Composting

Every year a huge amount of organic solid waste is generated globally. This quantity is expected to keep increasing, making sustainable, safe and environmentally responsible management of solid waste vitally important. Composting offers a circular and low-impact route to managing and treating organic solid waste and produces a nutrient rich medium with uses in horticulture and agriculture.

Beginning with a solid introduction to the fundamentals of composting, including bioreactor engineering, energy and mass transfer issues and microbiology, this book then moves on to more complex topics such as compost stability, gaseous emissions and compost uses. With a focus on sustainability, the role of composting in biorefineries and how composting can complement other technologies such as anaerobic digestion and solid-state fermentation are also discussed.

This book is a great resource for both students and researchers with an interest in organic waste management, sustainability or the circular economy.

Dr. Antoni Sánchez is leading the Composting Research Group since year 2000. He works as Full Professor in the Department of Chemical, Biological and Environmental Engineering of Universitat Autònoma de Barcelona. His research lines cover the main aspects involved in the treatment of organic solid waste, through several strategies. Composting, anaerobic digestion and solid-state fermentation are the main lines. He has participated and coordinated several Spanish and European projects on this topic, supervised PhD and Master Thesis and he is the author of more than 200 indexed papers as well as book chapters and patents.

Dr. Xavier Font is a Full Professor in the Department of Chemical, Biological and Environmental Engineering of Universitat Autònoma de Barcelona, Spain. He is Chemist and PhD in Science. His research activities are focused on two main areas: the valorisation of organic solid waste (anaerobic digestion, composting and solid-state fermentation) and the use of nanomaterials for environmental applications (enhancing anaerobic digestion, adsorption and the use of nanomaterials as catalysts).

Dra. Adriana Artola is an Associate Professor at the Department of Chemical, Biological and Environmental Engineering of the Universitat Autònoma de Barcelona, Chemical Engineer and PhD in Industrial Engineering (Environmental Technologies). Her research is focused on the production of valuable products from organic wastes, mainly biopesticides, by solid state fermentation within a circular bioeconomy approach. She has also studied the environmental impacts of organic waste valorization processes with special interest in gaseous emissions.

Dra. Teresa Gea is a Professor in the Department of Chemical, Biological and Environmental Engineering at Universitat Autònoma de Barcelona, Spain. She is a Chemical Engineer and has done PhD in Environmental Science and Technology, researching on organic waste valorization to marketable bioproducts for the development of new value chains and the circular bioeconomy. She serves as an Associate Editor in the international journal Waste Management.

Dra. Raquel Barrena is an Associate Professor in the Department of Chemical, Biological and Environmental Engineering at Universitat Autònoma de Barcelona, Spain. Holding a Bachelor's degree in Environmental Science and PhD in Environmental Science, her research centres on the biological treatment and valorisation of solid organic waste through composting, anaerobic digestion and solid-state fermentation. She has a wide experience assessing biodegradability in both aerobic and anaerobic environments, with extensive experience in the application of respiration indices to the composting process.

Dr. Javier Moral-Vico is an Associate Professor in the Department of Chemical, Biological and Environmental Engineering at Universitat Autònoma de Barcelona, Spain. He is Chemical Engineer and PhD in Materials Science. He is working in nanomaterials for environmental applications, in particular in their application in processes like anaerobic digestion, nanoremediation, solid-state fermentation and GHG catalysis. He has also worked on citizen science projects regarding the implementation of composting in small communities such as primary schools.