Enhancing the co-composting of olive mill wastes and sewage sludge by the addition of an industrial waste

In this work, the effect of incorporating an acidic ferrous sulphate waste (SF) over co-composting process of sewage sludge and olive mill solid wastes in a 1:2 v/v wet basis was investigated. The SF used was an industrial by-product of titanium oxide synthesis and its addition resulted in a chemical stabilisation of the wastes at low pH. The optimum dose of SF to enhance the composting of the studied biowastes was a 20% v/v (wet basis) and the best moment for the addition turned out to be whenever the composting piles had achieved the thermophilic range. The addition of SF over the composting process made possible a faster stabilisation, increasing the composting rate from 0.033 to 0.13 d(-1), and leading to a Fe and S rich compost. All composts obtained fulfilled the limits determined by current European and Spanish regulations and presented better characteristics for its use as soil amendment and organic fertilizer than the traditional composts without SF. The optimum dose of compost containing SF was determined through agronomic tests being its value about 18 Ton ha(-1).