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Worms R Us Recycling Project, North Ayrshire |
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Tuesday, 28 September 2004 |
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Worms'n'Waste is a recycling project that aims to educate residents of North Ayrshire in waste minimisation and to improve the employability of unemployed young people and adults.
Overview
PROJECT SUMMARY
The project was launched in August 2002 and provided 17 people with full-time jobs during in its first year of operation as well as demonstrating the viability of a new approach to waste management. The project generated a great deal of interest amongst local residents and businesses, and was expanding to provide a waste management service to the local community and several local businesses before financial difficulties brought it to an end. The Project also diversified into using the waste for beneficial purposes such as: using compost and castings in horticulture and using waste wood to make worm boxes and garden furniture and equipment etc.
KEY PARTNERS
There were a number of partners who were essential to the development of the project:
- Developing North Ayrshire Community Access Points and local job centres.
- Machinery suppliers - Big Hanna and Globe Organics
- ENTRUST
FUNDERS
Worms'n'Waste has a range of funders whose support is dependent upon each other in that it is matched funding. The current partnership consists of:
- The Employment Service - New Deal funding
- Scottish Enterprise Ayrshire - Training for Work funding
- ESF - matched funding for core and training costs
- Fresh Futures - matched funding for core and training costs
- Developing North Ayrshire - core funding
THEMATIC CRITERIA
North Ayrshire, recycling/ waste reduction, economy, job creation
Plan
AIMS AND OBJECTIVES
Developing North Ayrshire - a local delivery organisation, with a remit to provide business development, community economic development, training and social inclusion services for the people and companies of North Ayrshire - launched Worms'n'Waste in June 2002 as part of the North Ayrshire SIP strategy. It was created to deliver an Intermediate Labour Market project within the environmental sector.
North Ayrshire needed to find alternative solutions to the use of landfills (90% of local authority waste is land filled)
North Ayrshire needed to address the high level of unemployment in SIP areas and to create ILMs for the long-term unemployed from social inclusion areas.
OUTPUTS
The by-products of the recycling are an important part of the project.
- The compost and worm castings are already being sold to the public
- Paper is shredded and sold as pet bedding
- Worm boxes, bird and butterfly boxes, fences and gates are made from the old pallets and bits of wood and sold
- The project is developing a horticulture side where plants will be grown, using the compost and worm castings, and then planted in tubs and hanging baskets and sold
- The project may introduce a charge to local companies for recycling their waste
FUTURE STEPS
The project is ongoing, for as long as funding is available
The intention is to eventually become a social enterprise, but raising enough to support the project's current annual costs would be challenging. The project may have to be scaled down in order to achieve this.
Worms'n'Waste hopes to employ an educational officer to deliver talks to schools and help them set up their own worm boxes
Worms'n'Waste breed worms and plan to offer surplus worms for sale to the fishing community
The production of compost and worm castings is proving popular with gardeners
Worms'n'Waste plan to take stalls at agricultural shows and flower shows this year to promote their products and reach a wider market.
There are a number of prospects for future work:
Worms'n'Waste has recently entered into a partnership with a local market gardener. The intention is to establish a satellite centre on the market garden site with worm boxes to make compost and poly tunnels to grow plants. The market gardener will be able to recycle his waste fruit and vegetables and Worms'n'Waste will provide him with compost and worm castings. The trainees will gain experience of working at a market garden and Worms'n'Waste will generate an income from the sale of the flowers they intend to grow in the poly tunnels.
Worms'n'Waste salvaged a large quantity of bedding plants and bulbs that had been growing in public spaces across North Ayrshire and which would otherwise have been thrown away at the end of the flowering season. Cuttings have been taken and grown in the compost and worm castings, and they will be used to make up hanging baskets and tubs to sell to the public.
The Thermophilic process gives off tremendous heat - up to 60 degrees - and some work is being done at the moment to find out whether water could be heated, by running pipes through the middle of the rotting organic matter. It is hoped that this method could be used as a way of heating the poly tunnels at the market garden.
The Educational Officer (yet to be appointed) will visit schools and help them set up worm boxes and other recycling projects
It is hoped that more businesses will donate their paper and organic waste, and a large food supplier interested in establishing its own thermophilic processing site has recently approached the project to see if it could help.
