Waste Management 24 (2004) 805813 www.elsevier.

com/locate/wasman

Eect of C/N on composting of pig manure with sawdust

G.F. Huang a, J.W.C. Wong
a b

b,*

, Q.T. Wu a, B.B. Nagar

College of Natural Resources and Environment, South China Agricultural University, PR China Department of Biology, Hong Kong Baptist University, Kowloon Tong, Hong Kong, Hong Kong Accepted 30 March 2004

Abstract The aim of this composting trial was to evaluate the eect of C/N on the composting process of pig manure with the purpose of reducing the amount of sawdust normally used as co-composting materials. Two aerobic static piles were prepared consisting of pig manure mixed with sawdust at an initial C/N of 30 (pile A) and 15 (pile B), respectively. Pile B containing larger amount of pig manure showed a slower rise in temperature, lower maximum temperature, and shorter thermophilic phase than pile A. It also resulted in higher pH and electrical conductivity (EC) values, and even higher contents of soluble NH4 -N and volatile solids throughout the composting period. Chemical and biological parameters including dissolved organic carbon (DOC) (4932 mg kg1 ), soluble NH4 -N (371 mg kg1 ), C/Nsolid (18.3), C/Naquoeus (5.8) and seed germination index (GI) (66.5%) indicated that pile A achieved maturity after 49 days of composting. After 63 days of composting, pile B contained 5352 and 912 mg kg1 of DOC and soluble NH4 -N content, respectively, which was much higher than the criterion of 5% and 400 mg kg1 , indicating its immature nature. Pile B showed a relatively low GI value of 46%, which may be due to its high indigenous EC value as a result of larger amount of pig manure. Therefore, co-composting of pig manure with sawdust at a low initial C/N would require a composting longer than 63 days, and, the high salinity due to the large amount of pig manure would pose a potential inhibition on plant growth. 2004 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.

1. Introduction In recent years, intensive livestock production has resulted in high density of animals in small areas, producing large quantities of solid waste with relatively insucient nearby land for application. This has led to environmental concerns including odor pollution, methane emissions, N and P pollution of waterways (Tamminga, 1992). The high N and P discharges lead to eutrophication, and adversely aect the growth and diversity of aquatic life (Morse, 1995; Lopez-Real and Baptista, 1996). In Hong Kong, the pig industry has witnessed a steady growth in recent years. In the last decade, indiscriminate disposal of animal waste, particularly pig manure (22,000 ton annually), was reported to account for 70% of total stream pollution in the New Territories and about 50% of organic matter nd access to the sea. This serious environmental pollution has

Corresponding author. Tel.: +852-3411-7056; fax: +852-3411-5995. E-mail address: jwcwong@hkbu.edu.hk (J.W.C. Wong).

called for suitable environmentally and economically feasible technologies for animal waste treatment. Currently, composting is used as a major treatment technology for livestock waste generated locally (Hong Kong Environmental Protection Department (HKEPD), 1999), which provides an environment friendly alternative method for disposal of solid organic wastes, because it leads to stabilization, and utilization of organic waste. Most studies show that mature compost application to agronomic soils increase crop production due to its high plant nutrient contents and moisture retention characteristics. It also improves the physical properties of the soil because organic materials such as agricultural wastes and sewage sludge are degraded into relatively stable compost that can serve as soil conditioner (McConnell et al., 1993; Wong et al., 1996). However, immature compost, when applied to soils, maintains high decomposition activity, which may retard plant growth due to nitrogen starvation, anaerobic conditions and phytotoxicity of NH3 and some organic acids (Mathur et al., 1993; Fang et al., 1999a). Therefore, compost maturity and stability are key

0956-053X/$ - see front matter 2004 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved. doi:10.1016/j.wasman.2004.03.011

