Open Access
Municipal solid waste management in a decentralized composting scenario: assessment of the process reproducibility and quality of the obtained composts
(MDPI, 2024) Álvarez-Alonso, Cristina; Pérez-Murcia, María Dolores; Sánchez-Méndez, Silvia; Martínez-Sabater, Encarnación; Irigoyen Iriarte, Ignacio; López, Marga; Nogués, Isabel; Paredes, Concepción; Orden, Luciano; García-Rández, Ana; Bustamante, María Ángeles; Agronomía, Biotecnología y Alimentación; Agronomia, Bioteknologia eta Elikadura; Institute for Multidisciplinary Research in Applied Biology - IMAB
Over the last several years, the models for organic waste management have changed to implement circular economy in the productive cycle. In this context, new scenarios have emerged, where the management of different organic waste streams by composting is conducted with decentralized models that manage organic wastes in a more local way. However, in these new models, the standardization of the process control and of the end-product characteristics is necessary to guarantee the quality and agronomic value of the compost obtained, avoiding potential risks for human health and the environment. Thus, the aim of this work was to study two different scenarios of community composting of the organic fraction of municipal solid waste separately collected in order to guarantee the effectiveness and reproducibility of the composting processes and the quality of the composts obtained. For this, the development of the process and the characteristics of the composts at agronomic, hygienic–sanitary and environmental levels were assessed in real conditions and during three cycles of the process. The results obtained show high similarity among the different composting cycles, indicating an important degree of reproducibility among the processes. In addition, the composts obtained showed a good sanitary quality, absence of phytotoxicity and low contents of potentially toxic elements, which guarantee their use in agriculture without posing any risk to human health and to the environment.
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
Addressing the gaseous and odour emissions gap in decentralised biowaste community composting
(Elsevier, 2024) González, Daniel; Barrena, Raquel; Moral-Vico, Javier; Irigoyen Iriarte, Ignacio; Sánchez, Antoni; Agronomía, Biotecnología y Alimentación; Agronomia, Bioteknologia eta Elikadura
Composting has demonstrated to be an effective and sustainable technology to valorise organic waste in the framework of circular economy, especially for biowaste. Composting can be performed in various technological options, from full-scale plants to community or even individual composters. However, there is scarce scientific information about the potential impact of community composting referred to gaseous emissions. This work examines the emissions of methane and nitrous oxide as main GHG, ammonia, VOC and odours from different active community composting sites placed in Spain, treating kitchen, leftovers and household biowaste. Expectedly, the gaseous emissions have an evident relation with the composting progress, represented mainly by its decrease as temperature or biological activity decreases. GHG and odour emission rates ranged from 5.3 to 815.2 mg CO2eq d-1 kg-1VS and from 69.8 to 1088.5 ou d-1 kg-1VS, respectively, generally being lower than those find in open-air full-scale composting. VOC characterization from the community composting gaseous emissions showed a higher VOC families’ distribution in the emissions from initial composting phases, even though terpenes such as limonene, α-pinene and β-pinene were the most abundant VOC along the composting process occurring in the different sites studied. The results presented in this study can be the basis to evaluate systematically and scientifically the numerous current projects for a worldwide community composting implementation in decentralised biowaste management schemes.

Irigoyen Iriarte, Ignacio

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