Progress
There were three trigger factors in the setup of Developing North Ayrshire:
1. Availability of funding through the New Deal and Training for Work
2. European Directive to find alternative ways of redirecting waste
3. A staff member at Developing North Ayrshire with experience of vermiculture - the use of worms to break down paper and organic waste into compost
In 2002 Developing North Ayrshire decided to set up a recycling project with two main aims:
- To improve the employability of young people and adults that are unemployed and living in designated SIP areas of North Ayrshire
- To educate residents of North Ayrshire in waste minimisation and landfill reduction by recycling paper and organic waste using thermophilic processes and vermiculture to produce compost and worm castings.
Thermophilic processing is the breaking down of organic material into compost using warm air conditions. Vermiculture is the practice of using worms to process organic food waste into nutrient material capable of supplying the necessary nutrients to sustain plant growth.
Developing North Ayrshire provided core funding, and other funding support came from The Employment Service, Scottish Enterprise Ayrshire, The Fresh Futures Fund and ESF.
A project team was established in June 2002 comprising of a Project Co-ordinator and a Supervisor, and a consultant was employed to advise on set-up and equipment. This proved to be a poor investment however, as the project was guided into purchasing machinery unsuited to the task. The machinery needed for thermophilic processing has to be imported from Sweden and it is costly. This mistake led to additional unforeseen costs for the project.
A training programme covering Waste Management level I and II, plus personal and social development, was established and the first trainees started in August 2002. The project is still in its first year of operation and the inaugural group of trainees comprises 8 on New Deal and 9 on Training for Work. The age range is 19 to 55 and they are all working full time Monday to Friday on the minimum wage. Trainees were recruited from job centres and via community access points and they are receiving training in waste management whilst also learning motivation skills and developing a work ethic.
The Project Co-ordinator manages the project day-to-day with management support provided by Developing North Ayrshire. The first year of operation has been a time for testing and trialling the equipment and the processes to achieve the best results. The materials that can be recycled are: paper and card; wooden pallets; fruit and vegetables; trees and organic waste.
The trainees are involved in a wide variety of tasks. The compost and worm castings that are the end products of the recycling are bagged and sold to gardeners. The wood the project receives for recycling is sorted and suitable pieces are used to make bird boxes, butterfly boxes, fencing and gates. The trainees are also making small worm boxes for members of the public who want to make compost using worms at home.
CURRENT ISSUES/ EVENTS
Review
ACHIEVEMENTS
The introduction of a new form of waste recycling and management to North Ayrshire
Created 17 jobs
Maintained a high retention rate - none of the first group of trainees has left
Created employment opportunities that have been attractive to older people
Zero waste generation - the only exception is pallets which contain nails so cannot be chipped
Inspired local people to purchase worm boxes and recycle their waste
Beneficiaries have included:
Trainees - high retention rate, positive feedback, provided with full-time work and excellent training opportunities
Local community - can learn about waste recycling and buy a worm box starter kit, they can also buy compost, worm castings, bird boxes and other wooden items
Local school - Worms'n'Waste takes all of their paper waste and recycles it
Local businesses - Worms'n'Waste takes unwanted fruit and vegetables from two local businesses and recycles it
North Ayrshire Council - Worms'n'Waste has demonstrated an alternative to landfill
Local involvement is increasing as more and more people are hearing about the project and coming along to purchase items and see what it is all about.
Local people are buying worm boxes
Local schools are being involved and encouraged to buy worm boxes and think about recycling
Local gardeners are buying the compost and worm castings
Fishermen are buying the project's surplus worms
Two local businesses are already donating organic waste and paper and there is a lot of interest from the business community
MEASURING ACHIEVEMENTS
By recording:
- The numbers of trainees on the scheme and the retention rate
- The numbers of trainees achieving their goals and qualifications
- How much and what kinds of waste has been recycled
- Sales of products
- The number of people visiting the project
PROCESS
There were a number of partners who were essential to the development of the project:
Developing North Ayrshire Community Access Points and the local job centres that found the trainees for the project
The two main machinery suppliers were Big Hanna and Globe Organics and they provided help and advice. Worms'n'Waste is one of the first recycling projects using thermophilic processing in the UK and has not had the advantage of being able to call upon other existing projects for advice.
ENTRUST - acts as the regulator of Developing North Ayrshire as an environmental body and provided guidance and support. This is an ongoing relationship
LESSONS
ADVICE TO OTHER ORGANISATIONS
Don't assume you need to employ a consultant. Use the Internet and speak to other projects such as this one first.
Worms'n'Waste would be willing to offer a consultancy service to groups wanting to start up something similar. They would charge a modest fee for the service to cover costs and make a small profit.
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