THE INFLUENCE OF THE COMPOSTING METHOD AND THE PLANT BIOMASS ADDITION ON COMPOST QUALITY

Home composting could be proposed in order to improve the management of organic fraction of municipal solid waste (OFMSW) or biowaste especially in rural areas. In addition, different wild plants biomass with some ecological properties may be added as raw material, bulking agent and compost quality improver during composting. In order to assess the compost quality obtained in such conditions, a study in four small boxes (1.2 in x 0.8 m x 1.0 m.), made from local materials (wood and mesh from raffia), was carried out for a period of four months. A quantity of 550 +/- 5 kilo of different precomposted OFMSW was introduced in each box The compost was manually aerated with a fork two times per month. The compost temperature was registered daily by soil thermometers. In the 2nd month of the composting period, 10 kilos of fresh nettle (Urtica dioica L.) was added in one of the boxes. For compost quality assessment there were made chemical and physical analysis, maturity tests and microbiological analysis in order to identify the presence of pathogens.