Home Composting: A Sustainable Solution at Community Level

Ionela-Simona Popescu, Cristina Ileana Covaliu-Mierlă (), Violeta-Carolina Niculescu and Claudia Șandru
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Ionela-Simona Popescu: Doctoral School Biotechnical Systems Engineering, Faculty of Biotechnical Systems Engineering, National University of Science and Technology Politehnica Bucharest, 060042 Bucharest, Romania
Cristina Ileana Covaliu-Mierlă: Doctoral School Biotechnical Systems Engineering, Faculty of Biotechnical Systems Engineering, National University of Science and Technology Politehnica Bucharest, 060042 Bucharest, Romania
Violeta-Carolina Niculescu: National Research and Development Institute for Cryogenic and Isotopic Technologies—ICSI Ramnicu Valcea, 240050 Ramnicu Valcea, Romania
Claudia Șandru: National Research and Development Institute for Cryogenic and Isotopic Technologies—ICSI Ramnicu Valcea, 240050 Ramnicu Valcea, Romania

Sustainability, 2025, vol. 17, issue 8, 1-20

Abstract: Food waste management is a critical environmental challenge, particularly when organic waste ends up in landfills. This study focuses on the Romanian household food model to understand the composition of food waste and the effectiveness of homemade composters in transforming this waste into quality compost. The findings aim to highlight composting as a viable solution for mitigating greenhouse gas emissions and conserving water resources. We start from the issue of food waste in landfills and its environmental implications, and the objective is to evaluate the composition of household food waste in Romania and the efficiency of homemade composters. Two samples, namely P1 and P2, of compost were obtained at home using low-cost materials. P1 compost was obtained starting from five waste materials (potato peels, banana peels, orange peels, sawdust, and water), and P2 was prepared starting from nine waste materials (potato peels, banana peels, orange peels, apple peels, apples, cardboard, paper, dried vine leaves, and water). In order to study their potential to be used as fertilizers, various parameters were investigated: pH, aqueous extract conductivity 1:5 Humidity, Ca (mg/kg), Mg (mg/kg), Na (mg/kg), K (mg/kg), Zn (mg/kg), Mn (mg/kg), Cu (mg/kg), particle size (mm), N, C, H, C/N, C/H, N/H content. The final products can be safely used for various household needs, providing a sustainable solution for food waste management.

Keywords: vegetable waste; home composting; compost (search for similar items in EconPapers)
JEL-codes: O13 Q Q0 Q2 Q3 Q5 Q56 (search for similar items in EconPapers)
Date: 2025
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