Investigation of the viability of converting a leachate from a mechanical biological treatment plant for municipal solid waste into fertilizers Conference Paper uri icon

abstract

  • The main environmental issue associated with the compost manufacture process is the production of a waste liquid leachate very complex in terms of composition. But, compost leachates may also be considered as a source of nutrients and can be converted to fertilizers. Physical and chemical properties were determined for a raw leachate from a mechanical biological treatment plant for municipal solid waste, to evaluate if it meets suitable requirements for using as commercial fertilizer according to the proposal of regulation of the European Parliament of 2016. So, this study intends to assess if the leachate can be used as a potential source for fertilizers. It qualitatively meets the requirements established for the composition of commercial fertilizers. Furthermore, the production costs of the leachate as a raw material are low since it is a waste effluent. Initial results showed low concentrations of some heavy metals and acceptable amounts of nutrients after concentration by batch distillation.
  • The main environmental issue associated with the compost production is the production of a liquid leachate. However, the leachate may also be considered as a source of nutrients and used as fertilizer. The main concern is loading the soil with metals that can result in increased metal content of crops. This work intends to determine the physical and chemical properties of a raw leachate from a mechanical biological treatment plant for municipal solid waste, to assess the possibility of converting it into as commercial fertilizer which meets to the specifications required in the proposal of regulation of the European Parliament of 2016, for fertilizers. In a preliminary study, it is concluded that the leachate qualitatively meets the requirements established for the composition of commercial fertilizers and the production cost of leachate as raw material is low.
  • This work was financially supported by Project VALORCOMP by FEDER through Program INTERREG V-A Spain−Portugal (POCTEP) 2014–2020.

publication date

  • January 1, 2018