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Waste Management & Research
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Mineralization in a Calcareous Soil of a Sewage Sludge Composted With Different Organic Residues

C. Garcia

Department of Organic Resources, Centro de Edafología y Biología Aplicada del Segura. Apartado 4195, 30080, Murcia, Spain

T. Hernandez

Department of Organic Resources, Centro de Edafología y Biología Aplicada del Segura. Apartado 4195, 30080, Murcia, Spain

F. Costa

Department of Organic Resources, Centro de Edafología y Biología Aplicada del Segura. Apartado 4195, 30080, Murcia, Spain

Three sewage sludge composts were obtained from mixtures of an aerobic sludge (AS) and three organic wastes differing widely in chemical composition: an extremely biodegradable waste (municipal solid waste, MSW), a plant residue (grape debris) and a residue with a carbon fraction not easily mineralizable (peat residue). The following mixtures were made, the proportions referring to their total organic carbon content: AS-MSW 1/1, AS-GRAPE 3/1 and AS-PEAT 1/1. These mixtures were composted over 3 months in the open air with periodical turning, and were left to mature afterwards for 4 months. Uncomposted mixtures and composted mixtures, before and after maturation, were incubated for 38 days, under laboratory conditions, with a calcareous soil and the CO2 emission of the samples periodically measured.

Uncomposted mixtures emitted much greater quantities of carbon than those composted, whether before or after maturation period. Both at the beginning and at the end of composting, differences were observed between the total amount of carbon emitted by the mixture containing peat waste and the others. However, the quantities of carbon emitted from the three mixtures tended to even out in mature composts, reaching a maximum of 600 mg carbon per 100 g total organic carbon. This shows that, although the mineralization of carbon depends on the nature of the organic waste mixed with the sewage sludge, it tends to even out when the mixtures have undergone composting.

Key Words: Carbon emission rate • composting • composts • microbial activity • organic matter mineralization • sewage sludge.

Waste Management & Research, Vol. 10, No. 5, 445-452 (1992)
DOI: 10.1177/0734242X9201000507
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