The Composting Handbook
A how-to and why manual for farm, municipal, institutional and commercial composters
Edited by :
Robert Rynk, Professor Emeritus, Cobleskill College of Agriculture and Technology, State University of New York, USA
Ginny Black, Compost Research and Education Foundation (CREF) and Minnesota Composting Council (MNCC), USA
Jane Gilbert, Carbon Clarity, Ltd., Rushden, Northamptonshire, UK
Johannes Biala, Centre for Recycling of Organic Waste & Nutrients (CROWN), The University of Queensland, Australia
Jean Bonhotal, Cornell Waste Management Institute, Cornell University, Ithaca, New York, USA
Mary Schwarz, Cornell Waste Management Institute, Cornell University, Ithaca, New York, USA
Leslie Cooperband, Ph.D., Founder and Co-Owner of Prairie Fruits Farm & Creamery, Former Professor Soil Science, University of Wisconsin Madison, WI, USA
Through a collaboration with the Compost Research & Education Foundation (CREF) and the publisher Elsevier, the just-published book, The Composting Handbook, is available in both paperback and electronic versions. As the much-expanded sequel to the On-Farm Composting Handbook, this book is the authoritative, all-in-one guide to composting principles and practices for commercial-scale composting.
KEY FEATURES
- Provides the first comprehensive resource in decades including the latest information on compost science and compost methods, with a focus on both academic and practical insights and advances.
- Written for the composting community by the composting community by a diverse group of authors with broad-ranging backgrounds, from academic scientists to compost producers and users
- 1002 pages and hundreds of full-color illustrations and photographs
DESCRIPTION
The Composting Handbook is the single guide to the latest science, principles and best practices for composting for farm and large-scale commercial composting operations. It provides insights on variety of opportunities and challenges for converting raw organic materials into a useful and marketable product.
The Composting Handbook expands on previously available resources by incorporating new information, new subjects and new practices, drawing its content from current scientific principles, research, engineering and industry experience. In both depth and breadth, it covers the knowledge that a educators and compost producer need. Topics include the composting process, methods of composting, equipment, site requirements, environmental issues and impacts, business knowledge, safety, and the qualities, uses and markets for the compost products and more.
The Composting Handbook is an invaluable reference for composting facility managers and operators, prospective managers and operators, regulators, policy makers, environmental advocates, educators, waste generators and managers and generally people interested in composting as a business or a solution to managing organic materials. It is an appropriate textbook for college courses and a supplemental text for training courses about composting or organic waste management.
Table of Contents
1. Why Compost?
2. Enterprise Planning
3. The Composting Process
4. Composting Feedstocks
5. Passively Aerated Composting Methods, Including Turned Windrows
6. Forced-Aeration Composting, Aerated Static Pile and Similar Methods
7. Contained and In-vessel Composting Methods and Methods Summary
8. Composting Animal Mortalities
9. Compost Operations and Equipment
10. Site Planning, Development and Environmental Protection
11. Process Management
12. Odor Management and Community Relations
13. Safety and Health Principles and Practices for Composting Facilities
14. Facility Management
15. Compost Characteristics and Quality
16. Compost Use
17. Compost Use for Disease Suppression
18. Compost Marketing and Sales
19. Composting Economics