Field Place takes on eco composting challenge

Field Place First School is one of only two schools in the county to take on the challenge, and the composter will stay until September.

Pupils, led by the school’s Eco Team, were shown how to use the Ridan food waste composter by Rachel Carruthers, waste prevention team member.

It works at the turn of a handle by combining food waste and wooden pellets.

The partially composted food waste is added to maturation bins where it can be mixed with shredded paper, and when fully composted after around three months, the mixture will be ready for use in the garden.

Head teacher Linda Bateman said: “Field Place is very keen to be as eco-friendly as possible and in September, all infant children will be eligible for a hot school lunch so ultimately, we will be serving 360 meals a day.

“The thought of all the waste from this going into landfill worried me, so any system to reduce the amount of waste was worth looking at.

“We plan to use the resulting compost on our allotments and this will help produce fruit and vegetables to use by the children in learning around healthy food.”

The school hopes to make good use of the composter, recycling all the food waste produced by the school, following in the footsteps of 100 Devon schools which are already successfully using the system.

Fruit and vegetable peelings from snack time will also be composted.

Ridan composters use no electricity and composting takes place on site.