Neighborhood adopts new kitchen waste process

[Video by Li Yinglian and Zhang Liang]

A housing estate in Yinchuan, Ningxia Hui autonomous region, has found an effective method to cope with a big part of its kitchen waste.

Every day, kitchen waste is collected and put into three big wooden barrels in a 3-square-meter house after sorting.

The small house is actually a kitchen waste composting pool that produces organic fertilizer in the Yi'an housing estate, located in Yinchuan's Xixia district.

Community workers then add bacterial fertilizers into the three barrels daily until they are filled with kitchen waste.

After weeks of decomposition and fermentation, the kitchen waste is made into organic fertilizers and used by community workers and residents to plant trees and shrubs, grow flowers and plant vegetables in the housing estate.

The small house has replaced traditional waste bins in the estate since May. No odors are released during the process thanks to scientific methods.

The housing estate has designated a special courtyard in which residents can grow flowers and vegetables.

Yang Xiaomei, Party chief of Zhaijingxiang community in Xixia district, said the Yi'an housing estate has a total of 3,335 residents and 1,468 households.

"The estate produces about 300 kilograms of kitchen wastes every day, but now more than one-third of that can be made into organic fertilizer," Yang said.

The organic fertilizer produced not only meets the needs of trees, flowers and vegetables but also goes to other housing estates and units that need it, Yang said.

"We hope to encourage more housing estates to produce organic fertilizer from kitchen waste and provide the fertilizers to local landscaping departments, garden areas, vineyards and other communities that need it in the months to come. We want more local residents to benefit from their kitchen waste," Yang said.