Airport to use worms for compost

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CHARLOTTE, N.C., Oct. 25 (UPI) -- Officials at Charlotte/Douglas International Airport in North Carolina say they plan to use worms for composting at a new $1.1 million recycling center.

The composting system, expected to open in February, will include 300 pounds of worms that will eat away at about a ton of travelers' trash each day, The Charlotte Observer reported Tuesday.

"We generate a lot of garbage here, and it's incredibly expensive to collect it, haul it off and pay to dispose of it," said airport director Jerry Orr.

The worm waste will be used as fertilizer on the airport's 6,000 acres of land and any excess will be packaged and sold.

Ron Danise, who owns Southern Organics, says he doesn't plan to bid on the project because he doesn't think the worms will be able to process much of the airport's waste.

"It sounds good on paper, but I'm telling you, it's not going to produce much," Danise said. "Worms are herbivores. ... They don't like a North American diet," he said.