Drawbacks of composting by-products are cost for site preparation and equipment, the lengthy treatment period, targeting final use of compost product, and environmental issues such as odors and dust. Some investment in equipment and site preparation is required or recommended.
If a compost pile is anaerobic, there are more serious consequences than the stench. When a pile doesn't have oxygen, it emits methane, a harmful greenhouse gas, according to the United States Composting Council. This is one of the reasons why landfills harm the environment.
Benefits of Composting
Organic waste in landfills generates, methane, a potent greenhouse gas. By composting wasted food and other organics, methane emissions are significantly reduced. Compost reduces and in some cases eliminates the need for chemical fertilizers. Compost promotes higher yields of agricultural crops.
A disadvantage of composting is that some of the ammonia-nitrogen will be lost as a gas. Alone, compost may not adequately supply sufficient nutrients—particularly nitrogen during rapid growth phases of crops with high nutrient demands (e.g., watermelon, tomato, and pepper at fruiting) (Tyson and Cabrera, 1993).
Composting, on the other hand, mimics nature's method of decomposition, allowing organic material to break down aerobically. Thus, composting greatly reduces our overall waste being sent to landfills, and also cuts greenhouse gas emissions.
While compost provides nutrients for the plant to thrive, it also has other qualities that help improve the soil conditions. Particles of humus derived from compost have a negative charge while most of the nutrients plants need carry a positive charge.
Soils with excessive compost applications, particularly manure, tend to develop high concentrations of nutrients such as ammonium, calcium, magnesium, potassium and sodium. These soils can also develop high concentrations of bicarbonates, carbonates and hydroxyls.
Dairy, Oils, and Fats
Dairy products like milk, sour cream, yogurt, cheese, and butter should not be composted because they also attract pests. The same goes for oils and fats. Processed foods that contain a lot of dairy or fat should also be left out.
Composting the Wrong Materials
Animal waste and soiled diapers aren't good either because they aren't sanitary and can cause diseases. Also, avoid grass clippings from areas treated with weed killers or sawdust from treated wood. They could add chemicals to the pile that may later harm your garden plants.
Let's start with the one most likely to cause a setback: costs. Recycling, while beneficial in solid waste reduction, is not cheap. Additional labor, transport and production go into recycling, costing cities and waste management companies money. As a result, recycled products often cost more to consumers.
In addition, composting lowers greenhouse gases by improving carbon sequestration in the soil and by preventing methane emissions through aerobic decomposition, as methane-producing microbes are not active in the presence of oxygen.
All material from the compost vessels is sent to the screening room. The compost is then screened for non-compostable materials like plastic, metal, large objects etc. that will be taken to landfill. This helps to remove contaminants in order to produce top quality compost.
Composting significantly cuts down on the amount of trash in a landfill and reduces the costs and carbon emissions it takes to haul and process those materials. Meanwhile, the valuable nutrients in your compostable materials make composting a favorable alternative to shipping your organic waste to a landfill.
As nouns, the difference between disadvantage and advantage is that disadvantage is a weakness or undesirable characteristic; a con while the advantage is any condition, circumstance, opportunity, or means, particularly favorable to success, or any desired end.
One of the biggest problems surrounding compostable plastic is the problem of cross-contamination. Products are recycled in material recovery facilities, which use optical technology to view and sort waste. If compostables enter the recycling stream, they can contaminate the batch and make it impossible to process.
It's Often Unpleasant, With a Low Nutrient Profile
For instance, at the process of degradation, the rotting smell of the organic ingredients can be very unpleasant. Furthermore, the nutrients in organic wastes often have complexes in structure and the nutrient level is often very low.
Compost can burn your plants if you add too much compost, the compost has not sufficiently matured, or the compost contains high levels of animal manure. If the nutrients in the compost are too concentrated, it can burn the plant's roots or the tender stems of seedlings, causing the plants to die.