In-Vessel Composting Site

The £10m site at Ashbourne is the largest most advanced in-vessel composting site in the UK. It demonstrates

Vital Earth’s commitment to producing exceptional quality peat-free and chemical free growing media.

The Process

• We divert garden waste from UK Landfill Sites. Currently over 99,000 tonnes.
  
• Clean the waste – extracting metal, glass and plastic.
  
• Then add water, from the re-cycle process.
  
• Enclose the material in a carefully controlled vessel.
• Aeration is used to encourage friendly bacteria to break down the waste.
• The clever bit: we aerate the material and it naturally heats up, we ensure it reaches a minimum temperature of 70ºC killing weed seed and other “nasties” you were worried about (PAS 100)..
  
• We continue to aerate the compost for 6 - 8 weeks – now in large heaps – so friendly bacteria can develop as the compost matures and cools.
  
• The mature compost is screened into various crumb sizes. Coarse for Growbags and Fine for seed mixes.
  
• Finally, we add more natural nutrients that plants need. By adding the right combination of extra nutrients, we ensure they release at the correct rate, to do the most good.
  
• After allowing it to mature further we blend with other sustainable materials to provide the ideal nutrient balance and water holding.
  
• The whole process takes about 2 months.
• At the end, we guarantee lovely pure crumbly compost that has been continually protected and controlled.