Webinar: The Role of Farms in Decentralized Composting

What role can farms play in creating a decentralized composting infrastructure? Decentralized composting involves a network of small to medium-scale composting facilities that serve a municipality or a region, as opposed to a single large facility. Benefits include a more robust infrastructure that is faster and less expensive to develop, employs more people, and is more tailored to the needs of the given community. Farmers can also benefit. As stewards of soil, farmers have a unique stake in the local availability of affordable, high quality compost. With the right support in place, farmers can contribute via on-farm composting and gain additional sources of income, such as those from tipping fees and compost sales. This webinar will explore models from Austria and Spain that include and benefit farms.

This live webinar took place on Thursday, November 17th, 2022

Watch the Recording

This webinar is one in a series the Institute for Local Self-Reliance offers to support on-farm composting and compost use. View past composting-related webinar recordings.

PRESENTERS

Florian Amlinger

Director & Agronomist
Compost-Consulting & Design (Austria)
Florian is an agronomist and Director of Compost-Consulting and Design and has worked as an engineering consultant since 1986. Florian has contributed to Austria’s decentralized network of 350+ composting facilities through the development of organics source separation and composting systems in various communities, including in rural areas that involve farmers and the agricultural sector via on-farm composting, with the goal of elevating farmers in the organics recycling supply chain and offering them a business opportunity. He has contributed to numerous applied research projects, including the optimization of organic waste composting, defining compost quality, best management practices for compost utilization, assessment of potential pollutants in composts, and greenhouse gas emissions from open composting systems. Florian has managed large multi-disciplinary projects for various levels of government, coordinated the technical elaboration of the Austrian Compost Ordinance, and represents Austria at the European level in the areas of biowaste, sludge, soil protection, as well as safety and health issues. He has given numerous lectures and workshops in sustainable bio-waste management, compost production and use, including in Spain, Portugal, Slovakia, Czech Republic, Bulgaria, and Australia.

Ramón Plana González-Sierra, PhD

International Environmental Consultant
Maestro Compostador (Spain)
Ramón holds a PhD in Biology and Industrial Composting and is an organic wastes management expert with 25 years of experience. He is an independent international consultant that has worked with public and private entities in countries across Europe, America, Africa, the Middle East, and Asia. He has led research, design, and implementation projects for the management and/or treatment of a wide variety of organic wastes, including food waste, sludge from the agri-food industry, manure and slurries, agricultural residues, municipal wastes, and sewage sludge. His doctoral thesis focused on compost facility design and the development of industrial work protocols for the aerobic treatment of different organic wastes. He has several patents for the treatment of organic wastes through aerobic and anaerobic biological processes and systems. Ramón is a member of the ISWA (International Solid Waste Association) Organic Waste Working Group and regularly collaborates with ACR+ (Association of Cities and Regions for Sustainable Resource Management). He is a co-founder of the Professional Association for the Prevention, Management, and Treatment of Waste, “Fertile Auro” (www.fearesiduos.com).

MODERATOR

Linda Bilsens Brolis

Senior Program Manager, Composting for Community
Institute for Local Self-Reliance (ILSR)

Linda’s work focuses on promoting composting as a tool for regenerating soils, supporting local food production, and fighting climate chaos. She manages ILSR’s Neighborhood Soil Rebuilders Composter Training Program and leads ILSR’s work advancing on-farm composting.