Hiroshan Hettiarachchi Serena Caucci Kai Schwärzel Editors Organic Waste Composting through Nexus Thinking Practices, Policies, and Trends Organic Waste Composting through Nexus Thinking Hiroshan Hettiarachchi • Serena Caucci Kai Schwärzel Editors Organic Waste Composting through Nexus Thinking Practices, Policies, and Trends Editors Hiroshan Hettiarachchi Serena Caucci United Nations University United Nations University (UNU-FLORES) (UNU-FLORES) Dresden, Sachsen, Germany Dresden, Sachsen, Germany Kai Schwärzel Thünen Institute of Forest Systems Eberswalde, Germany ISBN 978-3-030-36282-9 ISBN 978-3-030-36283-6 (eBook) https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-030-36283-6 © The Editor(s) (if applicable) and The Author(s) 2020. This book is an open access publication. The opinions expressed in this publication are those of the authors/editors and do not necessarily reflect the views of the United Nations University Institute for Integrated Management of Material Fluxes and of Resources (UNU-FLORES), its Board of Directors, or the countries they represent. Open Access This book is licensed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution 3.0 IGO license (https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/3.0/igo/), which permits use, sharing, adaptation, distribution and reproduction in any medium or format, as long as you give appropriate credit to the United Nations University Institute for Integrated Management of Material Fluxes and of Resources (UNU-FLORES), provide a link to the Creative Commons license and indicate if changes were made. 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The images or other third party material in this book are included in the book’s Creative Commons license, unless indicated otherwise in a credit line to the material. If material is not included in the book’s Creative Commons license and your intended use is not permitted by statutory regulation or exceeds the permitted use, you will need to obtain permission directly from the copyright holder. The use of general descriptive names, registered names, trademarks, service marks, etc. in this publication does not imply, even in the absence of a specific statement, that such names are exempt from the relevant protective laws and regulations and therefore free for general use. The publisher, the authors and the editors are safe to assume that the advice and information in this book are believed to be true and accurate at the date of publication. Neither the publisher nor the authors or the editors give a warranty, expressed or implied, with respect to the material contained herein or for any errors or omissions that may have been made. The publisher remains neutral with regard to jurisdictional claims in published maps and institutional affiliations. Cover illustration: IBICOL SAS Organic Waste Composting Facility in Colombia Source: Photo taken by Hiroshan Hettiarachchi in November 2018 This Springer imprint is published by the registered company Springer Nature Switzerland AG The registered company address is: Gewerbestrasse 11, 6330 Cham, Switzerland Preface Composting is not a new topic; there is already plenty of literature in the public domain. However, despite how convincing it is as a concept, the practical imple- mentation of composting has not realized its full potential. Massive amounts of food waste and other organic materials that end up in landfills (and waste dumps) become a source of greenhouse gas emissions, rather than a source of nutrients needed for soil. Although it looks fitting in the big picture, the demand and supply theory does not seem to be working for the composting industry yet. The reasons behind this discrepancy are more social-related and policy-related than of engineering or the sciences. The above reasons moved us to publish this book as we believe that nexus think- ing can help us act differently. With this book, we want to present a cross-sectoral perspective of compost. But the process was not easy. We hit the same “silo- thinking” roadblock when we started looking for eligible sample case studies from around the world: most of the initial cases we considered were written from one angle, either from the soil/agriculture or waste perspective. Our explanations on nexus thinking and the close interactions we developed with potential authors did not go in vain: the majority understood it right away. We must honestly admit that a few refused to understand it. We, as editors, learned a lot about what our general audience might not understand easily, and that led us to think about a special intro- ductory chapter (Chap. 1), where we explain the relevance of nexus thinking to compost and introduce what each subsequent chapter has to offer in this respect. Promoting the integrated management of water, soil, and waste through nexus thinking is the main mandate of the United Nations University Institute for Integrated Management of Material Fluxes and of Resources (UNU-FLORES). To illustrate the benefits of such a higher-level integration of resource management, it is essen- tial for us to find examples that are simple in nature but powerful in the delivery of the key message. The case studies presented in this book will help us in this regard, as organic waste composting is one of the best examples that can demonstrate the power and benefits of nexus thinking. From the waste management point of view, it is a great example of recycling of nutrients; from the soil/agriculture point of view, it is a great way of enriching the quality of soil. Although it might not offer any v vi Preface direct impact for water management, the ability of compost to increase water reten- tion capacity can also lead to savings on water needed for irrigation. Composting is not an error-free technology: composting should not be misinter- preted as a blank check. There is an inherent health risk associated with composting, especially when the raw material is not limited to kitchen or agricultural waste any- more, as it used to be a century ago. Due to the changes of anthropogenic activities and human lifestyles, there is a chance that the compost we produce nowadays may trigger other environmental issues, which no one could have foreseen years ago. Therefore, while promoting organic waste composting as a sustainable waste and soil management practice, with this book, we would also like to alert all stakehold- ers to take appropriate measures to curtail any possible adverse impacts it can cause. We wish to thank all chapter authors and reviewers for joining us in this effort. Their hard work and willingness to share their knowledge with the rest of the world to enhance nexus thinking are greatly appreciated. Special thanks to our own col- leagues at UNU-FLORES – Atiqah Fairuz Salleh and Isabella Georgiou – for their contributions with copyediting and editorial assistance. Dresden, Germany Hiroshan Hettiarachchi Serena Caucci Kai Schwärzel Contents 1 Organic Waste Composting Through Nexus Thinking: Linking Soil and Waste as a Substantial Contribution to Sustainable Development �������������������������������������������������������������������� 1 Hiroshan Hettiarachchi, Johan Bouma, Serena Caucci, and Lulu Zhang 2 Composting as a Municipal Solid Waste Management Strategy: Lessons Learned from Cajicá, Colombia ������������������������������ 17 Cristian Rivera Machado and Hiroshan Hettiarachchi 3 Composting: A Sustainable Route for Processing of Biodegradable Waste in India . 39 Ashootosh Mandpe, Sweta Kumari, and Sunil Kumar 4 Composting in Sri Lanka: Policies, Practices, Challenges, and Emerging Concerns �������������������������������������������������������������������������� 61 Warshi S. Dandeniya and Serena Caucci 5 Valuing Waste – A Multi-method Analysis of the Use of Household Refuse from Cooking and Sanitation for Soil Fertility Management in Tanzanian Smallholdings ���������������� 91 Ariane Krause 6 Urban Waste as a Resource: The Case of the Utilisation of Organic Waste to Improve Agriculture Productivity Project in Accra, Ghana �������������������������������������������������������������������������� 123 Dzidzo Yirenya-Tawiah, Ted Annang, Benjamin Dankyira Ofori, Benedicta Yayra Fosu-Mensah, Elaine Tweneboah- Lawson, Richard Yeboah, Kwaku Owusu-Afriyie, Benjamin Abudey, Ted Annan, Cecilia Datsa, and Christopher Gordon vii viii Contents 7 Organic Waste Composting at Versalles: An Alternative That Contributes to the Economic, Social and Environmental Well-Being of Stakeholders . 147 Luis Fernando Marmolejo-Rebellón, Edgar Ricardo Oviedo-Ocaña, and Patricia Torres-Lozada 8 Traditional and Adapted Composting Practices Applied in Smallholder Banana- Coffee- Based Farming Systems: Case Studies from Kagera