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Waste Management & Research
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Microbial C and N dynamics during composting process of urban solid waste

Layla Ben Ayed

Abdennaceur Hassen

Naceur Jedidi

Neila Saidi

Olfa Bouzaiane

Fumio Murano

Institut National de la Recherche Scientifique et Technique, Hammam Lif, Tunisia

Microbial characterization of composting is of importance for the optimization of the process and the quality of the end product. The aim of this work was to follow microbial biomass C and N dynamics during the composting process of urban solid waste. Microbial biomass C (B C) ranged from 4.06 to 1 µg kg-1 of dry compost from day 5 to day 62 and decreased to reach 0.44 mg kg-1 in mature compost. Microbial biomass N (B N) showed the same trend as B C, ranging from 1.472 to 0.443 µg kg-1 of dry compost from day 5 to day 62. This behaviour is probably related to the decreasing availability of readily decomposable substrates with the ongoing of the process. B C and B N showed a strong correlation (r = 0.78). The dynamics of the B C/B N ratio, index of the chemical composition of the whole microbial population suggested a shift in the composition of microbial populations during the process from prevailing bacteria and actinomycetes to prevailing fungi.

Key Words: Compost • total microbial biomass • carbon • nitrogen • fumigation–extraction • wmr 970–6

Waste Management & Research, Vol. 25, No. 1, 24-29 (2007)
DOI: 10.1177/0734242X07073783
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