The agricultural practice of amending soils with composted municipal solid waste (MSW) adds significant amounts of organic matter and trace metals, including Cd. Under these conditions, soluble organic complexes of Cd formed in the compost may be more significant than previously thought, due to Cd bioavailability and mobility in the soil environment. To study the relative importance of differen...

In-vessel composting, a contribution to sustainable solid waste management, was conducted on source-separated waste materials generated in Abeokuta city, south-west Nigeria. Feedstock (household, agricultural and municipal waste) and the resultant composts were chemically characterized using standard procedures. Identification and changes in the microbial population during composting, the effec...

Vegetable waste usually contains high levels of organic matter, moisture and nutrients that make the waste unsuitable for disposal in municipal landfills. Composting of vegetable waste is in practice by many urban local bodies, and therefore, it was composted along with cow dung and sawdust in a 550-L batch scale rotary drum composter. Four different trials of varying waste combinations of vege...

The biological stabilisation of the organic fraction of municipal solid waste (OFMSW) into a form stable enough for land application can be achieved via aerobic or anaerobic treatments. To investigate the rates of degradation (e.g. via electron equivalents removed, or via carbon emitted) of aerobic and anaerobic treatment, OFMSW samples were exposed to computer controlled laboratory-scale aerob...

Rather than landfilling, composting the organic fraction of municipal solid wastes recycles the waste as a safe and nutrient enriched soil amendment, reduces emissions of greenhouse gases and generates less leachate. The objective of this project was to investigate the composting effectiveness of three bulking agents, namely chopped wheat (Triticum) straw, chopped mature hay consisting of 80% t...

Silicone (polydimethylsiloxanes, or PDMS) fluids are widely used in industrial and consumer products, and may find their way into municipal biosolids that are eventually applied to the land. In soil PDMS breaks down into dimethylsilanediol which is then either volatilized or biodegraded. Since biosolids are often composted prior to land application, this paper investigates fate and effects of P...

AIMS This study investigates changes in microbiological and physicochemical parameters during large-scale, thermophilic composting of a single batch of municipal organic waste. The inter-relationships between the microbial biomass and community structure as well as several physicochemical parameters and estimates of maturation were evaluated. METHODS AND RESULTS Analyses of signature fatty ac...

the application of organic amendments can be an appropriate solution to reclaim and improve physical propertiesof saline-sodic soils. in this research, an experiment was performed under greenhouse conditions to study the effect ofamendments to the physical properties of loamy saline-sodic soil. the five treatments were control (withoutamendment), municipal solid waste compost (mc), vermicompost...

For the past 20 years, the National Foundation for Agricultural Research in Crete and the School of Agricultural Technology of the Technological and Educational Institute of Crete have been involved in a number of research and development activities, related to the production and evaluation of compost derived from a variety of local solid, mainly agricultural organic wastes. Materials such as o...