IT SHOULD not come as a surprise that organic materials are almost always recyclable. After all, the Earth’s biosphere is constantly cycling through material in a complex system of energy and matter, ensuring that nothing goes to waste.
Plants, and by extension all other terrestrial organisms, require a blend of different elements to survive. Carbon, nitrogen, potassium, phosphorus and numerous other elements are all essential to their survival. Nitrogen is particularly important, as it is incorporated into the genetic material of every cell. Until recent times, nitrogen was the limiting factor in human agriculture.
The Earth’s atmosphere contains an abundance of nitrogen. Although humans inhale this gas with every breath, it is impossible for most organisms to chemically exploit it. Only certain groups of essential bacteria associated with
