Production of fertilizers from wastes of various origins for the reclamation of disturbed lands and improvement of territories
About authors
Abstract
This study addresses the loss of land for other uses resulting from economic activities and waste disposal, highlights the need to develop alternative fertilizers suitable for the biological stage of land reclamation and subsequent landscaping, and examines the resource potential of industrial wastes for producing nutrient amendments. The most promising waste processing approaches involve producing sewage sludge-based fertilizers through composting with other industrial wastes of various origins. A combined computational and experimental approach was used to develop composting mixtures, enabling optimization of the C:N, moisture content, and pH while incorporating visual assessments during laboratory trial mixing. The fertilizers produced were assessed qualitatively and quantitatively for veterinary, sanitary, hygienic, toxicological, and agrochemical parameters in accordance with applicable regulatory requirements. A plant growth experiment using artificial soil demonstrated their effectiveness in improving key plant productivity parameters, including seed germination, plant biomass, and maximum plant height. Potential factors limiting fertilizer application were identified as toxic element contents and possible imbalances between moisture retention and air exchange caused by reduced soil substrate density at high fertilizer mass fractions. These findings confirm the feasibility of reusing wastes of various origins to restore land quality and expand the range of alternative fertilizers.
Область исследования:
Geotechnical Engineering and Engineering Geology
Keywords:
industrial wastes
waste recovery
sewage sludge
composting
fertilizers
disturbed land reclamation
landscaping
Funding:
The work was carried out as part of the State assignment of the Ministry of Science and Higher Education of the Russian Federation (FSRW-2024-0005).
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