Journal of Environmental Management 116 (2013) 163e171

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Journal of Environmental Management

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Gas emissions as inuenced by home composting system conguration

Bijaya K. Adhikari a, b, c, Anne Trmier a, b, Suzelle Barrington b, c, *, Jos Martinez a, b, Mylne Daumoin a
a

IRSTEA, UR GERE, 17 Avenue du Cucill, CS 64427, F-35044 Rennes, France Universit europenne de Bretagne, France c Department of Bioresource Engineering, Macdonald Campus of McGill University, 21 111 Lakeshore, Ste Anne de Bellevue, Qubec, Canada H9X 3V9
b

a r t i c l e i n f o
Article history: Received 23 January 2012 Received in revised form 27 November 2012 Accepted 7 December 2012 Available online 8 January 2013 Keywords: Gas emissions Home composting systems Organic waste

a b s t r a c t
Home composting systems (HC) are known to facilitate municipal solid waste management, but little is known about their environmental impact including their greenhouse gas emissions (GGE). The present research focused on selecting HC conguration producing the least CH4 and N2O. Thus, 4 HC types were used to compost food and yard waste for 150 days and monitored for CO2, CH4 and N2O as of day 15: the wood and plastic bins (WB and PB), the mixed and unmixed ground pile (GPM and GP). Using the same waste recipe, all HC were lled at once (batch fed) to maximize gaseous emissions. Weekly as of day 15, CO2, N2O and CH4 emissions were measured during 2-h sessions using a closed chamber inserted into the compost surface. Monitored compost characteristics indicated little differences over time except for moisture content. From day 15 to 150, CH4 emissions were not measurable. Generation of N2O occurred between day 20 and 120 with PB producing the least because of top and bottom slots providing continuous convective aeration, as compared to the WB with slats over its full height and the naturally aerated mixed and unmixed ground piles. Total N2O emissions of 56 kg CO2-eq (tonne wet waste treated)1 for PB, 75 for GP, 97 for WB and 99 for GPM represented average value for centralized composting facilities. Present and past scientic works suggest the need for more research to establish the combined effect of management and HC conguration on gaseous emissions, with close CH4 measurements from day 0 to 15. 2012 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.

1. Introduction Greenhouse gas emissions (GGE), namely carbon dioxide (CO2), methane (CH4) and nitrous oxide (N2O), have led to global warming trends and their adverse climatic effects (IPCC, 2006; Recycled Organics Unit, 2001; Friends of the Earth, 2000). Landll is considered one of the major contributors of CH4 emissions, accounting for over 12% of the total annual global CH4 emissions, equivalent to 734 kg CO2-eq (tonne wet waste treated)1 (Matthews and Themelis, 2007; US EPA, 2006). Composting lowers GGE to values of 0.03e8.0 kg CH4 (tonne wet waste treated)1 and 0.06e0.6 kg N2O (tonne wet waste treated)1, for a total averaging 200 kg CO2-eq (tonne wet waste treated)1 (Friedrich and Trois, 2011; Hermann et al., 2011; Rogger et al., 2011; Martnez-Blanco et al., 2010; Lou and Nair, 2009; IPCC, 2006). Accordingly, Europe and North America initiated policies for the diversion of the organic
* Corresponding author. Department of Bioresource Engineering, Macdonald Campus of McGill University, 21 111 Lakeshore, Ste Anne de Bellevue, Qubec, Canada H9X 3V9. Tel.: 1 514 398 7776; fax: 1 514 398 8387. E-mail address: suzellebarrington@sympatico.ca (S. Barrington). 0301-4797/$ e see front matter 2012 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved. http://dx.doi.org/10.1016/j.jenvman.2012.12.008

waste fraction from the municipal solid waste stream (Pires et al., 2011; Fenerty-McKibbon and Khare, 2005; Thompson and Tanapat, 2005; Landll Directive, 1999) and recycling through either composting or anaerobic digestion. Composting releases to the atmosphere, heat, CO2 and water vapour while converting organic matter into a soil amendment (Epstein, 1997; Renkow and Rubin, 1996; Pace et al., 1995; Haug, 1980). However, depending on the method and the management practice, composting can also generate volatile organic compounds, ammonia (NH3), carbon monoxide (CO), nitric oxide (NO), N2O and CH4 (Coln et al., 2010; Martnez-Blanco et al., 2010; IPCC, 2006; Barton and Atwater, 2002), which have a negative impact on the atmosphere. The CO2 emissions from organic waste decomposition in natural environments have generally been overlooked to focus on the short term production of CH4 and N2O (IPCC, 2006; ICF Consulting, 2005). However, the high level of organic waste production in urban centres has changed the natural carbon cycle (Riebeek and Simmonlune, 2011), justifying GGE from composts, with and without accounting for CO2 emissions. The composting of municipal organic waste can be conducted through centralized facilities or decentralized systems such as

