Waste Research at the IRNAS, CSIC

Abstract

The agricultural and livestock sectors are of great significance in the region of Andalusia (South of Spain) (Table 1). Important quantities of agricultural and agroindustrial residues are generated by these activities, frequently causing environmental problems. These residues contain organic matter and nutrients and could therefore be recycled and used as fertilizers or amendments, with or without a previous treatment (composting, concentration). For some of these wastes, recipes for compost mixes, such as olive oil wastewater based compost, have been developed by private companies. Afterwards, laboratory and field experiments have been conducted to study the best conditions for their agricultural use and their degradation process in the soil (González-Vila et al., 1992, Martín-Olmedo et al., 1994). In other cases, such as those of the vinasse based composts, both the compost fabrication and its use have been studied previously to the marketing stage (Díaz et al., 1993, Madejón et al., 1994). Our first research projects at IRNAS dealt with the properties and reuse of municipal solid waste (MSW), and are still in progress.