Search Results (25)

The disposal of orchard garbage (including pruning branches, fallen leaves, and non-biodegradable materials such as pesticide containers and plastic film) poses major difficulties for horticultural production and soil sustainability. Unlike general agricultural garbage, orchard garbage often contains both biodegradable organic matter and hazardous pollutants, which complicates efficient recycling. Traditional manual sorting methods are labour-intensive and inefficient in large-scale operations. To this end, we propose a lightweight YOLOv7-based detection model tailored for the orchard environment. By replacing the CSPDarknet53 backbone with MobileNetV3 and GhostNet, an average accuracy (mAP) of 84.4% is achieved, while the computational load of the original model is only 16%. Meanwhile, a supervised comparative learning strategy further strengthens feature discrimination between horticulturally relevant categories and can distinguish compost pruning residues from toxic materials. Experiments on a dataset containing 16 orchard-specific garbage types (e.g., pineapple shells, plastic mulch, and fertiliser bags) show that the model has high classification accuracy, especially for materials commonly found in tropical orchards. The lightweight nature of the algorithm allows for real-time deployment on edge devices such as drones or robotic platforms, and future integration with robotic arms for automated collection and sorting. By converting garbage into a compostable resource and separating contaminants, the technology is aligned with the country’s garbage segregation initiatives and global sustainability goals, providing a scalable pathway to reconcile ecological preservation and horticultural efficiency. Full article

The viability of anaerobic degradation treatment as an end-of-life option for commercial disposable bioplastic tableware, typically certified as compostable, was assessed. Two types of polylactic acid-based items were selected and tested under mesophilic conditions (38 °C) for 155 days, until reaching a plateau. Advanced chemical characterization of the products was performed with a combination of analytical techniques, i.e., microscopy, spectroscopy, and thermogravimetry. Two methods for calculating the biodegradation degree of the products were discussed and compared, using the biogas generated in the test and the total organic carbon (TOC) removal, respectively. The method based on TOC removal, resulting in a biodegradation degree ranging from 80.5% to 88.9%, was considered to more accurately describe the process. Given the complexity of assessing the biodegradation of a bioplastic product, an effort was made to derive correlations among the chemical–physical composition of the product, the biodegradation conditions, and the biodegradation yields/kinetics, with an aim to describe the process comprehensively. Statistical tools were also applied to derive additional considerations regarding the influence of the polymeric blend and digestion parameters on the biodegradation of bioplastic products. The identified data clusters, which were found to be grouped by the digestion temperature and the type of bioplastic, indicated specific biodegradation features of the investigated materials. Full article

Human hair, commonly considered a discarded organic waste, is a keratin-rich material with remarkable potential for sustainable agriculture as an innovative resource. This study systematically explored the potential of non-composted human hair hydrolysates as eco-friendly and nutrient-rich liquid fertilizers, emphasizing their ability to enhance agricultural sustainability and mitigate organic waste accumulation. Eight distinct hydrolysates prepared with alkaline solutions were evaluated for their effects on plant growth using red-hot chili pepper (Capsicum frutescens) as the primary model under greenhouse conditions. The present study introduces a novel approach by employing an advanced digital image analysis technique to quantitatively assess 37 distinct plant growth parameters, providing an unprecedented depth of understanding regarding the impact of liquid human hair hydrolysates on plant development. Additionally, the integration of pilot-scale field trials and multi-species evaluations highlights the broader applicability and scalability of these hydrolysates as sustainable fertilizers. Collectively, these features establish this research as a pioneering contribution to sustainable agriculture and bio-waste management. The top-performing hydrolysates (KCaMgN, KMgN, KCaN) demonstrated significant enhancements in plant growth metrics, with fresh weight reaching up to 3210 mg, projected leaf area of approximately 132 cm², and crown diameter of 20.91 cm for the best-performing formulations, outperforming a commercial organomineral fertilizer by 20–46% in overall growth performance. Furthermore, observational studies on various species (such as bird of paradise flower (Strelitzia reginae), avocado (Persea americana), lemon (Citrus limon L.), Mazafati date (Phoenix dactylifera L.), and red mini conical hot pepper (Capsicum annuum var. conoides) and field trials on long sweet green peppers (Capsicum annuum) confirmed the broad applicability of these hydrolysates. Toxicity assessments using shortfin molly fish (Poecilia sphenops) validated the environmental safety of plants cultivated with hydrolysates. These findings highlight that human hair hydrolysates offer a sustainable alternative to synthetic fertilizers, contributing to waste management efforts while enhancing agricultural productivity. Full article

