A handful of compost

A double-width bin with compost at different stages of decomposition

First step of compost

Compost (pronounced /ˈkɒmpɒst/ or US /ˈkɒmpoʊst/) also known as brown manure, is the aerobically decomposed remnants of organic matter. Phonology North American English regional phonology In many ways compared to English English, North American English is conservative in its Phonology. Organic matter (or organic material) is Matter that has come from a once-living Organism; is capable of It is used in landscaping, horticulture and agriculture as a soil conditioner and fertiliser. Landscaping refers to any activity that modifies the visible features of an area of land including but not limited to living elements, such as Horticulture is the art and science of plant cultivation Horticulturists (or horticuluralists) work and conduct research in the fields of Plant propagation Agriculture refers to the production of goods through the growing of plants and fungi and the raising of domesticated Animals The study of agriculture A soil conditioner, also called a soil amendment, is a material added to Soil to improve plant growth and health Fertilizers ( also spelt fertiliser are chemical compounds given to Plants to promote growth they are usually applied either through the soil for uptake by plant It is also useful for erosion control, land and stream reclamation, wetland construction, and as landfill cover (see compost uses). Compost is a versatile easy-to-use product When manufactured to meet United States Environmental Protection Agency Class A standards compost is safe to use around children

Compost serves as a growing medium,or a porous, absorbent material that holds moisture and soluble minerals, providing the support and nutrients in which most plants will flourish. A nutrient is food or chemicals that an organism needs to live and grow or a substance used in an organism's metabolism which must be taken in from its environment To maximize plant growth, it is sometimes necessary to dilute compost with soil or peat to reduce salinity or to add neutralisers to bring the pH closer to 7, or additional nutrients like fertilisers or manure, wetting agents, and materials to improve drainage and aeration, such as sand, grit, bark chips, vermiculite, perlite, or clay granules. pH is the measure of the acidity or alkalinity of a Solution. Manure is Organic matter used as Organic fertilizer in Agriculture. Surfactants are wetting agents that lower the Surface tension of a liquid allowing easier spreading and lower the Interfacial tension between two liquids Sand is a naturally occurring Granular material composed of finely divided rock and Mineral particles Bark, also known as periderm is the outermost layer of stems and Roots of Woody plants such as Trees It overlays the Wood and consists Vermiculite is a natural Mineral that expands with the application of Heat. Perlite is an Amorphous Volcanic Glass that has a relatively high Water content typically formed by the hydration of Obsidian Clay is a naturally occurring material composed primarily of fine-grained Minerals which show plasticity through a variable range of Water content, and

Composting as an alternative to landfill

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 natural origin into stable, sanitized products useful for horticulture. For other uses see Water treatment and Land reclamation. A landfill, also known as a dump (and historically as Recycling involves processing used materials into new products in order to prevent the waste of potentially useful materials reduce the consumption of fresh raw materials reduce Modern composting originated in European organic farming in the early 20th century. ^[1] However, 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. The Landfill Directive, more formally Council Directive 1999/31/EC of 26 April 1999 on the landfill of waste is a European Union directive issued by the While certain countries such as Belgium, Holland, Germany and Austria readily achieved the mandated targets, other countries such as the UK, Spain and Italy have not. Indeed, it is commonly accepted that the UK, despite its early important contributions to organic farming and John Innes Compost, started taking composting seriously only after Brussels threatened a penalty for states not attaining the required reduction targets. Organic farming is a form of agriculture that relies on Crop rotation, Green manure, Compost, Biological pest control, and mechanical Cultivation John Innes Compost was developed at the John Innes Centre in the 1930s A recent National Audit Office report for England warned that councils were in danger of missing EU targets to cut the amount of waste at landfills. The National Audit Office (NAO is an independent Parliamentary body in the United Kingdom which is responsible for auditing central government departments The NAO's report stated that to meet European targets for 2010, a reduction in the UK of at least 3. 5m tonnes of biodegradable waste sent to landfill was needed. A reduction of a further 3. 7m tonnes was needed by 2013. Less than one-half this has been currently met.

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.

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 landfills. Biodegradation is the process by which organic substances are broken down by the enzymes produced by living organisms 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. A pathogen (from Greek πάθος pathos "suffering passion" and γἰγνομαι (γεν- gignomai (gen- "I give birth to" infectious Vermin is a term applied to various animal species regarded as pests or nuisances and especially to those associated with the carrying of Disease. In modern English usage meat most often refers to Animal tissue used as food mostly Skeletal muscle and associated Fat, but it may also refer Dairy products are generally defined as Foodstuffs produced from Milk. A thermophile is an organism &mdash a type of Extremophile &mdash which thrives at relatively high temperatures between 45 and 80 °C (113 and 176 °F Hobby animal manure (horses, goats), vegetable kitchen and garden waste are nevertheless all excellent raw material for home composting. 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. ^[2] 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,

