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Implementation of strategies to optimize the co-composting of green waste and food waste in developing countries. A case study: Colombia

  • Waste and Biomass Management & Valorization
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Abstract

Green waste (GW) management is a key issue due to its high production rate and its variety of physical properties and chemical composition. Composting is a promising alternative for GW treatment and valorization. However, the presence of recalcitrant components such as lignin and cellulose increase the processing time. Strategies such as addition of co-substrates and operative modifications have improved the processing time and compost quality. Therefore, in this study, three strategies have been implemented (i) addition of unprocessed food (UF) and processed foods (PF) as co-substrates for GW to improve the nutrients composition of the substrates at the beginning of the process, (ii) addition of phosphate rock (PR) to improve product quality, and (iii) the use of two-stage composting (TSC) to accelerate the degradation. For this purpose, three treatments with the same mixture (48% GW + 21% UF + 18% PF + 13% sawdust (SW)) were conducted: (i) TA (TSC + 15% PR), (ii) TB (traditional composting +15% PR), and (iii) TC (traditional composting). TSC did not show significant differences compared with TC regarding the process and compost quality, while the addition of PR increased the phosphorus content of the product. However, TC produced the compost with the highest quality according to the Colombian legislation for soil amendment.

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Funding

This work was carried out thanks to the support of the Universidad Industrial de Santander (Colombia), through the project 2354 of 2017.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Escuela de Ingeniería Civil, Universidad Industrial de Santander, Bucaramanga, Santander, 680002, Colombia

    Angélica Hernández-Gómez, Arley Calderón, Camilo Medina & Edgar Ricardo Oviedo-Ocaña

  2. Escuela de Ingeniería Química, Universidad Industrial de Santander, Bucaramanga, Santander, 680002, Colombia

    Viviana Sanchez-Torres

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  1. Angélica Hernández-Gómez
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  2. Arley Calderón
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  3. Camilo Medina
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  4. Viviana Sanchez-Torres
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  5. Edgar Ricardo Oviedo-Ocaña
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Correspondence to Edgar Ricardo Oviedo-Ocaña.

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Hernández-Gómez, A., Calderón, A., Medina, C. et al. Implementation of strategies to optimize the co-composting of green waste and food waste in developing countries. A case study: Colombia. Environ Sci Pollut Res 28, 24321–24327 (2021). https://doi.org/10.1007/s11356-020-08103-w

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