio 4's "Changing Places" programme—primarily
as founding the Chagford project (now Proper Job), but also with
his DCCN "hat" on. Also visited Huddersfield to see
various projects there. This was broadcast on September 13.
VIDEO ("COMPOSTING
FOR ALL"—GREEN
BOOKS, DARTINGTON,
DEVON)
The video is being used by Eco-Sci (a large
scale composting company based in Devon) and the Composting Association
as a teaching aid and the Devon Community Composting Network co-ordinator
has had very good feedback from both of them. Richard Griffith
from Eco-Sci saying that the video, "should be heavily subsidised
and made much more widely available!" The Devon Community
Composting Network co-ordinator is looking at the possibility
of obtaining funding to bulk purchase the video and send it to
every Local Authority in the Country.
We feel that the availability of this resource
would significantly help to raise the profile of composting on
all levels (home, community and centralised) and it would be in
the interests of the Government and Local Authorities to make
this video freely available Nationally.
VISION FOR
THE FUTURE
It's an exciting time for the Community Composting
Network and Devon has the largest concentration of groups in the
Country. The Devon Community Composting Network was invited to
give a presentation at the "Managing Rural Waste Conference",
Hanover, (Expo 2000).
Accordingly, a "power point" presentation
was prepared and the information pack translated into French and
German. The presentation was well received and attracted numerous
questions. The concept of community groups working in partnership
with the Local Authority is a rare phenomenon; and Devon offers
a unique approach in Europe.
At the end of the "Managing Rural Waste"
conference in Hanover, Ludwig Kramer was asked to make some closing
comments. He singled out composting as,
"the single most effective way of minimising
waste and reducing the amount of materials being wastefully sent
for disposal. Composting is an activity which we can all become
involved with on an individual and community level. What other
material arising in the waste stream can be reprocessed in every
household without the need for expensive and polluting haulage
and reprocessing plant, then necessitating marketing and distribution?"
LARGE VS
SMALL?
Large scale composting operations are obviously
preferable to landfill and incineration but do necessitate, particularly,
the expense of haulage and the challenges of marketing the end
product. Composters do not see, on the whole, competition as a
threat. Large scale operators are generous with their help and
advice to the small scale operations of the community sector.
In turn community groups are keen to help with and promote home
composting. We can all find the areas where it is most appropriate
for us to operate.
The potential for growth within the community
sector is seemingly limitless.
PUTTING THE
"COMMUNITY" INTO
COMPOSTING
The Governments' waste strategy emphasises composting
as a most desirable alternative to the wastage of our resources
but we feel does not deal adequately with the importance of the
community sector. Community groups are ideally placed to help
with the Local Authorities and other Agencies and NGO's remits
to work more closely with local communities. So called "Waste
Arisings" originate with each and every one of us and community
groups can act as an interface between the LA's etc. and the community.
Furthermore community groups work with some of the most dispossessed
and marginalised people in the Country. People with learning difficulties
and enduring mental illness can benefit both themselves and their
communities through community composting and gardening projects.
We would like to see a community composting
co-ordinators post funded for every County or region in the UK.
The expertise for this could be drawn from the newly set up "Compost
Demonstration Sites projects.
COMPOSTING AND
FARMING
Farmers are ideally placed to make compost.
They have the appropriate machinery (tractors, front end loaders,
trailers etc.) and the appropriate space (silage clamps, barns,
fields). They can also save money on their fertiliser bills which
will go down year on year as their soils come back to life. They
are ideal recipients of the finished product. The Community Composting
Network is ideally suited to help inform farmers about composting.
COMPOSTING AND
LEGISLATION
The existing Exemption from Waste Management
Licensing Regulations for small composting sites makes it impossible
for community composters to sell or even give away their product.
CCN (Community Composting Network) received a written assurance
from the Minister for the Environment in January 1999 that the
existing exemption would be revised, followed by an oral assurance
from a DETR official in September 1999 that the consultation document
on the revised exemption would be published in November 1999.
The consultation document remains to be published. CCN (Community
Composting Network) urge the Environment Sub-Committee to exert
pressure on DETR to publish the consultation document with immediate
effect.
At the time of writing this (Sept. 2000) it
has still not appeared. We feel that many potential groups are
put off forming until the so called "import export"
clause is clarified. It is particularly frustrating to the network
as we are trying our best to help with the crisis in waste management.
We feel that legislation for potential Community
Composters should be made as simple as possible to encourage more
players into the sector.
THE VALUE
OF COMMUNITY
COMPOSTING
1. Organic Waste is up to half of the domestic
waste stream.
2. The EU Landfill Directive is about waste
suitable for composting.
3. So, composting alone can enable councils
achieve both its mandatory EU and new DETR targets.
4. Organic waste is the only element of the
waste stream that can be reprocessed and used locally.
CCN (Community Composting Network) is a national
organisation, with over 150 members, promoting community composting
as the most sustainable means of managing organic resources.
The Devon Community Composting Network consists
of 25 projects at the time of writing (Sept 00) with three due
to launch by the end of the year. It is extensively supported
by the Devon Authorities Waste Reduction and Recycling Committee
principally to fund a Countywide mobile shredding and chipping
service and the services of the network co-ordinator. These costs
are increasing year on year.
We urge the Government to facilitate the access
of landfill tax monies to core fund the growth of this vital sector.
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