Recycled Organics Unit

The Recycled Organics Unit has recently completed a study examining the potential greenhouse gas emissions from composting facilities processing garden organics.

The report Greenhouse Gas Emissions from Composting Facilities by the Recycled Organics Unit is now available.

This is the first comprehensive study to be published on the greenhouse impacts of composting facility operations. This study reviews existing literature on greenhouse gas emissions from composting processes, in addition to developing a model to
describe greenhouse gas emissions from composting facilities.

This is an essential report for waste managers and decision and policy makers who need the most up-to-date information in this increasingly relevant and misunderstood area of waste management.

Sources of greenhouse gases are identified and several fallacies surrounding the release of methane and the generation of carbon dioxide from garden organics composting are dispelled. A transparent method for the estimation of greenhouse gases is identified - incorporating emissions from the receival of feedstock at a composting facility gate to the application of the end-product onto agricultural land.