The Effect of Abattoir Waste as an Amendment on the Physiochemical Properties of Household Organic Waste
Betek Quinta Bakume *
Department of Agricultural and Environmental Engineering, College of Technology, The University of Bamenda, Bambili, Cameroon.
Elambo George Nkeng
National School of Public Works, Yaounde, Cameroon.
Ngwa Martin Ngwabie
Department of Agricultural and Environmental Engineering, College of Technology, The University of Bamenda, Bambili, Cameroon.
*Author to whom correspondence should be addressed.
Abstract
Aims: To evaluate the effect of abattoir waste as an amendment on the physiochemical properties (Temperature, PH, EC, MC, VS, and TOC) of household organic waste in windrows composting.
Study Design: Field and laboratory experiment were employed during the experiment.
Place and Duration of Study: Project laboratory and waste-to-resource project site, department of environmental science, University of Buea, Cameroon from January to April 2025.
Methodology: The study used abattoir waste as an amendment in four different ratios; 70:30%, 80:20%, 90:10% and 100:00% in composting household waste. A total of eight treatments in 8 chambers were set up at the waste-to-energy resource project site. The various treatments were monitored twice a week for pH, Temperature, EC, MC, TOC and VS, data collected and the composting process was completed in 100 days.
Results: The highest temperature recorded was 51.70c and was experienced from 70:30% treatment and the lowest temperature recorded was 39.10c from household waste 100:00% treatment. The treatments were highly acidic at the beginning with treatment 80:20% being the highest 4.42 and treatment 100:00% being the lowest 3.28. The highest electrical conductivity (EC) was observed in the 70:30% treatment at 2.8 μs/cm, and treatment 100:00% being 0.3 μs/cm, while MC content was highest 83.75 from treatment 100:00% and lowest 82.07 from treatment 70:30%. For vs and TOC, there were no significant differences between the various treatments with a p-value > 0.05 (0.701). The MC, VS and TOC in all the treatments started high and kept decreasing till the end of the experiment.
Conclusion: the addition of abattoir waste in a higher proportion of 70:30% enhances the physiochemical properties of the composting material as compared to treatments 80:20%, 90:10% and 100:00%.
Keywords: Composting, household organic waste, physicochemical properties, abattoir waste, treatments, amendment