Organic Waste Composting through Nexus Thinking, 1st ed. 2020 Practices, Policies, and Trends

Organic waste composting is another excellent example to demonstrate the power and the benefits of nexus thinking. Even though organic waste composting itself is not a new topic, those who want to start a new project or align an ongoing project with nexus thinking, find it difficult to gather the necessary information. With nine case studies from four continents, this book aims to fill above gap in literature. While current literature on composting is often found to be limited to either soil/agriculture sector or waste management sector, this book presents a combined point of view. 

This open access book starts with an introductory chapter that describes the need to bring the waste management aspects and soil nutrient management aspects of compost production into one integrated theme. The relevance of nexus thinking and the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) are also presented in this introduction. The first three chapters after the introduction covers composting from the solid waste management and its policy aspects, taking examples from three developing countries. The next three examples are mostly about the benefits composting can provide to the soil and agriculture. These examples are also from three developing countries, but with a mixture of urban as well as rural settings. Last three chapters present more insight into the latest developments taking examples from Europe, as well as new methods adapted from the traditional styles from Africa.    

1. Introduction.- 2. Composting as a Municipal Solid Waste Management Strategy: Lessons Learned from Cajicá, Colombia.- 3. Composting: a Sustainable Route for Processing of Biodegradable Wastes in India.- 4. Composting in Sri Lanka: Policies, Practices, Challenges, and Emerging Concerns.- 5. Valuing Wastes – a Multi-Method Analysis of the Use of Household Refuses from Cooking and Sanitation for Soil Fertility Management in Tanzanian Smallholdings.- 6. Urban Waste as a Resource: the Case of the Utilization of Organic Waste to Improve Agriculture Productivity Project in Accra, Ghana.- 7. Organic Waste Composting at Versalles: an Alternative that Contributes to the Economic, Social and Environmental Well-Being of Stakeholders.- 8. Traditional and Adapted Composting Practices Applied in Smallholder Banana-Coffee-Based Farming Systems: Case Studies from Kagera and Morogoro Regions, Tanzania.- 9. Co-composting: an Opportunity to Produce Compost with Designated Tailor-Made Properties.- 10. Biochar-Compost Mixtures as Promising Solution to Organic Waste Management Within a Circular Holistic Approach.

Hiroshan Hettiarachchi is a Civil Engineering Professor from the United States specialized in geotechnical and geoenvironmental engineering. He contributed to UNU-FLORES activities since 2013 and in 2014 he joined UNU-FLORES as the Head of Unit – Waste Management. He also took a leading role in establishing the UNU-FLORES PhD Program in the Integrated Management of Water, Soil, and Waste. Before joining UNU, Prof. Hettiarachchi previously served at the Lawrence Technological University, in Michigan, USA, where he held the position of Director of Civil Engineering Graduate Programs from 2010 to 2013. He was also a Visiting Professor at the University Calgary, Alberta, Canada in 2013. Prof. Hettiarachchi’s current research focus is mainly on circular economy and sustainability with a special emphasis on management of solid waste and wastewater.