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community centres and home composters (Bernstad and la Cour Jansen, 2011; Schwalb et al., 2011). As compared to centralized facilities, home composting eliminates the cost and energy required for collection, transportation and processing (Boldrin et al., 2011; Andersen et al., 2010). Therefore, home composting systems (HC) can potentially reduce GGE for the waste management sector (Chan et al., 2011; Adhikari et al., 2010). However, CO2, CH4 and N2O emissions can be affected by HC conguration and management (Bogner et al., 2008; EPIC, 2002) with a limited number of studies examining their GGE. Using a weekly fed plastic bin, Coln et al., 2010 reported CH4 and N2O emissions below their detection threshold. For bi-weekly fed home composting bins, Andersen et al. (2010) measured CH4 and N2O emissions in the range of 0.4e4.2 and 0.30e 0.55 kg (ton wet waste treated)1 respectively, totalling 100e239 kg CO2-eq (ton wet waste treated)1. With weekly fed and mixed home composting bins, Martnez-Blanco et al., 2010 measured GGE of 0.158 kg CH4 (tonne wet waste treated)1 and 0.676 kg N2O (tonne wet waste treated)1. These reported GGE are within the range of those produced for centralized composting facilities (IPCC, 2006), but illustrates variability in GGE with HC conguration. Accordingly, the objective of the project focused on testing HC conguration for the least gaseous emissions. Thus, four common types of home composting systems (HC) were used to compost organic waste and monitored for CO2, CH4 and N2O from day 15 to 150: the wood and plastic bins (WB and PB), the mixed and unmixed ground pile (GPM and GP). All HC were lled at once (batch fed) with the same restaurant food waste and yard trimmings mixture, to produce conditions of maximize microbial activity and thus, gaseous emissions. 2. Material and methods 2.1. Composting systems and experimental organic waste Emissions of CO2, CH4 and N2O from batch fed home composting systems (HC) were monitored using four commonly used systems in North America and Europe: the slatted wood bin (WB) measuring 0.78 m 0.65 m by 0.75 m in height; the top and bottom perforated plastic bin (PB) measuring 0.70 m 0.70 m by 0.80 m in height, and; the mixed ground pile (GPM) and unmixed ground pile (GP), both measuring 0.65 m in height and 0.75 m in base diameter (Fig. 1aec). Considering the size of each HC and the organic waste required, the experiment was not replicated. The same food waste (FW) and yard trimmings (YT) were used to prepare the common mixture batch fed to all four HC on the same day. A typical FW:YT ratio of 1:1 on a wet volume basis, was used and its average wet bulk density and water content of 235 (6) kg m3 and 76 (1.0)% respectively. The FW was source separated and supplied by two restaurants in Rennes, France, within 3 days of production. It consisted of vegetable and fruit wastes. The YT were obtained from the green space surrounding the IRSTEA research station of Rennes, France, and consisted of a 90% grass clippings and 10% tree leaves on a wet weight basis. While loading the four experimental HC, the initial compost mixture was sampled in triplicate for physico-chemical characterization using standard methods as described below in Section 2.4. 2.2. Experimental procedure The four experimental HC were set-up under an outside tent at the IRSTEA Research Centre, Rennes (France), to avoid rainfall and direct sunshine interference. Representing mixtures typically used, equal wet volumes of FW and YT were mixed by hand in a large tub before being loaded without compaction into the HC. All four HC

