Die Bodenkultur - Journal for Land Management, Food and Environment

P. Illmer, E. Meyer and F. Schinner:

Thermic insulation and sieve plates - beneficial equipments for a rapid and high quality degradation in household composting?

Summary

Household composters, supplied with thermic insulation and/or sieve plates, were compared with control variations without these equipments throughout one entire year. Compost processes took place under more favourable conditions in not-insulated composters regarding the occurrence of flies and bad smells. Existence of sieve plates resulted in an enhanced reduction of volume and in less water content of remaining organic material. Water content was shown to be the central factor in decomposition processes during household composting. Neither insulation nor sieve plates showed any significant influence with respect to several chemical and (micro-) biological parameters. In spite of these rather poor effects, sieve plates are recommended for the control of rats and mice. Insulation of composters on the other side caused mainly negative effects (if any) and should therefore be avoided. Key words:  Compost, organic waste, insulation, sieve, decomposition, maturity.