Page 22 - LandscapeSA Issue 110

ENVIroNMENTAL FEATUrE

adding one tonne of compost to soil will sequester 100 – 1000 kg of
greenhouse gas emissions, depending on application methods and
existing soil conditions.
The benefits of composting food waste go beyond
reducing methane emissions
Food waste composting recycles nutrients and organic matter back
to one of earth’s most important resources: soil. In 2015, the UN
Food and Agricultural Organisation (FAO) warned that “today, 33 %
of land is moderately to highly degraded and that further loss of
productive soils would severely damage food production and food
security, amplify food price volatility and potentially plunge millions
of people into hunger and poverty.”

According to Richard Gray of the BBC, key factors driving the soil crisis
are erosion, compaction, nutrient imbalance, pollution, acidification,
water logging, loss of soil biodiversity and increasing salinity due to
the over-use of synthetic fertilisers.
Gardeners intuitively know that healthy soil is living soil. When one

20 Landscape SA • Issue 110 2022