How Generation Soil Turns Food Waste Into Living Compost

Have you ever wondered what really happens to your food waste once it leaves the kitchen?

At Generation Soil CIC, we believe composting is more than waste management; it’s regeneration. Our three-stage composting process transforms Bristol’s food waste into rich, living compost that restores soil health, supports biodiversity, and closes the loop on local food systems.

Whether you’re a home gardener, allotment grower, or business trying to reduce waste, this guide will take you step-by-step through how we turn 'waste' into soil.

Stage One: Fermentation (Where the Magic Begins)

Our process starts with fermentation, inspired by nature’s own recycling system.

Using bokashi, a fermentation process that relies on beneficial microorganisms, we begin breaking down food waste long before it reaches our compost hub. Each household and business adds food scraps into a sealed container layered with bran flakes inoculated with effective microorganisms (EM).

Here’s what happens during this stage:

• The food waste ferments instead of rotting, preventing bad smells and pests.

• Lactic acid bacteria and yeasts begin pre-digesting the organic matter.

• Valuable nutrients are locked in, rather than lost to the air.

Think of it like turning your food scraps into delicious kimchi: the microbes are preparing them for the next stage of our process.

By the time we collect it, it’s already rich in beneficial bacteria and primed for composting.

Stage Two: In-Vessel Composting (Turning Heat into Humus)

Once the fermented material arrives at our Bristol compost hub, it moves into the next phase: in-vessel composting.

Inside our Ridan Pro 400 composters, the pre-treated food waste is mixed with local untreated wood shavings and biochar. This adds carbon, improves airflow, and creates the perfect environment for aerobic microbes to thrive.

Here’s why in-vessel composting is a game-changer:

• It keeps pests out and smells down.

• High internal temperatures (up to 70°C) kill harmful microbes (pathogens) and weed seeds.

• Aeration ensures oxygen reaches the bacteria and fungi doing the hard work.

• Composting continues efficiently even during Bristol’s cold, wet winters.

The mix stays here for around one or two weeks. During that time, the compost heats up due to microbial activity, a natural rhythm that mirrors the forest floor.

What’s left is a dark, crumbly mixture teeming with microbial life. It’s no longer waste; it’s proto-soil, the foundation of living compost.

Stage Three: Compost Maturation (Building Living Soil)

The final step is maturation, when the biology really comes alive.

We move the compost into open wooden bays surrounded by trees and woodchip mulch at our hub in Bedminster, Bristol.

Here, nature takes over again. Worms, fungi, and protozoa move in, completing the soil food web. This phase allows:

• The pH to stabilise naturally.

• Nutrient cycling to begin as organisms exchange carbon, nitrogen, and minerals.

• The compost to become rich, stable, and biologically active.

While traditional composting can take a year or more, our integrated method completes the process in around four months. The result? A living compost full of beneficial microorganisms ready to feed gardens, allotments, and market gardens across Bristol.

Why Our Three-Stage Process Matters

Healthy soil isn’t just about growing plants; it’s about supporting the entire ecosystem beneath our feet.

By combining bokashi fermentation, in-vessel composting, and maturation, we:

• Regenerate urban soils that have been compacted or depleted.

• Reduce landfill waste and greenhouse gases by keeping food scraps local.

• Create a circular food system that turns yesterday’s leftovers into tomorrow’s harvest.

• Build community resilience, connecting households, schools, and businesses around soil health.

Each handful of Generation Soil Living Compost contains billions of beneficial microbes, bacteria, fungi, protozoa, and nematodes, working together to restore balance and fertility.

This isn’t industrial compost made for profit; it’s community compost made for regeneration.

The Benefits of Living Compost

If you’ve ever used bagged commercial compost, you’ll notice the difference immediately.

Generation Soil Living Compost is:

✅ 100% peat-free and chemical-free

✅ Handcrafted in small batches for freshness

✅ Made from local Bristol food waste and woodchip

✅ Packed with microbes that feed your soil naturally

It improves structure, boosts water retention, and creates a thriving environment for plants and pollinators alike.

Perfect for:

• Vegetable gardens and no-dig beds

• Houseplants and balcony pots

• Fruit trees, herbs, and perennials

• Community gardens and school projects

Every sack you buy supports our mission to regenerate Bristol’s soil and reduce food waste city-wide.

From Waste to Worth: The Bigger Picture

This process isn’t just about compost; it’s about culture.

Our goal is to help people see food waste as a resource, not rubbish. By keeping nutrients cycling locally, we’re cutting emissions, building healthier soils, and creating meaningful green jobs.

From the microbial scale to the city scale, composting can transform both land and community.

That’s the soil revolution we’re building, one bucket, one batch, one garden at a time.

Join the Movement

Want to see the process in action?

• Order your Living Compost online.

• Join the Bristol Living Compost Project to recycle your food waste with us.

• Visit our Compost Hub and Food Forest Market Garden to volunteer or learn more.

Together, we can turn Bristol’s waste into a resource that nourishes people, planet, and future generations.