Biotechnology and Waste 211Continued from page 210biosolids, driving up disposal costs. At the same time, ski trail expansion, and the
increased construction work, generated enormous amounts of wood waste. After a
good deal of negotiation, a cooperative venture was launched between the mine’s
owners, local sanitation facilities, land clearance firms, construction companies and
haulers to produce a suitable compost out of the abundantly available materials.
Giventhe climatic conditionsprevailing onthe site,some 3300metres(11000feet)
above sea level, outdoor composting would seem an unlikely option, but consider-
ing the scale of the operation, highly engineered in-vessel systems would have been
too expensive. By constructing oversized windrows to conserve heat and utilising
effective control of aeration and careful blending of the input materials, it has proved
possible to make good quality compost while also providing considerable economic
benefits to all the parties involved.
To date, three years after it began, only around 40hectares (100acres) of the site
has been reclaimed, so the project must, inevitably, be regarded as a very long-term
one. However, the success of this combined biological treatment approach has
already begun to stimulate great interest in both composting and reclamation in
other areas with similar problems to solve.