Wood waste compost as growing media components for cultivation of Chrysanthemum morifolium (Ramat.) Hemsl.

The purpose of this study was to assess the possibility of using compost made from post-consumer wood in zonal pelargonium (Pelargonium zonale) cv. ‘Tex Mex’ cultivation. The influence of compost on the plant’s development and nutritional state, as well as the microbiological and enzymatic activity of the substrate was examined. Two variants of compost marked with the following letters: OPA and OPB were used. Both variants consisted of post-consumer wood waste (OP) (70% of weight) mixed with powdery waste from processing MDF boards (6%), mature compost from fiberboard waste (19%), high peat (4%), water and a biological inoculum “Activit Las”. Thirty kilograms of urea in two portions per prism were added to the OPA variant while ammonium nitrate (1.5 kg per prism), magnesium sulphate (0.4 kg per prism), potassium phosphate (0.8kg per prism) and calcium phosphate (0.9 kg per prism) were added to the OPB variant. The plants were cultivated into pots 12 cm in diameter and a capacity of 659 dm3 in the substrates consisting of peat with the addition of compost at different volume ratios. It was found that the medium type had a significant influence on the growth and flowering of the zonal pelargonium. The type of compost used was the determinant for microbiological total counts and activity. The chemical composition of the substrates significantly modified the plants’ nutritional state in terms of macro- and microelements. In summary, the study demonstrated that good quality ornamental plants can be successfully grown in peat substrate containing 25% or 50% of post-consumer wood compost.

Dynamic accounting of greenhouse gas emissions from cascading utilisation of wood waste

The purpose of the conducted study was to assess the possibility of using composts made from post-consumer wood containing waste of fibre boards and microbiological inoculums in chrysanthemum (Chrysanthemum × grandiflorum Ramat./Kitam.) ‘Jewel Time’ cultivation. Five variants of composts (marked ask, KK, AL, AL + K, EM, EM + K) were prepared, each variant was duplicate. All variants consisted of fibreboard waste (60% of its weight), mixed with mature compost made from fibreboard waste (30%), Protohumovit-biologically active organic fertilizer with the chemical composition of cattle manure (3%), starch, sugar, corn oil (together 7%). A biological inoculum “Activit Las” was added to one half of reactors. “Activit Las” (produced by Atlas Planta S.C, Bydgoszcz) is biological inoculum containing of selected bacteria, actinobacteria and fungi, that is intended to accelerate the composting of lignocellulosic materials, including wood from forest and sawmill. The second part of reactors was implemented by microbiological inoculum (EM) from Greenland Technologia EM (Trzcianki, Poland). A Bio Best (produced by Atlas Planta S.C, Bydgoszcz) formulation of chicken manure was added to some of the reactors containing EM and Activit Las. Compost without any additional microorganisms and microelements was control for experiment. Plant quality depended on the dose of compost used as well as on the type of microbial inoculations used during the composting process. The addition of composts containing the EM microbial inoculation to peat stimulated the formation of inflorescences and inflorescence buds. It also had a positive effect on the size and number of leaves. An additional effect of using compost obtained from wood waste is the reduction in the consumption of natural resources such as peat.

Resource quality of wood waste: The importance of physical and chemical impurities in wood waste for recycling

It is substantiated that a potential source of wood raw materials is various wood waste, in particular, post-consumer wood (PCW). A detailed review and thorough analysis was made to determine the principles of PCW classification at the Ukrainian level. The classification of PCW by degree of pollution into four groups is proposed. A method of calculating the used wood has been developed, which makes it possible to calculate its quantity effectively and reliably. A mathematical model for calculating the potential and balance of PCW by origin is proposed. It was established that the weighted average annual percentage of PCW from the trade network ranges from 14-16%, construction - 20-24%, raw materials and woodworking industries - 6-10%, used (old) furniture products - 10-16%, municipal waste - 16-18%, solid waste – 16-22%, other revenues – 6-8%. On the basis of statistical data from 2015 to 2023, approximating power dependences for each total indicator were obtained, which make it possible to forecast the volume of PCW formation in the near future, in particular until 2024. The implementation of the developed mathematical model makes it possible to effectively forecast the distribution of PCW by categories that determine the degree of pollution and, accordingly, the percentage of material processing of PCW. It is estimated that the potential of PCW in Ukraine in 2023 was about 1.783 million tons. It is justified that the improvement of PCW management at all levels should be based on general technical, economic and environmental standards and focus on the following proposals: analysis of PCW management; calculation of the potential of PCW as a secondary raw material and energy source; improvement of databases on technical, economic, environmental and statistical information; implementation of new approaches to PCW management, taking into account already existing schemes. A strategy for the material use of PCW was developed, which is based on the assessment of potential volumes of PCW according to a mathematical model, systematization of PCW by categories, classification by pollution, the concept of utilization of PCW by processing into dimensionally suitable blanks and construction materials, in particular, carpentry plates of various structures with predicted characteristics, which take into account the physical and mechanical properties of this additional wood resource.

