Green waste, also known as "biological waste", is any

organic Organic may refer to: * Organic, of or relating to an organism, a living entity * Organic, of or relating to an anatomical organ Chemistry * Organic matter, matter that has come from a once-living organism, is capable of decay or is the product ...

waste that can be

compost Compost is a mixture of ingredients used as plant fertilizer and to improve soil's physical, chemical and biological properties. It is commonly prepared by decomposing plant, food waste, recycling organic materials and manure. The resulting ...

ed. It is most usually composed of refuse from gardens such as grass clippings or leaves, and domestic or industrial kitchen wastes. Green waste does not include things such as dried leaves, pine straw, or hay. Such materials are rich in

carbon Carbon () is a chemical element with the symbol C and atomic number 6. It is nonmetallic and tetravalent—its atom making four electrons available to form covalent chemical bonds. It belongs to group 14 of the periodic table. Carbon ma ...

and considered "

brown waste Brown waste is any biodegradable waste that is predominantly carbon based. The term includes such items as grass cuttings, dry leaves, twigs, hay, paper, sawdust, corn cobs, cardboard, pine needles or cones, etc. Carbon is necessary to composti ...

s," while green wastes contain high in concentrations of

nitrogen Nitrogen is the chemical element with the symbol N and atomic number 7. Nitrogen is a nonmetal and the lightest member of group 15 of the periodic table, often called the pnictogens. It is a common element in the universe, estimated at se ...

. Green waste can be used to increase the efficiency of many composting operations and can be added to soil to sustain local nutrient cycling.

Collection of green waste

Green waste can be collected via

municipal A municipality is usually a single administrative division having corporate status and powers of self-government or jurisdiction as granted by national and regional laws to which it is subordinate. The term ''municipality'' may also mean the ...

curbside collection Kerbside collection or curbside collection is a service provided to households, typically in urban and suburban areas, of collecting and disposing of household waste and recyclables. It is usually accomplished by personnel using specially built ...

schemes or through private

waste management Waste management or waste disposal includes the processes and actions required to manage waste from its inception to its final disposal. This includes the collection, transport, treatment and disposal of waste, together with monitorin ...

businesses. Many communities, especially in the United Kingdom, have initiated green waste recycling and collection programs in order to decrease the amount of biodegradable materials in landfills. Communities are provided with, or can provide their own, compost receptacles that they fill with plant and food remains, which are then emptied on a regular basis. Programs such as this allow communities to be an active part of composting their green waste which allows them to play an active role in decreasing the amount of food being dumped into local and regional landfills. Compost_bin_image

Uses

Green waste can be used to improve the quality and sustainability of industrially manufactured topsoils and the sanitariness and efficiency of

sewage disposal Sewage treatment (or domestic wastewater treatment, municipal wastewater treatment) is a type of wastewater treatment which aims to remove contaminants from sewage to produce an effluent that is suitable for discharge to the surrounding envi ...

Manufactured topsoils

Green waste is an integral part of many manufactured topsoils, as it provides both nutrients for growing plants and increases the volume of manufactured topsoils. Its woody components do not decompose quickly, so they provide the bulk that is necessary for supplementary topsoils. Mixing industrial wastes such as

fly ash Fly ash, flue ash, coal ash, or pulverised fuel ash (in the UK) plurale tantum: coal combustion residuals (CCRs)is a coal combustion product that is composed of the particulates (fine particles of burned fuel) that are driven out of coal-fired ...

or coal dust with green waste to create artificial topsoil not only facilitates the

repurposing Repurposing is the process by which an object with one use value is transformed or redeployed as an object with an alternative use value. Description Repurposing is as old as human civilization, with many contemporary scholars investigating tha ...

of industrial debris and keeps it out of landfills, but it also allows the nutrients in green waste materials to be cycled back into the environment. By utilizing fly ash in conjunction with green waste, manufactured soils are able to increase their water holding capacity while simultaneously recycling refuse materials that might otherwise take up space in a landfill. This allows fly ash and green waste to increase local soil nutrient levels and promotes natural nutrient cycling processes.