806

G.F. Huang et al. / Waste Management 24 (2004) 805813 Table 1 Selected physicochemical properties of raw materials Parameter pH EC (dS m1 ) Moisture content (%) Total organic carbon (%) Total nitrogen (%) Total phosphorus (%) C/N ratio
a b

factors during application of composting process. For achieving compost maturity, environmental factors such as temperature, aeration, moisture and nutrients should be appropriately controlled (Epstein, 1997). C/N is among one of the important factors aecting compost quality (Golueke, 1977; Michel et al., 1996). It is recommended to maintain C/N at 2530 as it is considered as the optimum ratio for composting. Bhamidimarri and Pandey (1996) have successfully co-composted piggery wastes with sawdust at C/N of 2530. They reported that sawdust appeared to be an ideal bulking agent for composting pig manure because of its ability to absorb moisture, and its structure provides adequate porosity in the compost heap. However, the eects of co-composting with sawdust at low initial C/N on the decomposition process and on the quality of the mature product are not well understood. Due to the unavailability of sawdust locally in Hong Kong, a lower C/N for composting was expected to reduce the amount of sawdust needed, hence providing local economic incentive. The aim of the present study was to investigate the changes in physicochemical and biological properties of co-composting of pig manure with sawdust at an initial C/N of 30 and 15, respectively, so as to evaluate the eect of the initial C/N on the composting of pig manure.

Pig manure 8.12a (0.08)b 2.90 (0.05) 68.3 (0.17) 36.6 (0.77) 3.24 (0.12) 1.72 (0.01) 11.3 (0.58)

Sawdust 5.55 (0.07) 0.02 (0.00) 8.12 (0.35) 46.5 (2.78) 0.07 (0.00) 0.006 (0.000) 664 (14.6)

Values are means of triplicates (dry weight basis). Values in parentheses are standard error (n 3).

2.2. Physicochemical properties of compost The aqueous compost extracts were obtained by mechanically shaking the samples with double distilled water (DDW) at a solid:DDW ratio of 1:10 (w/v, dry weight basis) for 1 h. The suspensions were centrifuged at 12,000 rpm for 20 min and ltered through 0.45 lm membrane lters. The ltrates were used for the following analyses. pH was determined using an Orion 920 ISE pH meter; electrical conductivity (EC) by an Orion 160 conductivity meter; soluble organic carbon by SHIMADZU TOC5000A Total Organic Carbon Analyzer; NH4 -N by the Indophenol Blue method (Page et al., 1982); PO4 -P by the Molybdenum Blue method and NO3 -N by the Copperised Cadmium Reduction method (Page et al., 1982). Total organic carbon was determined by Walkley and Black method, total nitrogen and total phosphorus by Kjeldahl digestion method. Total soluble organic N and organic P contents were measured by a Kjeldahl digestion method on the soluble extract followed by NH4 -N and PO4 -P determination by methods described before. The moisture content (oven-dried at 105 C for 24 h) and volatile solids content (weight loss on ignition at 550 C for 16 h) were also determined (Page et al., 1982). E4 /E6 ratio was determined on the extracts using 0.1 M Na4 P2 O7 extraction followed by spectrometric determination at 465 and 665 nm, respectively (Page et al., 1982). 2.3. Cress seed germination index test Seed germination and root length test were carried out on water extracts by mechanically shaking the fresh samples for an hour at a solid:DDW ratio of 1:10 (w/v, dry weight basis). About 5.0 ml of each extract was pipetted into a sterilized plastic petri dish lined with a Whatman #2 lter paper. Ten cress seeds (Lepidium sativum L.) were evenly placed on the lter paper and incubated at 25 C in the dark for 48 h. Triplicates were analyzed for each pile sample. Treatments were evaluated by counting the number of germinated seeds, and measuring the length of roots. The responses were calculated by a germination index (GI) that was determined according to the following formula (Zucconi et al., 1981):

2. Materials and methods 2.1. Composting pile establishment Pig manure and sawdust were collected from a pig farm and a sawmill located in Taipo, Hong Kong. Two composting piles were prepared constituting of pig manure and sawdust in a ratio of 3:2 (w/w, fresh weight) and 4:1 (w/w, fresh weight), in order to achieve C/N of 30 (pile A) and 15 (pile B), respectively. The purpose of using sawdust was to adjust the C/N as it has relatively high C content. Twigs were broken down into small pieces with a hammer mill and added to the piles at 10% (v/v) as a bulking agent for increasing the porosity. Windrow composting piles of approximately 8 m3 each, were composted for 63 days. The heaps were turned every 3 days using a front-end loader. The moisture content was adjusted to about 6070% at the beginning of composting and then maintained at the same level throughout the composting period. The temperature was measured daily at a depth of 60 cm from the top of the composting piles. Triplicate samples were collected from each pile at day 0, 3, 7, 14, 21, 35, 49 and 63, and stored at 4 C immediately till analysis. Subsamples were air-dried, ground to pass through a 0.25-mm sieve and stored in a desiccator for further analyses. The selected physicochemical properties of the experimental materials are shown in Table 1.

