Background The project site is an area of intensive horticulture, and, as a result, produces a lot of vegetable waste bio-mass. This can cause environmental problems such as high levels of nitrogen components seeping into soil, surface and ground water. This waste is currently partly transformed in a composting plant. The issue of green wastes and composting has received much attention at national and European level. Objectives The fertiLIFE project aimed to conduct a survey of all green waste produced locally and to develop an information system which allows for the utilisation of the compost in the same fields where it originated. Its specific aims were to: • Create a pilot rationalisation system of bio-mass waste recycling; • Produce a high-quality compost to be used as a fertiliser; • Demonstrate the feasibility of a self-sustainable fertilisation system; and • Disseminate the methodology and results among target groups. The beneficiary, the Regional Agency of Lazio for Development and Innovation in Agriculture (ARSIAL), planned to manage the project activities and act as project coordinator. Project managers would have direct contact with representatives from partner organisations. Co-ordination meetings were scheduled for every six months in order to assign tasks and to find solutions to problems. The meetings would also be an opportunity to assess progress. Demonstration of the effectiveness of the local bio-masses system would include an economic analysis of costs and benefits taking into account profits, chemical fertilisation and waste disposal cost reduction and the potential for greater intakes from the sale of an organic production with a specific label of origin. The benefits for the environment (that is, the reduction of nitrogen components seeping into soil and water) were also to be evaluated. Cost and benefits analysis would be carried out taking into account the effect that the proposed management system combined with the specific realisation of small territorial composting plants would have on similar environmentally rich areas with intensive agriculture use. Results The project succeeded in introducing an information management structure (fertiLIFE) for the management of waste bio-mass, redistribution of compost and supply of information. It improved the process of transfer of recycled bio-mass and the possible local storage before moving to the composting plant. The project also introduced composting in a local plant using best available techniques (BATs) in order to produce high-quality organic fertiliser. Through the project’s surveying activities, the compost was optimally applied to the same farms that produced the green wastes, thereby replacing traditional chemical fertiliser. This compost was exclusively utilised on selected fields and horticultural products obtained from them were evaluated, packed and sold utilising the specific trade label “fertiLIFE” (that includes an explanatory note). The productive fields have become part of a stable information source consisting of instructional posters and other simple exhibition tools that were created near the composting plant. Owing to the experimental approach of the project, the scientific reports were the main project outcome (rather than practical, immediately tangible effects on the environment). The studies carried out before and after the application of compost to the demonstration fields contributed to the increased knowledge of the organic fertilisation techniques, and the organisation of guided visits to the composting plant and the farms where the tests were carried out contributed to the increased awareness of the general public and local students in particular. The project successfully showed that green wastes produced in the territory of Maccarese (Province of Rome) can be used in a sustainable way for the production of high-quality compost and the fertilisation of the horticultural fields of the area. A thorough analysis of the situation of green waste producers and potential compost users was conducted and results recorded in a specifically created database. Field tests were conducted on over 30 ha at four farms and on a variety of crops. Soil and water analyses were carried out in all fields before and after the three-year project period. A general increase of organic matter in the soil thanks to the use of compost was recorded, even if a complete substitution of synthetic fertilisers with compost was judged to be not feasible. Horticulture products obtained during the field tests were marketed in a local supermarket, and 270 questionnaires were distributed among the customers, to test their awareness on the problems linked to green wastes and quality farming. The project was concluded with an international conference that attracted over 150 attendees.