Research & reports

Eckhard Hein, TW Kabore, A. Bilgo, SN Sall, Dominique Massé · International Journal of Biological and Chemical Sciences · Burkina Faso (Ouagadougou)

This study evaluated the impact of untreated municipal solid waste (MSW) on soil properties in peri-urban agricultural fields near Ouagadougou, Burkina Faso. Soils receiving MSW for 7 to 20 years showed up to a two-fold increase in carbon, nitrogen, and phosphorus content, with older fields having higher increases. While microbial biomass was significantly higher in MSW-fertilized soils, microbial activity and catabolic diversity were not significantly different.

Bayani M. Espiritu · Journal of the International Society for Southeast Asian Agricultural Sciences · Asia

This study investigated the effects of microbially inoculated compost on mungbean and pechay growth in container media. Compost from coconut coir dust and chicken manure was inoculated with nitrogen-fixing bacteria (Azotobacter sp.) and/or cellulolytic fungi (Trichoderma harzianum). Mungbean plants supplied with uninoculated compost showed the lowest fresh biomass and nodule count, while compost with combined Azotobacter sp. and T. harzianum inoculation significantly increased fresh biomass and nodule numbers in mungbean, and showed similar positive results for pechay.

Steffen Lehmann · Journal of Green Building · Europe

This paper discusses resource recovery and materials flow in cities, noting that urban farming has emerged as a valid urban design strategy in Europe, contributing to local food production, organic waste composting, and biodiversity. It reports on best practices for implementing zero waste, including adaptive re-use and design for disassembly, and identifies that the construction and demolition sector is a major waste producer. A key finding is that achieving 'zero-waste' requires strong industry leadership, new policies, effective education, and refocused research agendas.

Yan Lv, Rui Zhang · Advanced materials research · Global

Farming in the city is the most significant practice of urban agriculture, with important social and economic impact. It constructs a stable and sustainable eco-recycling system, utilizing daily waste for crop irrigation, livestock breeding, and energy production. This study discusses the ecological characteristics, scientific principles, and operation steps of these ecological technologies to efficiently present an artificial agro-ecosystem in limited space.

Steffen Lehmann · Sustainability · Global

This paper reports on best practices in urban design principles for material flow, recovery, and adaptive reuse to implement zero waste. It notes that urban farming is a valid strategy for local food production and composting organic waste. A key finding is that embedding zero-waste requires strong industry leadership, new policies, effective education curricula, and increased awareness.

Michael Raleigh · eCommons (Cornell University) · United States (Buffalo)

The City of Buffalo has made progress in accepting urban farming on vacant land, but remains unwilling to take risks in this area. Policies restrict farmers' access to land, long-term security, food diversity (including animals), and sales. To foster urban farming, the City should amend these policies to grant farmers more freedom and could promote farming through a city-wide composting program and a demolition policy requiring vacant lots to be seeded with clover.

Julian S. Yates, Jutta Gutberlet · Environment and Planning A Economy and Space · Brazil (Diadema)

This paper analyzes food waste flows in Diadema, Brazil, through an urban political ecology lens, focusing on integrated organic waste management for composting and urban food production. While presented as a means for positive socioecological change, the process is characterized by conflict and potential exploitation. Broader structural conditions also constrain the system's ability to offer an alternative to existing waste-management models.

Ralf Otterpohl, Christopher Buzie · Waste · Global

This chapter provides an overview of biowaste management solutions, focusing on reuse. It describes high-tech systems, urine diverting flush systems, and modern dry sanitation systems like terra preta sanitation (TPS), which can produce black soil and reusable water. TPS is presented as a promising approach for managing urban household waste, addressing soil degradation and food insecurity, and potentially improving urban agriculture when combined with greywater reuse; however, questions regarding macronutrients and micronutrients remain.

이응직, 이형숙, 윤은주, 칼루 엑페게어, 고성철 · · South Korea

A South Korean study examined the functions and roles of a Green Community Rediscovery Center (GCRC) in terms of community integration, designed a GCRC incorporating various green roof types, and investigated applying a renewable energy system (e.g., PV) to building greenery. Four functional modules were proposed: an ecopark and community gardens with environmental education programs, a green housing model with education programs, a Discover Science Center, and a green business model with education programs. In design terms, three main functions were presented: community garden functions; establishment of a green business model, community composting system, and urban farming system; and the role of community gardens in social interaction within the GCRC. Air temperature on the green roof (using Sedum sarmentosum as cover) was about 3°C lower than on a non-green roof, indicating potential efficiency gains for PV systems. The study concludes that the proposed GCRC would raise neighborhood satisfaction and quality of life and contribute to social integration and community regeneration.

