Abstract
Although wool remains a popular fiber due to its durability, comfort, and ease of quality production, increasing the sustainability of wool fashion products requires attention to all portions of the wool life cycle, including production of sheep to provide the wool. Managing sheep in many regions of the globe results in excess or waste wool that is not suitable for the textile or fashion supply chain. One way to increase the economic, environmental, and social sustainability of wool production is to compost the waste wool into soil amendments and landscaping aids that can provide producers with additional income, provide horticulturalists with an environmentally friendly alternative to other soil amendments, and provide communities that depend on sheep a pride in the value of all parts of the life cycle. This chapter outlines an experimental study that was conducted to determine the proper proportions of sheep waste products to other biomass that would be needed in a large-scale composting operation in order to produce a high-quality compost valuable to the horticulture and agriculture industries. The results of an experimental trial with waste wool determined that a 25 % waste wool, 50 % grass clipping, and 25 % horse stall waste mixture provided the optimal results for composting in a large-scale manner. Separation of compacted wool, if transported in wrapped bundles, proved essential for allowing sufficient decomposition of the waste wool. The composting produced was tested and determined to be of acceptable quality.
This is a preview of subscription content, log in via an institution.
Buying options
Tax calculation will be finalised at checkout
Purchases are for personal use only
Learn about institutional subscriptionsReferences
Animut G, Goetsch AL (2008) Co-grazing of sheep and goats: benefits and constraints. Small Rumin Res 77(2):127–145
Das KC, Tollner EW, Annis PA (1997) Bioconversion of wool industry solid wastes to value-added products. http://hdl.handle.net/1853/10336. Accessed 31 Aug 2015
Dougherty M (ed) (1999) Field guide to on-farm composting. Natural Resource, Agriculture, and Engineering Service, New York
Emerson D (2003) Building strong markets for mulch and compost products. Biocycle 44(7):36–40
Górecki RS, Górecki MT (2010) Utilization of waste wool as substrate amendment in pot cultivation of tomato, sweet pepper, and eggplant. Pol J Environ Stud 19:1083–1087
Hermansen JE (2003) Organic livestock production systems and appropriate development in relation to public expectations. Livest Prod Sci 80(1):3–15
Hoppenheidt K, Kottmair A, Mücke W et al (2000) Influence of organofluorine-treated textiles on biowaste composting. Text Res J 70(1):84–90
International Wool Textile Organization (2015) Facts. http://www.iwto.org/about-iwto/vision-mission/. Accessed 31 Aug 2015
Jones KG (2004) Trends in the U.S. Sheep Industry. United States Department of Agriculture, Economic Research Service, Agricultural Information Bulletin Number 787
Martin DL, Gershuny G (eds) (1992) The Rodale book of composting. Rodale Press Inc., New York
Montoya J, Waliczek TM, Abbott M (2013) Large-scale composting as a means of managing water hyacinth, Eichhornia crassipes. Invasive Plant Sci Manag 6(2):243–249
National Research Council (2008) Changes in the Sheep Industry in the United States. http://dels.nas.edu/resources/static-assets/materials-based-on-reports/reports-in-brief/SheepFinal.pdf. Accessed 31 Aug 2015
Pearson J, Lu F, Gandhi K (2004) Disposal of wool scouring sludge by composting. Department of Textiles. University of Huddersfield, United Kingdom
Phillips H (1936) Some fundamental principles of raw wool washing. J Textile Inst Proc 27(7):208–218
Pennsylvania State University (2002) Compost analysis: Sampling and mailing procedure. Agricultural Analytical Services Laboratory. Pennsylvania State University University Park Pennsylvania
Poston T (2006) Using the wool no-one wants. http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/5317358.stm. Accessed 31 Aug 2015
Rook E (2008) Pteridium aquilinum, bracken fern. Ferns and Fern Allies of the Boundary Waters Wilderness and North Woods. http://www.rook.org/earl/bwca/nature/ferns/pteridiumaqui.html. Accessed 31 Aug 2015
Rynk R (1992) On-farm composting handbook. National Resource, Agriculture, and Engineering Service, New York
United States Composting Council (2010) Seal of testing assurance. http://www.compostingcouncil.org. Accessed 26 Feb 2010
United States Department of Agriculture [USDA] (n.d.) Profile for Pteridium aquilinum (western brackenfern). National Plant Data Center. Natural Resources Conservation Service. United States Department of Agriculture. http://plants.usda.gov/. Accessed 26 Feb 2010
Weise A, Sween J, Bean B et al (1998) High temperature composting of feedlot manure kills weed seeds. Am Soc Agric Biol Eng 14(4):377–380
Wildeus S (1997) Hair sheep genetic resources and their contribution to diversified small ruminant production in the United States. J Anim Sci 75(3):630–640
Zheljazkov VD (2005) Assessment of wool waste and hair waste as soil amendment and nutrient source. J Environ Qual 34(6):2310–2317
Zheljazkov VD, Stratton Pincock GW, Butler J et al (2009) Wool-waste as organic nutrient source for container-grown plants. Waste Manag 29(7):2160–2164
Zoccola M, Montarsolo A, Mossotti R et al (2014) Green hydrolysis conversion of wool wastes into organic nitrogen fertilisers. In: 2nd international conference on sustainable solid waste management, pp 1–11
Author information
Authors and Affiliations
Corresponding author
Editor information
Editors and Affiliations
Rights and permissions
Copyright information
© 2016 Springer Science+Business Media Singapore
About this chapter
Cite this chapter
Hustvedt, G., Meier, E., Waliczek, T. (2016). The Feasibility of Large-Scale Composting of Waste Wool. In: Muthu, S., Gardetti, M. (eds) Green Fashion. Environmental Footprints and Eco-design of Products and Processes. Springer, Singapore. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-981-10-0111-6_4
Download citation
DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/978-981-10-0111-6_4
Published:
Publisher Name: Springer, Singapore
Print ISBN: 978-981-10-0109-3
Online ISBN: 978-981-10-0111-6
eBook Packages: Earth and Environmental ScienceEarth and Environmental Science (R0)