What Is the Best End Use for Compost Derived from the Organic Fraction of Municipal Solid Waste?

There is increasing interest in diverting the organic fraction of municipal solid waste from landfills to biological treatment processes that result in compost. Due to variations in compost quality and available markets, it is not always possible for compost to be beneficially used on soil. In such cases, compost may be used as alternative daily cover (ADC) in landfills. The objective of this study is to compare the environmental impacts of using compost as a soil amendment, accounting for its beneficial substitutions for fertilizer and peat, to its use as ADC. Monte Carlo simulation and parametric sensitivity analyses were performed to evaluate the effects of uncertainty in input values on the environmental performance. The ADC scenario outperforms the soil amendment scenario in terms of global warming potential, acidification, and eutrophication in similar to 63, similar to 77, and similar to 100% of simulations, respectively, while the soil amendment scenario is better in terms of cumulative energy demand and abiotic resource depletion potential similar to 94 and similar to 96% of the time, respectively. Therefore, we recommend that using compost as ADC be considered, especially when site-specific factors such as feedstock contamination or a lack of markets make it difficult to find appropriate applications for compost as a soil amendment.

Automated summary

This study compares the environmental impacts of using compost as a soil amendment to using it as alternative daily cover (ADC) in landfills. The results show that the ADC scenario outperforms the soil amendment scenario in terms of global warming potential, acidification, and eutrophication, while the soil amendment scenario performs better in cumulative energy demand and abiotic resource depletion potential.