Sewage disposal

Green waste can also be mixed with sewage wastes and composted, providing a safe, environmentally sustainable option for sewage disposal. Co-composting green and sewage wastes eliminates the risk that

pathogen In biology, a pathogen ( el, πάθος, "suffering", "passion" and , "producer of") in the oldest and broadest sense, is any organism or agent that can produce disease. A pathogen may also be referred to as an infectious agent, or simply a g ...

s and

pollutant A pollutant or novel entity is a substance or energy introduced into the environment that has undesired effects, or adversely affects the usefulness of a resource. These can be both naturally forming (i.e. minerals or extracted compounds like o ...

s contained in sewage wastes might pose to the environment. Utilization of green waste to dispose of sewage wastes not only decreases the amount of sewage

incinerated Incineration is a waste treatment process that involves the combustion of substances contained in waste materials. Industrial plants for waste incineration are commonly referred to as waste-to-energy facilities. Incineration and other high ...

and dumped each year, it also facilitates the cycling of organic wastes back into the environment. The co-composted remains of these organic wastes can be safely employed for use in

agriculture Agriculture or farming is the practice of cultivating plants and livestock. Agriculture was the key development in the rise of sedentary human civilization, whereby farming of domesticated species created food surpluses that enabled people ...

. This process decreases the amount of trash being dumped into landfills and other trash repositories and allows for the complete cycling of organic nutrients through the environment.

Renewable energy

Biogas captured from biodegradable green waste can be used as

biofuel Biofuel is a fuel that is produced over a short time span from biomass, rather than by the very slow natural processes involved in the formation of fossil fuels, such as oil. According to the United States Energy Information Administration ...

. Green waste can be composed of non-food crops, which decompose to produce cellulosic ethanol. It can also help reduce the necessity of petroleum gases, which produce large amounts of

greenhouse gas A greenhouse gas (GHG or GhG) is a gas that absorbs and emits radiant energy within the thermal infrared range, causing the greenhouse effect. The primary greenhouse gases in Earth's atmosphere are water vapor (), carbon dioxide (), methane ...

es, such as

carbon dioxide Carbon dioxide ( chemical formula ) is a chemical compound made up of molecules that each have one carbon atom covalently double bonded to two oxygen atoms. It is found in the gas state at room temperature. In the air, carbon dioxide is t ...

, when burned.

Soil health

Green waste composting has also been linked to suppression of soil borne diseases such as damping off and

root rot Root rot is a condition in which anoxic conditions in the soil or potting media around the roots of a plant cause them to rot. This occurs due to excessive standing water around the roots. It is found in both indoor and outdoor plants, although ...

s that affect large agricultural and horticultural ventures like

greenhouse A greenhouse (also called a glasshouse, or, if with sufficient heating, a hothouse) is a structure with walls and roof made chiefly of transparent material, such as glass, in which plants requiring regulated climatic conditions are grown.These ...

s and large-scale farms. This disease suppressive quality has positive implications for lesser-developed nations that do not have the technology or resources to purchase expensive

fertilizer A fertilizer (American English) or fertiliser (British English; see spelling differences) is any material of natural or synthetic origin that is applied to soil or to plant tissues to supply plant nutrients. Fertilizers may be distinct from ...

s. Addition of composts that contain residues and particles of

heavy metals upright=1.2, Crystals of osmium, a heavy metal nearly twice as dense as lead">lead.html" ;"title="osmium, a heavy metal nearly twice as dense as lead">osmium, a heavy metal nearly twice as dense as lead Heavy metals are generally defined as ...

to soil can raise the soil's heavy metal content and increase the probability of these metals to transfer into crop plants. When biological, or green waste is added to these soil samples, plant uptake of heavy metal has been shown to decrease crop uptake of metals compared to other types of compost composed of things such as sewage sludge. This can protect consumers and the environment from biomagnification caused by long-term

accumulation Accumulation may refer to: Finance * Accumulation function, a mathematical function defined in terms of the ratio future value to present value * Capital accumulation, the gathering of objects of value Science and engineering * Accumulate (highe ...

of heavy metal particles within the soil and plant life of an area.

References

{{Waste Biodegradable waste management Waste