were lled at once (batch fed) on the same day with the same organic waste to 80% of their capacity, to create a high O2 demand and enhance CH4 and N2O production. While lling the HC, temperature sensors (model DS1921G-F5, Thermochron iButton, Dallas Semiconductor, USA) were installed at their mass center above 0.30 m from ground level. While being monitored for 150 days, the HC composts were naturally aerated and manually mixed weekly using a garden fork except for that of GP. During the mixing operation, compost samples were collected for analysis of dry matter (DM), total carbon (TC), total nitrogen (TN), organic matter (OM) and pH every 15 days during the rst 60 days, and then every 30 days for the rest of the experimental period. The leachate was not monitored in this study. The GP treatment was sampled only on days 0 and 150. The temperature sensors were retrieved during the 70 day mixing operation, because the compost had reached ambient temperatures. During the composting process and before the mixing operation, all HC were monitored for GGE, namely methane (CH4), nitrous oxide (N2O) and carbon dioxide (CO2) starting on day 15. For all gas monitoring sessions, gases were trapped using a static chamber placed for 2 h over the compost surface while monitoring the greenhouse gas concentration (Parkin and Venterea, 2010; Chadwick et al., 1998). The static chamber consisted of a metallic chamber measuring 0.40 m in length by 0.15 m in width and 0.20 m in height, opened at its bottom and pushed into the compost mass to a depth of 5 mm (Fig. 1d). The upper chamber surface was airtight and equipped with a silicone rubber septum to collect gas samples using disposable plastic syringes. Each monitoring session was repeated weekly for the rst 30 days, every 10 days for days 30e60, every 20 days for days 60e120, and then on day 150. During each 120 min monitoring session, duplicate air samples were drawn after 0, 10, 20, 40, 60 and 120 min. All air samples were analysed for CO2, CH4, N2O and O2 by gas chromatography (GC e HP6890N, Agilent, Santa Clara, USA). The GC was equipped with an electron capture detector (ECD) and a ame ionization detector (FID), and used nitrogen (N2) as a vector gas. After 150 days, the compost mass in each HC was weighed and sampled in triplicate for physico-chemical characterization, to compute the loss in DM, TC, TN and OM. 2.3. Computation of losses and gaseous emissions Between day 0 and 150, the wet HC compost mass could not be measured, although this value was required to compute with time, losses in DM, TC and TN. Accordingly, an equation was developed to predict the residual mass of wet compost in each home composting systems at a given time based on the hypothesis that the mass of xed solids (FS) is constant during the entire experimental period. Thus, the residual mass of wet compost at time t was equated to the mass of FS plus that of the residual organic matter and water:

Mt FSt Mt OMt DMt 104 Mt 1 DMt =100 (1)

where, Mt is total wet mass at sampling time t in kg; FSt is the xed solids mass at time t, in kg; OMt is the organic matter concentration in % DMt, and; DMt is the dry matter concentration at time t, in % of Mt. The values of OMt and DMt were measured only on days 0 and 150. Nevertheless, 14, 1, 8 and 0% of the original FS were lost as leachate for WB, PB, GPM and GP, respectively. Therefore, Equation (1) was corrected presuming a linear loss of FS over the entire experimental composting period of 150 days.

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165

Fig. 1. Experimental home composting systems (a) wood bin, (b) plastic bin, (c) ground pile. The static gas collection chamber used to measure gaseous emissions (d).

Accordingly, Equation (1) can be rearranged to solve for Mt:

n  o  Mt FSt = 1 OMt DMt 104 1 DMt =100

Q (2)

Ar S 106 V r OMi

(3)

The mass evolution of TC and TN was thus computed using the concentrations measured regularly and the compost mass Mt obtained from Equation (2). For each gas emission monitoring session, individual gas production rates were computed from the evolution of their concentration in the air of the closed chamber, during 120 min, neglecting the initial diffusion effect. Emissions in CO2, CH4, and N2O were computed after each session as:

where Q is the gas production rate in kg h1 (kg OMi)1, Ar is the ratio of the composter to sampler cross sectional area in m2 m2 (8.7, 8.3 and 12.5 m2 m2 for WB, PB and the ground piles, respectively), OMi is the initial mass of organic matter in the composter in kg, S is the rate of gas production equal to the slope of the linear gas concentration regression in ppmv h1, V is the sampler volume in m3 and r is the gas density in kg m3. The density used for the gases, namely CO2, CH4 and N2O were 1.842, 0.668 and 1.826 kg m3 respectively at the standard

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C

temperature of 20 Toolbox, 2010).

and pressure of 101.3 kPa (Engineering

2.5. Statistical procedure The experimental HC were lled with the same organic waste mixture (FW:YT wet mass and wet volume ratio of 1:1) on the same day and mixed/sampled at the same time, to eliminate all effects except for that of HC type. The only exception was the ground pile, where one was not mixed while the other was mixed. Gaseous emissions from the different composting systems could therefore be compared with the repeated measures ANOVA procedure, using PROC GLM procedure at 95% condence level (SAS Institute Inc., 2008). Regression equations relating compost CO2 and N2O emissions to TC and TKN losses were computed using Excel (Microsoft 2007). 3. Results and discussion 3.1. Initial characteristics of organic waste Table 1 summarizes the characteristics of the organic waste mixture fed into all four HC on day 0. The DM of the initial mixture ranged from 22.3 (2.0)% to 24.1 (1.2)% amongst the tested HC. The OM ranged from 75.2 (0.2) to 77.0 (0.2)% and the TC and TN varied from 39.2 (0.7) to 39.8 (0.4)% and 22.9 (0.2) to 23.3 (0.7)% respectively, for an initial C:N ratio of 17, for all four HC. The pH of all HC compost was at 6.1 initially. The slight variations in initial characteristics of the OW amongst the tested HC occurred due to the heterogeneous nature of the waste (de Bertoldi et al., 1983). Except for GP, the initial variations in properties for the PB, GPM and WB were considered negligible, and within a range supporting an active compost microbial activity (Adhikari et al., 2009; Stabnikova et al., 2005; Haug, 1993). For GP, preparing the

