An on-farm composting network operates in the Basque Country (northern Spain), in which solid manure produced in livestock farms (mostly dairy and beef cattle) is composted through windrow turning. This network aims to produce a valuable resource (compost) for the farmers whereas the volume of the solid manure was reduced at farm level The objective of the study was to assess the gaseous losses...

Fermentable components of municipal solid wastes (MSW) such as fruit and vegetable wastes (FVW), leaf litter, paddy straw, cane bagasse, cane trash and paper are generated in large quantities at various pockets of the city. These form potential feedstocks for decentralized biogas plants to be operated in the vicinity. We characterized the fermentation potential of six of the above MSW fractions...

For the past 20 years, the National Foundation for Agricultural Research in Crete and the School of Agricultural Technology of the Technological and Educational Institute of Crete have been involved in a number of research and development activities, related to the production and evaluation of compost derived from a variety of local solid, mainly agricultural organic wastes. Materials such as o...

This study investigated effects of mature compost on gaseous emissions during composting using pig manure amended with corn stalks. Apart from a control treatment, three treatments were conducted with the addition of 5% (wet weight of raw materials) of mature compost: (a) mixing raw materials with mature compost at the beginning of composting; (b) covering raw materials with mature compost thro...

Pilot scale experiments with forced aeration were conducted to estimate effects of aeration rates on the performance of composting penicillin mycelial dreg using sewage sludge as inoculation. Three aeration rates of 0.15, 0.50 and 0.90L/(min·kg) organic matter (OM) were examined. The principal physicochemical parameters were monitored during the 32day composting period. Results showed that the ...

The economic, social and environmental costs of food waste are being increasingly recognised. Food waste consists of both edible and inedible components. Whilst wastage of edible food is problematic for obvious reasons, there are also costs associated with the disposal of the inedible fraction to landfill. This is the third in a series of papers examining the costs of food waste throughout the ...

The environmental and social challenges of Solid Waste Management in developing countries have become an increasingly pressing issue. Disparities between the rich and poor continues to increase in many of these regions where growing urban areas often witness the worst signs of maltreatment of human labour and misallocation of waste as a resource. This thesis is a case study of the Municipality ...

Composted municipal solid wastes (CMSW) could potentially be used as a mulching material to control runoff and soil erosion. The effects of mulching with CMSW on water percolation and rate of compost decomposition were studied using laboratory rainfall simulator. Samples of typical loess soil (Calcic Haploxeralf) were packed in boxes and either covered with 0, 100,200 and 300 m' ha-' of CMSW, o...

An extensive data survey and study of the Greek market for composts or products marketed as such was carried out in order to acquire a comprehensive image of the local situation, in view of the proposed operation of large municipal solid waste (MSW) composting facilities and EU legislation changes. Physical and chemical parameters (moisture, organic matter, electrical conductivity, pH and heavy...