Community composting strategies for biowaste treatment: methodology, bulking agent and compost quality
Alves, D., Villar, I., Mato, S.
Environmental Science and Pollution Research (Springer), 31(7):9873-9885
Urban Farm DB summary
A study comparing methodology, bulking agents, and compost quality across community composting centres (CCC) and community gardens used by local governments to treat biowaste. It shows how population density and the presence of green areas determine the siting of decentralized local composting infrastructure.
Key points
- 1Population density, spatial distribution, and the existence of community green areas are key factors determining the location of local biowaste recycling infrastructures, such as Community Composting Centres (CCC).
- 2Shredded green waste from parks, gardens, and households can be effectively used as a bulking agent in community and home composting, promoting aeration and microbial colonization.
- 3The study analyzed compost samples from Community Composting Centres (CCC) using two handling types: Horizontal Flow (HF) and Vertical Flow (VF).
- 4The HF model allowed better use of modular composting unit volume, while the VF model required less effort and time for the operator, indicating operational advantages.
- 5Both handling models (HF and VF) produced mature, stable, and high-nutrient composts that met the legal requirements for use as an organic amendment.
- 6The resulting composts can be delivered to participants of the composting program or utilized in community gardens within the municipality.
Extracted facts
4 factsOnly numbers and their conditions are stored, as structured data — never the source's own sentences. Metric and condition names stay in English, as coded.
- 46 samples
compost samples analysed(community composting centre)
Compostn = 46- region
- EU
- setting
- community composting centres
- vertical flow samples
- 22
- horizontal flow samples
- 24
- bulking agent
- shredded green waste
- better volume use↑ Increase
modular unit volume use(horizontal flow composting)
CompostControl: vertical flow model- setting
- community composting centres
- samples
- 24 horizontal flow
- less effort and time↓ Decrease
operator effort and time(vertical flow composting)
CompostControl: horizontal flow model- setting
- community composting centres
- samples
- 22 vertical flow
- mature stable high nutrient both models→ No change
compost quality(community compost)
Compostn = 46Control: comparison between vertical and horizontal flow models- setting
- community composting centres
- criterion
- legal requirements for organic amendment
Direction of conclusions
Each author conclusion is recorded only as a coded direction per topic. Read the original for the conclusion itself.
- Compost / nutrient cycleSupports
Abstract and stored text
OpenAlexThe European Union's commitment to increase recycling and recovery rates of municipal solid waste requires significant changes in current waste management. Local governments are developing various strategies for treating the organic fraction of municipal waste (biowaste) via composting. Community composting centres (CCC), green waste collection, treatment points and community gardens are some of these new approaches. Population density and spatial distribution, together with the existence of community green areas, determine the location of the various infrastructures for recycling local biowaste. The composting process consumes high amounts of bulking agent (BA) necessary to provide the structure that allows, amongst other uses, biowaste aeration and microbial surface colonisation. Shredded green waste from parks, gardens and households can be used as BA in community composting and home composting. In this study, a total of 46 compost samples obtained from CCC with two types of handling were analysed: 22 samples treated by vertical flow (VF) and 24 samples treated by horizontal flow (HF). The HF model allowed better use of the volume of modular composting units and the VF model required less effort and time for the CCC operator. Mature, stable and high-nutrient-content composts were obtained with both models. These composts met the legal requirements to be used as an organic amendment, and they can be delivered to the participants or used in community gardens in the municipality.
Why it matters for urban farming
This study offers highly valuable insights for urban farms looking to implement and manage community composting. It highlights how factors like population density and the presence of green spaces influence the siting of composting facilities, demonstrates the effectiveness of using shredded green waste from parks and households as a bulking agent, and shows that both horizontal and vertical flow methods can produce high-quality compost. Urban farm operators can leverage this knowledge to plan their own composting projects within their farms or communities, efficiently transforming organic waste into a valuable resource for soil improvement. This is crucial for promoting local resource cycling and contributing to urban greening and food production.