European composting standards

An overview of European efforts to attain compost standardisation can be seen on the European Compost Network (ECN) ^[3]. The British Composting Association has established very recently a set of guidelines for compost, called the BSI PAS 100 listed by the British Standards Institute (PAS stands for "Publicly Available Specification" and is not necessarily an adopted or certified standard). The Composting Association is a British organisation aimed at promoting Composting and the Sustainable development of organic resources The British Composting Association worked to establish an industry standard for the Composts the BSI PAS 100 certified by the British Standards Institute BSI Group, also known in its home market as the British Standards Institution (or BSI) is a multinational business services provider whose principal activity The PAS requires less consensus-building than an ISO European or British Standard and offers the sponsor more control over how the content is developed There are a variety of such voluntary industry standards in Europe and worldwide, such as the German Bundegütegemeinschaft Kompost e. V. (BGK) German Compost Association RAL-standard for compost developed 10 years prior to the British standard, and updated recently to include separate standards for fermented by-products(from biogas reactors) and sludge. In America, Procter & Gamble Company sponsored the USCC in the early 1990s to develop compost process and product standards called "TMECC", still in a draft state. Procter & Gamble Co ( P&G,) is a Fortune 500, American global corporation based in Cincinnati Ohio, that manufactures a wide These standarisation programs (guidelines would be a better word than standards to describe the objective) are intended to provide structure in the composting community for handling the entire composting process from raw materials and production methods, through quality control and lab testing. ^[4] Swiss compost guidelines recognize distinct end-uses of composts, as determined by specific laboratory assays (see VKS-ASIC-ASAP-ASCP Swiss Compost Association). ^[5]

Compost types and ingredients

There are different ways to compost, starting with layers of 'brown' and 'green' biodegradable waste mixed with garden soil. 'Brown' waste refers to old straw, tough vegetable stems and hedge clippings. 'Green' waste refers to biodegradable waste that breaks down faster, such as fruit, coffee grounds, cut flowers, and grass clippings.

There is also Vermicomposting, which uses worms to help break down the organic waste. Vermicompost (also called worm Compost, vermicast worm castings worm humus or worm manure is the end-product of the breakdown of Organic matter by some

Compostable materials

• Biodegradable waste
• Coffee grounds
• Cocoa shell
• Green waste
• Humanure
• Leaf mold
• Manure
• Spent mushroom compost
• Tree bark
• Egg shells
• Brown waste
• Fruit
• Vegetables

Inorganic additives

• Loam
• Grit
• Urea
• Vermiculite
• Perlite

Compost End Uses

Compost is almost universally recommended as a soil amendment. Biodegradable waste is a Type of waste, typically originating from Plant or Animal sources which may be broken down by other living organisms CoFFEE is an Open source Software for computer supported collaborative learning (CSCL in a digital classroom Green waste is Biodegradable waste that can be comprised of Garden or Park waste such as Grass or Flower cuttings and hedge "Humanure" is a Neologism designating human excrement (feces and urine that is recycled via Composting for agricultural or other Leaf mold is a form of Compost produced by the breakdown of Shrub and Tree leaves Manure is Organic matter used as Organic fertilizer in Agriculture. Spent mushroom compost is the residual Compost waste generated by the Mushroom production industry Bark, also known as periderm is the outermost layer of stems and Roots of Woody plants such as Trees It overlays the Wood and consists The term eggshell is a term for the outer covering of a hard-shelled egg, and some forms of eggs with soft outer coats The term fruit has different meanings dependent on context and the term is not synonymous in Food preparation and Biology. The term " vegetable " generally means the edible parts of Plants The definition of the word is traditional rather than Scientific, however Loam is Soil composed of Sand, Silt, and Clay in relatively even concentration (about 40-40-20% concentration respectively considered Urea is an Organic compound with the Chemical formula ( N[[hydrogen H]]22 C[[oxygen O]] Vermiculite is a natural Mineral that expands with the application of Heat. Perlite is an Amorphous Volcanic Glass that has a relatively high Water content typically formed by the hydration of Obsidian It is principally intended as a blend with soil or other matrices such a coir and peat (although it may also be used to make compost tea). Coir (from Malayalam kayar, cord is a coarse fibre extracted from the fibrous outer shell of a Coconut. Peat is an accumulation of partially Decayed Vegetation matter. Compost tea, a liquid solution or suspension made by steeping Compost in water 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. Phytotoxicity is a term used to describe the toxic effect of a compound on plant growth 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. Volatile fatty acids are Fatty acids with a Carbon chain of six carbons or fewer Anaerobic digestion is a series of processes in which Microorganisms break down Biodegradable material in the absence of Oxygen. 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. ^[6][7][8]

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. ^[9] 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. ^[10] Nevertheless, the broad popularity of composts and their long term beneficial effects for soils and crops mean that demand will continue to grow worldwide.

See also

• Anaerobic digestion
• Composting
• Composting toilet
• List of composting systems
• Mechanical biological treatment
• Soil conditioner
• Waste management
• Micro-organisms

References

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)

External links

• Sources for composting
• The Look of Compost
• Cré, the Irish Composting Association Contains information on composting in Ireland.
• Composting Basics Canadian Gardening Magazine
• Commission of the European Communities. Landfill Directive 1999/31/EC. Official Journal L 182 , 16/07/1999 P.0001-0019.
• Orbit Association
• Let's Recycle.com