Environmental inventory modelling of the use of compost and peat in growth media preparation

Compost produced from biological treatment of organic waste has a potential for substituting peat in growth media preparation. The life-cycle-inventories (LCIs) of the two alternatives were compared using LCA-modelling (EASEWASTE) considering a 100-year period and a volumetric substitution ratio of 1:1.

For the compost alternative, the composting process, growth media use, and offsetting of mineral fertilizers were considered. For the peat alternative, peatland preparation, excavation, transportation, and growth media use were considered. It was assumed that for compost 14% of the initial carbon was left in the soil after 100 years, while all carbon in peat was mineralized.

With respect to greenhouse gas emissions, the former is considered a saving, while the later is considered an emission, because peat in a peatland is considered stored biogenic carbon. The leaching during the growth media use was assessed by means of batch leaching tests involving 4 compost samples and 7 peat samples.

The compost leached 3–20 times more heavy metals and other compounds than the peat. The life-cycle-assessment showed that compost performs better regarding global warming (savings in the range of 70–150kg CO2-eq. Mg−1) and nutrient enrichment (savings in the range of 1.7–6.8kg NO3 Mg−1 compost), while peat performs better in some toxic categories, because of the lower content of heavy metals.