Design of a Municipal Yard Waste Composting Facility for Anderson County, South Carolina

摘要

Anderson County is a 758-square-mile region of South Carolina comprised of nine municipalities and approximately 170,000 residents. Anderson County residents discard more than 105,000 tons of municipal solid waste (MSW) each year, including an estimated 20,000 tons of yard waste. This yard waste constitutes 19 percent of the total discarded MSW, making Anderson County's disposal of yard waste nearly three times greater than the national average of 7 percent. Large-scale composting is a proven method by which Anderson County can demonstrate sound environmental stewardship while drastically reducing the volume of waste entering county landfills, thereby extending their usable life. However, the major aspects of planning, constructing, and operating a municipal yard waste composting facility must be fully understood before undertaking such an endeavor. Subsequently, this research contains comprehensive information on the principles of composting in an effort to assist Anderson County in creating the cost-effective means to produce a consistently high-quality and marketable end product.