Open Access
Quality assessment of composts officially registered as organic fertilisers in Spain
(Instituto Nacional de Investigación y Tecnología Agraria y Alimentaria (INIA), 2019) Puyuelo, Belén; Sánchez Arizmendiarrieta, Joseba; Irigoyen Iriarte, Ignacio; Plana, Ramón; Agronomía, Biotecnología y Alimentación; Agronomia, Bioteknologia eta Elikadura; Gobierno de Navarra / Nafarroako Gobernua
Composting of organic wastes is a management strategy linked to circular economy models through the transformation of these wastes into an organic product, compost, which can be used as fertiliser, soil amendment or growing media. However, the concept of ‘compost quality' is not enough defined to take a technical decision about which is its best use or application. In the last decade, different guidelines and regulations about organic fertilisers have been developed. For instance, in Spain the Fertilisers Regulation categorises compost under five kinds according to the raw materials used - organic amendment compost (OaC), manure compost (MaC), green compost (GrC), vermicompost (VC), ‘alperujo' compost (AlC) -, and under three quality levels (A, B or C) depending exclusively on the heavy metals content. This work analyses the national database of all composts (307) marketed in Spain, considering the analytical parameters declared, with the objective of proposing a methodology to define a global quality index. For this assessment, two indicators are employed: a fertility indicator, related to the nutrients content, and a clean indicator, related to the heavy metals content. Results show an average compost formulation 2.5:2.5:2.5 (N:P 2 O 5 :K 2 O). MaC and OaC present the highest fertility indicator, whereas VC the lowest. Regarding the clean indicator, GrC, MaC and VC are cleaner than OaC. In the future, this new quality assessment should be completed by including other indicators related to physical and biological characteristic (e.g. porosity, stability/maturity, phytotoxicity) that could determine the most proper use of compost.
Open Access
Integrated biowaste management by composting at a university campus: process monitoring and quality assessment
(MDPI, 2025-03-07) Álvarez-Alonso, Cristina; Pérez-Murcia, María Dolores; Martínez-Sabater, Encarnación; Irigoyen Iriarte, Ignacio; Sánchez Arizmendiarrieta, Joseba; Plana, Ramón; López, Marga; Nogués, Isabel; Bustamante, María Ángeles; Agronomía, Biotecnología y Alimentación; Agronomia, Bioteknologia eta Elikadura; Institute for Multidisciplinary Research in Applied Biology - IMAB
The sustainable management of biowaste, mainly food and pruning waste, is currently a challenge due to the increase in its production. The CaMPuSTAJE program, which has been implemented on the campus of the Public University of Navarre (UPNA) since 2019, is an excellent example of how the institution is addressing its strategic interests in sustainable waste management. The principal aim of this program is to manage the biowastes generated by the campus canteens through a simple community composting facility, involving UPNA students and graduates. This program aims to promote experiential learning and applied research in sustainability and circular economy, managing their own waste in a circular and local way. Thus, four composting sets of the CaMPuSTAJE program were evaluated by monitoring the process and the main chemical properties of the composting samples. Also, final composts were fully characterized to ensure the process reproducibility and efficiency and the absence of any hazard in the end-products. The final composts showed a significant agronomic quality, had low content of potentially toxic elements, and were free from phytotoxicity, thus being able to be reintroduced as an organic amendment at the university campus itself.
Open Access
Business models of composting for a circular economy
(Elsevier, 2022-09-16) Mihai, Florin Constantin; Plana, Ramón; Sánchez Arizmendiarrieta, Joseba; Irigoyen Iriarte, Ignacio; Agronomía, Biotecnología y Alimentación; Agronomia, Bioteknologia eta Elikadura
A linear economy based on the “take-make-use-dispose” model disregards the role of composting in bio-waste diversion from landfills or dumpsites with repercussions to human settlements and the natural environment. Bio-waste is a key fraction of municipal solid waste and agricultural waste flows which must be properly managed under the “zero-waste” scenario promoted by the circular economy framework. This chapter argues the role of composting as a sound circular mechanism in bio-waste management. Best practices from Spain and Romania are revealed through cost-efficient and innovative projects which integrate the composting, multi-stakeholders cooperation (local authorities, waste operators, Non-Governmental Organizations, researchers, consultants, citizens, etc) business opportunities, and social inclusion (vulnerable individuals and marginalized communities) in line with circular economy principles. Examples from urban, rural and touristic regions show how composting could play a catalyzing role in human, natural, and economical regeneration of communities which could be further adjusted to other territories of the world to support the transition towards the circular economy.
Open Access
El compostaje descentralizado de los desechos de cocina como herramienta agroecológica: influencia de las políticas públicas en la comarca de Sakana (Navarra)
(Sociedad Española de Agricultura Ecológica (SEAE), 2017-06-01) Sánchez Arizmendiarrieta, Joseba; Iso Tinoco, Andoni; Irigoyen Iriarte, Ignacio; Plana, Ramón; Sociología; Soziologia; Producción Agraria; Nekazaritza Ekoizpena
Se muestra la exitosa experiencia de ayuntamientos navarros que trasforman mediante compostaje in situ los desechos orgánicos generados por su población en un recurso local al servicio de la agroecología.

Irigoyen Iriarte, Ignacio

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