Established in 1990, the New Milford Farms (NMF) composting facility serves as a low-cost means of disposal for various industrial residues from Nestle USA, a large international food company. The NMF facility takes in organic feedstocks ranging from spent coffee grounds and industrial wastewater sludge to leaves and brush from nearby residents, and combines them to create fertilizing compost u...

Our earlier experiments in small composters (220 l) indicated the favourable effect of ash from co-incineration of sorted dry waste on the composting of catering waste. The aim of this new study was to clarify further, at a scale of 10 m3, the feasibility of using similar ash as an additive in composting. Source-separated catering waste was mixed with bulking agent (peat and wood chips) and fue...

Little attention has been paid to the environmental fate of the hormones 17beta-estradiol and testosterone excreted in animal waste. Land application of manure has a considerable potential to affect the environment with these endocrine disrupting compounds (EDCs). Composting is known to decompose organic matter to a stable, humus-like material. The goal of the present study was to quantitativel...

In this review we discuss the transformation of organic matter during municipal solid waste (MSW) composting and the suitability of chemical and biochemical parameters in defining the stability and maturity of the end product. The dynamics of chemical and biochemical parameters, such as several hydrolase activities and water-soluble fractions (i.e. water soluble carbon, water soluble nitrogen, ...

One of the most versatile and remunerative techniques for handling biodegradable solid wastes is composting. Composting refers to aerobic degradation of organic material and is one of the main waste treatment methods used for treating separated organic waste. Microbes play a key role as degraders during the composting-process and microbiology of composting has been studied for decades. Microorg...

Environmental contamination caused by residual antibiotics and antibiotic resistance genes (ARGs) in concentrated animal feeding operations has drawn increasing attention. This study investigated the removal of oxytetracycline (OTC) and sulfamethazine (SMN) as well as the behavior of their corresponding ARGs through a series of simulated composting tests with swine manure. The results indicate ...

In order to increase the degradation rate of organic materials and reduce ammonia emissions simultaneously during the aerobic composting period, a commercial maturity-accelerating reagent (MAR) was employed. Comparative composting experiments were conducted: Run A with the addition of MAR in the composting mixture, and Run B without the addition of MAR, while some parameters such as organic car...

Four different tests to assess compost stability were compared during green waste composting in windrows at a largescale composting plant. The tests used were: germination index, (based on seed germination); SOUR (specific oxygen uptake rate, respirometric method based on O2 consumption by the microorganisms); self-heating test, (reflecting the energy output from the aerobic process); and Solvi...

Manure composting has gained increased acceptance by the beef cattle (Bos taurus) feedlot industry in southern Alberta, Canada. Unlike fresh manure, compost is often promoted as being "weed-free." Studies were conducted with five weed species in 1997 and thirteen in 1999 to examine the effect of feedlot manure composting on weed seed viability. Weed seeds were buried in open-air compost windrow...