By excluding regular plastics (including diapers) and pet waste (containing unwanted pathogens), we provide the composting facility with a clean material source, resulting in a higher quality final compost product.
GreenCart material is taken to the Hamilton Central Composting Facility, which is owned by the City of Hamilton and operated by AIM Environmental Group.
This is a three-phase facility.
The GreenCart materials are shredded and placed in the phase one tunnel for approximately two weeks. Materials are then transferred to a phase two tunnel and composted for another seven to ten days.
The tunnel is like a large concrete box - this box is so large it could hold four school buses! Vents underneath the large box push air into the organic material. The air helps make the perfect environment for micro-organisms - bugs you need a microscope to see - to eat the organics. As it composts, the organics get very hot, in fact, 55 o C (131 o F). It needs to stay at this temperature for 72 consecutive hours so any seeds or germs get destroyed.
To reduce odours, air from the composting facility is vented into a room filled with large woodchips (called bio-filter media). These wood chips naturally deodorize the air. The wood chips are replaced when they cease to be effective; the old wood chips are put through the composting process.
After several weeks in the composting tunnels, the material is then placed in a "curing" building, where it continues to break down.
After the curing stage, the organic materials have been composted into “humus” which resembles dirt.
The finished compost product is then used in gardening and landscape projects. This compost is filled with valuable nutrients that are helpful to keep the soil rich and better for growing.
By excluding regular plastics (including diapers) and pet waste (containing unwanted pathogens), we provide the composting facility with a clean material source, resulting in a higher quality final compost product. 