Andersen J.K., Boldrin A., Christensen T.H., Scheutz C. · Waste Management · Denmark

Uses six home composting units over one year and a static flux chamber method to measure and quantify greenhouse gas emissions from composting organic household waste.

Hygin Faust Kakai, Alban Gilles Kakai, Armelle Grey Tohouegnon · VertigO · Benin (Cotonou)

This study in Benin examined urban agriculture and waste valorization in Cotonou, Abomey, and Abomey-Calavi. In Cotonou, overexploitation of sandy, organic-poor soil in market gardening led to soil impoverishment, forcing gardeners to use chemical fertilizers with negative environmental impacts. However, some market gardeners adopted compost use, transitioning to organized organic urban agriculture after a waste management project supported waste valorization. This dynamic was not observed in Abomey, where urban agriculture is practiced in family spaces and public areas, unlike Cotonou's developed sites. Abomey-Calavi, despite rapid demographic growth, was almost devoid of urban agriculture practices.

Yuji Hara, Takashi Furutani, Akinobu Murakami, Armando M. Palijon, Makoto Yokohari · Waste Management & Research The Journal for a Sustainable Circular Economy · Philippines (Metro Manila)

This research used solid waste management programs in three Quezon City barangays, Metro Manila, as a case study to assess organic waste recycling and local urban agriculture potential. It measured organic waste and compost production from barangay projects and identified potential compost use on local farmlands and vacant lots. The study found that securing compost buyers is currently difficult, leading to distribution to neighboring farm villages, but concluded that a more local compost recycling system within the barangays is feasible.

O. Muñiz, M. Ternero, Álvarez Montero, F. Martínez, T. Limeres, O. Jouber, M. Orphee, Julia Vidan Estevez, B. Calero, F. A. de Alcantara, Adriana María de Aguiar Accioly · Portuguese National Funding Agency for Science, Research and Technology (RCAAP Project by FCT) · Global

This paper situates its topic within the urban agriculture movement, which it describes as having successfully enabled low-input food production in cities, noting that organoponicos — plots focused on producing leafy vegetables and condiment crops in organic substrates — have driven up demand for organic material sources. The title indicates the study addresses the effect of using heavy-metal-contaminated compost on vegetable production, but the available abstract provides only this background context, with no results on contamination or crop impact stated.

Hideharu KURITA, Tokuji Yamamoto, Tetsushi Shigeoka · JOURNAL OF RURAL PLANNING ASSOCIATION · Japan

A case study of an allotment garden for kitchen garbage recycling in Kitamoto City, Japan, examines the potential for agricultural land management by user organizations of allotment gardens in peri-urban areas. Analyzing the management system of an allotment garden with a garden user organization, the study finds that such organizations can potentially play a role in managing agricultural land in peri-urban settings, and that garden user organizations and their networks contribute to resolving problems related to urban residents' use of agricultural land.

Bruno Martins Dala Paula, Ivana Cristina Lovo, José Delázaro Filho · Urban Agriculture Magazine · Brazil (Belo Horizonte)

This project in Belo Horizonte, Brazil, involved seven households sharing a community garden. Participating families collected household organic waste, with five families collecting 5 kg every 8-10 days. From March 25 to September 25, a total of 420 kg of organic waste was collected and used for collective compost production, which was then distributed to all garden members.

Bolanle Wahab, M. K. C. Sridhar, Aramide Ayorinde · Urban Agriculture Magazine · Nigeria (Ibadan)

The Sustainable Ibadan Project (SIP), established in 1994 by UNCHS (HABITAT), identified waste management and conversion to organic fertilizer as top priorities for Ibadan. Participants at a 1995 City Consultative Forum jointly identified aerobic composting technology using windrows as a viable method to collect and recycle waste, generate income, and use compost for urban agriculture.

Dionys Forster · DORA Eawag (Swiss Federal Institute of Aquatic Science and Technology (Eawag)) · Vietnam (Hanoi)

This work aims to develop a methodology for determining nutrient flows and budgets in peri-urban agricultural systems in Hanoi, Vietnam. The methodology will assess nutrient status at farm, village, and communal levels, considering the spatial and temporal variability of crop and nutrient management. This is intended to support the recycling and reuse of solid and liquid organic waste in peri-urban agriculture.

P. Kirai, J. Gachugi, Anne Scheinberg · Data Archiving and Networked Services (DANS) · Kenya (Nairobi)

The 'Converting City Waste in Compost Project' aims to develop a viable system for collecting, processing, distributing, and marketing organic city waste for urban and peri-urban agriculture in East Africa, particularly Nairobi. Phase one of this project involved an inventory and analysis of organic waste sources, quantifying and characterizing non-domestic organic waste streams in Nairobi City. This study presents the findings of phase one, providing a basis for evaluating the potential to divert Nairobi's organic waste for compost and biogas production.