G.F. Huang et al. / Waste Management 24 (2004) 805813

807

Germination index % Seed germination % root length of treatment Seed germination % root length of control 100:

2.4. Statistical analysis All data were processed by an SAS statistical package running on an IBM personal computer (Little and Hills, 1978). The least signicant dierence test at P 0:05 was carried out to compare the means of the triplicates and the Pearson correlations among the parameters were determined as well.

A in the thermophilic phase was 69 C, compared to the 60 C of pile B. The periodical short-term drop in temperature was caused by cooling eect induced by turning of the piles. Thermophilic phase of pile A continued for 40 days, while in case of pile B, it lasted for only 32 days. The temperature of pile A decreased sharply after thermophilic phase and entered a cooling phase on day 45, while in case of pile B, it entered the cooling phase on day 40. The shorter thermophilic phase of pile B as well as the slower rise in temperature at the beginning of composting was attributed to insucient supply of carbon source because of the low C/N. 3.1.2. pH and EC The changes in pH for both piles followed the same trend with a rise to pH 8.4 and 8.7 on day 14 and day 21. The pH decreased to 7.6 and 8.0 at the end of composting for pile with an initial C/N of 30 and 15, respectively (Fig. 2(a)). The pH rise was induced due to production of ammonia during ammonication and mineralization of
9.0 C/N, 30 C/N, 15 8.5

3. Results and discussion 3.1. Changes in physicochemical parameters during composting 3.1.1. Temperature As shown in Fig. 1, pile A reached 50 C and entered the thermophilic phase on day 3 of composting, indicating quick establishment of microbial activities in the composting pile. However, pile B required about 7 days, a comparatively longer time, to reach a temperature of 50 C. This was due to scarcity of available carbon source at the beginning of composting at a low initial C/N, which did not provide a favorable condition for the growth and biological activity of microorganisms. The temperature of pile A was higher than pile B throughout composting. Maximum temperature of pile

pH

8.0

7.5

7.0 0 7 14 21 28 35 42 49 56 63

C/N, 30 C/N, 15 ambient

(a)

Composting time, days 4.0 3.5 3.0 C/N, 30 C/N, 15

EC (dS m )

-1

2.5 2.0 1.5 1.0

14

21 28 35 42 Composting time, days

49

56

63
(b)

14

21 28 35 42 49 Composting time, days

56

63

Fig. 1. Changes in temperature during co-composting of pig manure and sawdust.

Fig. 2. Changes in pH (a) and EC (b) during co-composting of pig manure and sawdust.

808

G.F. Huang et al. / Waste Management 24 (2004) 805813

organic nitrogen as a result of microbial activities (Bishop and Godfrey, 1983). The decrease in pH at the later stage of composting was caused by the volatilization of ammoniacal nitrogen and the H -released as a result of microbial nitrication process by nitrifying bacteria (Eklind and Kirchmann, 2000). The decomposition of organic matter and production of organic and inorganic acids by the activities of microorganisms in compost would also be responsible for the decrease (Mathur, 1991). The large quantities of carbon dioxide that are given o during the composting process might also be responsible for the decrease in pH. pH of pile A with an initial C/N of 30 remained lower than that with an initial C/N of 15 throughout the composting period due to the higher amount of sawdust which was acidic in nature and the higher volatilization of ammonia. Both piles showed a similar pattern of change in EC (Fig. 2(b)). EC of both piles increased from the beginning of composting showing peak value on day 14, followed by a steady decrease till the end of composting period. The initial increase could be due to the release of mineral salts such as phosphates and ammonium ions through the decomposition of organic substances. The volatilization of ammonia and the precipitation of mineral salts could be the possible reasons for the decrease in EC at the later phase of composting (Wong et al., 1995). Through out the composting process, EC of pile A was signicantly lower than that of pile B, which can be attributed to the higher amount of pig manure in pile B. The EC value reected the degree of salinity in the co-compost of pig manure and sawdust, indicating its possible phytotoxic/phyto-inhibitory eects on the growth of plant if applied to soil. 3.1.3. Volatile solids The content of volatile solids decreased with composting time with about 4% and 5% loss for pile A and pile B, respectively, owing to the loss of organic matter through microbial degradation (Fig. 3). The larger amount of sawdust in pile A contained higher content of recalcitrant decomposable compounds, such as cellulose and lignin which may account for the insignicant lower degree of organic matter loss as compared to pile B after 63 days of composting. 3.2. Nutrient analysis 3.2.1. Carbon decomposition As shown in Fig. 4(a), contents of total organic carbon declined signicantly, from initial 47% to nal 34% in pile A, and from 46% to 30% in pile B. There was no signicant dierence in the loss of total organic carbon between the two dierent C/N treatments. The contents of total organic carbon of pile A were higher than that of pile B during composting because sawdust contained higher amount of organic carbon.

