Sunday 18 September 2022

How does composting contribute towards the concept of recycling?

 

Almost everywhere on the globe, the amount of solid trash created has expanded enormously in recent decades. This rise is mostly ascribed to and connected with population growth. However, contemporary lives and standards have accelerated trash creation as a result of economic development and the related increase in urbanisation. This rise in waste creation has put strain on, if not disrupted, the many components of the environmental system. As a result, the implementation of an appropriate and environmentally friendly solid waste management strategy is recognised as an urgent need around the world, with reuse and recycling of these wastes categorised as the most preferable approaches in integrated solid waste management systems within the framework of a circular economy. In this blog we are going to cover how composting contributes towards the concept of recycling.


What is composting?


Composting is the natural process of converting organic matter, such as leaves and food scraps, into a beneficial fertiliser that may be used to improve soil and plants. Composting simply accelerates the decomposition process by creating an optimal habitat for bacteria, fungus, and other decomposing organisms (such as worms, sowbugs, and nematodes) to perform their work. Compost is the decomposed stuff that results, which frequently looks like fertile garden soil. Compost, often known as "black gold" by farmers, is high in nutrients and may be used in gardening, horticulture, and agriculture.


Organic waste can be treated in industrial-scale composting plants, community composting systems, and anaerobic digesters, among other places.


The Benefits of Composting


1) Composting helps the environment by reducing waste


Composting is an excellent way to recycle organic waste at home. Food leftovers and yard garbage account for more than a quarter of all waste. Not only is food waste bad for the environment, but it's also expensive to handle. In 2019, the average cost of landfilling municipal solid waste in the United States was roughly $55 per tonne. With over 267 million tonnes of municipal trash generated in 2017 and two-thirds of that sent to landfills and incinerators, the United States spent billions of dollars on waste management. Composting at home helps us to redirect part of that trash away from landfills and transform it into something useful.


2) Lowers methane emissions from landfills


When organic matter decomposes, it often proceeds through aerobic decomposition, which means it is broken down by microbes that require oxygen. When biodegradable garbage is disposed of in a landfill, it is buried beneath large volumes of other rubbish, cutting off the decomposers' normal source of oxygen. The trash is subsequently broken down by organisms that can exist without free-flowing oxygen during anaerobic decomposition. Biogas is produced as a by-product of anaerobic degradation. This biogas is about half methane and half carbon dioxide, both of which are significant greenhouse gases, with methane being 28 to 36 times more efficient than CO2 over a century at trapping heat in the atmosphere.


3) enhances soil health and reduces erosion


Compost is a critical tool for enhancing large-scale agricultural systems. Compost contains three essential elements that garden vegetables require: nitrogen, phosphorus, and potassium. It also contains trace amounts of other vital elements such as calcium, magnesium, iron, and zinc. Composting provides an organic alternative to synthetic fertilisers that contain toxic chemicals. Compost has been demonstrated in studies to improve soil water retention capacity, productivity, and resilience.


4) Conservation of water


Agriculture consumes a significant amount of water in the United States, accounting for over 80% of total water use. Irrigation systems are successful, but they are costly and time-consuming to operate for farmers. Furthermore, water is becoming increasingly difficult to get throughout the country.


What role does compost play? According to research, the addition of organic matter increases the water-retaining capacity of soil. In fact, every 1% increase in soil organic matter allows the soil to store 20,000 gallons more water per acre. Farmers that use compost to promote healthy soil use less water while still producing larger yields than those who cultivate on deteriorated soil.


5) Less personal food waste


Consumers are to blame for a shocking quantity of food waste. A typical American household of four wastes around $150 in food each month, a 50% rise since the 1970s. The greatest approach to reducing the effects of food waste is to prevent it from happening in the first place. Therefore, NRDC educates people on how to shop for, prepare, and store food to minimise waste through its Save the Food campaign and other resources. Even if we do everything we can to reduce food waste, there will always be food leftovers that cannot be consumed (e.g., a banana peel). Composting is an excellent technique to recycle waste rather than throw it away.


Types of composting:


1) Compost Container


The easiest and cheapest approach for small-scale, at-home composting is to use a bin. A closed compost bin is an enclosed container that keeps composting materials together while also retaining heat and moisture. Closed bins often have an open bottom and are placed directly on a piece of soil. The open bottom allows nutrients from the forming compost to enter the soil directly.


2) Trench Composting


Another method of home composting is to bury your organic waste in the soil. Trench composting can assist neighbouring plants in developing water-saving root systems. Furthermore, because all garbage is buried underground, it is odourless and undetectable. Trench composting is less complicated than composting in a pile: simply dig a trench, fill it with organic waste, and cover it with dirt.


3) Vermicomposting


If your outdoor space is restricted, vermicomposting, often known as worm composting, is an excellent indoor option (it can be done outdoors as well). You may do it all year in a basement, garage, or even beneath your kitchen sink. In three to six months, vermicomposting creates natural, odourless castings that are a nutrient-rich fertiliser. The only important time investment is harvesting the vermicompost every several months, which requires relatively little upkeep.


Conclusion


Kisaan Trade provides you with different types of compost. Kisan Trade is a contemporary instrument that all agricultural producers and individuals may use. We offer a comprehensive range of agricultural goods and services to meet a wide range of demands. Agricultural equipment and machinery, various types of seeds and fertilisers, irrigation-related equipment and tools, animal feed and dairy products, flowers and plants, crop commodities, and organic foods are among our offerings.


When it comes to fertilisers and compost, we have a vast selection. Some of the fertilisers we supplied


1) Composting Culture: Composting culture is a cutting-edge, effective combination of bacteria that decomposes agricultural leftovers and converts them into valuable compost manure in a short period of time. One kilogramme of composting culture may produce compost manure equivalent to one tractor trolley of agricultural waste. 


2) Apna Khad Phosphate Rich Organic Manure (PROM): Apna Khad PROM is a biofertilizer that may be used instead of diammonium phosphate and single super phosphate. Phosphate-rich organic manure is made by co-composting extremely fine (80% finer than 54 microns) high-grade (32% P2O5 +/-2%) rock phosphate. 


3) Azotobactor bacterial manure: Azotobactor bacterial manure is a powdered combination of extremely competent bacteria. Following germination, these bacteria become bi-conjugated and make nitrogen accessible to the plant by converting air nitrogen while residing on the surface of the plant's root. 


4) Rhizobium-Nafed rhizobium mostly fulfills plant nitrogen requirements while existing in symbiotic relationships with all pulses and certain oilseed crops.


Kisaan Trade is here to supply these items. If you have any questions about this topic, please contact us; we would be happy to assist you in any way we can.

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