Re-Use of Agricultural Biomass for Nurseries Using Proximity Composting

The purpose of this study is to provide a proximity composting plant at a nursery. The disposal of pruning is an economic burden for farms. This paper shows that the reuse of pruning for composting and producing substrates for the nursery is an efficient procedure to reduce the environmental load and obtain quality ornamental plants. After a spatial analysis on the availability of pruning in a sample area, we have arranged, at a research partner’s nursery, a plant for proximity composting. Using the collected data, a life cycle assessment (LCA) analysis was prepared for the compost and substrates. Agronomic tests, whose results will be published later, were conducted on four Mediterranean ornamental species. A comparison between the agronomic and environmental results shows that proximity composting is a convenient practice that significantly reduces the environmental load of substrates.