Development of a bioprocess for fast production of enriched biocompost from municipal solid wastes

• A bioprocess was designed for fast production of biocompost from MSW using a native microbial cocktail and wood chips.
• The composting process was reduced to 28 days.
• The designed process resulted in maximum process temperature and maximum C/N, Organic matter and NH4 reduction.
• The designed process could significantly reduce the human and plant pathogen populations and heavy metals concentrations.
• The designed process enhanced positive effects on wheat growth parameters.

The objective of the present study was to develop a bioprocess for fast production of enriched biocompost from municipal solid wastes using a native microbial cocktail and cheap lignocellulosic biomass i.e. wood chips. The open-windrow composting experiments included (1) only municipal solid waste (C), (2) municipal solid waste + wood chips at 3:1 ratio (CW), and (3) municipal solid waste + wood chips + a microbial cocktail (108 cells/kg), containing 11 native mesophilic and thermophilic bacterial strains (CWM).The microbial cocktail led to the fastest rise in the starting temperature (up to 73 °C after two weeks) and maximum carbon/nitrogen ratio decrease (40%) and organic matter reduction in the CWM compost. The CWM compost contained the minimum concentrations of the heavy and trace elements (i.e. zinc, copper, manganese, lead, nickel, chromium and cadmium) as well as Salmonella sp. and E. coli populations, whereas the control (C) contained the maximum contents of the heavy metals and human pathogens. . The maximum and minimum germination of the garden cress seeds were observed for the CWM (97.5%) and the control (73.3%) composts, respectively. Moreover, in comparison with the control, 60–70% increase was achieved in growth parameters i.e. wheat dry weight, wet weight, stem height and root long when 10% CWM compost was used.