Composting
Composting was carried out in accordance with normal operating procedures by a specialist waste management company. Fresh, source-separated green waste (40 t), mainly composed of grasses, garden and municipal prunings and river weed, was shredded and formed into a windrow 1.5 m high. The windrow was turned with a loading shovel twice weekly for the first 6 weeks and once per week for a further 10 weeks. The trial commenced on 16 July 1993. The mean windrow temperature + se for the first 8 weeks of composting was 68 + I C. Samples of 20 kg (n = 10) of the fresh and partially composted material were taken every 2 weeks. In the laboratory, these samples were thoroughly mixed and 2 kg sub-samples extracted (n = 10). This material was then screened (10 mm) to remove the large, non-degradable, woody fraction which was discarded. The putrescible fraction from each sampling period was retained for chemical analyses and samples were also frozen and subsequently used in vermiculture trials.