Biodegradable plastic reduces ammonia emission during composting

Ammonia is the greatest nuisance odor compound among the exhaust gases that evolve during the composting process, in which raw materials with high concentrations of nitrogen, such as wastewater sludge, are decomposed. In the present study, a reduction of NH3 emission during composting of wastewater sludge was tried by mixing biodegradable plastic into composting raw material. Biodegradable plastic acts as a “reserve acid”, i.e. it is not acid itself but degrades and releases acid intermediates during the composting progress. In this study, the plastic neutralized and fixed the NH3 generated during the organic matter decomposition in the composting material, and made it possible to reduce NH3 emission drastically during the composting of the wastewater sludge.

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