Ana Puertas, L Hidalgo-Díaz · Revista de Protección Vegetal · Cuba

An experiment in Cuba investigated the effect of different organic fertilizers on the establishment of the biological control agent Pochonia chlamydosporia var. catenulata in the substrate and rhizosphere of tomato plants. High colonization levels of the substrate and tomato roots were observed across all treatments using soil, cattle manure, and worm humus in various proportions. Results indicated a tendency for higher root colonization values in organic fertilizers and proportions that allowed medium or lower substrate colonization. Both organic fertilizers can be used to support the application of P. chlamydosporia var. catenulata in urban agriculture.

Delia Nicoleta Vieru · · Global

This text discusses organic waste reduction, noting that over 50% of household waste is organic and often leads to pollution. It explains the importance of managing compost processes for quality compost, emphasizing a 30:1 carbon to nitrogen ratio for efficient decomposition. The text proposes school-based compost production as a method to engage the school community in environmental efforts, promoting resource recirculation, education on compost benefits, waste attitude change, reduction of school canteen waste, student involvement, and the creation of fertile soil for school gardens.

Delia Nicoleta Vieru, Narcis Paul Vieru · DOAJ (DOAJ: Directory of Open Access Journals) · Global

This descriptive article on composting states that about half of household waste consists of food remains, vegetable, and garden waste, and that over 50% of waste is organic material that ends up in storage sites, cesspools, or is burned, causing significant pollution. As an alternative, it describes transforming organic material through microbial, biochemical, chemical and physical processes into a humus-like material called compost. Producing quality compost requires managing the pile's dimensions, humidity, structure, and composition so decomposition agents (bacteria, fungi, mites, springtails, woodlice, worms, millipedes) have an ideal, nutrient-rich substrate; these agents need nitrogen ("green" elements, from food remains, cut grass, and green leaves) alongside carbon ("brown" elements, from wood chips, dry leaves, and sawdust), maintained at roughly a 30:1 brown-to-green ratio through alternating layers. The article states that producing compost in schools can bring the whole school community together for environmental work, contributing to natural resource recirculation, community education about compost's benefits, a shift in cultural attitudes toward waste, reduced food-remainder volume from school canteens, student involvement in extracurricular activities, and fertile soil for school gardens and planting. The abstract text is truncated at the end, cutting off its description of composting's benefits as a fertilizer.

· Wikipedia · United States

This Wikipedia article covers San Francisco's Mandatory Recycling and Composting Ordinance (No. 100-09), passed by the Board of Supervisors in 2009 and described as the first US municipal ordinance to universally require source separation of all organic material. By August 2010 the city reached a 77% waste diversion rate, and composting increased 45% after the ordinance took effect. An earlier 1999 pilot, the 'Fantastic Three' programme, achieved over 90% diversion among participants within seven months. The ordinance polled at 85% support before passing; maximum fines are $100 for single-family homes and $1,000 for large businesses.

J.N. Hogard, Julius N. Fobil, Godfred K. Ofosu-Budu, D. Carboo, Nii‐Ayi Ankrah, Alexander K. Nyarko · · Ghana

This study in Ghana investigated the macro-nutrient content and heavy metal concentrations in solid waste composts to assess their potential for soil fertility amelioration and health implications in urban and peri-urban agriculture. Overall NPK concentration was low, with agricultural waste composts showing higher total N, K, and organic carbon than municipal solid waste (MSW) composts. Heavy metal concentrations for Ni, Zn, Cu, and Cd were generally low and within Australian standards. However, lead (Pb) concentration in mixed MSW composts was significantly high during the dry season, exceeding the Australian limit of 150 mg/kg Pb for unrestricted use. Seasons and composting processes were found to be important determinants of toxic metal concentrations in final compost products.

Consuelo Montes Rojas, Víctor Felipe Terán Gómez, Diego Fernando Ortiz Tovar · DOAJ (DOAJ: Directory of Open Access Journals) · Colombia

This research aimed to design a hydro-organic vegetable production system for small areas in Popayán, Colombia, utilizing recycled materials and urban solid waste. The system was evaluated using three nutritional treatments (organic leachate, supplemented organic leachate, common nutrient solution) with cilantro as a biological indicator. The urban vegetable production system achieved yields of up to 627 g m-2, surpassing traditional agriculture (227 g), with the commercial nutrient solution identified as the best nutritional source.

Erin Foster West · · United States (Minneapolis)

This study explores the interaction between community gardens and public agencies in Minneapolis and Hennepin County, United States. It identifies that despite a large number of community gardens in the Twin Cities Metro Area, there is no comprehensive city policy for community gardening, making land acquisition difficult as vacant land becomes scarce. The research inventories public policies related to land use, water, and compost specific to community gardens, highlighting the need for public agencies to provide essential services.