Abstract
This article presents the application of a novel system for the treatment of fruit and vegetable waste (FVW) using the combination of treatment by the application of the liquid fraction to an anaerobic hydrolytic bioreactor and a constructed wetland. The batch-fed anaerobic bioreactor (AB) had an average organic loading rate of 44 g COD/L-d and a hydraulic residence time (HRT) of 24 h for the degradation of the liquid fraction of the FVW with an average COD removal of 55%. Subsequently, the constructed wetlands (CWs) were fed a subsurface vertical flow of the effluent from the AB by stepwise concentration increments from 1 to 12 g COD/L and a HRT = 72 h until the limit conditions of the operation were identified. For the tropical ornamental species of the CWs in red volcanic gravel (RVG) and RVG + polyethylene (PE) supports, the monoculture of Hippeastrum rutilum and Spathiphyllum wallisii presented removals of COD, Tot-P, and TKN of 90%, 80%, and 85%, respectively. The polycultures with both species exceeded 90% effectiveness. At the end of both processes, a concentration of ~0.5 g COD/L was achieved, confirming that the use of these technologies together constitutes an efficient system for the treatment of the liquid fraction of FVW.
Highlights
Fruit and vegetable waste (FVW) is an important class of waste because it is produced in considerable quantities in agricultural activities, supermarkets, and local markets [1]
The results obtained are presented below according to the two stages of the research methodology: 1. the anaerobic bioreactor; and 2. the constructed wetland
The co-treatment of FVW through the liquid fraction was found to be able to reduce the amount of pollutants using a system that combines a bioreactor and constructed wetlands
Summary
Fruit and vegetable waste (FVW) is an important class of waste because it is produced in considerable quantities in agricultural activities, supermarkets, and local markets [1]. The lack of management of this waste is common in municipalities that have high population densities, which allows the decaying organic matter to facilitate the spread of vectors, diseases, and unpleasant odors and to contaminate the sources of ground and surface waters [2] This scenario is replicated in countries that do not have adequate wastewater treatment systems [3]. In three North American countries alone (Canada, the United States, and Mexico), it has been estimated that 170 million tons of food waste is generated each year, consisting mainly of FVW (42%) [9,10,11] Despite their negative impacts on the environment, landfills are used extensively for the disposal of waste, and they have been banned in some parts of North America. This is in contrast to Mexico, which, due to its informal disposal or final disposal routes for its extensive agricultural production, produces and disposes of about 20 million tons/year of FVW without any treatment [9,17,18]
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