Each person generates about 1.6 kilos of waste a day, of which 40% are organic waste, i.e. recyclable waste for compost production, which until recently was called pork food. In the municipalities that have generalized selective collection of waste, where door-to-door is carried out, the most common until now is the self-composting done in each housing. But this is only an option for families with garden or land. But there is an alternative for those who do not have it, based on the experience of the communities of Pamplona and Flanders, the City Council of Usurbil has launched community composting. The aim is to put the means to treat organic waste as close as possible, because it is cheaper, greener and healthier. For a long time, many neighbours and neighbours of Usurbil, despite not having gardens or gardens, had expressed their willingness to self-composting, and, among other reasons, this project emerged as a response.

The City Hall has created four areas in Usurbil and plans to carry out other areas for community composting on public soil. Thus, the families living in the domestic blocks carry out the composting – the composting areas are at a maximum distance of between 100 and 200 meters from the housing of the users – and in each area the City Council has developed the necessary packaging: it is the obligation of the neighbour, to open the compost, to open the organic material well and to mix above the structural or the dry material (leaves, twigs, straw, etc. ). 80% of the organic material present in the waste is water, therefore corrupt, and mixing dry matter means that everything is on the way to becoming a fertilizer. If it's done right, the smell doesn't spread around us.

At Gorka Goiache's house they started making composting about a month ago and say they're comfortable: “In my opinion, we end dependency and, moreover, once the whole process is completed, we will either spread the fertilizer on the grounds of the village or hand it over to the baserritarra that needs it. That is, the end of the process will also be beneficial to the people.”

In Usurbil waste collection is carried out door-to-door, so all families separate all matter at home and organic is taken to composting plants. But from the beginning, the City launched a campaign for organic waste to be managed at home by the largest number of families, among other things because it can be seen in the costs. The citizen also notes it in his pocket. People who self-composting at home and in the street, instead of paying 80.28 euros per year, pay 48.17 euros.

The Usurbil composting system is not an invention. The closest model has been found in Pamplona, with an experience similar to that which began in 2009 in six councils of the area (Egüés, Oteiza, Labio, Badoztain, Subiza and Olatz Nagusia), and later in several Navarre localities of Basaburua. In Europe and in the world there are many cities in which municipalities promote such initiatives.

In Usurbil, the first point of the network was launched on 19 November 2011. In the Erreka Txiki area of Artzabal Park, at first, about six families are currently doing so 16. Subsequently, two new spaces have been set up, bringing together a total of 65 families. Many families – of the 160 registered – are on the waiting list for community self-composting and 16 will soon be given the opportunity to participate in the project, as a new space will be created in the short term and the City Hall plans to do more.

The Usurbil project, which was initially launched as a pilot experience in Gipuzkoa, has attracted a great deal of expectation from the willingness shown by some neighbours and neighbours of Usurbil in the light of the results. “Elected officials and technicians from many localities have shown interest in learning about this fact, and we know that they have made grant applications to launch this kind of experience in their villages to the call of the Provincial Council of Gipuzkoa to promote waste prevention. Therefore, Joxe Mari Irazusta, who works on it, will be launching new experiences of community composting in other locations in Gipuzkoa,” says Joxe Mari Irazusta, who works on

it.

Since the transfer of organic matter on board, the collection of the compost should take about six months. The first, which began in November, have not yet received the compost. Organic waste from houses and leaves, decks, etc. They must be fermented in the first place, so to speak, “boiling”. To do this, it is often necessary to confuse what is inside the container. It will then cool down, and the worms will make it a real fertilizer. The group process that began in November is in its final phase, and you will soon have the opportunity to extract this compost.

“With what we got out, our intention is to organize two or three days a year the parties of composting and get compost with the help of the community,” explains Ibon Goikoetxea, environmental technician at the City Hall of Usurbil. The intention of the City Hall is to distribute this material among all those who wish to participate in the project and, if not, it will be used by the municipal gardening services in the gardens. If they had enough of it, they would leave it in the village garbigune so that citizens could buy it for free.

A smell or a mouse?

The smell and the mice, having to make the compost in auzolan by the street, worried the City Hall, but they have had no problems, the mouse has not appeared and the smell has been controlled by experience. The City Hall has not received any complaints so all those who supported the project are satisfied. When the box opens, steam comes out, but only then and it's controlled.

Each group has a manager (master-composter) to ensure the proper functioning of the sites. The task of this person is to control the existence of the structure to be added to the organic residue and to notify the City Hall in case of absence, as well as the moment when the organic points are fulfilled and are in perfect condition. Therefore, in case of any doubt, this person would be directed to the head of the City Hall.

Municipal gardens

There are currently about 2,300 families in Usurbil, of which 535 live in their homes and in the areas designated by the City Hall. “We saw that many neighbors and neighbors were making composting at home and that there was a lawsuit on the part of the citizens who wanted to compost but could not,” says Goikoetxea. The Environmental Technician says that it is best to make compost at home and that the auzolan does not make sense for people who have the possibility to do it at home.

Facing the future, it is intended to create municipal gardens in the village, where leisure and leisure spaces will also be located. Self-composting is the creation of a fertilizer with your waste, and that is the ideal situation, says the environmental technician “manage the waste in your own house”.