The present chapter focuses on the recyclability of both renewable and biodegradable plastics, considering the recovery of matter (mechanical or chemical recycling) from the polymeric materials currently most diffused on the market. Biobased and compostable plastics are carbon neutral; thus, they do not contribute significantly to greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions. Nevertheless, recycling can be beneficial because it allows a prolongation of the material life cycle so that carbon is stored for a longer time up to the final composting. The chemical or mechanical recycling option is linked both to the possibility of reprocessing bioplastics without detrimental loss of properties as well as to the capability of selecting homogenous fractions of bioplastics after waste collection. Moreover, the different structural features of biodegradable bioplastics have resulted in different chemical recycling opportunities and also in different behaviors during the reprocessing operations necessary for recycling. All these aspects are discussed systematically in this review, considering biodegradable bioplastics, their blends and composites with natural fibers. Full article

The environmental degradation of the films used in packaging is a key factor in their commercial use. Industrial and academic research is aimed at obtaining materials that have degradation features that ensure their eco-sustainability but, at the same time, preserve their use properties during storage and distribution periods. This study analyzes the degradability behavior over time of commercial packaging that meets the requirements of the UNE 13432 standard and the prEN 17427 (2020) home composting certification requirements under standard storage conditions. The study attempts to provide insight into the durability of the films under standard storage conditions, verifying that this type of packaging has a useful life of more than 12 months and that after this storage period it still retains the usability properties for which it was conceived. The analyzed sample has been manufactured using a three-layer technology under some commercial formulations based on PBAT + STARCH + PLA and has been analyzed monthly for 12 consecutive months. The macroscopic monitoring of the degradation of the sample has been carried out through the evolution of the mechanical properties and the quantification of the color changes (very important in films) via colorimetry. The nature of the observed variations has been justified at the microstructural level from the data obtained in calorimetric analysis (DSC) and from the characterization using FTIR. The results indicate a loss of properties in the tensile, elongation and impact tests and a behavior of stability or improvement in the tear properties of the film. Analyzing the microstructural changes, it is observed that the degradation of a hydrolytic and thermo-oxidative type occurs in the amorphous part of the film. The conclusion of this study is that the proposed packaging, focused on domestic composting and stored under standard conditions, has a useful life of more than 12 months. This period should be sufficient to cover the stages of production, storage and final use. Full article

The recycling of polypropylene recovered from waste discarded by a composting plant was investigated. The recovery involved a sorting step carried out by means of an optical infrared separator and a subsequent washing treatment. This method of processing allowed us to obtain polypropylene that was only slightly contaminated by other polymeric and inorganic materials. As many tens of tons of polypropylene could be recovered every year in this plant, recycling could be convenient from the economic point of view and beneficial for the protection of the environment. In fact, the landfill of this waste could be reduced in this manner. A possible mechanical recycling route was developed for the recovered plastic. The recycling was carried out by pelletizing the recovered polypropylene, mixing it with a commercial polypropylene feedstock, and manufacturing items by injection molding. In this way, tensile specimens containing different amounts of recycled polypropylene were processed and tested. Their tensile features were compared with those of a commercial polypropylene that was used as a reference. The elastic modulus and tensile strength were slightly worsened when using the recycled plastic, while the strain at failure significantly increased. Nonetheless, the tensile properties of compounds made by mixing recycled and virgin polypropylene were consistent with the characteristics that are expected for polypropylene-based plastics. Full article

