Worms are killing the planet, says top researcher
Worm composting could be doing more harm than good to the environment, a leading researcher claimed today.
Composting Association research director Jim Frederickson said: “Worms produce a significant amount of greenhouse gases. Recent research done by German scientists has found that worms produced a third of nitrous oxide gases when used for composting.”
The ‘wiggly ones’ naturally produce nitrous oxide gases when they are put into the process of composting.
Worms can be used for home grown composting or commercial composting and are typically red worms. They are used to recycle food scraps and other organic material into valuable soil worm compost, otherwise known as vermicompost. This compost can then be used to grow plants.
“We have concentrated on getting waste out of landfill and into worm composting systems but they can actually produce more greenhouse gases than landfill sites produce,” Frederickson said.
