Rocket composters boost Tidy Planet’s credentials
AN ENVIRONMENTAL business is gaining attention for its part in a college’s drive to become greener.
Tidy Planet, based at Tytherington Business Park, provides rocket composters to Dundee and Angus College, in Scotland.
The first was installed in 2015 and after just over three years it has helped 70 tonnes of food waste be turned to compost.
Now the college, which has three campuses, has installed a second composter in a bid to recycle further.
And a USA college, Swarthmore in Pennsylva- nia, has visited the site as bosses there are also interested in going greener.
Huw Crampton, sales manager at Tidy Planet, said: “The college’s smallscale composting example is a great working illustra- tion of the benefits of closing the organic waste loop.
“It effectively demonstrates how one of the most commonly produced wastes can easily be recycled at source.
“And with the worldwide shift away from single-use plastics, it’s a solution that an increasing number of organisations are looking into.”
The composter - called the A900 Rocket - is capable of processing up to one tonne of food waste per week.
It produces a nutrientrich soil resource which is primarily within the college’s horticultural department for weed suppression or potting purposes.
Jackie Beresford, environmental officer at Dundee and Angus College, said: “We’re always looking for ways to act greener, so given the success of the first machine, it was a logical decision to invest in another.
“The additional unit not only ensures we have enough capacity to treat all our food wastes, but it also allows us to compost all year round.
“Therefore, we are not only cutting out waste transportation costs and further decreasing our carbon emissions, but students are benefiting from having a composting pro- cess at their fingertips.”
Melissa Tier, the sustainability programme manager at Swarthmore College, took a look at the composting.
She said: “In addition to reducing overall waste quantities, we’re working to make as much of it compostable as possible.
“Seeing the system working so well was very encouraging – we’re excited to see how this could be replicated in the US, to help us reach our goals.”