Environmental and productive comparison of growing – media obtained by composts of different organic wastes

In this paper a different approach to the problem of compost production and use has been tried: on the basis of compost production data gathered in a specialised company, an environmental analysis LCA (Life Cycle Assessment) has been realized. Furthermore, an agronomical test has been prepared in order to evaluate the better mixture of composts, peat and pumice on D. marginata Lam. and D. fragrans (L.) Ker. Gawl plants. The LCA analysis has been performed on the basis of an on-site data collection including materials and components for structures and equipments, energy and water consumption, chemicals,, biological activator, used in the compost production. The transport of the different wastes has been considered. At the composting company of Manduria (Taranto – Italy), 5 different biomasses coming from wastes organic matters available in the Apulia region have been collected and composted: green pruning residuals, sludge from dairy production, grape stalks, sludge from waste-water treatments, organic waste from separate municipal collection. Chemical and physical analyses have been realized on the three growing media, S1, ACT1 and ACT2, in order to evaluate the micro and macro nutrients and heavy metal contents. The obtained results allow the comparison of compost and growing media realized from environmental and agronomical points of view.