Abstract
Significant quantities of paper waste (PW) have been accumulated in recent years and the reuse/recycling of PW is required due to environmental concerns. In the present study, printed PW was used as a peat (P) substitute in growing medium for the Brassica seedlings production, considering recycling, sustainable agriculture, and partly peat replacement. Seeds of cauliflower, broccoli, and cabbage were seeded in growing media made of 0–10–30–50% PW. The addition of PW improved the growing media pH and mineral content, reduced the media aeration, and affected seed emergence. The PW decreased plant growth and the effects were more pronounced at 50% PW. The PW ≥ 30% decreased stomatal conductance, while chlorophyll fluorescence and content of chlorophylls decreased with high PW ratio, negatively affecting the plant physiology. The PW decreased plant sodium and iron and increased potassium, calcium, magnesium, and copper content. The PW increased antioxidant activity to a certain degree for cauliflower and cabbage and resulted in no change for broccoli, while polyphenols increased in cabbage seedlings. The addition of PW did not cause cellular damage as both lipid peroxidation and hydrogen peroxide production remained at low levels, maintaining low levels on the antioxidant enzymes (catalase, superoxide dismutase, peroxidase) metabolism. The present study shows that low PW content can partially replace peat for Brassica seedling production under a sustainable agriculture and environmentally friendly scheme.
Highlights
The industrial sector of pulp and paper is enormous with more than 0.3 billion tons of products and more than 0.5 billion dollars of global revenues on an annual basis [1]
The addition of up to 30% paper waste (PW) augmented growing media bulk density compared to the control (100% peat) treatment while the 50% PW decreased the bulk density of the media
The presence of PW in the media reduced the available water and air levels at the plant’s roots, and this resulted in the decreased total porosity of the growing media, with more marked effects at the higher PW levels i.e., 50% of PW
Summary
The industrial sector of pulp and paper is enormous with more than 0.3 billion tons of products and more than 0.5 billion dollars of global revenues on an annual basis [1]. Caputo and Pelagagge [13] presented a techno-economical study of a fluidized bed-based waste-to-energy sludge disposal plant for the paper industry with 15–20 million euro savings within 15 years of operation, as well as environmental benefits. Despite the increasing interest for the paper mill sludges composting and vermicomposting [14], the disposal of wastes on land is the most commonly and traditionally way of management. Both composting and land application (landfill or land spread) are expensive, and alternative practices of waste management need to be explored [13]. According to Waste classification and the European List of Waste (2000/532/EC-01.06.2015), there are many types of waste generated by paper industry and only some can be used (recycled) in several sectors, including agriculture
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