2.4. Analytical procedure Before being analysed, all triplicate compost sample was dried in an oven (SR 2000, Thermosi, France) at 80  C until a constant weight was reached (Trmier et al., 2005; de Guardia et al., 2010) and then grinded to less than 0.5 mm (ZM model 1000 grinder, Retsch, Germany). The compost pH was determined according to Adhikari et al. (2008) by soaking 10 g of wet sample for 24 h without shaking at 5  C, in just enough distilled water to use a pH electrode (pHElectode SenTix41, WTW, Weilhein, Germany). The OM was quantied as volatile solids (VS) and determined by burning at 550  C for 3 h (Thermolyne 30400, Furnace, F30420 C-33, Essex, UK), according to AFNOR (1985). The xed solids concentration was determined by the ash remaining following the OM procedure. The TC was determined by burning 10 mg samples at 900  C (Thermo Scientic, FLASH 2000 Series, Organic Elemental Analyser, Courtaboeuf, France) according to AFNOR (2001). According to AFNOR (1995), total Kjeldahl nitrogen (TKN) was determined using an automatic distilling system (VAP 50c, Gehardt automatic distilator, Gehardt, Germany), after digesting 0.5e1.0 g of sample with H2SO4 (automated Kjeldatherm TZ block digester, Gehardt, Germany). The TKN value was assumed equal to TN because of negligible amount of nitrite and nitrate in the experimental material (Adhikari et al., 2009). To correct all analytical results, residual moisture was determined by drying grinded compost samples at 105  C for 24 h (SR 1000, Thermosi, France).

Table 1 Initial characteristics of organic waste loaded into the 4 home composting systems (HC) and their evolutions during the 150 days of composting. Composter WB Day 0 15 30 45 60 90 120 150 0 15 30 45 60 90 120 150 0 15 30 45 60 90 120 150 0 150
a Wet mass (kg)

DM (%) 24.1 23.0 27.0 30.0 33.0 50.4 65.9 81.0 24.1 22.0 24.0 26.0 27.0 34.5 50.9 66.0 23.7 25.0 27.0 30.0 36.0 54.1 75.6 85.0 (1.2) (0.8) (2.3) (0.7) (1.3) (0.6) (0.7) (0.8) (1.2) (3.0) (3.9) (0.1) (1.0) (0.7) (2.4) (1.8) (1.2) (2.1) (4.1) (1.8) (4.1) (2.5) (0.7) (2.2)

OM (%dm) 75.3 63.0 58.7 58.1 54.2 53.2 52.6 50.4 75.2 60.5 58.4 56.2 52.9 47.0 47.4 45.8 75.2 59.6 56.0 54.1 50.8 49.6 49.5 49.0 (0.2) (0.1) (0.2) (0.1) (0.1) (0.3) (0.2) (0.3) (0.2) (0.3) (0.2) (0.1) (0.2) (0.2) (0.3) (1.0) (0.2) (0.1) (0.1) (0.3) (0.3) (0.3) (0.1) (0.3)

TC (%dm) 39.2 32.7 30.4 29.9 29.2 28.2 27.6 26.6 39.2 31.2 30.4 29.5 28.7 25.5 25.3 24.6 39.4 32.1 30.1 28.7 27.6 26.2 26.1 25.1 (0.7) (0.2) (0.6) (0.2) (0.1) (0.2) (0.2) (0.3) (0.7) (0.5) (0.1) (0.3) (0.9) (0.1) (0.2) (0.2) (0.7) (0.5) (0.9) (0.2) (0.5) (0.2) (0.1) (0.10

