A Mixture of Green Waste Compost and Biomass Combustion Ash for Recycled Nutrient Delivery to Soil

Kristina Buneviciene,Donata Drapanauskaite,Romas Mazeika,Jonas Baltrusaitis

doi:10.3390/agronomy11040641

Kristina Buneviciene, Donata Drapanauskaite + Show 2 more

Open Access

https://doi.org/10.3390/agronomy11040641

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Abstract

The use of major nutrient-containing solid residuals, such as recycled solid waste materials, has a strong potential in closing the broken nutrient cycles. In this work, biofuel ash (BA) combined with green waste compost (GWC) was used as a nutrient source to improve soil properties and enhance wheat and triticale yields. The main goal was to obtain the nutrient and heavy metal release dynamics and ascertain whether GWC together with BA can potentially be used for concurrent bioremediation to mitigate any negative solid waste effects on the environment. Both BA and GWC were applied in the first year of study. No fertilization was performed in the second year of the study. The results obtained in this work showed the highest spring wheat yield when the GWC (20 t ha−1) and BA (4.5 t ha−1) mixture was used. After the first harvest, the increase in the mobile forms of all measured nutrients was detected in the soil with complex composted materials (GWC + BA). The content of heavy metals (Cd, Zn, and Cr) in the soil increased significantly with BA and all GWC + BA mixtures. In both experiment years, the application of BA together with GWC resulted in fewer heavy metals transferred to the crops than with BA alone.

Highlights

The use of secondary, e.g., recycled or reused, materials is very important for sustainable development
This study aims to investigate if biofuel combustion bottoms ash (BA) in combination with green waste compost (GWC) could present any sizeable environmental risk or, instead, offer new opportunities for sustainable solid waste recycling and nutrient management in the environment
We studied the response of soil properties as well as spring wheat and spring triticale yield improvement to green waste compost with ash application in a 2-year field experiment

Summary

Introduction

The use of secondary, e.g., recycled or reused, materials is very important for sustainable development. One such secondary material is biofuel ash. Only 4–13% [2] is returned to the environment in the form of ash, as biofuel combustion ash is disposed of in landfills and only a part is further processed and used in agricultural soils. Recycling biofuel ash in agricultural soils (a) reduces the need for landfilling; (b) leads to the return of valuable nutrients to the ecosystem; and (c) decreases soil acidification. Energy production from wood-burning becomes more sustainable [3,4]. Report on Fertilizer Use, Contaminants and Regulations; United States.

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