Today Chris Balfe of IESI arranged a tour of the composting facility at Converted Organics. This facility in Keasbey, New Jersey is one of the main processing plants of organic materials into compost/fertilizer in the region. The accept loads from multiple haulers such as IESI, Action and Filco pulling from New York City. Venues such hotels, restaurants and on this day fish mongers sort out their food scraps and have them converted into a high end organic certified fertilizer available at Whole Foods & Home Depot in both solid and liquid form.
The new thing I learned from today’s trip was that, much like recycling processors, compost processors do not like to accept plastic bags – Yes, including the compostable ones we have all been lining our trashcans with. As in the recycling plants, the bags don’t break down as well, get caught in the cogs of the machines and can shut down the whole operation until the bag gets cleared out. Chris says he has solutions for me for on-site sorting and bagging that I am now anxious to hear about.
Converted Organics also has a West Coast facility in Gonazales, in the heart of Salinas. According to Jack Walsdorf who runs the facility in New Jersey, the California facility produces more liquid organic fertilizers as farmers in California are more apt to using that over solid fertilizers. It is seed as both a liquid/water source for the plants as well as food. Jack also swears his wife’s tomatoes are the best on the block because of their organic fertilizer. I am definitely looking forward to putting that claim to the test!