95 C/N, 30 C/N, 15 90

Volatile solids (%)

85

80

75

70 0 7 14 21 28 35 42 49 56 63 Composting time, days

Fig. 3. Changes in volatile solids during co-composting of pig manure and sawdust.

50

C/N, 30 C/N, 15

Total organic carbon (%)

45

40

35

30

25

14

21

28

35

42

49

56

63

(a)
15000

Composting time (days)

C/N, 30

Dissolved organic carbon (mg kg-1)

C/N, 15
12500

10000

7500

5000

2500 0 7 14 21 28 35 42 49 56 63

(b)

Composting time (days)

Fig. 4. Changes in total organic carbon (a) and dissolved organic carbon (b) during co-composting of pig manure and sawdust.

G.F. Huang et al. / Waste Management 24 (2004) 805813

809

Dissolved organic carbon (DOC) decreased with an increase in composting time for both piles (Fig. 4(b)). Although pile A had a higher initial C/N and DOC content, the nal DOC was much lower, with a loss of 70%, as compared to the 50% loss in case of pile B having lower initial C/N. This demonstrated the active microbial decomposition of organic substrates from pig manure and sawdust as the temperature increased, especially in pile A with a higher initial C/N. Garcia et al. (1991a) found that the DOC in mature compost was <0.5%. Based on that, pile A had reached maturity at day 49, while pile B was marginally mature. 3.2.2. Nitrogen cycling Total nitrogen contents of both piles increased slightly after 63 days of composting (Fig. 5(a)), due to the net loss of dry mass in terms of carbon dioxide, as well as the water loss by evaporation caused by heat evolved during oxidation of organic matter (Inoko et al., 1979; Viel et al., 1987; Fang et al., 1999b). Nitrogenxing bacteria might also have contributed to a lesser

degree to the increase in total N in the later stage of composting (Bishop and Godfrey, 1983). Pile B contained signicantly higher total nitrogen content than pile A throughout composting because of the higher amount of pig manure used in this treatment. The changes in concentrations of NH4 -N and NO3 -N followed the typical trends for these two forms of nitrogen during aerobic composting (Fig. 5(b) and (c)). During the rst 7 days of composting, NH4 -N contents of both piles increased signicantly and reached peak values due to ammonication with an increase in temperature and pH, as well as the mineralization of organic-N compound (Fang et al., 1999a; Mahimairaja et al., 1994). After an initial increase, NH4 -N contents decreased by volatilization loss and immobilization by microorganisms. The nal NH4 -N contents of pile A was 316 mg kg1 , while pile B was 912 mg kg1 . This was mainly due to the higher N content in the pile with a lower C/N. It has been noted that the absence of or decrease in NH4 -N is an indicator of both good composting and maturation process (Hirai et al., 1983; Rialdi et al., 1986). An

Soluble ammonia nitrogen (mg kg )

4 3.5

4000 3500 3000 2500 2000 1500 1000 500 0 0 7 14 21 28 35 42 49 56 63 Composting time (days) 1500 1400 1300 1200 1100 1000 900 800 700 600 500 0 C/N, 30 C/N, 15

Total nitrogen (%)

3 2.5 2 1.5 1 0.5 0 0 7 14 21 28 35 42 49 56 63 Composting time (days) 50 45 40 35 30 25 20 15 10 5 0 0 7 C/N, 30 C/N, 15

(a)

(b)

Soluble nitrate (mg kg )

C/N, 30 C/N, 15

Soluble organic nitrogen (mg kg )

-1

-1

C/N, 30 C/N, 15

-1

(c)

14 21 28 35 42 49 56 63 (d) Composting time (days)

7 14 21 28 35 42 49 56 63 Composting time (days)

Fig. 5. Changes in total nitrogen (a), soluble NH4 -N (b), soluble NO3 -N (c) and soluble organic nitrogen (d) during co-composting of pig manure and sawdust.

