Composting in the context of "Non-biodegradable"

Sewage sludge treatment describes the processes used to manage and dispose of sewage sludge produced during sewage treatment. Sludge treatment is focused on reducing sludge weight and volume to reduce transportation and disposal costs, and on reducing potential health risks of disposal options. Water removal is the primary means of weight and volume reduction, while pathogen destruction is frequently accomplished through heating during thermophilic digestion, composting, or incineration. The choice of a sludge treatment method depends on the volume of sludge generated, and comparison of treatment costs required for available disposal options. Air-drying and composting may be attractive to rural communities, while limited land availability may make aerobic digestion and mechanical dewatering preferable for cities, and economies of scale may encourage energy recovery alternatives in metropolitan areas.

Sludge is mostly water with some amounts of solid material removed from liquid sewage. Primary sludge includes settleable solids removed during primary treatment in primary clarifiers. Secondary sludge is sludge separated in secondary clarifiers that are used in secondary treatment bioreactors or processes using inorganic oxidizing agents. In intensive sewage treatment processes, the sludge produced needs to be removed from the liquid line on a continuous basis because the volumes of the tanks in the liquid line have insufficient volume to store sludge. This is done in order to keep the treatment processes compact and in balance (production of sludge approximately equal to the removal of sludge). The sludge removed from the liquid line goes to the sludge treatment line. Aerobic processes (such as the activated sludge process) tend to produce more sludge compared with anaerobic processes. On the other hand, in extensive (natural) treatment processes, such as ponds and constructed wetlands, the produced sludge remains accumulated in the treatment units (liquid line) and is only removed after several years of operation.

Biodegradable waste includes any organic matter in waste which can be broken down into carbon dioxide, water, methane, compost, humus, and simple organic molecules by micro-organisms and other living things by composting, aerobic digestion, anaerobic digestion or similar processes. It mainly includes kitchen waste (spoiled food, trimmings, inedible parts), ash, soil, dung and other plant matter. In waste management, it also includes some inorganic materials which can be decomposed by bacteria. Such materials include gypsum and its products such as plasterboard and other simple sulfates which can be decomposed by sulfate reducing bacteria to yield hydrogen sulfide in anaerobic land-fill conditions.

In domestic waste collection, the scope of biodegradable waste may be narrowed to include only those degradable wastes capable of being handled in the local waste handling facilities. To address this, many local waste management districts are integrating programs related to sort the biodegradable waste for composting or other waste valorization strategies, where biodegradable waste gets reused for other products, such as using agricultural waste for fiber production or biochar.

A hammer mill is a mill whose purpose is to shred or crush aggregate material into smaller pieces by the repeated blows of small hammers. These machines have numerous industrial applications, including:

• Ethanol plants (grains)
• A farm machine, which mills grain into coarse flour to be fed to livestock
• Fluff pulp defiberizing
• Fruit juice production
• Grinding used shipping pallets for mulch
• Milling grain
• Livestock, poultry, and aquatic feed production
• Sawmills, size reduction of trim scrap and planer shavings into boiler fuel or mulch

The Heliotrope is an environmentally friendly housing project by German architect Rolf Disch. There are three such buildings in Germany. The first experimental version was built in 1994 as the architect's home in Freiburg im Breisgau, while the other two were used as exhibition buildings for the Hansgrohe company in Offenburg and a dentist's lab in Hilpoltstein in Bavaria.

Several different energy generation modules are used in the building including a 603 sq ft (56.0 m) dual-axis solar photovoltaic tracking panel, a geothermal heat exchanger, a combined heat and power unit (CHP) and solar-thermal balcony railings to provide heat and warm water. These innovations along with the favorable insulation of the residence allows the Heliotrope to capture anywhere between four and six times its energy usage depending on the time of year. The Heliotrope is also fitted with a grey-water cleansing system and built-in natural waste composting.

Brown waste is any biodegradable waste that is predominantly carbon based. The term includes such items as grass cuttings, dry leaves, twigs, hay, paper, sawdust, corn cobs, used livestock bedding, manure, animal waste, cardboard, pine needles or cones, etc.Carbon is necessary for composting, which uses a combination of green waste and brown waste to promote the microbial processes involved in the decomposition process. The composting of brown waste sustainably returns the carbon to the carbon cycle.

Brown waste is considered the most environmentally friendly way to dispose of it in the ecosystem. Some companies use this waste to make artificial wood, and other products used for non-food grade materials.