Old Newspapers Proving Valuable to Agriculture

AUBURN, Ala. — It's been said that one person's trash is another person's treasure. Scientists at Auburn University are proving that adage true by converting old newspapers from an environmental liability to a valuable agricultural resource.

According to U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA) soil scientist Dr. Jim Edwards, who has been studying new uses for waste products in a multidisciplinary cooperative project, newspaper disposal is a big problem.

"Cellulose materials, such as old newspapers, represent about 30 to 40 percent of the debris in municipal solid waste systems," explained Edwards. "In the past, the primary way these papers have been disposed of is in landfills."

But Edwards said this option is being limited by new Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) regulations. EPA has mandated a 25 percent reduction in solid waste disposal in landfills by 1995, an additional 35 percent by 1997, and a 75 percent total reduction of the volume of materials going into landfills by the year 2000.

"If we have 100 tons of newspaper going into the landfills, by 2000 that must be reduced to 25 tons," he said.

This mandate was a catalyst for Edwards' research. "A way for municipal waste managers to meet these guidelines in a very short period of time is by removing the cellulose material from the landfill," he said. "That means getting rid of these newspapers. But we cannot recycle these newspapers efficiently and quickly enough to reduce their immediate impact on landfills."

The study, which involves cooperative work with the USDA's National Soil Dynamics Laboratory and the Alabama Agricultural Experiment Station at Auburn, began in 1991 as an effort to find new uses for old newspapers. "We've got to develop other markets for it. That's what our study was focusing on. We initially were trying to see if newspaper could improve the rooting depth of plants without causing any adverse effects to the plant. That, alone would have been beneficial to agriculture. But the study has developed into something that could be very valuable to agriculture in many ways," Edwards said.

Much of Edwards' research has concentrated on different applications of ground newspaper to the soil. Edwards has tried several options and found that applying ground newspaper in a trench next to rows of cotton increased cotton lint yields about 15 percent. In another treatment, broiler litter (a mixture of manure, feathers and other waste products that collect on the floor of poultry houses) was applied alone in trenches. This treatment also resulted in a 15 percent yield increase.

When ground newspaper was mixed with broiler litter and trenched near the plants, lint yields increased 60 percent. This treatment would be positive from production and environmental perspectives. Broiler litter disposal has become a priority for the thriving poultry industry as producers attempt to find environmentally sound disposal methods. Some 1.7 million tons of this waste product are produced annually in Alabama alone.

Edwards also has been evaluating ground newspaper as a soil mulch. He noted that limited rainfall and wind erosion can severely limit plant production in the Northern and Southern Plains regions of the United States. Applying ground newspaper on top of soil can reduce water evaporation from the soil, decrease wind and soil erosion and provide many other benefits. The research, which was initiated at the E.V. Smith Research Center in Shorter, has expanded into other areas of Alabama. A study was instituted this year at the Upper Coastal Plain Substation in Winfield at the request of municipal leaders in Northwest Alabama.

Another study also has been established recently in Northeast Alabama at the Sand Mountain Substation. Based on the success of these projects, USDA and the Alabama Agricultural Experiment Station have instituted a broad-based cooperative research effort in Alabama. Research is evaluating the use of ground newspaper and other waste products on cotton, corn and soybeans and is involving a multi-disciplinary team of Auburn scientists. The team includes weed scientist Harold Walker, soybean breeder David Weaver and waste management specialist Charles Mitchell, all from Auburn's Department of Agronomy and Soils; Paul Backman, a plant disease researcher from the Department of Plant Pathology; Mike Gaylor, a cotton pest researcher from the Department of Entomology; and Jim Donald, a waste management engineer from the Department of Agricultural Engineering.

In addition, USDA and university-based researchers in Texas, North Dakota, New Jersey and Maryland are helping look at these applications nationwide.

Though these results look promising, Edwards is quick to note that much more research is needed before this application is perfected.

"We think that this may have significant benefits for agricultural land but we must be cautious," he said. "We have not fully evaluated all the techniques that are available for utilization of this resource. We need to work on application techniques and rates. Misapplying this resource could harm the soil's delicate balance and we must be careful not to shift that equilibrium."

Still, Edwards is optimistic about the future of this application, contending that old news can be a real treasure for agriculture.

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News from:

Office of Ag Communications & Marketing

Auburn University College of Agriculture
Alabama Agricultural Experiment Station
3 Comer Hall, Auburn University
Auburn, AL 36849
334-844-4877 (PHONE) 334-844-5892 (FAX)

Contact Jamie Creamer, 334-844-2783 or jcreamer@auburn.edu
Contact Katie Jackson, 334-844-5886 or smithcl@auburn.edu

09/28/92