810

G.F. Huang et al. / Waste Management 24 (2004) 805813

Soluble inorganic phosphorus (mg kg )

NH4 -N content of 400 mg kg1 was recommended as the maximum content in mature compost (Zucconi and de Bertoldi, 1980). Therefore, pile A reached maturity after composting for 49 days, but pile B required further composting to become mature. Nitrate was almost absent at the beginning and started to increase after the thermophilic phase (Fig. 5(c)). Nitrate content of pile A remained at a low level before increasing at day 35 due to nitrication, while that of pile B started to increase at day 21. The high temperature and excessive amount of ammonia inhibited the activity and growth of nitrifying bacteria in the thermophilic phase (Morisaki et al., 1989). No signicant dierence in NO3 N content between the two piles was noted except for higher NO3 -N content in pile B than pile A at day 63. This was simply due to the higher initial content of nitrogen in pile B with larger amount of pig manure. Soluble organic N of the two piles decreased with the composting time. Pile A decreased from 915 to 722 mg kg1 , and pile B from 1357 to 1015 mg kg1 (Fig. 5(d)). The soluble organic N was either mineralized into NH4 -N, which vaporized or was assimilated into organic N by the microorganisms in the compost (Morisaki et al., 1989). Higher concentration of soluble organic N in the pile B indicated that more organic nitrogen compounds were synthesized in the pile with a lower initial C/N. 3.2.3. Phosphorus turnover The change of total P followed the same trend as total N with a gradual increase throughout the composting period, which was due to the net loss of dry mass (Fig. 6(a)). Total P of pile B was higher than that of pile A because of the comparatively higher amount of pig manure added for achieving a lower initial C/N. Soluble organic P and soluble PO4 -P of pile B dropped signicantly in the rst 14 days and then decreased to levels similar to that of pile A (Fig. 6(b)). The decrease of pile A was less than pile B for both forms of soluble P. The loss of soluble organic P and soluble PO4 -P is likely due to the mineralization of organic phosphorus and the consumption by microorganisms. 3.3. Maturity evaluation 3.3.1. E4 /E6 ratio The ratio of optical densities of humic acids and fulvic acids at 465 and 665 nm, respectively (E4 /E6 ), has long been considered to reect the degree of condensation of the aromatic nucleus of humus, indicating its maturity (Schnitzer et al., 1993). However, E4 /E6 ratio is not a universal indicator as it varies with the raw materials used for composting. E4 /E6 ratio of the two piles decreased slowly during composting (Fig. 7(a)), which suggested that composting produced more polycondensed humic acids (Garcia et al., 1991b). In particular,

12000

Total phosphorus (mg kg )

-1

11000 10000 9000 8000 7000 6000 0 7 C/N, 30 C/N, 15 14 21 28 35 42 49 56 63 Composting time (days)

(a)
-1

900 800 700 600 500 400 300 200 100 0 0 7 14 21 28 35 42 49 56 63 Composting time (days)
C/N, 30 C/N, 15

(b)

Soluble organic phosphorus (mg kg 1)

120 100 80 60 40 20 0 0 7 14 21 28 35 42 49 56 63 Composting time (days)

C/N, 30 C/N, 15

(c)

Fig. 6. Changes in total phosphorus (a), soluble inorganic phosphorus (b), and soluble organic phosphorus (c), during co-composting of pig manure and sawdust.

the E4 /E6 ratio is inversely related to the degree of condensation of the aromatic network in HA, i.e., a low E4 /E6 ratio would be indicative of high degree of aromatic constituents condensation, whereas a high ratio

