Abstract

Heavy metal contents in the composts investigated were much lower than in composts made from unsorted household wastes. Apart from lead, which exceeded 100 mg kg(-1), concentrations were lower than the recommended maximum values as outlined by the Swedish Environmental Protection Agency (SNV, 1990). Composts produced in home gardens partially consisting of organic household wastes, which were used as a standard of reference, had still lower heavy metal contents. This may be explained by the 3% foreign components and unwanted impurities, which were still found in the separately collected organic household wastes. Total gaseous N losses during composting amounted to 51.6% for the organic household wastes and 26.2% for the mixture of organic household and park wastes, which was of the same magnitude as in animal manures.

Keywords

TEMPERATURE; PH; PLANT NUTRIENTS; HEAVY METALS; NITROGEN COMPOSITION; FATTY ACIDS; ORGANIC WASTE; COMPOST

Published in

Swedish Journal Of Agricultural Research
1994, volume: 24, number: 1, pages: 3-12
Publisher: SCANDINAVIAN UNIVERSITY PRESS

Authors' information