Definition of Composting

Definition of Composting / What's Compost

Composting, often described as nature’s way of recycling, is the biological process of breaking up of organic waste such as food waste, manure, leaves, grass trimmings, paper, worms, and coffee grounds, etc., into an extremely useful humus-like substance by various micro-organisms including bacteria, fungi and actinomycetes in the presence of oxygen.

Actinomycetes are similar to fungus in the way they grow and spread, but its distinguishing elements are that the types of materials they are efficient at decomposing. The active nature in this microscopic bacteria and the sheer number present (about 10 million per 1 gram of soil), make them highly effective at breaking down materials like tree bark, newspaper, and other hard organic material.

Today, the use of composting to turn organic wastes into a valuable resource is expanding rapidly in many countries, as landfill space becomes scarce and expensive, and as people become more aware of the impact they have on the environment.

Definition of Composting / A Natural Cycle

Decomposition naturally happens almost everywhere even without exerting too much effort because nature has been generating compost as an element to the Earth’s life and death cycle, but without the perfect mixture, and ingredients, the process slows down and may eventually result to unpleasant compost.

All organic matter will decompose, given enough time to devolve and perish. Nevertheless, not all products come out perfect for planting. There are important factors to consider such as temperature, the biological process, and the mechanical process.

Low temperature interrupts the composting progress, as it cannot reach the temperature hot enough to kill pathogens. It eventually disallows the booming of decomposers and microbes. However, bacteria performs exothermic actions as they help in the process of decomposition, so it helps the temperature to become higher than that of the environment where decomposition takes place, but a cold weather still slows down the progress.

A hot temperature stimulates the microbes to flourish even faster.

Definition of Composting / The Human Factor

The help of humans is necessary for the mechanical process to take place. Non-biodegradable should be separated from the biodegradable matters. Biodegradable matter that has a lot of pathogens living in it should be in a hotter environment when the decomposition takes place.

These pathogens usually live in manure of a living organism that is not a vegetarian. Scraps of animal meat and dairy products have a lot of pathogens living in it too.

The biological process is the very important part of the decomposition procedure. As nature conceives decomposition, it will shorten the process if the combination is right.

Water, nitrogen, carbon, and oxygen all together is a perfect mixture to combine with organic matter to materialize the process of decomposition. This procedure will result to productions of compost which will eventually help the soil become healthy for planting.

Sources

http://www.epa.gov/osw/conserve/rrr/composting/index.htm
http://www.epa.gov/osw/conserve/rrr/composting/questions.htm
http://www.epa.gov/osw/conserve/rrr/composting/benefits.htm

Thank you for visiting the Definition of Composting page.

For more information on composting follow these links:

How Does Composting Work

Anaerobic Composting

Types of Composting

Composting Techniques

Commercial Composting

Composting Newspaper