G.F. Huang et al. / Waste Management 24 (2004) 805813

811

6.0 5.5 5.0

35 30 C/N, 30 C/N, 15

solid C/N ratio

C/N, 30 C/N, 15

25 20 15 10 5

E4/E6

4.5

( c)
4.0 3.5 3.0 0

(a)

7 14 21 28 35 42 49 56 63 Composting time (days)

0
(b)

7 14 21 28 35 42 49 56 63 Composting time (days)

18 16

Aqueous C/N ratio

14 12 10 8 6 4 2

Germination index (%)

C/N, 30 C/N, 15

100 90 80 70 60 50 40 30 20 10 0 0

C/N, 30 C/N, 15

0
(c)

7 14 21 28 35 42 49 56 63 Composting time (days)

(d)

7 14 21 28 35 42 49 56 63 Composting time (days)

Fig. 7. Changes in E4 /E6 ratio (a), C/Nsolid (b) and C/Naqueous (c), and cress seed germination index (d) during co-composting of pig manure and sawdust.

reects a low degree of aromatic condensation and the presence of high proportions of aliphatic structures (Quatmane et al., 2002). Therefore, composting improved the quality of pig manure and sawdust compost through humication process. 3.3.2. C/N ratio As shown in Fig. 7(b), with an increase of composting time, there was a decrease in C/Nsolid for both piles. Pile A decreased from 30 to a nal C/Nsolid of 17, and from 15 to 9 for pile B. The smaller decrease for pile B indicated the poorer decomposition when the initial C/Nsolid is lower. C/N in solid phase cannot be used as an absolute indicator of compost maturation due to the large variation depending on the starting materials, but a value of around or below 20 can be considered satisfactory when the initial value is between 25 and 30 (Hirai et al., 1983). Therefore, pile A had reached maturity at day 49 according to this C/Nsolid criterion. The C/Naqueous decreased to 5 for both piles irrespective of their initial C/Naqueous , during the compo-

sting process (Fig. 7(c)). Chanyasak and Kubota (1981) suggested the use of C/N in aqueous phase as an indicator of compost maturity since the composting reaction is a biochemical decomposition of organic matter occurring mainly in the aqueous phase. Compost with C/Naqueous of 56 was suggested to have achieved maturity. Therefore, it can be concluded that pile A reached maturity after 49 days of composting. As shown in Table 2, C/Nsolid and C/Naqueous did not correlate signicantly with seed germination index in pile B as shown in the next section, which indicated that it may not be appropriate to use C/Nsolid and C/Naqueous as indicator for evaluation of compost maturity at low initial C/N. 3.3.3. Cress seed germination index As shown in Fig. 7(d), the GI values of pile A decreased from an initial level of 14% to the lowest value of 3% at day 14, while that of pile B was 0% before day 35. This may be attributed to the release of toxic concentrations of ammonia and low molecular weight short chain volatile fatty acids, primarily acetic acid (Vleeschauwer De et al., 1981;

812

G.F. Huang et al. / Waste Management 24 (2004) 805813

Table 2 Correlation coecients between physiochemical parameters and GI values Parameters pH EC Volatile solids E4 /E6 DOC Total organic carbon Soluble PO4 -P Soluble organic P Total soluble P Total P Soluble NH4 -N Soluble NO3 -N Soluble organic N Total nitrogen C/Naqueous C/Nsolid GI, germanian index. P < 0:05. ** P < 0:01.
*

