Characteristics of Soil Amendment Material from Food Waste Disposed of in Bioplastic Bags

Abstract

Effective food waste management is key to a sustainable future. We herein aimed at assessing the composition and the amount of food waste generated in the Chamchuri (CU) Terrace condominium (floors 18–22) in Bangkok (Thailand), producing soil amendment material from this same food waste and examining the effect of bioplastic bags on composting. The condominium generated 29.01 kg of general waste per day. The food waste (6.26 kg/day) was classified into “available” and “unavailable” food waste, accounting for 3.26 and 3.00 kg/day, respectively. The composting of the food waste lasted 45 days and was undertaken under three experimental conditions: (i) control (no food waste), treatment 1 (T1: food waste), and treatment 2 (T2: food waste along with pieces of bioplastic bags). The physicochemical analysis of the final composts of these treatments revealed that T2 could be used as soil amendment material after enrichment of its macronutrient composition and an increase in fermentation time. Interestingly, the T2 bioplastics were characterized by a lack of holes or were fragmented into pieces larger than 5 mm. In conclusion, food waste management in the CU Terrace condominium can use food waste collected in bioplastic bags as soil amendment material.

Keywords

• waste management
• waste composition
• food waste
• bioplastics
• soil amendment