Composting

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adapted from Wikipedia:

Compost also known as brown manure, is the aerobically decomposed remnants of organic matter. It is used in landscaping, horticulture and agriculture as a soil conditioner and fertilizer. It is also useful for erosion control, land and stream reclamation, wetland construction, and as landfill cover (see compost uses).

Contents

[edit] Making compost

There are different ways to compost, starting with layers of 'brown' and 'green' biodegradable waste mixed with garden soil. 'Brown' waste refers to carbon-rich materials, such as, straw, cardboard egg boxes and hedge clippings. 'Green' waste refers to nitrogen-rich biodegradable waste that breaks down faster, such as fruit and vegetable peelings, coffee grounds, cut flowers, and grass clippings.

The Compost Recipe is a good, one-page overview of the process.

Vermicomposting uses worms, most often red wiggler worms, to help quickly break down organic waste. The result, called worm castings, is a high-quality soil amendment.

[edit] Compost ingredients

Given enough time, all biodegradable material will compost, and the primary objective in the modern push to compost is to capture readily degradable materials so they do not enter landfill. However, most small-scale domestic systems will not reach sufficiently high temperatures to kill pathogens and weed seeds or deter vermin, so pet droppings, scraps of meat, and dairy products are often best left to operators of high-rate, thermophilic composting systems. Your local green waste recycling facility should operate such a system. Nevertheless, hobby animal manure (horses, goats), vegetable kitchen and garden waste are all excellent raw material for home composting.</sub> Early roots of composting as a treatment for municipal solid waste were spurred by awareness of the trash crisis as early as the 1950s, and the rise worldwide of large MSW composting plants in the 1960s into the 1970s was virtually unregulated.[1] Public outcry in Europe against contamination of soils on farms and vineyards from MSW compost containing residues of plastic, metals and glass triggered a shakeup of the industry, and in the 1980s a phasing out of MSW composting.

[edit] Compostable materials

[edit] Inorganic additives

[edit] Composting Coffee Grounds

Composting coffee grounds can add nitrogen to the soil. A long term study done by Cindy Wise at the Oregon State University Extension Service has documented the use of coffee grounds in a variety of ways since 2001. To provide an idea of the scale of the coffee ground resource, the study estimates that Lane County, Oregon, produces 1 million pounds (453,593 kgs) of coffee grounds annually. Coffee grounds usually have close to a neutral pH of 7.0. Compost piles with 25% coffee grounds by volume appear to heat up to higher temperatures (135-155 DegF) and stay hot longer periods. These higher temperatures help to kill weed seeds. This is similar to composting with animal manure. An important observation is that using uncomposted coffee grounds in a garden bed will be detrimental to plants. An experiment found 25% coffee mixed in a garden bed caused stunted growth in seedlings.[2]

[edit] Compost End Uses

Compost is almost universally recommended as a soil improver. It is principally intended as an additive to soil or other matrices such as coir and peat (although it may also be used to make compost tea). High rates of mixture (e.g. 80–100%) of compost have been occasionally noted in growing media, but generally direct seeding into a compost is not recommended. It is very common to see blends of 20–30% compost used for transplanting seedlings at cotyledon stage or later. The primary factors controlling how well a compost blend performs are salinity and maturity, which singly and together can trigger phytotoxicity symptoms. It is well known that high salt content in growing media will affect water relations of plants, especially in early stages of growth. The effects or symptoms of damage can be yield reduction, leaf deformation and tip-burning or even plant epinasty.

These effects can also be attributed to a variety of other factors that may be present in active or finished composts, depending on ingredients. Such elements include pesticides, presence volatile fatty acids which are by-products of anaerobic conditions or residues of anaerobic digestion, ammonia associated with high manure content, heavy metals such as copper from farm ingredients and sludge, and ethylene oxide from plant debris, any of which can trigger some form of stunting and other phytotoxicity traits. In container-mix studies, it has been demonstrated that immature compost deprives the soil of oxygen content for a significant period of time, resulting in stunting of roots.[3][4][5]

As a result of these numerous challenges, the introduction of compost products into professional horticulture as a competition to peat and soil-based products has been significantly less successful than originally hoped for.[6] A Jan 2008 consumer report in the UK severely criticised compost quality, showing that only one out of 24 composts tested against 4 cultivars in actual growing media trials could be recommended as viable "peat-free" product.[7] Nevertheless, the broad popularity of composts and their long term beneficial effects for soils and crops mean that demand will continue to grow worldwide.

[edit] Municipal compost

As concern about landfill space increases, worldwide interest in recycling by means of composting is growing, since composting is a widely accepted process for converting decomposable wastes of biological origin into stable, sanitized products useful for horticulture. The more recent application of composting for large-scale waste reduction has very little in common with organic farming. The 1999 European Landfill Directive put pressure on European states to meet specified targets for landfill reduction, principally by establishing alternate disposal and treatment of organic materials. Modern large-scale composting should therefore not be confused with an idealistic, organic-oriented goal to recycle and improve soils, since, for most western countries now, it is virtually the law. These factors could lead to a conflict between required production of composts and the quality of the product.

[edit] See also

[edit] References

  1. ↑ http://www.stormcon.com/mw_0107_history.html A Brief History of Solid Waste Management
  2. ↑ Oregon State University(2008, July 10). Coffee Grounds Perk Up Compost Pile With Nitrogen. ScienceDaily. Retrieved July 11, 2008, from www.sciencedaily.com­
  3. ↑ Morel, P. and Guillemain, G. 2004. Assessment of the possible phytotoxicity of a substrate using an easy and representative biotest. Acta Horticulture 644:417–423
  4. ↑ Insam, see Literature.
  5. ↑ Itävaara et al. Compost maturity - problems associated with testing. in Proceedings of Composting. Innsbruck Austria 18-21.10.2000
  6. ↑ Compost Marketing in Switzerland Schliess, K. 2002. Kompostvermarktung (in German) Report to the Swiss Agency for Environment, Bern.
  7. ↑ [1] Let's Recycle.com review of Which? Consumer Safety Group -Gardening Div. report

[edit] Literature

  • Insam, H; Riddech, N; Klammer, S (Eds.): Microbiology of Composting ,Springer Verlag, Berlin New York 2002, ISBN 978-3-540-67568-6
  • Hogg, D., J. Barth, E. Favoino, M. Centemero, V. Caimi, F. Amlinger, W. Devliegher, W. Brinton., S. Antler. 2002. Comparison of compost standards within the EU, North America, and Australasia. Waste and Resources Action Programme Committee (UK) (see wrap.or.uk)

[edit] External links

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