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Press Release: Dartington test drives the fastest composter in the west

The Dartington Hall Trust is taking recycling to the next level, experimenting with the fastest composter in the UK – which is turning all their kitchen waste into compost or bio-fuel in a matter of hours.

The BioNova composter, nicked-named ‘The Elephant’, is one of only nine in the UK and can consume a tonne of food and garden waste every week - generating a high quality soil conditioner for the Dartington gardens, while saving 99% of the energy/carbon footprint traditionally used to take the waste to landfill.

Dartington’s Grounds and Garden’s Manager Graham Gammin said, “The composter should be treated like an elephant, a big living organism that will eat about a tonne of food a week - and if given three good meals a day, will generate excellent compost and fuel pellets.”

Dartington’s Sustainability Coordinator Jon Rae said, “Dartington is on a mission to become carbon and waste positive by 2015. The White Hart bar and restaurant currently emits 2.5 tonnes of carbon dioxide a week through food waste, electricity, heat and cooking. ‘The Elephant’ will reduce that carbon footprint by over 25% and save Dartington money on the rapidly increasing price of landfill – which now costs £75 per tonne.”

The self-contained super composter has been supplied to Dartington on trial by AP Waste Handling, a Penryn based company who are pioneering this new technology in the South West.

BioNova composters are sold or rented for commercial use only and works by filtering food waste through an enclosed aerobic digester at temperatures exceeding 70degrees. The digester contains organic microbes that break down the food matter and transform it into soil conditioner, compost, fuel pellets or briquettes that can be used on indoor and outdoor fires. The whole process takes a matter of hours, rather than the normal time of several weeks.

Staff at Dartington are already feeding ‘The Elephant’, taking regular buckets of food waste from the White Hart kitchens and Roundhouse Café and putting them directly into the machine – this waste can be as much as 50lb throughout a typical day.

Head Chef Archie Wilson said, “The White Hart staff are really chuffed with ‘The Elephant’, as they are all very environmentally conscious and incredibly keen on recycling - so it is great for them to see the waste from the kitchen being recycled and put to good use in the garden.”

‘The Elephant’ is just one of the many innovations currently being trialled at Dartington, a charity pioneering ideas to address pressing problems in the areas of the arts, sustainability and social justice.

For more information about the work of The Dartington Hall Trust please visit www.dartington.org or to find out about BioNova technology go to www.bionovarecycling.com

ENDS
To come and see ‘The Elephant’ in action, get a picture or interview Dr. Jon Rae about Dartington’s sustainability mission please contact: Louise Bennett, Communications Officer, T: 01803 847026 E: l.bennett@dartington.org