Environmental Impact Evaluation of Community Composting by Using Life Cycle Assessment: A Case Study Based on Types of Compost Product Operations

Life cycle assessment (LCA) was applied to evaluate environmental impacts contributed by 2 community composting systems, consisting of powder and granular compost production. The main raw materials of these composts were waste from agricultural and agro industrial activities, including animal manures, and solid waste from palm oil mills and rice mills. Data from field operations of both of the composting systems were collected and analyzed. Both composting systems were classified into 5 sub systems, consisting of raw material collection, composting process, electricity consumption, material transfer, and distribution of the compost product to consumers. Impact assessments of both composting systems revealed that the composting process sub system was the main contributor on impact categories of acidification potential (AP), eutrophication potential (EP), global warming potential (GWP), and photochemical oxidation potential (POP), while on human toxicity potential (HTP) the distribution sub system was the main contributor. In comparing both systems, it was found that granular compost systems contributed a higher impact than powder compost systems, at 1.1 times on GWP, while the remaining sub systems had almost similar impacts. In order to improve composting systems, it is recommended that compost blanket and fuel substitution be applied, to enable gaseous emission reduction to the composting process and transportation operations. doi: 10.14456/WJST.2016.21