Food waste composting: Its use as a peat replacement |
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| Authors: | M Farrell DL Jones |
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| Institution: | 1. Department of Horticultural Sciences, Texas A&M University, College Station, TX, 77843, USA;2. Texas A&M University Agricultural Research and Extension Center, El Paso, TX, 79927, USA;3. Department of Soil and Crop Sciences, Texas A&M University, College Station, TX, 77843, USA;4. Department of Horticultural Sciences, Texas A&M AgriLife Extension Service, College Station, TX, 77843, USA;1. Bioseparation Research Group, University of Nottingham Malaysia Campus, 43500 Semenyih, Selangor, Malaysia;2. Department of Chemical and Environmental Engineering, Faculty of Engineering, University of Nottingham Malaysia Campus, 43500 Semenyih, Selangor, Malaysia;3. Department of Mechanical Engineering, Faculty of Engineering, University of Malaya, 50603 Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia;4. Department of Applied Mathematics, Faculty of Engineering, University of Nottingham Malaysia Campus, 43500 Semenyih, Selangor, Malaysia;5. Institute of Biological Sciences, University of Malaya, 50603 Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia;6. College of Food Science and Technology, Nanjing Agricultural University, 1 Weigang Road, Nanjing, Jiangsu 210095, China;1. Department of Agrifood Production and Environmental Sciences, University of Florence, P.le delle Cascine 18, 50144, Florence, Italy;2. Department of Biology, University of Florence, v. Micheli 1, 50121, Florence, Italy;3. National Council of Research, Institute for Ecosystems Study (CNR-ISE), via. Moruzzi 1, 56124, Pisa, Italy;4. University of Pisa, Department of Energy, Systems, Territory and Construction Engineering, v. Gabba 22, 56122, Pisa, Italy;5. Agri Vivai s.r.l., v. Casalina, 118G, 51100, Pistoia, Italy |
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| Abstract: | We successfully co-composted catering waste with green waste and shredded paper to yield two high-nitrogen composts for use in horticulture. Sunflowers (Helianthus annuus L.) were grown in various mixtures of the compost and a commercially available peat-based compost to assess the efficacy of catering waste-based composts for peat replacement. Height, head diameter, seed mass and above-ground biomass were measured, with all mixtures giving a significant increase in yield or size over the commercially available peat-free control compost. We conclude that differences in physical structure governed sunflower growth over substrate chemistry, and none of the compost mixtures were nutrient deficient. We recommend that catering waste co-compost can be substituted to at least 75% within Sphagnum-based traditional growing media, providing a viable replacement for a large proportion of peat used as a growth medium in the horticulture industry. Our catering waste compost yielded similar seed head, seed mass and above-ground biomass values to 100% peat-based compost in all food waste compost blends tested in this study. |
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