This article presents the results of studies, whose aim was to determine the volume of post-consumer wood waste resources in Poland and propose a calculation method. The methodical approach applied is based on the concept of life cycle of final wood products, including a system of indices describing rotation of these products and their average useful life. The study revealed that in 2013 potential amount of post-consumer wood waste in Poland was 6.5 million m3, which was 17% of wood removals and approximately 19% of consumption (the amount of processed wood originating from Polish forests). The post-consumer wood resources were composed of waste from worn-out final wood products predominantly made of: sawnwood (approximately 83%), wood-based materials (9%), and roundwood (8%). This waste can potentially be created in many sectors of the economy, while construction is the primary producer (64% of the hypothetical volume of post-consumer wood waste resources). When considered by product types, the largest base of post-consumer wood waste consisted of worn-out wooden windows and doors (15%).

Chapter 8 - Assessing the Potential From Bio-waste and Postconsumer Wood

A pot experiment was conducted in the screen-house of the Department of Horticulture, College of Agriculture, CCS Haryana Agricultural University, Hisar during 2011–12 and 2012–13 to investigate the potential effect of biofertilizers (PSB and mycorrhiza) and different levels of phosphorus (0, 10, 15 and 20 g/m2) on growth, yield and quality of chrysanthemum. The conjunctive effect of biofertilizers and different levels of phosphorus was found to be significant for both the years. The maximum plant height (31.77 and 33.33 cm), fresh weight of plant (100.90 and 96.77 g) and dry weight of plant (10.85 and 10.15 g) were recorded with PSB + phosphorus 15 g/m2 in the year 2011–12 and 2012–13, respectively. The minimum number of days taken for bud initiation (61.67 and 63.33 days) and number of days to first flowering (75.00 and 75.67 days) were also obtained with PSB + phosphorus 15 g/m2 in both the years, respectively. The maximum number of buds per plant (32.33 and 32.00), number of flowers per plant (29.00 and 29.33), the longest flower stalk (6.33 and 6.33 cm) were noticed with PSB + phosphorus 15 g/m2 in the year 2011–12 and 2012–13, respectively. The maximum number of days taken for bud initiation (79.00 and 80.33 days) was recorded with mycorrhiza application (alone) during both the years, respectively. The interaction effect between the biofertilizers and levels of phosphorous on number of suckers per plant was found to be non-significant during both the years of experimentation.

The thermochemical conversion of post-consumer wood waste into hydrogen-rich syngas presents a promising solution for sustainable energy production and waste management. This study explores the influence of physical pre-treatment, specifically chipping versus pelletizing, on the gasification performance of wood waste using an updraft circulating fixed-bed reactor. Wood waste collected from municipal sources was thoroughly characterized through proximate and ultimate analyses, TGA/DTG, FTIR-ATR, and SEM, to assess its suitability for gasification. Experiments were conducted at 700, 800, 900°C using dry air and pure oxygen as gasifying agents at varied flow rates. Results showed that temperature and gasifying agent type significantly influenced syngas composition and cold gas efficiency. Pelletized biomass consistently outperformed its chipped counterpart, yielding higher hydrogen content, improved H2/CO ratios, and greater cold gas efficiencies across all conditions. Notably, hydrogen concentrations reached up to 57 vol%, with a corresponding cold gas efficiency of 68% at 900°C under pure oxygen conditions. These enhancements are attributed to the increased energy density, reduced moisture, and uniform structure of the pellets, which facilitated more effective thermal decomposition and reaction kinetics. The findings suggest that pelletization is a beneficial pre-treatment strategy for optimizing wood waste gasification, enabling higher energy recovery, and producing syngas compositions favorable for downstream applications such as Fischer-Tropsch synthesis. This research contributes valuable insights toward integrating biomass gasification into circular economy frameworks and advancing renewable energy technologies.

