Recently, the Agricultural Clean Watershed Team at the Institute of Agricultural Environment and Sustainable Development of the Chinese Academy of Agricultural Sciences conducted research on electrochemical-assisted aerobic composting technology. They revealed that under the influence of an electric field, it is possible to achieve the dual goals of efficient organic waste maturation and effective control of microbial antibiotic resistance. This study provides theoretical support and methodological insights for achieving efficient and safe aerobic composting. The research findings were published in the Chemical Engineering Journal.
Aerobic composting is a vital approach for the utilization of livestock and poultry manure resources. However, challenges such as long composting periods, significant nutrient losses, and issues related to antibiotic resistance in compost urgently need to be addressed.
The results indicate that electrochemical-assisted composting significantly enhances material temperature, total nitrogen content, germination index, and humification index, reducing the composting period by approximately 5 days compared to the control group. Moreover, the abundance of antibiotic-resistant genes and resistant bacteria at the endpoint of composting decreased by 33.52% to 90.66% and 68.60% to 85.24%, respectively, compared to the control group.
During electrochemical-assisted composting, the increase in the abundance of Bacillus, Thermobacillus, and Halobacillus accelerates compost maturation and humification. The increased abundance of Aspergillus enhances nitrogen fixation capability, while reducing the potential host bacteria for various antibiotic resistance genes, effectively controlling microbial antibiotic resistance in aerobic composting.
This research received funding from the National Key Research and Development Program and the Science and Technology Innovation Project of the Chinese Academy of Agricultural Sciences.
Related paper information: https://doi.org/10.1016/j.cej.2024.149581
