IKEA Takes on Vermicomposting

IKEA requires each of its stores to continually increase recycling rates to minimize environmental impacts. With a goal of attaining a 90% recycling rate, IKEA (funded by the Illinois Department of Commerce and Economic Opportunity ) hired Chad Hurley of New Horizon Organics to design and build two mobile vermicomposting units to generate data and assess technology at the Schaumburg, Illinois, store.

The mobile units are set up in trucks at the loading docks. Each truck has two worm beds, approximately 3 feet wide and 20-22 feet long. The bottom of each bed is raised from the floor and on lengths of tubular steel.

Vermicompost is harvested by using a winch to draw a breaker bar across the bottom, allowing castings to drop into drawers on rollers underneath the beds.

A grinder/mixer shreds the food before it is put into the worm bins. This allows the worms to process the food waste more efficiently.

The educational value of the units is high. There is strong public interest. Kids and schools want to tour the units.

Data to date show that vermicomposting of food preparation discards in mobile units stationed at loading docks can be done. Problems to be worked out include ventilation, excess moisture, grinding capacity and training. Low landfill costs affect economics that would turn in favor of vermicomposting if the end product had a known market value.

(Source: www.wormwoman.com in June 2005 WasteWatch)

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