What are the different types of composting?

Home composting and industrial composting

There are two broad categories of composting, home composting and industrial composting. Home composting involves piling organic waste and aerating it over several weeks. An industrial compost facility optimises the composting process by controlling oxygen content and temperature in a commercial facility to ensure rapid biodegradation of organic material to produce a high quality, toxic-free compost. Home composts also produces rich compost at the end of the process but may not maintain the right temperature and oxygen conditions for composting PLA products.

Types of industrial composting:

• Windrow
  • Windrow composting is a simple composting process which involves piling organic material in heaps called windrows and aerated through passive or active ventilation, or regular turning.
• In-vessel composting
  • In-vessel composting methods confine organic materials in a building, container, or vessel in which air flow and temperature can be controlled.
• Anaerobic digestion
  • Anaerobic digestion is a sequence of processes by which microorganisms break down biodegradable material in the absence of oxygen in a “digester”. The process is used for industrial or domestic purposes to manage waste or to produce fuels and fertilisers.