Role of tobacco and bamboo biochar on food waste digestate co-composting: Nitrogen conservation, greenhouse gas emissions, and compost quality

Anaerobic digestion is considered an environmentally benign process for the recycling of food waste into biogas. However, unscientific disposal of ammonium-rich food waste digestate (FWD), a by-product of anaerobic digestion induces environmental issues such as odor nuisances, water pollution, phytotoxicity and pathogen transformations in soil, etc. In the present study, FWD produced from anaerobic digestion of source-separated food waste from markets and industries was used for converting FWD into biofertilizer using 20-L bench scale composters. The issues of nitrogen loss, NH3 volatilization, and greenhouse gas N2O emission were addressed using in-situ composting technologies with the aid of tobacco and bamboo biochar produced at pyrolytic tem-peratures of 450 degrees C and 600 degrees C, respectively. The results demonstrated that the phytotoxic nature of FWD could be reduced into a nutrient-rich compost by mitigating nitrogen loss by 29-53% using 10% tobacco and 10% bamboo biochar in comparison with the control treatment. Tobacco biochar mitigates NH3 emission by 63% but enhances the N2O emission by 65%, whereas bamboo biochar mitigates both NH3 and N2O emissions by 48% and 31%, respectively. Overall, 10% tobacco and 10% bamboo biochar amendment could reduce total nitrogen loss by 29% and 53%, respectively. Furthermore, the biochar addition significantly enhanced the biodegradation rate of FWD and the mature compost could be produced within 21 days of FWD composting as seen by an increased seed germination index (>50% on dry weight basis). The results of this study could be beneficial in developing a circular bioeconomy locally with the waste-derived substrates.

Automated summary

This study used anaerobic digestion to convert ammonium-rich food waste digestate (FWD) into biofertilizer. By adding 10% tobacco and 10% bamboo biochar, nitrogen loss in FWD was reduced by 29-53%, NH3 emission was mitigated by 63% and 48%, and N2O emission was mitigated by 65% and 31%, respectively. Furthermore, the addition of biochar improved the biodegradation rate of FWD and resulted in mature compost within 21 days.