This paper deals with the recovery of plastic fractions from waste discarded by an industrial composting plant that processes the organic fraction of municipal solid waste. Polymeric fractions (PE, PP and PET) were sorted from this discarded waste using a NIR separator. The polymeric fractions were then washed to remove residual contaminants and characterized with the aim of assessing their composition. A process of pelletizing and injection molding suitable for producing specimens made of 100% of these recovered materials was set up. The tensile strength and stiffness, as well as the microstructure of the recycled plastics, were investigated. The mechanical features of samples fully made of recycled PE and PP were like those characteristic of virgin polymers. Samples made of PET did not show completely satisfactory properties, as they displayed rather poor elastic modulus and ductility. Full article

Waste management is one of most important challenges in environmental protection. Much effort is put into the development of waste treatment methods for further use. A serious problem is the treatment of municipal sewage sludge. One method that is useful for this substrate is composting. However, it is reasonable to compost a sewage sludge mixed with other substrates, such as maize straw. To carry out the composting process properly, it is necessary to control some parameters, including the total solids and volatile solids content in the composted mixture. In this paper, a method for the determination of the total solids and volatile solids content based on image analysis and neural networks was proposed. Image analysis was used for the determination of the colour and texture parameters. The three additional features describing the composted material were percentage of sewage sludge, type of maize straw, and stage of compost maturity. The neural models were developed based on various combinations of the input parameters. For both the total solids and volatile solids content, the most accurate models were obtained using all input parameters, including 30 parameters for image colour and texture and three features describing the composted material. The uncertainties of the developed models, expressed by the MAPE error, were 2.88% and 0.59%, respectively, for the prediction of the total solids and volatile solids content. Full article

As a result of the increase in agricultural production and environmental pollution, waste management and disposal are becoming vital. Proper treatments, such as converting abundant bio-mass wastes into beneficial materials, might mitigate the negative effects and convert waste into reusable resources. Aquatic weeds are a significant concern in the majority of water bodies. Their quick growth, rapid ecological adaptations, and lack of natural enemies make these plants invasive, problematic, and challenging to manage over time. Although there are many methods to manage aquatic weeds, composting has been identified as one of the easily adapted and eco-friendly methods for transferring nutrients to the cropping cycle. Their short life cycle, higher biomass yield, higher nutrient compositions, and allelopathic and phytoremediation properties confirm their suitability as raw materials for composting. Most aquatic ecosystems can be maintained in optimum conditions while facilitating maximum benefits for life by identifying and developing proper composting techniques. Studying the ecology and morphological features of aquatic weeds is essential for this purpose. This is an overview of identifying the potential of aquatic weeds as a source of composting, targeting sustainable plant nutrient management while managing weeds. Full article

Biochar is a versatile carbon-rich organic material originating from pyrolyzed biomass residues that possess the potential to stabilize organic carbon in the soil, improve soil fertility and water retention, and enhance plant growth. For the utilization of biochar as a soil conditioner, the mutual interconnection of the physicochemical properties of biochar with the production conditions used during the pyrolysis (temperature, heating rate, residence time) and the role of the origin of used biomass seem to be crucial. The aim of the research was focused on a comparison of the properties of biochar samples (originated from oat brans, mixed woodcut, corn residues and commercial compost) produced at different temperatures (400–700 °C) and different residence times (10 and 60 min). The results indicated similar structural features of produced biochar samples; nevertheless, the original biomass showed differences in physicochemical properties. The morphological and structural analysis showed well-developed aromatic porous structures for biochar samples originated from oat brans, mixed woodcut and corn residues. The higher pyrolysis temperature resulted in lower yields; however, it provided products with higher content of organic carbon and a more developed surface area. The lignocellulose biomass with higher contents of lignin is an attractive feedstock material for the production of biochar with potential agricultural applications. Full article

