Slaughterhouse by-products composting: can microorganisms inoculum addition mitigate final compost odor emission?

Abstract

Small slaughterhouses generate biowaste, which for economic reasons, is generally destined for composting. Inoculating appropriate microorganisms can improve biodegradation efficiency and mitigate odor generation during the composting process and can give rise to composts with neutral or pleasant odors. Therefore, the aim of this study was to compare the odor intensity reduction of compost generated with and without a formulated inoculum (Saccharomyces cerevisiae, Bacillus subtilis, and Rhodopseudomonas palustris). A set of experimental data was collected and analyzed according to the German “Verein Deutscher Ingenieure” odor protocol. The results showed that adding microorganisms was effective in reducing unpleasant odors in all three composts generated from swine, cattle, and poultry slaughterhouse by-products during both summer and winter seasons. Additionally, soil odor was predominant in composts that were inoculated in the two tested seasons (i.e., summer and winter). On the other hand, composts without inoculation had odors similar to peat for swine compost, ammonia for cattle compost, and manure for poultry compost, regardless of the season tested. Overall, composting process with appropriate inoculum can help in the correct disposal of slaughterhouse wastes by transforming organic matter into composts, which can have economic and environmental value as a soil conditioner and/or fertilizer.

Keywords:

• Composting
• odor emission
• inoculum
• agro-industrial waste
• slaughterhouse waste

Acknowledgments

The technical assistance of Mr. A. Veras is greatly acknowledged.

Author contributions

M.J. Batista-Barwinski: Conceptualization, Methodology, Investigation, Supervision, Writing – original draft. N. Butzke-Souza: Methodology, Investigation, Validation, Writing – original draft. R. Radetski-Silva: Methodology, Investigation. F. Tiegs: Methodology, Investigation. R. Laçoli: Methodology, Investigation. G.A. Venturieri: Conceptualization, Methodology, Validation, Investigation, Supervision. P.R.M. Miller: Conceptualization, Methodology, Validation, Investigation, Supervision. J.O. Branco: Methodology, Resources, Validation, Data curation. R. Ariente-Neto: Methodology, Investigation, Writing – original draft. C.M. Radetski: Writing – review & editing, Supervision.

Data availability statement

The data that support the findings of this study are available from the corresponding author upon reasonable request.

Additional information

Funding

This work was financed by FAPESC - (Universal project 2021TR000549). C.M. Radetski received the grant from the CNPq - Brazil (Process 303317/2022-1). M.J. Batista-Barwinski received the financial support from IFC (grant N# 001/2015 – Bolsas-PROBIQ/IFC-CC).