Landfills are reaching capacity levels. Some have already closed, and with increases in population, the need for space to discard garbage will only grow.

Composting is an alternative to getting rid of waste materials by recycling them back into to the earth.

A Mississippi State Extension Service publication reads that organic waste materials, which include grass clippings, leaves and yard wastes, make up 30 percent of the material going into landfills. It also reported that according to the U.S. Composting Council, when including paper products in the mix, 67 percent of materials going in landfills could be composted.

“Composting is the process of taking leftover materials that are biodegradable, turning them into organic matter and returning them to the soil,” said Anna McCain, the Warren County extension service agent.

In addition to reducing the amount of waste in landfills, composting adds nutrients and moisture to soil, helps to aerate soil, wards off plant disease and serves as an alternative to chemical fertilizers.

“An important thing about composting is that through the composting process you are able to kill unwanted bacteria like E. coli,” McCain said.

McCain likened composting to cooking food in order to kill bacteria.

For compost to form, the organic waste must go through three heating stages, according to the MSU publication.

During the first stage temperatures will range from 95 to 113 degrees Fahrenheit, elevate to 160 degrees in the second stage, and in the third stage temperatures return back to 95 to 113 degrees Fahrenheit.

To ensure the composting process is completed, the finished product is dark, crumbly and smells earthy, McCain said.

“If you are going to use compost, it has to be fully composted,” she said and added the E. coli lettuce outbreak in 2013 could have been caused because the compost wasn’t fully composted.

“You don’t have to have a big yard to compost,” McCain said.

The extension service pamphlet states the simplest way to compost organic matter is to make a pile. Bins can also be used, which could be built from wire fencing, wooden slat fencing, cement blocks and bricks, wooden pallets, and scrap lumber.

Tractor Supply Company, on South Frontage Road, carries bins for composting.

Aside from yard waste, compost can include fish scraps, coffee grounds, tea bags, food scraps, dryer lint, manure, paper, hardwood and softwood bark and sawdust.

Materials not suitable for the compost pile are diseased plant material, weeds that have gone to seed, grease, fats, oils, meat scraps, bones and sawdust and wood shavings from preserved wood.

Compost materials decompose naturally but if turned and mixed the rate of decomposition accelerates.

For more information on composting and its benefits, McCain said the extension center is open to offering a program if there is enough interest. For more information call 601-636-5442.

“We need to focus on sustainability and use our resources effectively,” she said.