As a result of the decreasing availability of high-quality irrigation water, the salinity tolerance of cut flowers is of increasing importance. The influence of salinity on the growth and quality of Chrysanthemum, Chrysanthemum morifolium L. grown in two different media under four salinity levels was evaluated. C. morifolium plants were grown in plastic pots containing either zeolitic tuff or soil as potting media. Seedlings of C. morifolium were subjected to four NaCl/CaCl2 salinity levels (2, 4, 6, and 8 dS.m-1). The effect of increasing salinity level on growth, flowering characteristics, time to flower, length and diameter of flowering shoots, and the diameter of the terminal flower on each stem were evaluated. On termination of the experiment, plant height, two perpendicular canopy widths, and fresh and dry weights of shoots were measured. Results indicated that most of all measured characteristics were reduced in response to increasing salinity levels. Increasing salinity levels caused significant reductions in plant height, fresh and dry yield, and relative water content. Moreover, salinity reduced flower quality (color, size, stem thickness, and length) and yield. Also, some physiological changes occur in stomatal conductance, leaf relative water content, and chlorophyll content. C. morifolium plants showed a good salinity resistance by irrigating plants with saline water up to 4 dS.m-1. Significant differences in C. morifolium plant responses were also detected between soil and zeolitic tuff media for most tested characteristics, in which using zeolitic tuff as rowing media was better to cope with higher salinity levels than plants grown in soil. In conclusion, it is recommended to use zeolitic tuff instead of soil when water salinity is a problem in irrigation water.

Reasonably, wood resources should be used comprehensively, in particular, this applies to wood waste and residues at all stages of production. But today, as never before, according to the principles of the circular economy, the issue of processing post-consumer wood (PCW) has arisen - an additional reserve of wood that has already lost its consumer characteristics in products, and its disposal minimizes the negative impact on the environment. A batch of PCW-made blockboard was made by implementing the B-plan of the second order, where the variables were the width of the rails of tangential and radial sawing. The limits of strength during static bending and during chipping for PCW-made blockboard spruce wood were experimentally determined and two adequate regression models were built depending on the alternate laying of radial (Brad) and tangential (Btan) rails with widths of 30, 50 and 70 mm at a thickness of 22 mm . It was established that the width of the rails in the construction of carpentry boards significantly affects the strength characteristics of the structure. It was found that an increase in width from 30 to 70 mm during the determination of the strength limit in static bending leads to a decrease in the indicator for radial rails by 15-20%, and for tangential rails - by 33-38%; and during the determination of the limit of rocking strength, it leads to an increase of 15-17% for radial rails, and a decrease of 12-14% for tangential rails. It was established that the strength limit during static bending of all PCW-made blockboard spruce, regardless of their design, meets the requirements of DSTU13715:1978. The limit of strength during chipping for most of the samples of experimental boards also meets the regulatory requirements, except for one, when laying rails with a width of 70 mm. According to the results of experimental studies, it was established that the maximum value of the strength limit during static bending σu = 35.705 MPa can be obtained by fixing the dimensional parameters of the width of the rails PCW-made blockboard from spruce of combined stacking: Brad (x1) = 30 mm Btan (x2) = 30 mm. It was established that the maximum value of the strength limit during chipping τsk = 1.961 MPa, taken as an absolute value, can be obtained by fixing the dimensional parameters of the width of the slats of carpentry boards made of PCW from spruce combined stacking and veneered with plywood: Brad (x1) = 70 mm; Btan (x2) = 48 mm. It is recommended to use post-consumer wood for the production of blockboard with a cross-section of rails in a ratio no larger than 1:4 with a combined arrangement of radial and tangential ones.

