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Definition –
Why is composting good? –
It saves water by helping the soil hold moisture and reduce water runoff.
It benefits the environment by recycling organic resources while conserving landfill space.
It reduces the need for commercial soil conditioners and fertilizers.
It adds nutrients and beneficial microbes, holds water and improves plant growth.
It provides a supplemental amount of slow-release nutrients.
It increases soil organic matter.
It encourages healthy root structure
It attracts and feeds earthworms and other beneficial soil microorganisms
It helps balance pH (for soil the normal pH is with small amount of acidity or alkalinity, for example for
potato normal pH is between 4 and 8).
It helps control soil erosion.
It helps protect plants from drought and freezes.
It helps decreasing use of petrochemical fertilizers.
It moderates soil temperature and reduces weeds when used as a mulch.

~Most people don’t realize that 30% of what we throw out could be composted.~
United States Environmental Protection AgencyIndependent U.S. government agency responsible for
promoting safe environmental practices
Based on 25 Council audits conducted by EC Sustainable in 2011, around 33% of the rubbish is food
organics (including peelings) and about 10% is garden vegetation.
Home Composting
Each year over half of our household garbage is made up of food and garden waste. Most of this organic
waste can be recycled by composting it.
By turning food scraps and organic garden waste into compost you can:
 Improving soil quality and garden vitality by releasing rich nutrients into the soil.
 Suppressing plant diseases and pests, this reduces or eliminates the need for chemical fertilisers and
manures helping you save money.
 Reducing the amount of organic waste going to landfill therefore preventing greenhouse gas
emissions and leachate which can pollute land, groundwater and waterways.
 Helping soils retain moisture – you do not need to water that often.
 Helping absorb and filter runoff, protecting streams from erosion and pollution.
On-farm Composting
Throughout the 20th century chemical fertilisers have been used to increase and maintain production, however they
cannot replace the loss of organic carbon in the soil, are increasingly expensive and, ultimately, deplete soil nutrient
levels.
What compost provides to farms:
 Both the nutrients and organic carbon necessary to rehabilitate degraded soils and to support
production in intensive farming systems.
 Reduce the need for irrigation water.
 Reduce chemical fertilisers.
 Increase production, particularly where soils are already degraded by many years of farming.
 Increase overall soil quality.
 Save money.
Some farmers make their own compost using straw, manures, recycled organics and other readily available agricultural
waste or local by-products of food processing. They manage the composting process using readily available farm
machinery and apply the compost to their own land. Others however are purchasing specially designed machines called
‘windrow turners’ and monitoring equipment so they can gain greater control of the composting process and produce
high quality composts called ‘humic’ composts.
On-farm composting is well suited for rural and semi-rural areas where this concept is able to deliver significant benefits
for waste management, the environment, the community and farmers.
In Australia, on-farm composting is still in its infancy but is gaining momentum. Potential offsets of the carbon tax may
be available in the future.
Commercial Composting
Many councils around Australia offer a collection service for garden materials. This material is professionally processed
into compost-based products such as soil conditioners, mulches, garden soils, top dressing soils and potting mixes.
New products are continuously being developed for environmental applications such as erosion control and storm water
treatment. Tailored products are also available for agricultural applications such as fruit & vegetables, grains, pasture
improvement and forestry.
There are approximately 140 businesses around Australia recovering more than 5.2 million tonnes of organic waste and
turning it into useful products and services each year. The remaining recycled organic material is either applied directly
to land or used to generate heat or electrical energy. Collectively these commercial organic recycling businesses are
called the Recycled Organics Processing Industry. The association representing the Recycled Organics Processing
Industry nationally is AORA.
The Recycled Organics Processing Industry uses a wide variety of organic materials to make their products. In addition
to the lawn clippings, cuttings, branches and leaves that are collected from your home they also recover the sludge from
manures, wood waste from the forestry industry, food wastes and many other organic by-products that would otherwise
go to waste. With the right technologies and process controls nearly any organic waste can become a resource.
The Recycled Organics Processing Industry is also developing innovative uses for compost. From liquid compost
extracts (known as ‘compost tea’) that suppress disease in grape vines to compost erosion control ‘blankets’ that prevent
erosion in road cuttings. Even stormwater can be biologically ‘cleaned’ with compost media before being released into
the ocean, as is currently the case at North Steyne Beach in Sydney.
“Improved” sanitation facilities(Improved measurement and monitoring of MDGs in Moldova)
• A composting toilet is a dry toilet into which carbon-rich material (vegetable wastes, straw, grass,
sawdust, ash) are added to the excreta and special conditions maintained to produce inoffensive compost. A
composting latrine may or may not have a urine separation device.
Recovery operations (excluding energy recovery)
Recycling/reclamation of organic substances which are not used as solvents
R3 +
(including composting and other biological transformation processes)

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Scenariu

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Definition –

Why is composting good? –

It reduces the need for commercial soil conditioners and fertilizers.

It provides a supplemental amount of slow-release nutrients.

It increases soil organic matter.

It encourages healthy root structure

It attracts and feeds earthworms and other beneficial soil microorganisms

It helps control soil erosion.

It helps protect plants from drought and freezes.

It helps decreasing use of petrochemical fertilizers.

It moderates soil temperature and reduces weeds when used as a mulch.

What compost provides to farms:

“Improved” sanitation facilities(Improved measurement and monitoring of MDGs in Moldova)

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