Green Waste (green + waste)

Distribution by Scientific Domains


Selected Abstracts


Eradication of Plasmodiophora brassicae during composting of wastes

PLANT PATHOLOGY, Issue 4 2006
L. Fayolle
Survival of infectious inoculum of the clubroot pathogen Plasmodiophora brassicae was assessed following bench-scale flask composting experiments and large-scale composting procedures. Clubroot-affected material was provided by artificial inoculation of Chinese cabbage or naturally infected Brussels sprout and cabbage roots. Both sets of diseased material were used in flask experiments, and the latter in large-scale windrow and aerated tunnel experiments. Municipal green wastes, onion waste and spent mushroom compost were evaluated in flask experiments with varying temperature, aeration and moisture conditions. Green wastes were used in larger-scale composts. Within the limits of a Chinese cabbage seedling bioassay, both temperature and moisture content were critical for eradication of P. brassicae spores extracted from composted clubroot-affected residues. Incubation in compost at 50°C for 7 days or 1 day at 60°C with high moisture levels (= ,5 kPa matric potential or 60% w/w moisture content) eradicated inoculum from artificially inoculated Chinese cabbage roots. In large-scale windrows and aerated tunnels, the pathogen was eradicated from naturally infected brassica wastes after 6,7 days at 54,73°C. [source]


Maximizing resource recovery from waste streams

ENVIRONMENTAL PROGRESS & SUSTAINABLE ENERGY, Issue 4 2003
Tim Grant
Resource conservation and waste management have become two sides of the same argument. According to the Institutefor Local Self Reliance in the US., the recycling revolution begun in the l960s was a reaction "to the levels of waste in our economy and the pollution and suffering these habits cause worldwide" [1,2]. However, the recycling targetsetting of the early 1990s was focused on diversion from landfill, and it has taken another 10 years for the focus to shift back to the resource values approach, driven largely by the application of Life Cycle Assessment to the waste management system. This paper examines materials in the waste stream to determine the "value proposition" in each material group, and to examine options for efficient resource use and recovery. Specifically, it discusses waste management issues associated with clean fill, food waste, timber waste, concrete and bricks, green waste, paper and board, metals, plastics, and glass. [source]


Balancing fertility management and economics in organic field vegetable rotations

JOURNAL OF THE SCIENCE OF FOOD AND AGRICULTURE, Issue 15 2007
Ulrich Schmutz
Abstract BACKGROUND: Organic field-scale vegetables are among the most profitable enterprises in organic farming systems. They are also some of the most nutrient-demanding crops, and many organic arable systems with field-scale vegetables are stockless. Without livestock manure inputs, nutrient supply depends on fertility-building crops, which generate only costs and no income. Different strategies of fertility management were compared on a central England research farm. Fertility management treatments consisted of different lengths of fertility building with green waste compost additions. Outputs and inputs in terms of nutrients and economics were monitored for 31 rotations during 1996,2002. RESULTS: N, P and K rotational nutrient balances, as well as C inputs, showed a negative relationship with rotational gross margins. Variable and allocated fixed costs of fertility building were low, between 2 and 5% of variable costs (£0.5,2 ha,1 for 1 kg N ha,1 supplied to the rotation). The intensity of vegetable cropping in these rotations was moderate (25,40% vegetable crops in the rotation) and balancing of fertility management and economics was possible at this intensity without livestock manure or other permitted fertiliser additions. CONCLUSION: Completely stockless systems (in analogy may be called vegan) are possible in organic vegetable production without compromising on fertility or economics. However, for a higher vegetable-cropping intensity (up to 90%) a more sophisticated mix of short-term fertility-building and N-trapping crops will be needed and such rotations may require further external addition of green waste or livestock manure. Copyright © 2007 Society of Chemical Industry [source]


The development of sustainable earthworm populations at Calvert landfill site, UK

