We installed a Big Hanna T120 at Glenmore Lodge, Scotland in January this year and they now published their very own story about their ‘Composting Journey’:
Here at Glenmore Lodge we have one of the best back garden’s in the world and we want to continue enjoying it for years to come. Glenmore Lodge is Scotland’s National Outdoor Training Centre; our aim is to offer world class training in outdoor adventure sports and encourage more people to enjoy the outdoors more often. “We understand the fragile and special nature of our environment and we will ensure that activities are sustainable. We are committed to making environmental improvements to the site on which we operate and we will take a responsible approach to the efficient use of our resources and waste management. We will communicate high standards of sustainable good practice to our customers and students attending courses. We acknowledge our global and local social responsibilities, especially in the local area as an employer and purchaser of local goods and user of local services”.
(Glenmore Lodge Plan 2009-11).
Big Hanna arrived on the back of a lorry in November 2010 to be commissioned a few weeks later, unfortunately this coincided with a huge dump of snow so the commissioning was postponed until mid January. If you haven’t worked it out already Big Hanna is a composter designed for decomposing organic waste. There are several different models but we have the T120 capable of taking up to 500kg of waste per week. Made of stainless steel she is expected to last at least 20 years. The process is simple the kitchen staff separate the waste from the kitchen and dining room and put all non meat food waste into green caddy buckets, these are taken daily and weighed then emptied into the machine. A record is kept of the amount going in and also the amount of woodchip pellets to absorb moisture. There a few quick checks to be made daily to make sure the fan is working, cleaning of the filter, checking the bag collecting the compost is secure, and emptying if equired, checking of the temperatures on the control panel and checking the moisture content. On a less regular basis the heating panel needs cleaned if it is in use and the drainage filter emptied. Both relatively simple procedures. This whole process only takes around 10 minutes a day. We are still in the start up phase which takes around 8 weeks and have so far had no problems with the operation of the machine. There is very little smell as the bio filter takes care of that. This filter is a unit full of wood chip and enzymes with an outlet pipe which exits the building. Best of all our food waste to landfill has reduced. Thanks Hanna.
