The Effect of Abattoir Waste as an Amendment on the Physiochemical Properties of Household Organic Waste

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%.