Start of the co-composting process in the Czech Republic

In the cold Czech winter, the EPS team is facing the co-composting trial at their Nový Dvůr facility. Before starting these activities, the project team discussed for a long time to develop the technical protocol to follow during the co-composting.

 

EPS began this activity by coordinating dredging and transport of the sediment to the co-composting site.

 

Different types of green waste to be used in the co-composting phase have been brought to the composting site. The materials used include freshly cut grass, corn cob biomass, wood chips and dry leaves. At this point all the materials have been homogenised and conditioned to obtain 3 experimental heaps.

 

The next phase has been mixing the materials. The 3 heaps are different in their composition ratio: one of these is composed of green waste and sediment mixed in equal quantities (ratio 1: 1 w/w), the other two are composed using a greater quantity of one of the two materials (ratios 1: 3 and 3: 1 w/w).

 

Once the materials have been mixed and the 3 final heaps have been obtained, the co-composting process has properly started.

 

In compliance with the pathways established in the developed protocol, the weather conditions, the temperature and humidity of the heaps, the gas emissions and the C and N content are monitored in real time and with periodic measurement.

 

Samples have been also collected to allow other LIFe AgriSed’s beneficiaries to carry out the other analyzes required by the protocol.