High Temperature Composting as a Resource Recovery System for Agro-Industrial Wastes

Abstract

In a workshop devoted, in principle, to the exploitation of biomass for chemical feedstocks or biofuels, it is perhaps paradoxical to present a paper that urges the return of biomass to that most precious component of our natural resources -- the soil. This paper will discuss the potential use of high temperature composting as a resource recovery system, not only as a technological solution to the ever burgeoning organic wastes of human society, but also as a low technology approach to the maintenance and sustainability of our ecosystems in the future. Whether the biomass being produced is for food, fuel, feedstock or fibre, its continued production is dependent ultimately on the effective management and maintenance of the fertility of the soils utilized. The need for biomass recycling in order to achieve such sustainability is a major theme underlying this presentation.