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Monitoring of Composting Process Parameters: A Case Study in Jordan

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Abstract

This study aimed to monitor the composting process of the first small-scale segregated bio-waste composting scheme in Jordan to divert different types of organic wastes and to evaluate the final product quality, which can be recovered and used as compost. In this study, four experimental windrow piles were first initiated and temporally monitored. The composting process was monitored against temperature, moisture and oxygen content, indicating that the biological conditions were sufficiently developed. The monitored experimental process showed overall decreasing profiles versus composting time for moisture, organic carbon and carbon/nitrogen content, as well as overall increasing profiles for electrical conductivity and total nitrogen, which represented qualitative indications of progress in the process. The product quality was examined and assessed against the quality specifications of EU End of Waste Criteria for bio-waste, which has been subjected to composting, aiming to specify whether the different types of organic wastes that have undergone recovery cease to be waste and can be classified as high quality compost. More specifically, on the one hand the heavy metal concentrations (Cr, Cu, Ni, Cd, Pb, Zn and Hg) were within the set limits and much lower compared to the European standards. On the other hand, compost respiration in the samples varied from 3.6 to 15.3 mgO2/g dm, which, in turn, indicates that all the compost samples appeared to be stable and rated as class IV and V final products.

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Acknowledgements

The research experiments, with an annual capacity of 400 m3, were conducted on an established composting pilot plant, which is located at the Al-Ghabawi landfill site around 40 km east of Amman, Jordan. This project was carried out over 1 year, from June 2016. It was funded by DEG Deutsche Investitions-und Entwicklungsgesellschaft mbH and Hydroplan Ingenieur- Gesellschaft mbH through the framework of the Jordanian Government’s Public Private Partnership (PPP) Projects and implemented by the Greater Amman Municipality (GAM), Hydroplan GmbH and its Jordanian private partner (Mustafa Al Jaar Establishment for Consultation), Jordan.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Department of Waste Management and Material Flow, Rostock University, 18051, Rostock, Germany

    S. Hemidat, A. Nassour & M. Nelles

  2. MAEC Institute for Environmental Consultation, Amman, 11821, Jordan

    M. Jaar

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  1. S. Hemidat
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Correspondence to S. Hemidat.

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Hemidat, S., Jaar, M., Nassour, A. et al. Monitoring of Composting Process Parameters: A Case Study in Jordan. Waste Biomass Valor 9, 2257–2274 (2018). https://doi.org/10.1007/s12649-018-0197-x

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