Compost John's big compost machine

Aim

I want to buy a 'professional' composting machine called a Ridan which will streamline, improve and increase my composting services.

I've been offering composting services for over 20 years, helping greengrocers, supermarkets, food banks and a few individuals recycle their organic wastes into rich compost which goes back out into the community. I've used a variety of pallet heaps, dalek bins and small tumblers, and use bicycle power to collect and to deliver the finished compost. I've supplied Edible York, allotment holders and householders with compost and growing media.  

I make very little money - for instance in 2022/23 financial year I made £620 with compost sales and 'gate fees', and the previous year, a whopping £900.  I do nearly all of my collections for free and offer my compost for 'pay as you feel'. I do this work as it's a calling, a 'healthy obsession', for the environmental benefits and because dealing with the compost is good for my mental health. 

I currently collect about 100kg waste food each week, mostly spoiled fruit and veg, out of date salads and bread, green potatoes. So I stop around five tonnes a year being incinerated, all by bike and many small compost systems.

I want to buy a Ridan https://www.ridan.co.uk/ - a 2.5m long insulated cylinder with a hand crank and gears which move internal stirrers, which can cope with up to 400 litres of material a week.  I'd like community funding for half of the cost, so that would be £2790.  I will offer free compost to funders as a reward!  

This will make my composting operations simpler, and would enable me to explore opening up and recycling another waste stream, humanure from boaters who have recently been prevented from 'bagging and binning' by the Canal and River Trust.  The high temperatures achieved in a Ridan would be ideal for this material. I would also explore composting PLA plastic takeaway containers as there is nothing yet in York for this material other than burning it at Allerton Park Incinerator.  

You can donate whatever you want - click 'Donate' and you can choose any amount, and you can choose to give or not give something to Crowdfunder as they take some off your donation anyway!

The compost I make enriches soil for growing healthy crops, and traps carbon in the soil, helping to combat the climate emergency. THANK YOU for helping!

This project successfully funded on 24th August 2023