Municipal composting facility: Is it possible to produce a compost that complies with legislation over time?

• Published in: Environmental technology & innovation Vol. 26; p. 102342
• Main Authors: Cestonaro, Taiana, de Vasconcelos Barros, Raphael Tobias, de Matos, Antonio Teixeira
• Format: Journal Article
• Language: English
• Published: Elsevier B.V 01-05-2022
• Subjects: Brazil; Food residue; Organic residue; Temporal variation; Tree pruning; Brazil; Organic residue; Food residue; Tree pruning; Temporal variation
• ISSN: 2352-1864; 2352-1864
• DOI: 10.1016/j.eti.2022.102342

This study aimed to assess the capacity of a large-scale composting process to produce, over time, an organic compost which complies with the standards set by Brazilian regulations for its agricultural use. Thus, a compost of food residue mixed with tree pruning was evaluated at a composting facility in Belo Horizonte, Brazil. The thirty-six compost batches analysedshowed compliance with the standard (required guarantee and tolerance margins) for organic carbon and pH. The maximum limit of Escherichia coli posed the most challenge in meeting standard requirements (∼95% of non-compliance), followed by the maximum moisture and maximum OC/N ratio, both with ∼50% of non-compliance. Non-compliance with tolerance margins was 25% for the variable moisture and it was ≤8% for OC/N ratio, CEC, and CEC/OC ratio. The absence of standardization regarding the proportion between residues among the piles, the difficulties in maintaining higher operational control in the process, and the absence of adequate sanitary control in the process explain the non-compliance with the normative.
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•Legislation determines quality requirements for compost characteristics over time.•We study the compost attendance to the legislation over a year.•Legislation have not been fully met for most of the chemical parameters.•There was 95% of non-compliance to the legislation for E. coli maximum count.