There are plenty of factors both in support of and against composting green waste. It is essential that you understand them in advance of taking action. This information is designed to notify you about some of the important pros and cons involving composting green waste to reduce the amount of waste sent to landfill, and produce a soil improver to be used by gardeners. It will be important to you to recognize these to be able to make the best final choice for you. After renovating your house, doing a general clean-up, or finishing a community project, you probably have a lot of things for green waste disposal.
Advantages: Arguments in favor of municipal composting of green waste:
1. We all dislike landfills, especially when one is proposed to be developed anywhere near our homes
if our local waste collection company takes our garden waste, and the parks waste to a composting plant instead of taking it to be dumped in a landfill, we will need fewer landfills.
2. For many years in many countries such as the UK, peat with added fertiliser produced from fossil fuels has been sold in garden centres as a potting compost and for vegetables and general garden and flower bed use. This means that peat has to be extracted from ancient peat bogs which are becoming rarer as habitats for many species not found anywhere else. The compost from green waste can be used instead of this peat based material, which should help save the peat bogs and the wildlife which depend upon them.
Another good reason for composting green waste to reduce the amount of waste sent to landfill, and produce a soil improver to be used by gardeners is that the compost is also better for our gardens because it releases its nutrients much more gradually and over a longer period than the peat based equivalent. It also has very good water retention properties. This provides the extra advantage of reduced water consumption id needed for garden watering in dry weather, that’ll prevent making the mistake of gardeners consuming so much water in summer that garden hose pipe bans have to be imposed by the water companies.
3. Diverting green waste away from landfills removes a heavily organic and therefore also potentially highly polluting constituent of landfills, which will help to make the landfills less unpleasantly smelly while being filled and less dangerous to the environment once they have been filled.
Then there’s also the reduction in void volume which is also saved, and which will extend the life of existing landfills which would otherwise have taken this material. That is certainly very important as it might mean that there is no need for a new landfill to be built near you, as well as saving money needed to be spent from the local rates bill for the development of a new landfill. Should you take that into mind, then it seems sensible to composting green waste to reduce the amount of waste sent to landfill, and produce a soil improver to be used by gardeners.
The points above show the positive aspects of municipal composting of green waste. There exists a bad side as well. Here’s a discussion of some of the downsides.
Negatives: Factors against municipal composting of green waste:
1. If run badly composting sites can be very smelly
If you ever smelt a badly run municipal facility for the composting of green waste you will know that it can be quite unpleasant, that might produce the effect of a very smelly and very bad neighbour to have to put up with. That is clearly not a good thing. It could be enough reason for avoiding doing it at all, except there is no need for the odour if the compost facility operator complies with best practice guidance. If the odour is bad, the environmental regulator can impose heavy fines and if necessary close the facility down.
2. Green waste compost is heavier than peat, which is not a good thing for older and infirm gardeners, and these people might be more likely to strain their muscles handling it.
3. It actually costs a lot of money to carry out municipal green waste collection and treatment, especially if there is an excess of compost produced which exceeds demand as their may be very little revenue from selling the compost, once the market becomes saturated.
A final justification in avoiding municipal composting of green waste is unless it is done really well, plant seeds can remain in the compost and grow in the garden where it is used. Everyone ought to consider this point very carefully, because it could lead straight to compost produced in the end still being sent to landfill if your waste management officers opt to compost green waste to reduce the amount of waste sent to landfill, and produce a soil improver to be used by gardeners despite being unable to sell the product.
That is it, the various pros and cons of municipal composting of green waste. It may not be what’s right for everyone, but it’s certainly acceptable for a lot of us. And so, you may want to carefully assess the above information and comparisons. You will then be able to make an optimal decision in accordance with the info offered here in this article.
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