COMPOSTING PROCESS
Soil conditioners, like ours, are produced through an open air windrow composting process.
At Greenleaf Recycling we have created a unique composting process that provides a higher grade of soil conditioner, this page provides an overview of this process.
For information on our certification, please visit our PAS100 & CQP Certification page.
Greenwaste is delivered to our site at Lane Farm, Bedlington.
1. Green waste is delivered to our site via landscape gardeners, contractor and local authorities.
2. Green waste is logged onto our admin system.
Greenwaste is shredded after being hand picked of rubbish. Horse manure is added.
3. A visual inspection of incoming materials is made and is hand-picked of any rubbish to ensure it is clean prior to processing.
4. Green waste is shredded, piled into windrows and is layered with organic material, i.e. horse manure from our own livery yard.
The green waste and horse manure moves through several controlled stages
5. Sanitisation: The windrow stays in the sanitisation phase for 2 weeks and reaches temperatures between 70ºC - 85ºC. These temperatures ensure that the final product is safe for use.
6. Stabilisation: Once the sanitisation phase has been completed, the windrow is moved along the pad for its stabilisation period. It is turned several times during this period as the compost matures over a 10 week period, whilst maintaining a temperature in excess of 45ºC.
The material is monitored rigorously for temperature and moisture throughout its processing to ensure that our soil conditioner meets the requirements stipulated by the PAS100/CQP standard.
After completing all stages, our compost is screened ready for sale.
7. Maturation: The last stage is maturation, where the soil conditioner is given a final 4 weeks to complete its composting process. This period of time also allows the product to stabilise further, increasing the quality of the product.
8. Once the compost has reached 16 weeks, and all phases are complete, the final step in the process is to screen the soil conditioner. Our principle grade soil conditioner is screen using a 15mm screen.
