Outdoor All-Season Vermicomposting Unit Pilot Project
Type of initiative
FCM Green Municipal Fund - Plans, Studies, Pilots
Sector
Waste
Project value$49,430
Project Type
Pilot Project
Sub Sector
Composting
Grant amount$24,715
Program type
GMF
Municipality
Cape Breton Regional Municipality, NS
Status
Fully Disbursed
Population
93,694
Project timeline
2005 - 2011
Project number
7099
Description
This field test will offer 20 facilities, representing 10 per cent of the schools and one percent of the businesses in Cape Breton, a vermicomposting program that would add to Cape Breton Regional Municipality’s (CPRM) existing solid waste-recycling program. The field test will reduce the amount of organic waste being incinerated by 60 tonnes, reducing current ash production from incineration by 18 tonnes. Ongoing on-site training and a “recycling hotline” number will be provided as part of the one-year test. The end product of the process will be a high quality, marketable soil fertilizer. CPRM estimates that it will save $3,300 in incineration costs over the period of the study. It is estimated that if vermicomposting was generally adopted, the savings could be 300 fold. With wide scale participation of the CBRM industrial, commercial and institutional sector, an additional 5,000 tonnes of ash could be diverted from landfills and air. This would have a positive effect on air quality in the region.
Applicant
Cape Breton Regional Municipality, NS