Understanding food waste and what to do with it
The rules, the composting, the costs, what actually happens on site: articles written to help you decide, not to fill a page.
On-site composting or anaerobic digestion: what life-cycle assessment actually shows
Life-cycle assessment: where on-site composting and anaerobic digestion really differ on food waste, and the 7 assumptions that decide the result.
Composting on university and business school campuses
On a campus the refectory is too big for on-site composting; the cafés and offices are not. Sizing table by building, kg thresholds and composter numbers.
Dark kitchens and cloud kitchens: sizing food waste separation
A dark kitchen makes about 0.05 kg of food waste per order. The two thresholds that decide between an on-site composter and a collection, and a checklist.
Food waste in fast food: what can be composted on site
Fast food: the real volumes per meal, what actually reaches the composter, how to size it by tonnage and how to roll it out across a network.
Food waste in contract catering: thresholds and duties
How many covers can a canteen compost on site? Thresholds per day of service, the 75 g per meal ratio, kitchen constraints and what the law requires.
Bokashi vs aerobic composting: which method for food waste?
Bokashi or aerobic composting: 13 criteria compared, the real workload on a 120-person site, and the food waste volumes each method can actually take.
Shopping centres and food waste: units, hypermarket, common areas
Shopping centres: who separates what, food waste volumes area by area, what the centre manager carries and how it is recharged to the retail units.
How to choose a compost bin
Size, material, ventilation, liners: how to choose a compost bin for the workplace, with the sizing tables and what has to happen after the caddy.
Tumbler, ABC or traditional composter: an honest comparison
Tumbler, ABC in-vessel or traditional composter: the comparison table, the cost lines nobody budgets for, and the criterion that really decides at work.
What to do with the compost you produce: 4 routes out
What comes out of the composter is not a certified compost. Real quantities, maturity tests, spreading, giving it away, a farm or removal: the 4 routes.
ABC composting: the technology, mechanism by mechanism
Perforated chimney, crank-driven auger, low door: how the ABC in-vessel composter really works, where it stops, and five on-site technologies compared.
Composting in hospitality: a guide for hotels, brasserie-style restaurants and resorts
How much food waste a hotel produces, how to size an on-site composter, where to put it and what separation rules require. Ratios and worked examples.
Composting at work without odour or rodents: how it is done
Odour and rodents always point to the same setting gone wrong: the mechanism, a diagnostic table, the siting checklist and where capacity stops.
Steel, wood or plastic: the right material for a commercial composter
2 mm steel, Douglas fir or plastic: service life, rodent resistance, upkeep, end of life and real cost, compared for a commercial composter used outdoors.
Electromechanical and electric composters: what they actually do
Dehydrator, grinder or electric composter: what really comes out, the full 5-year cost, and how they compare with on-site composting that plugs into nothing.
Commercial composter: the 7 criteria that decide the choice
Volumes, capacity, steel, mixing, siting, service, traceability: the 7 criteria for choosing a commercial composter, with the emptying schedule and the maths.
Rodent-proof composter: how to get rid of rats in your compost
Why rats get into a composter and what actually stops them: wall types compared, a prevention checklist and what it really costs on a working site.
Tumbler composters: pros and cons
A tumbler composter speeds up the active phase but works in batches and tops out at 500 L. The trade-offs, a worked example and a checklist before you buy.
The composting cycle: mesophilic, thermophilic and maturation phases
The 4 phases of composting: core temperatures, real durations, a summary table, how to diagnose a cycle that will not heat up, and a checklist.
Rolling out composting across multiple sites: a method for groups
Multi-site composting rollout: qualify the estate, pilot on three sites, agree a framework, roll out in waves. The method and the phase-by-phase timetable.
Sizing a composter: what volume for what food waste
A 450 L composter absorbs 1,500 kg of food waste a year. How to estimate your volumes, how many units that means and where to put them, sector by sector.
Food waste in food courts: who separates, who pays, and above what tonnage
Food courts: the 3 separation models compared, the tonnage calculation that decides, and how to recharge the cost through the service charge.
Food waste in food manufacturing: what can be composted on site
Food manufacturing: which streams need an approved route, which can be composted on site, with the volume calculation and the sizing that follows.
What is a garden composter?
Garden composter: what it is, the four forms that exist, what it absorbs and where it earns its place. Comparison table, worked example and checklist.
Commercial composter maintenance: who does what
Two minutes on the crank a week, ten minutes of checks a month: the exact split of tasks, the monthly checklist and how often to empty the vessel.
Anaerobic digestion vs on-site composting: which route for food waste?
Anaerobic digestion or on-site composting: the comparison, the 3,000 kg a year threshold that settles it, the lorry journeys saved and a decision checklist.
Customising your composter: logo, colours and finishes that fit in
Customising your professional composter: logo, brand colours, cut-out skin. Design options for fitting in on site.
What can go in a commercial composter: the complete list
What composts, what needs rationing and what never goes in: a sorting table family by family, how much bulking agent to add and what the law asks of you.
Food waste in supermarkets and grocery retail: volumes, cost and the right solution by store format
Shrink, unsold stock, stockroom space: how much food waste a store produces, what the rules require, and when composting on site works out cheaper.
Vermicomposting at work: what a worm composter really handles
Vermicomposting at work: the conditions the worms need, the real ceiling of 300 to 500 kg a year, and a worked comparison with a commercial site composter.
Beyond the articles, two free tools size your composter and put a figure on the carbon you avoid.
The thinking is here, your own figures are next door
Once you have read what you needed: size your volumes and your installation in five questions.