Intended uses

For production from fallen leaves: compost and fuel

Recycling fallen leaves: all possible ways to recycle in a useful manner

Even though fallen leaves are often burned or taken to waste disposal sites, they can be recycled and converted into useful products.

What are fallen leaves composed of?

In order to recycle any material correctly and effectively, it is necessary to understand what it is composed of. The main components of fallen leaves are carbon and hydrogen, i. e. they can be classified as hydrocarbons.

In addition to these elements, fallen leaves also contain oxygen and a small amount of nitrogen.

Although some of the hydrogen is bonded to oxygen, the carbon and the remaining hydrogen are sufficient for oxidation with the release of thermal energy. This makes it possible to use the leaf litter as fuel.

The fallen leaves are used to make three types of fuel:

Solid (fuel pellets, briquettes and wood bricks);

gaseous;

liquid.

After all, wood contains lignin, which when squeezed firmly, turns into a liquid form and soaks into everything around it.

Alternative methods of use

Although use for fertilizing or mulching is the main use, there are other uses for leaf litter.

The most popular of them are considered to be:

mushroom cultivation;

seed sprouting and seedling cultivation;

house flower cultivation;

ceiling insulation.

Mushroom cultivation

A good alternative to any other method of disposing fallen leaves is to use them to cultivate mushrooms.

Most of the edible mushrooms that can be cultivated on various plant wastes and debris are saprophytes, that is, organisms that feed from dead organic matter.

For mushrooms, it doesn't make much difference what to grow on, as long as they get enough nutrients.

The advantage of this disposal method is the high profitability, as even the wholesale price of mushrooms rarely falls below the value of 100 rubles per 1 kg.

At the same time, 3-5 kg of fallen leaves are needed to cultivate such an amount of mushrooms.

Conclusion

Recycling fallen leaves can be a fairly lucrative business, because as a result of it, various fuels or, for example, mushrooms are produced.