A Day in the Life of a Compost Hauler

Have you ever actually visited a recycling or composting facility? On a commercial scale the sorting efforts can be quite fascinating. Here at HQ, all new employees go on a field trip to our local MRF and composting facility to more fully grasp what we do here and why. Ken Fraser, our rep down in the Southeast, took it one step further and went on a ride-along with a one-man composting team in Charleston this month. Here’s his story about seeing the whole composting loop in action:

We participated in a regional Food Waste Disposal Conference in Charlotte, NC representing all the Carolina’s. EcoProducts displayed our compostable line of products since the demand to compost and
close the loop is in strong demand and research at this time. We were the only line of disposables represented. We shared space with composters, digesters and pulpers! Our involvement in this conference actually stemmed from a “hauler” of food and non-food waste, Wayne Koeckeritz, out of Charleston, SC. Wayne is the owner and single employee of Food Waste Disposal, a business he began this past year as a solution in this market to provide discarded food and compostable disposables to a local municipal composting facility run by Bees Ferry Landfill. Wayne is actually now set up as a Eco-Products local distributor as he represents the perfect closed loop solution and walks and talks the process that we all labor so hard to communicate and see as the future of the end of life of our products. Who better to discuss the needs of the end user and provide accurate solutions and to close the loop!

I requested to work with Wayne on his disposal truck to get a first hand understanding and perspective of his daily work. We began at 4:00 AM in the cool darkness of the morning; it was cold to this thin-blooded Floridian! Wayne drove his truck through the narrow streets of Old Charleston to his bins full of decomposing fruits, vegetables, meats and fish along with our compostables in many instances. We weighed each can and dumped the sloppy slurry into the back of the truck as we scurried around the city before any traffic would have posed a problem.

Colleges, universities, small restaurants, and large resorts all see the importance to lessen the cost of reckless land filling and the savings Wayne provides. After many hours of collecting we are off to the municipal composting facility. The piles of waste are covered and mixed with yard waste creating natures perfect mixture of ingredients to begin the composting process. I was amazed at the speed of the heat that was already taking place from the prior piles and they were broken down and prepared for the rows and rows of developing compost. In 30 to 60 days this compost is either bagged and sold to the general public at $2.00 or can be bulk sold at $10.00 per ton to local farmers. This compost is rich and the smell was noticeably aromatic. Again, I was impressed at the final result.

This month provided a connection of all the points needed to directly talk to the issue of where our products are meant to go. It does work, it does make sense and it can be done! I know the expectation is that this composting effort is culturally acceptable somewhere in the Pacific Northwest, California, Chicago or parts of the NE. The need to provide sensible solutions to waste is on the table everywhere throughout the country. We found it in the deep South. It is encouraging to say the least!