Optimization of the Physicochemical Parameters of the Composting of Household Waste from Soa City (Yaounde-Cameroon) for Agricultural Recovery

Michel Azoulinne¹, Orléans Ngomo^1, and Pierre Mkounga¹

¹Department of Organic Chemistry, Faculty of Sciences, University of Yaoundé I PO Box. 812 Yaounde Cameroon

Cite this paper:
Michel Azoulinne, Orléans Ngomo and Pierre Mkounga. Optimization of the Physicochemical Parameters of the Composting of Household Waste from Soa City (Yaounde-Cameroon) for Agricultural Recovery. American Journal of Environmental Protection. 2023; 11(2):56-63. doi: 10.12691/env-11-2-4

Abstract

Waste management in general and household waste in particular go through various treatment routes with the aim of recovery. Composting is a natural process of decomposition of organic matter by micro-organisms under well-defined optimum conditions to produce a stable compost which can be used as an organic “fertilizer”. Sorting, windrow formation and monitoring of physicochemical parameters are essential for the production of good compost. The raw household waste from the city of Soa contains 45.2% biodegradable organic matter for a yield of 27% of compost C/N is 28, pH is 6, humidity between 50 and 60%. When creating the windrow, its required average size must be 2m long, 1.5m high and 1.5m wide. The humidity to be maintained during composting must be between 40 and 65%. During the windrow composition phase, the temperature of the thermophilic phase is 60°C, and 30°C at the end. The compost obtained contains 34.40g organic matter, 2.12 g of potassium and 44.00g of phosphorus per 100.00g of compost. As parameters for verifying the safety we obtained 0.0045mg of lead per 100g of compost and trace of Cadmium. The presence of these compounds in the organic matter of the initial substrate and the finished compost was confirmed by the presence in the Fourier transform infrared (FTIR) spectrum of absorbance bands at the wavelength between 3200 and 3600 cm^-1 characteristics of OH phenols and also to the significant absorption of aliphatic compounds (O-H and N-H) at 3400 cm^-1. These results are in agreement with the standards

Keywords:
composting organic matter household waste windrow characterization

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