Compost quality of a peri-urban waste composting facility: A case of Mukono municipality, Uganda

ABSTRACT

Effective management of windrow-based composting technology in developing cities is a major challenge, especially for municipal authorities mandated to offer these services. Poorly managed waste composting systems could affect the quality of compost and cause complex environmental impacts. The aim of this study was to assess the quality of compost of a waste composting facility in Mukono municipality, central Uganda. Mature compost samples were collected from windrows in the waste composting facility and the samples analyzed for physicochemical parameters (temperature, pH, moisture content, organic matter, total nitrogen, total phosphorus, and potassium) and for heavy metals (lead, cadmium, copper) and metalloids (arsenic). To assess the quality of the compost, the analyzed results of the samples were compared with common ranges for compost quality. Concentration of heavy metals ranged between 0.01 mg/l (cadmium) and 0.4 mg/l (copper). Except for alkaline pH (9.1), which was higher than the recommended range for mature compost quality, all physicochemical parameters and heavy metals were within common ranges for compost quality. Moisture content and pH correlated with heavy metals, 0.75 and 0.78, respectively. Mean total nitrogen and phosphorus were 0.8% and 0.4%, respectively, while organic matter was 21.7% and potassium 0.3%. Compost quality did not differ between seasons (P = 0.05). Based on the study results, continuous investigative research is recommended to safeguard the compost quality.

KEY WORDS:

• heavy metals
• mature compost
• Mukono municipality
• waste management
• windrows

Acknowledgements

The authors thank Katikolo Village residents and also anonymous reviewers for their useful comments.

Disclosure statement

No potential conflict of interest was reported by the author(s).

Declaration of conflicting interests

The authors have no conflicts of interest to declare regarding the publication of this paper. This research was shared in a poster presentation at a local workshop. Poster presentation information is unpublished.

Data availability statement

All data concerning this work has been availed within the article

Additional information

Funding

The authors received no form of financing in the research and publication of this work. All financing directed for this project work was of their own resourcing.