by Beth Berry of Demand Media, originally posted here.
Composting is a simple, easy, inexpensive and effective way to dispose of yard and kitchen waste. Suitable yard waste for composting includes grass, leaves, garden plants and wood chips. Beneficial kitchen scraps include fruit and vegetable scraps, coffee grinds and crushed egg shells. In general, composting meat, dairy and oily foods is not recommended (see References 3). However, this rule has some exceptions.
Aerobic vs. Anaerobic Conditions
Compost ingredients are broken down by microorganisms, which require aerobic conditions (the presence of oxygen) to thrive. Frequent turning of the pile with a shovel or pitchfork provides this necessary oxygen (see References 2). Meat, however, attracts microorganisms requiring anaerobic (the absence of oxygen) conditions for decomposition.
The Trouble With Meat in Compost Piles
When meat is put in a compost pile, the aforementioned anaerobic microorganisms generate foul-smelling byproducts. This, in turn, attracts flies and their maggots, vermin (such as cockroaches, mice, rats, raccoons, opossums and skunks) and neighborhood dogs and cats. (See References 3) It also slows down the composting process.
Reasons for Composting Meat
Under some circumstances, composting meat is desirable and necessary. A few of these circumstances include large-scale farm operations that must dispose of animal carcasses, large-scale commercial composting centers that process tons of organic municipal waste and home composters with strong convictions against throwing away potentially compostable items.
Methods for Composting Meat
Certain in-vessel composting allows for the decomposition of meat, dairy and foods cooked in oil. Such composting containers are air-tight and employ moisture-, temperature- and oxygen-controlled systems. These containers come in a variety of sizes for home and commercial use. Many include mechanical mixers or aerators and are insulated to increase the internal temperature, encouraging the growth of specific bacteria that break down the proteins in meat. (See References 1)
- U.S. Environmental Protection Agency; Composting; Dec. 16, 2010
- U.S. Environmental Protection Agency; Science and Technology: Understanding the Composting Process; Oct. 7, 2008
- U.S. Environmental Protection Agency; Composting: Basic Information; March 11, 2010
You may notice that I don’t write often about meat. I guess it’s because I don’t eat it, so I rarely think about it. To be clear, I’m not saying that to pretend I’m better than someone that eats meat- but I am saying it because it’s a topic that I should be addressing more. The problem is, I personally don’t have experience with composting meat.
Based on my composting research, meat should be no problem in the compost vessel. The concerns mainly surround pests and odor, both mentioned in the above article. I tend to fall into the category of home composters not wanting to throw anything away, and meat would go into my compost if I ate it.
My favorite resource for this is definitely Joseph Jenkins, author of The Humanure Handbook. While the book primarily focuses on humanure being composted, which is easily done when you have a solid hot compost pile cooking (which humanure greatly assists with), he also talks about the topic of composting meat. His point is ironic- if you keep meat/dairy/oily stuff out of the compost pile, thermophilic conditions are actually much less likely to occur, and they’re the materials often on the “do not add” list.
What have your experiences been like with composting meat?
I think the best way to get rid of meats is with a Solider Grub vermi-composting bin. They eat it so fast that with a normal size active bin you can put a couple POUNDS of meat in there and it will be gone in 24 hours. Not enough time for it to rot, and way to quick for other kinds of flies to complete their life cycle on it, so there are no issues. I haven’t even tried using any other way of composting meat. The only other method I would attempt would be to bury it. Otherwise I think the smell and flies would get problematic.
Yeah, I’ve seen those systems before…pretty cool! Meat will compost but only with nice big well monitored piles… not sure I have space, but I don’t have meat either. 🙂
If meat was my thing, I’d definitely be making grub videos.
The grubs are great even if you don’t have meat. They eat pretty much anything. Fruit, vegetables, bread, pretty much any ‘people food’ leftovers, and even manure. And they eat it all FAST. Really the only thing they don’t eat is stuff that is mostly cellulose like paper/cardboard, leaves, etc. Although I have gotten them to eat paper towels soaked with bacon grease.