Composting is the collecting of organic waste materials--mainly plants and plant-based foods, but also manure from plant-eating animals--and providing the right conditions for the breakdown of these components into rich humus. There are many benefits to this practice.

Soil Enrichment

Composting produces a rich organic material that adds nutrients and structure to the soil. It also helps the soil to retain water, keeps damaging chemical fertilizers from entering lakes and streams, and in some cases, produces greater crop yields.

Recycling

Composting takes waste materials that would otherwise end up in landfills and turns them into a useful and salable product. By keeping these materials out of landfills, it helps avoid the production of dangerous gasses that would otherwise build up when organic matter is piled up without proper ventilation.

Saves Money

Composting saves money for the home gardener by reusing previously purchased organic matter to make compost instead of having to buy commercially prepared products.

Pollution Control

One of the most important features of compost is that it helps to remove, degrade, and/or neutralize contaminates such as odors, heating fuels, plastics, heavy metals, pesticides and other poisonous materials from the ground.

Produces Salable Product

An important benefit of composting is that it produces a product that can be marketed to home gardeners, landscapers, fruit and vegetable farmers, nurseries, and operators of golf courses and parks.

Source:

U.S. Environmental Protection Agency

Cornell Waste Management Institute

University of Arkansas Division of Agriculture