LAND DEGRADATION AND DEVELOPMENT, Issue 1 2004
K. R. Butt
Abstract Earthworms Allolobophora chlorotica and Aporrectodea longa were inoculated into Calvert landfill site in spring 1992, in conjunction with the planting of two tree species Alnus glutinosa and Acer pseudoplatanus. Monitoring has taken place over a period of 11 years. Sampling in 2003 revealed that earthworm distribution no longer equated to the inoculation treatments; the worms had spread extensively. The presence of A. glutinosa had a significant effect (p<0,01) on earthworm number (mean density 198,m,2) and biomass (34,g,m,2) compared to plots where A. pseudoplatanus had been planted and subsequently died (mean density 118,m,2; biomass 21,g,m,2). Results suggest that tree presence may be critical to earthworm community development. In 2002, the spread of A. chlorotica from the original points of inoculation had reached 60,m with the highest recorded population density at 108,m,2 with a mass of 18,6,g,m,2. A. longa was recorded at a distance of 132,m from the nearest point of inoculation with the highest recorded population density at 70,m,2 with a mass of 49,3,g,m,2, 10,m from the original inoculation grid. Other species recorded (and % of total) were Aporrectodea rosea (0,9) Lumbricus castaneus (7,4), Eiseniella tetraedra (21,5) and Lumbricus rubellus (4,5). The two inoculated species, A. chlorotica (40,4) and A. longa (25,3), accounted for two thirds of the earthworms found on site. The highest earthworm community density was 213,m,2 with a mass of 73,9,g,m,2 at 10,m from original point of inoculation. In 1999, treatments of surface organic matter (OM), in the form of composted green waste, and rotavation were applied to non-replicated plots of 50,m2 with the effects on earthworm distribution and abundance recorded in 2002. Addition of OM alone led to an increase in number and mass (331,m,2; 95,g,m,2) compared to the control (233,m,2; 51,g,m,2), while rotavation alone (111,m,2; 36,g,m,2) had a detrimental effect over the given time period. This long-term monitoring programme has demonstrated the development of sustainable earthworm communities on a landfill site. Natural nutrient accumulation and addition of OM on or into the soil-forming material appeared to assist this process. This work may help to inform post-capping treatment at similar landfill sites Copyright © 2004 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd. [source]


Restoration of a Mediterranean Postfire Shrubland: Plant Functional Responses to Organic Soil Amendment

RESTORATION ECOLOGY, Issue 5 2010
Marie Larchevêque
We investigated the potential of plant functional responses to speed up restoration in a postfire ecosystem. The patterns of change in plant nutrient uptake and water potential after compost amendment were monitored for 2 years in a 7-year-old postfire shrubland in southeastern France. We studied four different stress-tolerant species with contrasting life traits: three shrub species and a perennial herb. Three treatments were applied: control, 50 and 100 Mg/ha of fresh cocomposted sewage sludge and green waste. In both compost treatments, concentrations of all the macronutrients increased. The amendment improved N and cation nutrition, but the positive effect of compost on plant nutrient status was most apparent on leaf P concentrations, indicating that P was a limiting nutrient in this shrubland. Compost had no significant short-term effect on trace metal concentrations in plants. The plant nutrition response of different species to the compost varied; the nutritional status of Brachypodium retusum and Cistus albidus improved the most, whereas that of Quercus coccifera and Ulex parviflorus improved the least. Woody species exhibited no increase in N stocks. Phosphorus accumulation was also about three times higher in plots amended at 50 Mg/ha than in control plots for B. retusum and C. albidus. The severe summer drought of 2003 altered the compost effect. Contrary to our expectations, plants on amended plots did not exhibit a better water status in summer: the effect of the summer drought had a greater effect on water status than did the compost treatment. [source]


Eradication of Plasmodiophora brassicae during composting of wastes

PLANT PATHOLOGY, Issue 4 2006
L. Fayolle
Survival of infectious inoculum of the clubroot pathogen Plasmodiophora brassicae was assessed following bench-scale flask composting experiments and large-scale composting procedures. Clubroot-affected material was provided by artificial inoculation of Chinese cabbage or naturally infected Brussels sprout and cabbage roots. Both sets of diseased material were used in flask experiments, and the latter in large-scale windrow and aerated tunnel experiments. Municipal green wastes, onion waste and spent mushroom compost were evaluated in flask experiments with varying temperature, aeration and moisture conditions. Green wastes were used in larger-scale composts. Within the limits of a Chinese cabbage seedling bioassay, both temperature and moisture content were critical for eradication of P. brassicae spores extracted from composted clubroot-affected residues. Incubation in compost at 50°C for 7 days or 1 day at 60°C with high moisture levels (= ,5 kPa matric potential or 60% w/w moisture content) eradicated inoculum from artificially inoculated Chinese cabbage roots. In large-scale windrows and aerated tunnels, the pathogen was eradicated from naturally infected brassica wastes after 6,7 days at 54,73°C. [source]