UK eco hotel uses own food waste for Compost

Great Hallingbury Manor, a small, luxury “eco” hotel on the perimeter of Stanstead Airport, has installed IMC’s food waste recycling system with which to convert its half tonne of food waste every week into high quality compost. The compost is then used to grow many of the fruit and vegetables which it uses in its menus on its own land, much to the delight of Executive Chef of the hotel’s restaurant, Anton Edelmann, the much revered former Maitre Chef du Cuisine at London’s prestigious Savoy Hotel for 21 years. “I am passionate about sourcing locally grown, organic produce,” says Anton, “and what could be better than fulfilling this desire with a 100% sustainable solution?”

Having trawled the world for the best eco systems, owner Ludo Marcelo, who also runs Escape Hotels in the Caribbean, identified IMC as providing the best food waste management solution for the hotel’s needs.
Food waste is macerated and dewatered in the kitchen, essentially as soon as it is produced, and then transferred in small, lidded bins to the composting compound where it is loaded into an In Vessel Composter. The exceedingly high quality of the resultant weed-free compost has taken even the grounds’ seasoned gardener by surprise.
March 2010