Converting Horticultural Waste to Organic Compost Onsite

Year Submitted: 2025
Published Date: 11 February 2026

Tags: Environmental Sustainability, CO2 Waste, Recycling

About this Content

Aims

To study the feasibility of on-site composting of horticultural waste to reduce carbon footprint generated due to off-site transportation of horticultural waste.

Background

Woodlands Hospital (WH) has a vast area of greenery, generating a significant amount of horticultural waste, estimated to be 100kg per day, which is currently transported off-site for recycling into compost.

Methods

For a trial, 2 x 200L compost bins were deployed on-site at WH to convert the horticultural waste generated from daily landscape maintenance activities since September 2024. After 6 months, WH decided to upscale the effort with the purchase of 4 more compost bins.

Results

By May 2025, 53 kg of compost in total had been generated and applied as mulch around trees and shrubs.

Conclusion

The current process to compost horticultural waste offsite incurs about 1.16 ton CO2 a year. On-site composting can help reduce some of the off-site transportation and its associated carbon footprint.

Lessons Learnt

For better results, only leaves and small twigs should be deposited into the compost bins, as branches slow down the decomposition process.

Keywords

Composting, Horticultural Waste, Carbon Footprint

Innovators' Details

Connect with this contributor!

Hu Xiuming - singaporehealthcaremanagement@singhealth.com.sg

Project Attachment

971_WH_SHM_2025_Converting_Horticultural_Waste_to_Organic_Compost_Onsite.pdf