Composting Success!

Cannich Bridge Primary School Celebrates New Ridan Composter – Turning Waste into a Win for Pupils and the Planet

We were delighted to help fund a new waste initiative at Cannich Bridge Primary School who launched their new Ridan Composter this September, a headline project in the Schools Eco Plan. The project was funded by us and also the Strathglass Community Fund, another local community charity.

Photo: Eleanor Forster taking delivery of the composter from Ridan, April 2025

Eleanor Forster, Chair of the Parent Council said:

“We’re so grateful to our funders for giving our school and wider community the opportunity to take the issue of food waste into our own hands. As a rural community, we don’t have access to food waste collection services, so this project will be keeping all food waste produced by our school out of landfill, significantly reducing our carbon emissions.”

On Friday 26th September, Kara, our Community Development Manager, along with Highland Council catering staff, visited the school to see the composter in action. Pupils presented their food waste monitoring chart to showcase the school’s progress, before giving a hands-on demonstration – quite literally – with a turn of the handle.

The new Ridan Composter means the school can now recycle compost all food waste from the kitchen and canteen – from vegetable peelings to plate scraps. This includes things usually unsuitable for on-site composting, such as cooked food, meat, bread and dairy. The clever design of the in-vessel composter allows for hot, fast composting, safe from pests.

The process is simple, sustainable, and child-friendly:

• Food waste added daily to the Ridan along with an equal volume of dry sawdust.
• Pupils then turn the handle a few times keeping the mixture aerated and creating the perfect environment for the microbes responsible for a hot composting process
• The composting material slowly makes its way along the insulated, sealed vessel where it is then collected in a bucket, transferred to a maturation box, and left for 2-3 months for worms and other beneficial soil life to move in.
• The resulting rich compost can then be used in the school grounds to enrich the soil and help growing. 

This project means the school can now recycle items that would otherwise end up in landfill – including food scraps, milk, meat, and more.  The composter dramatically reduces the amount of waste going into them. Without a food waste collection service, this on-site solution not only cuts landfill but also gives pupils a hands-on way to learn about sustainability and the circular economy.

Alongside sessions to learn how to reduce the amount of food waste produced, the children have also been learning the effect their food waste can have in contributing to climate change. They worked out that over the term, the Ridan composter should save 760kg of food waste from landfill each year, saving 487.5kg CO2e annually.

The combined funding allowed the purchase of the larger Ridan. The position of the composter has also been carefully chosen to allow access by the wider community, as the school are keen for others to be able to make use of this wonderful asset once it is embedded in the school food ecosystem.

Kara, our Community Development Manager, said:

“We funded this project because we wanted to support practical, hands-on learning about sustainability and food waste. Well done to the school, the Parent Council, and of course the pupils themselves for their commitment and enthusiasm – it’s fantastic to see them turning food waste into something positive for the environment and the community.”

Maria Reynard, Head Teacher at Cannich Bridge Primary School said:

“I would like to take this opportunity to thank everyone who has been involved in the funding and setup of our new Ridan composter. It is now officially up and running and the children are heavily involved in the composting process and gathering necessary data to inform menu choices. We can’t wait to have fresh compost in the spring, all because we saved our lunchtime food waste from landfill. We hope to open this opportunity to members of the community in the future”.

Photo: Back Row, Oran, Roland, Megan, Elsie, Maria Reynard(Head Teacher at Cannich Bridge Primary School), Eleanor Forster, Kara (Soirbheas), Caroline Ratcliffe & Hayley Owen (Highland Council Catering Team). Front Row, Callie, Hallie, Oran, Renato, Nina, Ruaridh and Josef