Big Hannah reduces museum's catering waste

As part of the Compost Doctors Pilot Programme to reduce catering food waste, a museum in Yorkshire is trialling a Big Hannah composter. The Yorkshire Air Museum is one of eight organisations in the scheme, which is run by a partnership between the Community Recycling Network UK and the Community Composting Network. Under the scheme catering food waste is recycled and turned into compost. Funded by DEFRA, the scheme aims to demonstrate that by turning catering food waste into compost, it is possible to reduce collection and disposal of food waste. A composting expert, called the compost doctor, will assist organisations involved to compost their waste using specialist equipment called the Big Hanna, which is a stainless steel composting unit with a bio filter. Big Hanna is a Swedish designed machine that encourages naturally occurring micro-organisms in food waste by rotating and aerating the waste in a fully enclosed, flow through system. It can reduce the volume of waste by 90% and produce rich, organic compost. Image: Museum director Ian Reed with the Big Hannah