Sundberg, Cecilia
- Department of Energy and Technology, Swedish University of Agricultural Sciences
Abstract
Large-scale composting of source-separated household waste has expanded in recent years in the Nordic countries. One problem can be low pH at the start of the process. Incoming biowaste at four composting plants was characterised chemically, physically and microbiologically. The pH of food waste ranged from 4.7 to 6.1 and organic acid concentration from 24 to 81 mmol kg(-1). The bacterial diversity in the waste samples was high, with all samples dominated by Gammaproteobacteria, particularly Pseudomonas and Enterobacteria (Escherichia coil, Klebsiella, Enterobacter). Lactic acid bacteria were also numerically important and are known to negatively affect the composting process because the lactic acid they produce lowers the pH, inhibiting other bacteria. The bacterial groups needed for efficient composting, i.e. Bacillales and Actinobacteria, were present in appreciable amounts. The results indicated that start-up problems in the composting process can be prevented by recycling bulk material and compost. (C) 2010 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.
Keywords
pH; Lactic acid bacteria; Bulk density; Food waste
Published in
Bioresource Technology
2011, volume: 102, number: 3, pages: 2859-2867
Publisher: ELSEVIER SCI LTD
SLU Authors
Jönsson, Håkan
- Department of Energy and Technology, Swedish University of Agricultural Sciences
- Department of Energy and Technology, Swedish University of Agricultural Sciences
Global goals (SDG)
SDG12 Responsible consumption and production
UKÄ Subject classification
Environmental Sciences and Nature Conservation
Publication identifier
- DOI: https://doi.org/10.1016/j.biortech.2010.10.075
Permanent link to this page (URI)
https://res.slu.se/id/publ/58947