TN (g (kg dm)1) 22.9 27.0 26.3 25.8 24.9 25.2 26.4 24.6 22.9 26.6 26.2 25.0 23.3 21.3 21.4 20.6 23.1 26.4 26.1 25.3 23.9 23.8 23.7 24.5 (0.2) (0.2) (0.2) (0.2) (0.4) (0.2) (0.2) (0.1) (0.2) (0.5) (0.2) (0.2) (0.1) (1.8) (0.3) (0.2) (0.2) (0.2) (0.1) (0.1) (0.4) (0.3) (0.4) (0.1)

C/N ratio 17.1 12.1 11.5 11.6 11.7 11.2 10.5 10.8 17.1 11.7 11.6 11.8 12.3 12.0 11.8 11.9 17.1 12.2 11.5 11.3 11.5 11.0 11.0 10.2 17.1 11.2

pH 6.1 8.8 8.1 8.2 8.6 8.1 7.8 7.5 6.1 8.4 8.4 8.2 8.8 8.7 8.4 7.7 6.1 7.9 8.5 8.2 8.9 8.3 7.8 7.7 (0.2) (0.1) (0.2) (0.0) (0.3) (0.4) (0.1) (0.1) (0.2) (0.1) (0.2) (0.0) (0.3) (0.4) (0.1) (0.1) (0.2) (0.4) (0.3) (0.1) (0.0) (0.2) (0.0) (0.0)

72.2 49.3 37.6 33.3 27.6 17.6 13.2 9.2 75.5 50.9 44.1 38.7 34.6 24.2 16.3 12.5 75.0 42.9 36.4 31.4 24.3 15.7 11.2 9.4 63.3 11.8

PB

GPM

GP

22.3 (2.0) 60.0 (3.5)

77.0 (0.2) 50.4 (0.8)

39.8 (0.4) 25.9 (0.1)

23.3 (0.7) 23.2 (0.3)

6.1 (0.2) 7.5 (0.2)

a The total mass was measured on days 0 and 150, otherwise estimated from Equation (2). WB e wood bin; PB e plastic bin; GPM-mixed ground pile; GP e unmixed ground pile; dm e dry mass basis; FW e food waste; YT e yard trimmings; DM e dry matter; TC e total carbon; TN e total nitrogen; OM e organic matter; C/N e carbon to nitrogen ratio. The numbers in parenthesis represent the standard deviation. All FW:YT dry mass ratio ranged between 0.93 and 0.96 except for the GP at 1.2, as a result of the heterogeneity of the organic waste.

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75 70 65 60 55 50 Wood bin (WB) Plastic bin (PB) Mixed ground pile (GPM) Unmixed ground pile (GP) Ambient

167

45 40 35 30 25 20 15 10 5 0 0 5 10 15 20 25 30 35 40 45 50 55 60 Time (day)

Fig. 2. Temperature regime at the centre of compost mass for all four experimental home composting systems against ambient temperature. All composters were lled at once (batch fed) and mixed weekly except for the unmixed ground pile (GP).

heterogeneous organic waste mixture using a wet volume ratio of 1:1 produced a slightly higher FW:YT dry mass ratio (Table 1), with the resulting DM being slightly lower at 22.3%. 3.2. Compost temperature regime The temperature developed within the compost of all four HC during the rst 70 days of experimentation is presented in Fig. 2.

The PB and GPM composts reached thermophilic conditions (>45  C) after 2 days, as compared to 3 days for that of the GP and 7 days for that of the WB. The compost temperature reached almost ambient levels by day 20 for all HC, with that of WB taking 3 more days to stabilize. During the active phase of composting, the temperature regime reects the rate of aeration and accordingly, the rate of microbial activity. Thus, PB provided the best conductive aeration, because of its top and bottom perforations (Barrington et al., 2002; Karnchanawong and Suriyanon, 2011), followed by GPM and GP, and then WB with the least effective aeration regime. Comparing the GP and GPM regimes, GP lagged in developing thermophilic temperatures because of its lower initial DM at 22.3% as compared with 23.7%. Nevertheless, GP sustained as high a temperature regime as GPM, because of its higher FW content, producing a more biodegradable organic waste mixture, and because of its large exposed surface allowing for gas exchange. Comparing GP with WB, the higher exposed surface of GP provided better aeration despite the slightly lower DM at 22.3% compared to 24.1%. Thus, the slatted opening conguration of WB provided an inefcient convective aeration regime. Reecting the rate of O2 supply and aerobic microbial activity, temperature can also reect the rate of CO2 emission and biodegradability of the organic waste (Epstein, 1997; Diaz et al., 1993). 3.3. Emissions in CO2, N2O and CH4 Within the closed gas monitoring chamber for one sampling session, Fig. 3 illustrates typical concentration evolutions for CO2, N2O and CH4, accumulating linearly, with little initial diffusion

