Composting apparatus and method

A composting apparatus for composting soft and hard organic material, said apparatus comprising a cylindrical drum rotatably supported along a central longitudinal axis thereof, drive means for rotating said drum about said longitudinal axis, a hopper at a feed end of said drum for receiving said organic waste material, a material shredding and grinding mechanism is rotatably secured in said hopper for shredding and grinding said organic waste material and feeding same to an inlet opening of said drum, said material shredding and grinding mechanism having a toothed feeder assembly provided with a series of cutting teeth rotatbly secured about a feeder shaft and extending longitudinally therealong, and a chopper assembly rolatably secured to a chopper shaft, a plurality of cutting blades disposed spaced-apart along said chopper shaft and extending transversely thereof to intermesh between said teeth of said feeder shaft, pusher plates extending transversly between said cutting blades to discharge material into said inlet opening, two or more material mixing and conveying vane assemblies secured in spaced-apart relationship in said drum and rotatable therewith, said material mixing and conveying vane assemblies defining sub-composting compartments therebetween, one of said material mixing and conveying vane assemblies being positioned adjacent said inlet opening, each said material mixing and conveying vane assemblies having a cylindrical support securable to an inner face of said drum and a plurality of vanes secured in spaced-apart relationship to said cylindrical support and projecting interiorly towards said central longitudinal axis and oriented at a common angle to mix and continue to shred and displace shredded and ground material from said inlet opening towards a rear end of said drum, means to vent said enclosure, and discharge means to discharge said material from said drum.