In mid-September, Peter Moon had the extraordinary pleasure of traveling to Beijing, China as a "Foreign Expert on Composting". He was part of a technical exchange group comprised of eight foreign experts, three of whom are native Chinese living in the U.S. and the rest United States citizens. Most were invited to talk about various waste management strategies relating to municipal solid waste (landscaping debris and food waste) and biosolids (the residual solids from wastewater treatment plants). Two members of the group are professors who specialize in wetland management and stream restoration.

Beijing is a city with a population of nearly 17 million people and they generate 20,000 tons of waste per day. Their stated goal is to compost 30% of this waste within 5 years. This would be an amazing feat. To put this in perspective, O2Compost was involved with a waste characterization study for Fort Lewis, the U.S. Army Post located south of Tacoma, Washington. Ft. Lewis has as population of roughly 60,000 people who generate 13,400 tons of waste per year.

While in Beijing, Peter gave two presentations. The first to a small technical group, and the second to a group of 35 professors, administrators and planning / policy folk. What Peter found most challenging was having his words translated to Chinese. This necessary step in the process made it very difficult to read the audience to see if they understood what was being said.

All in all, it was a fantastic experience. The accommodations were comfortable, the food was outstanding (albeit difficult to identify at times), and the hospitality was unmatched. Rumor has it that Peter will be returning to Beijing periodically to share his expertise and assist with two separate pilot projects over the next several years.