4. Conclusions Co-composting of pig manure with sawdust at an initial C/N of 30 resulted in the compost reaching maturity after 49 days of composting. It was demonstrated that under the windrow composting trial conditions described here, with manual turning, could yield stable compost that could be used for organic farming or as a soil amendment. However, treatment at a low initial C/N of 15 aected the behaviors of a number of important parameters signicantly during co-composting of pig manure and sawdust. High DOC and soluble NH4 -N content of pile B indicated immaturity after 63 days of composting. Although pile B had a relatively low C/Nsolid and C/Naquoeus at the end of composting period, the GI value remained lower than 50%, which may be due to its high EC value aecting seed germination. Therefore, co-composting of pig manure with sawdust at low initial C/N can reduce the amount of sawdust used, but it would require a composting period of more than 63 days. In addition, the high EC value of the resulting compost has to be reduced to levels that would not exert an inhibition on plant growth. Acknowledgements This work was nancially supported by the Rockefeller Brothers Fund Ltd. The authors thank Mr. K.K Ma of Hong Kong Baptist University for his excellent technical assistance throughout the project. References
Bhamidimarri, S.M.R., Pandey, S.P., 1996. Aerobic thermophilic composting of piggery solid wastes. Water Sci. Technol. 33, 8994. Bishop, P.L., Godfrey, C., 1983. Nitrogen transformations during sludge composting. Biocycle 24, 3439. Chanyasak, V., Kubota, H., 1981. Carbon/organic nitrogen ratio in water extract as measure of composting degradation. J. Ferment. Technol. 59, 215219. Eklind, Y., Kirchmann, H., 2000. Composting and storage of organic household waste with dierent litter amendments, II: nitrogen turnover and losses. Biores. Technol. 74, 125133. Epstein, E., 1997. The Science of Composting. A Technomic Publishing Company. Fang, M., Wong, J.W.C., 1999b. Eects of lime amendment on availability of heavy metals and maturation in sewage sludge composting. Environ. Pollut. 106, 8389. Fang, M., Wong, J.W.C., Ma, K.K., Wong, M.H., 1999a. Cocomposting of sewage sludge and coal y ash: nutrient transformations. Biores. Technol. 67, 1924. Garcia, C., Hernandez, T., Costa, F., 1991a. Changes in carbon fractions during composting and maturation of organic wastes. Environ. Manag. 15, 433439. Garcia, C., Hernandez, T., Costa, F., Polo, A., 1991b. Humic substances in composted sewage sludge. Waste Manag. Res. 9, 189194. Golueke, C.G. Biological Reclamation of Solid Wastes, Rodale Emmaus, PA, 1977.

C/N, 30 )0.8134 )0.6653 )0.7790 )0.7074 )0.8627 )0.7146 )0.8114 )0.1959 )0.8299 0.8965 )0.8660 0.9922 )0.9192 0.9781 )0.8655 )0.9360

C/N, 15 )0.5392 )0.6782 )0.7185 )0.4297 )0.7148 )0.5825 )0.5298 )0.4829 )0.5283 0.7712 )0.7197 0.9801 )0.6723 0.7344 )0.7609 )0.6362

Wong, 1985; Fang et al., 1999b). As the composting process progressed, the GI values of pile A increased signicantly to 62% at day 49, and reached 85% at the end of the composting time, while pile B only reached 46% at day 63. A germination index of 50% has been used as an indicator of phytotoxin-free compost (Zucconi et al., 1981). Jodice (1989) reported that a GI of 5070% indicates a low level of phytotoxic substances and compost maturity. It can be concluded that pile A was stabilized enough at day 49, whereas pile B required further composting for longer time than 63 days to reach stabilization. The GI, which combines the measure of relative seed germination and relative root elongation of cress seed (Lepidium sativum L.), is an integrated biological indicator, which is regarded as the most sensitive parameter used to evaluate the toxicity and degree of maturity of compost (Zucconi et al., 1981). It reects the cumulative potential eects of all chemical factors that may do harm to the plants even though this factor is not related to humication like for example, EC. The correlation coecients between chemical parameters and GI values are shown in Table 2. Most of the chemical parameters in pile A correlated with GI values signicantly, while only soluble NO3 -N in pile B had signicant correlation with GI values Low C/Nsolid and C/Naqueous along with a low GI value at the end of composting in case of pile B can be explained by the high EC values throughout the composting period, and is one of the major factors inhibiting the seed germination in this study. Maturity evaluation of compost is a complex job, as it is aected by many potential factors. Multi-indicators instead of a single chemical indicator should be recommended for evaluating compost maturity.