Temperature (0 C)

21.60 21.40 21.20 21.00 20.80 20.60 20.40 20.20 20.00 19.80 0 25 50 75

14000 12000
CO2 (ppm)

R2 = 0.98

O2 (%)

R2 = 0.97

10000 8000 6000 4000 2000 0 0 25 50 75 100 125 150

100 125 150

Time (minute)

Time (minute)

(a)
300 250
N2 O (ppm)
CH4 (ppm)

(b)

R2 = 0.98
12 10 8 6 4 2 0 0 25 50 75 100 125 150 R = 0.96
2

200 150 100 50 0 0 25 50 75 100 125 150 Time (minute)

Time (minute)

(c)

(d)

Fig. 3. Typical trend of gas concentrations obtained in the closed chamber placed over the compost materials: (a) oxygen for the wood bin at 50 days; (b) carbon dioxide for the wood bin after 50 days; (c) nitrous oxide for the wood bin after 50 days; and (d) methane for the unmixed ground pile on day 15.

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effect. Measurable CH4 concentrations were obtained only for the GP compost on day 15, likely because of its lower aeration rate, not being mixed, its slightly higher moisture and FW levels, favouring anaerobic pockets producing CH4. Each greenhouse gas produced a specic emission curves during the 150 day experimental period (Fig. 4). For CO2, the highest emission rates were observed on day 15 in the range of 25e 28 g h1 (ton wet waste treated)1, with little variation among HC. These values dropped to 1.5 g h1 (ton wet waste treated)1 on day 150, with some differences appearing especially for GP on day 30 and 60 but producing an average drop in CO2 emission rate corresponding to that of the other experimental HC. Accordingly, HC type had little if any effect on CO2 emissions. Compost N2O emission rates were more variable than those for CO2. On day 15, all HC had low N2O emission of 7e105 mg h1 (ton wet waste treated)1 with PB producing the highest value along with the lowest temperature, followed by that of WB, GPM and then GP. The N2O emission rate increased on day 20, at the end of the thermophilic phase, likely because of the NH3 oxidation by NH3 oxidizing bacteria (AOB) under nitrifying conditions (Kim et al., 2010). Peak rate of 350e550 mg h1 (ton wet waste treated)1 were reached on days 30 and 40 for all HC, except for GP peaking on day 80 because of lower O2 availability. Nevertheless, PB produced the least overall N2O, followed by GP and then GPM and WB at similar levels. The only factor corresponding to this N2O emission order is the nal compost DM with PB and GP at 66 and 60%, respectively as compared to GPM and WB at 85 and 81%.

As for compost CH4 emissions, they were below detection threshold between days 15 and 150, except for GP on day 15. Higher CH4 emissions for GP likely resulted from: its lack of mixing, resulting not only in less aeration, but in the collapse of aeration pores, and; a higher FW content on a dry matter basis (Table 1), resulting in a higher O2 demand because of its greater biodegradability but at the same time, a lower aeration rate because of a higher moisture content. 3.4. Compost evolution and gas emissions The evolution of all compost characteristics are presented in Table 1 and the computed losses in mass are illustrated in Fig. 5. For all HC, compost TC suffered the highest loss of 45e50% between days 0 and 15, followed from day 15 to 150 by an additional 15 to 20% loss. As compared to TC, compost TN losses was slightly different, dropping by 30% from day 0 to 15, and then by an additional 25% between days 15 and 150, because of denitrication. This was also reected by higher N2O emissions. Using the initial and nal HC compost xed solids mass, their losses through leachate was found to be 14 and 8% for the WB and GPM composts, compared to 0e1% for the PB and GP. Whereas PB was well aerated and could lose water vapour through evaporation rather than leaching, GP was not mixed, and suffered from the collapse of its aeration and drainage pores preventing leachate drainage.
Wood bin (WB) Plastic bin (PB) Mixed ground pile (GPM) Unmixed ground pile (GP)

80
35 Wood bin (WB) Plastic bin (PB) Mixed ground pile (GPM) Unmixed ground pile (GP)

70

CO2 (g hr-1 (ton wet waste treated)-1 )

30 25 20 15 10 5 0 15 20 30 40 50 Time (day) 60

TC loss (%)

60 50 40 30 20 0 15 30 45 60 90 120 150 Time (day)

80

100

120

150

(a)
Wood bin (WB) Plastic bin (PB) Mixed ground pile (GPM) Unmixed ground pile (GP)

(a)
700

N2 O (mg hr-1 (ton wet waste treated)-1 )

600 500

70 60

Wood bin (WB) Plastic bin (PB) Mixed ground pile (GPM) Unmixed ground pile (GP)

TN loss (%)
15 20 30 40 50 60 Time (day) 80 100 120 150

400 300 200 100 0

50 40 30 20 10 0 0 15 30 45 60 90 120 150 Time (day)

(b)
Fig. 4. Measured emissions of CO2 and N2O for the four experimental home composting systems from day 15 to 150: (a) carbon dioxide, CO2; and (b) nitrous oxide, N2O. Emissions of CH4 between days 15 and 150 were below the detection threshold. Y-bars indicate the standard deviation (n 2).

