Eriska Hotel
Jora JK5100 automated composter supplied by Joraform
Introduction
Key features
The Eriska Hotel is a luxurious 25 bedroom 5 Star hotel located on a 300
acre site in rural Scotland. The complex includes a golf course. The
business made a commitment to working in a sustainable way – to
improve environmental performance, minimise waste, reduce resource
use and to raise awareness and adopt sustainable business practices.
Size: 295x117cmx150cm
Spatial requirements: Requires its own building
Weight: 850Kg
Capacity: up to 5kg of catering waste per day
Energy: requires electricity supply
Housing: shed/covered area with a flue pipe
Maintenance: annual service
Output: compost can be used directly on the hotel's golf course and
Nature and quantity of waste treated on site
• The amount of food waste produced by the hotel is around 10-15kg
per day and roughly 100kg per week
• The hotel now composts around 80% of its food waste
• Wood pellets are fed into the mix to maintain balance – the ratio is
about 1 part wood pellets to 10 parts food waste.
flower beds
“We no longer buy compost and it has helped raise the quality of our soil”
Beppo Buchanan-Smith, Co-owner of Eriska Enterprises
Jora JK5100 in housing
Eriska Hotel
Lessons Learnt
• Avoid putting large amounts of citrus fruit peel into the composter as it makes the finished product too acidic
How food is separated for treatment
• The composter is located a short distance from the kitchen
• The kitchen staff have a routine of collecting food preparation waste in
one bucket and plate waste in another
• Once a waste bucket is full someone from the kitchen will take it to the
shed to be emptied into the composter
Use of outputs from treatment
• The hotel has found that the composted material is of a fine
enough quality to be used directly on the hotel’s golf course
greens and flower beds
• The output is also mixed with soil and used for replacing divots
on the golf course.
How the on-site treatment system is managed
• The system is fully automated, requiring little operator time by ground
staff. This amounts to 1 hour a week to empty and reset the chamber
• Food waste is emptied into a shoot with a grinder which chops the waste
into smaller pieces
• The whole process takes around 4 weeks from the food first entering the
composter to it coming out as compost. Compost is often mixed with soil
to produce a mulch
• Maturation isn’t normally required; dependant on how wet the mix is it can
normally go straight on the gardens and mulched with the soil to improve
both.
• If the mixture is starting to smell or become too wet this can be adjusted
by adding wood pellets
• Both sawdust and wood pellets come from the onsite biomass heating
system
• The Jura machine has several in-built safety functions. The chute is locked
during grinding. When the chute is open, the grinder motor is locked
Costs
• Capital costs were in the region of £19,000 for the unit, with no
other costs incurred
• Operating costs - requires to be housed in a shed or covered
area with an electricity supply
• Waste management savings - by composting their food waste on
site they have reduced bin collections costs by 50%. This
equates to a £2000 annual saving
• With the reduction of their waste uplifts the hotel projects that
the composter will have paid for itself in less than ten years
• The hotel no longer buys compost as the compost produced is of
good enough quality to use of the golf course and flower beds.
This case study is part of a series of case studies focussing on the on-site treatment of organic
waste. Other case studies in this series are:
 Dartington Primary school;
 Housing 21;
 Millets Farm Centre;
 University of Southampton;
 University of Bradford; and
 Her Majesty’s Prison Service
www.wrap.org.uk/on_site_treatment
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for any loss or damage arising out of or in connection with this information being inaccurate, incomplete or misleading.
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Waste & Resources The Old Academy
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