Compost Soil
In autumn 2023, the compost soil is handed out at the following dates and times:
31.08.2023 kl. 9.00 – 15.00
07.09.2023 kl. 9.00 – 15.00
14.09.2023 kl. 9.00 – 15.00
21.09.2023 kl. 9.00 – 15.00
Compost soil is only handed out to natural or legal persons holding a required waste permit or a proper registration certificate from the Environmental Board.
According to the Waste Act, the compost soil produced from sewage sludge is regarded as a waste (list of waste code 19 08 05). This imposes additional obligations on the user of compost soil produced from sewage sludge. The first prerequisite is holding of a waste permit or a corresponding registration from the Environmental Board, allowing the recovery of sludge from the treatment of urban wastewater (with the waste code 19 08 05). The information necessary for the application for the registration of a waste handler (together with a tutorial video on the submission of an application to this effect) can be found on the website of the Environmental Board at Registration of a waste handler | Environmental Board
In addition, the user of sewage sludge must comply with the requirements and obligations laid down in the Minister of the Environment Regulation No 29 “Quality Limits and Requirements for the Use of Sewage Sludge for Landscaping, Rehabilitation and Agriculture”. Persons who have been granted the registration of a waste handler are required to report on their waste activities to the Environmental Board once a year, using the information system KOTKAS.
Once the registration of a waste handler has been issued, please e-mail a copy of it to muld@tvesi.ee at least 3 working days before coming to pick up the soil and, if possible, notify of the time (date and estimated time) of the pick-up. To start the soil hand-out operations, please come to the main door of the administrative building of the Wastewater Treatment Plant (Paljassaare põik 14) and call 6262 475. Our staff then will arrange for the registration of the hand-out of soil and issue a corresponding card for soil weighing operations. Please follow the instructions given by our staff.
COMMENTS
All quantities of soil to be handed out must be weighed. AS Tallinna Vesi’s truck scales allow weighing trucks with up to 40 tons of total laden weight and those up to 12 meters long. The minimum quantity that can be handed out is 0.5 tons. Please note that possibilities of loading the soil on a car trailer by means of a backhoe loader are limited (the trailer cover must be entirely removed).
Transportation of compost soil can also be ordered from our subsidiary OÜ Watercom, by calling 6262 620 or e-mailing to watercom@watercom.eu. The price for the transportation of soil (10 tons with a tipper) in Tallinn is EUR 34 per hour plus VAT. The time-based calculation begins from the start of the loading operations at Paljassaare põik 14 and ends with the return of the tipper to Paljassaare põik 14 (after the unloading operations at the customer). For larger quantities, the price for the transportation shall be agreed separately.
Once the information on registration granted by the Environmental Board has been sent and you wish to order the transportation, please contact OÜ Watercom at the phone number or e-mail address above to agree on the pick-up time, considering the handout times indicated above.
How is the compost soil made from sewage sludge?
During the wastewater treatment process at the Paljassaare Wastewater Treatment Plant, sludge is removed from the wastewater. For sludge processing, i.e., stabilization, sludge is pumped into digesters through heat exchangers. In the digesters, the sludge is anaerobically digested for approximately 15 days at ~37.0 °C. Then, by using centripresses, digested sludge is dewatered up to a total solid content of 25%. Dewatered sludge is collected in the storage tanks and transported with trucks to the composting fields.
In the composting fields, the stabilized sludge is mixed with a milled peat (in a volume ratio of ca 1:0.7), which then undergoes further aerobic digestion in windrows (post-treatment of sludge) for 6 to 12 months. During this time, the windrows are mixed for 4 to 6 times with a special windrow turner. The final product is called compost soil and its specific weight is ca 800 kg/m ³ (specific weight depends a lot on natural conditions).
Recommendations for using compost soil in landscaping:
- when applying compost soil, immediately dig it through the old soil;
- when making a lawn, add coarse sand to aerate the soil;
- when the lawn sprouts, weeds also appear, which will disappear when the lawn is mowed regularly.
Results of the analysis taken of the compost soil
Results of the analysis taken of the compost soil (treated sewage sludge) can be found here.