Suitability of Biowaste and Green Waste Composts for Organic Farming in Germany and the Resulting Utilization Potentials

Round 1

Reviewer 1 Report (Previous Reviewer 1)

Excellent revision by the authors and the MS has improved significantly in terms of both the scientific discussion, practicality and also its readability - Good luck with your ongoing research.

Author Response

Dear colleague,

Thank you for your suggestion and approval

Best regards

Reviewer 2 Report (Previous Reviewer 2)

1) The manuscript structure must be improved as MDPI format For example, you have “1. Introduction and objectives” and “Introduction”. It is incorrect format and confusion. Please revise throughout manuscript.

2) For example, Lines 81-82: “Composting in the EU and Germany as well as the question of suitability and potentials of the resulting compost products for organic farming” should not be the sub-topic in the Introduction section, as well as “Objectivs and significance of the study”. Please revise throughout manuscript.

3) The method and results are well written.

4) Line 275: “Tab. 1” must be “Table 1”. Please revise throughout manuscript.

5) Discussion must be emphasized on C sequestration from organic farming. For example, Lines 907-932. The organic farming could enhance C sequestration, which increases ecosystem services and may against the impact of climate change. [2013. Chapter 1 Societal dependence on soil’s ecosystem services. In: Lal, R., Lorenz, K., Hüttl, R.F., Schneider, B.U., von Braun, J. (Eds.), 2013. Ecosystem Services and Carbon Sequestration in the Biosphere. Springer, Dordrecht, The Netherland, pp. 1–10.]   [2021. Carbon footprint and predicting the impact of climate change on carbon sequestration ecosystem services of organic rice farming and conventional rice farming: A case study in Phichit province, Thailand.  Journal of Environmental Management, 289, 112458.]

4) Conclusions must be shorten by focusing on the main objectives. 

Author Response

Dear colleague,

thank you again for your comments and suggestions. You will find the corresponding changes and additional text sections in the following table.

We hope that this revision also meets your expectations. Irrespective of the further procedure regarding the article, we would also be pleased about a further professional exchange in general.

For the team of authors

Author Response File: Author Response.pdf

Round 2

Reviewer 2 Report (Previous Reviewer 2)

Accept in present form.

This manuscript is a resubmission of an earlier submission. The following is a list of the peer review reports and author responses from that submission.

Round 1

Reviewer 1 Report

1) Don't write general info in the abstract.

2) Write the abstract in 150 words, one paragraph.

3) The conclusions should be in line with your specific objectives. Write in one paragraph.

4) Write the practical applications for this work, before the conclusions - in 250 words (min).

5) Write the novelty of this work - 5 sentences (introduction).

6) Write the figure research prospects (100 words), before the conclusions.

7) Give all the important regulations and guidelines pertaining to bio-waste and green waste compost handling in the EU and Germany and write its salient features (description is needed).

8) What are the different strategies adopted for the return of plant nutrients to organic farming? Give at least 5-6 REF examples and the techniques used.

9) How is the composting technology for waste management in the framework of the circular economy being applied in EU? Give the frameworks and the step-wise procedure.

10) Divide the materials and methods into multiple sub-sections.

11) Table 1 text - TOO SMALL.

12) How do the values of salmonella, heavy metals Cr, Hg, Th and As and the other results compare with the conditions and results of the other recent works in the literature?

13) What are the process conditions and environmental factors that affected the relative suitability levels of the two compost types? Discuss.

14) The footnote of the tables are VERY SMALL.

15) Which of the metals have positive/negative influence on the compost suitability? Differentiate and discuss clearly.

16) From the composition of compost viewpoint and its types - What differences between the different metal concentrations can one envisage? Discuss.

17) Divide the discussions section into multiple sub-sections.

18) Check all the units in the X and Y axis of all the figures + increase the text and number sizes in all the figures/tables.

Author Response

Dear colleague,

thank you for your comments and suggestions. We have discussed them intensively in the team of authors and have addressed all your comments in detail. This has resulted in a number of changes and additional text sections. In detail, you will find the corresponding changes in the enclosed revised manuscript with markings, which includes at the end a table with annotations and line references to all your comments.

We hope that this revision meets your expectations. Irrespective of the further procedure regarding the article, we would also be pleased about a further professional exchange in general.

For the team of authors

Ralf Gottschall                Prof. Dr. Martin Kranert

NEB/Stuttgart, 25.02.2023

Author Response File: Author Response.docx

Reviewer 2 Report

This paper is interesting, but some points must be improved.

1) The abstract must be improved by mentioning what are the insight of this paper.

2) Line 34: “approx.” should be “approximately”.

3) Lines 70-75: In the introduction section, you mentioned a lot about policy and regulation related to composts, but only a few sentences were explained why compost is important for organic farming. I strongly recommend that reduce some policy and regulation explanations and explain much more details about the important of using organic materials as organic farming can increase crop yield, reduce environmental impact, and so on. You may see these papers. [2022. Carbon, Nitrogen and Water Footprints of Organic Rice and Conventional Rice Production over 4 Years of Cultivation: A Case Study in the Lower North of Thailand. Agronomy, 12(2), 380.] [2020. Soil Organic Carbon in Sandy Paddy Fields of Northeast Thailand: A Review. Agronomy, 10(8), 1061.] [2018. Organic Farming Improves Soil Microbial Abundance and Diversity under Greenhouse Condition: A Case Study in Shanghai (Eastern China). Sustainability, 10, 3825.].

4). What are the objectives of this paper? 

5) Figure 1 must be improved the resolution.

6) Lines 179-188: The calculation method and statistical evaluations are roughly mentioned. You must explain more details or showing the equations if necessary.

7) Tables 1 and 2 must be in the table form, not figure. Moreover, the text size are very small.

8) The text size of footnote of all figures are very small.

9) Discussion must be improved. Please discuss more details about the relationship among organic amendment, crop yield, soil nutrients, soil organic carbon sequestration, and so on.

Author Response

Dear colleague,

thank you for your comments and suggestions. We have discussed them intensively in the team of authors and have addressed all your comments in detail. This has resulted in a number of changes and additional text sections. In detail, you will find the corresponding changes in the enclosed revised manuscript with markings, which includes at the end a table with annotations and line references to all your comments.

We hope that this revision meets your expectations. Irrespective of the further procedure regarding the article, we would also be pleased about a further professional exchange in general.

For the team of authors

Ralf Gottschall                Prof. Dr. Martin Kranert

NEB/Stuttgart, 25.02.2023

Author Response File: Author Response.docx