(b)
Fig. 5. Loss of total carbon (TC) (a) and total nitrogen (TN) (b) over time for the compost of all four home composting systems estimated using Equation. Note: Composter GP was sampled only on days 0 and 150.

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169

Measured between day 15 and 150, CO2eC emissions corresponded to TC mass losses. For the WB compost for example, 27% of the initial mass of 6.8 kg TC was lost between day 15 and 150, amounting to 1.84 kg TC or 25 kg TC (ton wet waste treated)1. For the same period, measured CO2eC emissions amounted to 23 kg (ton wet waste treated)1. Accordingly and from day 15 to 150, all HC composts emitted CO2eC corresponding to TC losses over time:

Table 2 Greenhouse gas emission for the four home composting systems. Gas/time interval Composters (kg (ton wet waste treated)1) WB CO2 15e20 days 20e60 days 60e120 days 120e150 days Total CO2 (kg (ton wet waste treated)1) CH4 (15e150 days) Total CH4 (kg CO2-eq (ton wet waste treated)1) N2O 15e20 days 20e60 days 60e120 days 120e150 days Total N2O (kg (ton wet waste treated)1) Total N2O (kg CO2-eq (ton wet waste treated)1) 3 16 7 1 27 PB 3 16 9 1 27 GPM 3 19 9 1 32 GP 3 16 19 2 40

CO2 WBt 0:72 TCLt 1:78 CO2 PBt 1:55 TCLt 2:05 CO2 GPMt 1:08 TCLt 2:05

R2 0:95 R2 0:99 R2 0:99

(4) (5) (6)

nd e

nd e

nd e

0.002 0.05

where CO2 and TCL are the loss of total carbon as measured by CO2 emissions and compost TC mass, in kg (ton wet waste treated)1, and; subscripts WB, PB and GPM correspond to individual HC. Because the compost of the unmixed ground pile (GP) was not characterized regularly, no regression equation could be formulated. In terms of nitrogen, N2O emissions occurred at the end of the active composting stage, between days 20 and 50, with the GP compost showing a last peak on day 80. Nitrogen losses as N2OeN amounted to 0.01e0.016 kg during 150 days of composting represented only 4e7% of the nal compost TN losses, suggesting more important losses through leachate, and NH3 and N2 volatilization. Most of the emissions occurred between 15 and 40  C at a pH above 8, conditions favouring nitrication and denitrication along with the production of N2O and NO (Kim et al., 2010; de Bertoldi et al., 1983). During the thermophilic phase, NH3 volatilization governs nitrogen losses (Pagans et al., 2006; Barton and Atwater, 2002; de Bertoldi et al., 1983). Emissions in N2O were also correlated to TN losses from day 15 and 150:

0.010 0.289 0.032 0.002 0.333 99

0.014 0.150 0.022 0.001 0.187 56

0.001 0.274 0.051 0.001 0.327 97

0.006 0.017 0.228 0.002 0.253 75

WB e wood bin; PB e plastic bin; GPM e mixed ground pile; GP e unmixed ground pile; CO2 e carbon dioxide; CH4 e methane; N2O e nitrous oxide; nd e not detected. The greenhouse gas emission impact of CH4 and N2O are considered to be 25 and 298 times higher than CO2 (IPCC, 2007).