For sustainable handling of wood and high material utilization, post-consumer wood has to be sorted by post-consumer wood categories in Germany. The non-destructive FD-FLIM method could improve the wood recycling process by automatic classification of waste wood into post-consumer wood classes. Thus, the phase-dependent fluorescence decay time of treated wood is analysed in this study to obtain the impact of the treatment on the fluorescence decay time. It is shown that treated and untreated wood can be differentiated using the fluorescence decay time, although the state-of-the-art theoretical fluorescence decay time differs from the experimentally determined fluorescence decay time.

The carbon stock function of harvested wood products (HWPs) is attracting attention among climate change countermeasures. Among HWPs, particle board (PB) and fiberboard (FB) mainly use recycled materials. This study estimated carbon stocks of PB and FB and their annual changes over the past 70 years in Japan using three methods of the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change guidelines: Tiers 1–3. Tier 1 uses first order decay (FOD), a 25-year half-life, and the Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations database. Tier 2 uses FOD, a 25-year half-life, and Japan-specific statistics. Tier 3 uses a log-normal distribution for the decay function and a 38–63-year half-life of building PB/FB. Japan’s PB and FB carbon stocks have increased for the past 70 years. The latest carbon stock in early 2022 and the annual change in carbon stock in 2021 was 21.83 million t-C and 0.42 million t-C/year, respectively for Tier 3. Tier 3 has the highest estimation accuracy by using decay functions and half-lives that match the actual conditions of building PB and FB, whereas Tiers 1 and 2 were underestimates. Approximately 40% of the carbon stock is derived from waste wood, which extends its utilization.

BackgroundAphid (Macrosiphoniella sanbourni) stress drastically influences the yield and quality of chrysanthemum, and grafting has been widely used to improve tolerance to biotic and abiotic stresses. However, the effect of grafting on the resistance of chrysanthemum to aphids remains unclear. Therefore, we used the RNA-Seq platform to perform a de novo transcriptome assembly to analyze the self-rooted grafted chrysanthemum (Chrysanthemum morifolium T. ‘Hangbaiju’) and the grafted Artermisia-chrysanthemum (grafted onto Artemisia scoparia W.) transcription response to aphid stress.ResultsThe results showed that there were 1337 differentially expressed genes (DEGs), among which 680 were upregulated and 667 were downregulated, in the grafted Artemisia-chrysanthemum compared to the self-rooted grafted chrysanthemum. These genes were mainly involved in sucrose metabolism, the biosynthesis of secondary metabolites, the plant hormone signaling pathway and the plant-to-pathogen pathway. KEGG and GO enrichment analyses revealed the coordinated upregulation of these genes from numerous functional categories related to aphid stress responses. In addition, we determined the physiological indicators of chrysanthemum under aphid stress, and the results were consistent with the molecular sequencing results. All evidence indicated that grafting chrysanthemum onto A. scoparia W. upregulated aphid stress responses in chrysanthemum.ConclusionIn summary, our study presents a genome-wide transcript profile of the self-rooted grafted chrysanthemum and the grafted Artemisia-chrysanthemum and provides insights into the molecular mechanisms of C. morifolium T. in response to aphid infestation. These data will contribute to further studies of aphid tolerance and the exploration of new candidate genes for chrysanthemum molecular breeding.

Chrysanthemum (Chrysanthemum morifolium), as one of the four major cut flowers in the world, occupies a large position in the world’s fresh cut flower market. The RAX2 gene is an R2R3 MYB transcription factor that is associated with the development of the axillary bud. In this study, the CmRAX2 gene cloned by homologous cloning in Chrysanthemum morifolium ‘Jinba’ is localized in the nucleus and cytoplasm, having a complete open reading frame (ORF) of 1050 bp and encoding 350 amino acids. The transactivation assay in yeast indicates that CmRAX2 is a transcriptional activator. Quantitative Real-Time PCR (qRT-PCR) Analysis indicated that CmRAX2 was preferentially expressed in the lateral branches and roots of Chrysanthemum morifolium ‘Jinba’, 14.11 and 10.69 times more than in leaves. After the overexpression vector of CmRAX2 was constructed and transformed into Chrysanthemum morifolium ‘Jinba’, it was found that the number of lateral branches and plant height increased, and the emergence time of lateral branches and rooting time advanced after the overexpression of CmRAX2. The results showed that CmRAX2 can promote the lateral bud development of the chrysanthemum, which provides an important theoretical basis for the subsequent molecular breeding and standardized production of the chrysanthemum.