G.F. Huang et al. / Waste Management 24 (2004) 805813 Hirai, M.F., Chanyasak, V., Kubota, H., 1983. A standard measurement for compost maturity. Biocycle 24, 5456. Hong Kong Environmental Protection Department. Environment Hong Kong 1999. Hong Kong Government Printer, Hong Kong; 1999. Inoko, A., Miyamatsu, K., Sugahara, K., Harada, Y., 1979. On some organic constituents of city refuse composts produced in Japan. Soil Sci. Plant Nut. 25, 225234. Jodice R. Chemical and biological parameters for evaluating compost for evaluating compost quality. In: Micheleall Adige, E. (Ed.), Instituto agrario provinciale. Proceedings of the COMPOST production and use, International symposium, 1989, pp. 363384. Little, T.M., Hills, J.J., 1978. Agricultural Experimentation, Design and Analysis. Wiley, Chichester. Lopez-Real, J., Baptista, M., 1996. A preliminary comparative study of three manure-composting systems and their inuence on process parameters and methane emissions. Compost Sci. Util. 4, 7182. Mahimairaja, S., Bolan, N.S., Hedley, M.J., Macgregor, A.N., 1994. Losses and transformation of nitrogen during composting of poultry manure with dierent amendments: and incubation experiment. Biores. Technol. 47, 265273. Mathur, S.P., 1991. Composting processes. In: Martin, A.M. (Ed.), Bioconversion of Waste Materials to Industrial Products. Elsevier, New York, pp. 147186. Mathur, S.P., Owen, G., Dinel, H., Schnitzer, M., 1993. Determination of compost biomaturity: I. Literature review. Biol. Agric. Hortic. 10, 6585. McConnell, D.D., Shiralipour, A., Smith, W.H., 1993. Compost application improves soil properties. Biocycle 34, 6163. Michel, F.C., Forney, L.J., Huang, A.J.F., Drew, S., Czuprendski, M., Lindeberg, J.D., Reddy, C.A., 1996. Eects of turning frequency, leaves to grass mix ratio and windrow vs. pile conguration on the composting of yard trimmings. Compost Sci. Util. 4, 126143. Morisaki, N., Phae, C.G., Nakasaki, K., Shoda, M., 1989. Nitrogen transformation during thermophilic composting. J. Ferment. Bioeng. 67, 5761.

813

Morse, D., 1995. Environmental considerations of livestock producers. J. Anim. Sci. 73, 27332740. Page, A.L., Miller, R.H., Keeney, D.R., 1982. Method of soil analysis. Part 2. Chemical and microbiological properties. second ed., Agronomy, No. 9, ASA, SSSA Publication, Madison, WI. Quatmane, A., Orazio, V.D., Hadi, H., Senesi, N., 2002. Chemical and physicochemical characterization of humic acid like materials from compost. Compost Sci. Util. 10(1), 3946. Rialdi, R., Levi-Minzi, R., Pera, A., de Bertoldi, M., 1986. Evaluation of compost maturity by means of chemical and microbial analyses. Waste Manag. Res. 4, 387396. Schnitzer, M., Dinel, H., Mathur, S.P., Schulten, H.R., Owen, G., 1993. Determination of compost biomaturity III. Evaluation of a colorimetric test by 13 C NMR spectroscopy and pyrolysis-eld ionization mass spectrometry. Biol. Agric. Hortic. 10, 109123. Tamminga, S., 1992. Nutrition management of dairy cows as a contribution to pollution control. J. Dairy Sci. 75, 345357. Viel, M., Sayag, D., Andre, L., 1987. Optimisation of agricultural industrial wastes management through in-vessel composting. In: de Bertoldi, M. et al. (Eds.), Compost: Production, Quality and Use. Elsevier Applied Science, Essex, pp. 230237. Vleeschauwer De, D., Verdonck, O., Van Assche, P., 1981. Phytotoxicity of refuse compost. Biocycle 1, 4446. Wong, M.H., 1985. Phytotoxicity of refuse compost during the process of maturation. Environ. Pollut. (Ser. A) 40, 127144. Wong, J.W.C., Li, S.W.Y., Wong, M.H., 1995. Coal y ash as a composting material for sewage sludge: Eects on microbial activities. Environ. Technol. 16, 527537. Wong, J.W.C., Li, G.X., Wong, M.H., 1996. The growth of Brassica Chinensis in heavy metal-contaminated sewage sludge compost from Hong Kong. Biores. Technol. 58, 309313. Zucconi, F., de Bertoldi, M., 1980. Compost specications for the production and characterization of compost from municipal solid waste. In: de Bertoldi, M. et al. (Eds.), Compost: Production, Quality and Use. Elsevier Applied Science, Essex, pp. 3050. Zucconi, F., Forte, M., Monac, A., de Bertoldi, M., 1981. Evaluating Toxicity of Immature Compost. Biocycle 22, 5457.