N2 OWBt 0:08 TNLt 0:02 N2 OPBt 0:03 TNLt 0:0008

R2 0:85 R2 0:94 R2 0:96

(7) (8) (9)

N2 OGPMt 0:11 TNLt 0:0003

where N2O is the compost N2OeN emission and TNL is the compost loss of TN, both in kg N (ton wet waste treated)1, and; the subscripts WB, PB and GPM correspond to individual HC. Because the compost of the unmixed ground pile (GP) was not characterized regularly, no regression equation could be formulated. Considering the evolution in compost characteristics, CO2 emissions were similar for PB and WB at 27 kg (ton wet waste)1, and slightly higher for the ground piles at 32 and 40 kg (ton wet waste)1 for GPM and GP. Emissions of N2O were higher for the drier compost of WB and GPM at 81 and 85% DM, as compared to the wetter compost of PB and GP at 60 and 66% DM (Table 1). More accurate compost CH4 monitoring is required for the rst 15 days of composting to properly characterize such emissions. 3.5. Total compost gas emissions Table 2 summarizes CO2, CH4 and N2O emissions over time and provides a CO2 equivalent value for N2O considering a contribution of 298 times that of CO2 (IPCC, 2007). Because of limited CH4 measurements, this gas will not be discussed. From day 15 to 150, HC produced level of CO2 ranging from 27 to 32 kg (ton of wet waste)1 except for the GP at 40 kg (ton of wet

waste)1. For the same period, PB produced the lowest level of N2O emissions at 0.187 kg (ton of wet waste)1 or 56 kg CO2-eq (ton wet waste treated)1. These values were followed by GP at 75, and then GPM and WB at 97 and 99 kg CO2-eq (ton wet waste treated)1, respectively. Over time, the most N2O emission occurred between days 20 and 60, except for GP loosing most of its N2O from day 60 to 120, because of its wetter compost. Observed N2O emissions corresponded to the average value reported for centralized composting facilities of 0.33 kg (tonne wet waste treated)1 (IPCC, 2006) or 100 kg CO2-eq (ton of wet waste)1. The N2O emissions from PB were slightly lower at 56 kg CO2-eq (ton of wet waste)1 demonstrating some improvement over the other HC. The values measured were low compared to those observed by Andersen et al. (2010) and Martnez-Blanco et al., 2010 at 0.3e0.55 and 0.676 kg (tonne wet waste treated)1 where the HC were bi-weekly and weekly fed. Accordingly, management practices may have just as important an impact on gaseous emissions as HC conguration. Furthermore, there may be some interaction between HC conguration and management practices, where for example, bins with top and bottom perforations may not need weekly mixing to produce low gaseous emissions. 4. Conclusion and recommendations To reduce earth warming trends, lower greenhouse gas emission (GGE) technologies are required to manage the increasing production of organic wastes. Besides landll diversion, home composting systems (HC) can help recycle residential organic waste while reducing collection, transportation and treatment costs and energies. Nevertheless, HC congurations must limit gaseous emissions to levels comparable to other treatment alternatives. The objective of the project therefore focused on testing HC conguration for the least gaseous emissions. Four common types of HC were used to compost organic waste and monitored for CO2, CH4

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and N2O from day 15 to 150: the wood and plastic bins (WB and PB), the mixed and unmixed ground pile (GPM and GP). Emissions in CO2 and N2O were highly correlated to total carbon and total nitrogen losses. Nevertheless, HC producing drier composts such as the mixed ground pile and the wood bin, lost the most N2O while the plastic bin with convective aeration created by bottom and top perforations produced the least at half that of the average emissions from centralized composting emissions. Comparing the results of the present project to that of others, future research should examine the interaction between management practice and HC conguration to minimise CH4 and N2O emissions. Emissions of CH4 need careful monitoring during the active phase of the process.

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Acknowledgements This study takes part of a larger project entitled ECCOVAL funded by the regional council of Brittany in France; the authors also acknowledge the nancial and all necessary logistics supported by the Rennes IRSTEA, France and the Natural Science and Engineering Research Council of Canada.

Symbols and abbreviations

Ar

CH4 C/N CO CO2 DM DMt dm FSt FW GGE GP GPM HC h Mt NH3 NH4 N2O O2 OM OMi OMt OW PB ppm Q S TC TN V YT WB

ratio of the composter to sampler cross sectional area in m2 m2 (8.7, 8.3 and 12.5 m2 m2 for WB, PB and ground piles respectively) methane carbon to nitrogen ratio carbon monoxide carbon dioxide dry matter dry matter concentration at time t, in % of Mt dry mass xed solids mass at time t, in kg food waste greenhouse gas emissions unmixed ground pile mixed ground pile home composting system (composting bin or ground pile) hour total wet mass at sampling time t in kg ammonia ammonium nitrous oxide oxygen organic matter content initial organic matter mass organic matter concentration in % of DMt organic waste plastic bin parts per million gas production rate in kg h1 (kg OMi)1 rate of gas production (slope of the linear gas concentration regression in ppmv h1) total carbon total nitrogen closed gas collection chamber volume in m3 yard trimmings wood bin gas density in kg m3.

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