There is an urgent need for developing degradable polymeric systems based on bio-derived and sustainable materials. In recent years, polyurethanes derived from castor oil have emerged due to the large availability and sustainable characteristics of castor oil. However, these polymers are normally prepared through tedious and/or energy-intensive procedures or using high volatile and/or toxic reagents such as volatile isocyanates or epoxides. Furthermore, poor investigation has been carried out to design castor oil derived polyurethanes with degradable characteristics or thorough specifically sustainable synthetic procedures. Herein, castor oil-derived polyurethane with more than 90% biomass-derived carbon content and enhanced degradable features was prepared through a simple, eco-friendly (E-factor: 0.2), and scalable procedure, employing a recently developed commercially available biomass-derived (61% bio-based carbon content) low-volatile polymeric isocyanate. The novel material was compared with a castor oil derived-polyurethane prepared with a commercially available fossil-based isocyanate counterpart. The different castor oil-derived polyurethanes were investigated by means of water uptake, soil burial degradation, and disintegration tests in compost. Characterization analyses, including thermogravimetric analysis (TGA), differential scanning calorimetry (DSC), attenuated total reflection Fourier transform infrared spectroscopy (ATR-FTIR) and scanning electron microscopy (SEM), were carried out both prior to and after degradation tests. The results suggest potential applications of the degradable castor oil-derived polyurethane in different fields, such as mulch films for agricultural purposes. Full article

Biopolymer composites have received increasing attention for their beneficial properties such as being biodegradable and having less influence to the environment. Biodegradability of materials has become a desired feature due to the growing problems connected with waste management. The aim of the paper is to emphasize the importance of biodegradable textile materials, especially nonwoven materials with an anti-pathogenic layer. The article refers to the definitions of biodegradation, degradation and composting processes, as well as presenting methods of testing biodegradability depending on the type of material. The study gives examples of biodegradation of textiles and presents examples of qualitative and quantitative methods used for testing antimicrobial activity of biodegradable nonwovens with an anti-pathogenic layer. Full article

The potential of composts produced from different origin residues to be used in environmentally friendly agriculture is addressed in this work. Seven composts obtained from different raw materials and composting methodologies are compared using elemental, thermal and spectroscopic characterization data. Despite the stabilization of the organic matter in all composts being adequate for agricultural applications, they display distinct elemental and structural compositions. Likewise, the fertilisers have very different effects on lettuce growth. Despite the observed differences, some common features were found, namely a mass loss (TGA) of 25.2 g per mol C, association between groups of elements (Fe, Al, Ni, Co, Cr, Cu and S; Mg, Na, K and P, C, C_oxi, N and Pb) and correlations between the amount of carbon nanostructures and the characteristic aromaticity parameters. These results suggest that the tuning of the compost features for specific cultures may be possible for sustainable food production. Full article

Multi-principal element alloys (MPEAs) are characterized by a high-dimensional materials design space, and data-driven models can be considered as the best tools to describe the structure–property relationship in this class of materials. Predicting the prevalence of an intermetallic (IM) phase in a high-entropy alloy (HEA) regime of MPEAs has become a very important research direction recently. In this work, Automatic Featurization capability has been deployed computationally to extract composition and property features from the datasets of MPEAs. Data visualization has been performed, and through principal component analysis, the relative impacts of the input features on the two principal components have been specified. Artificial neural network is then trained upon the set of compostion, property and phase information features. A GUI interface is subsequently developed on top of the prediction model to enable the user-friendly computer environment for detection of the IM phase in a compositionally complex alloy. Full article

The use of humic substances in agriculture has increased in recent years, and leonardite has been an important raw material in the manufacture of commercial products rich in humic and fulvic acids. Leonardite-based products have been used to improve soil properties and to help plants cope with abiotic and biotic stresses. In this study, the effects of two commercial leonardites and an organic compost, in addition to a control treatment, were assessed for pot-grown olive plants over a period of fourteen months on soil properties, tissue elemental composition and dry matter yield (DMY). Three organic amendments were applied at single and double rates of that set by the manufacturer. The study was arranged in two experiments: one containing the seven treatments mentioned above and the other containing the same treatments supplemented with mineral nitrogen (N), phosphorus (P) and potassium (K) fertilization. Overall, organic compost increased soil organic carbon by ~8% over the control. In the experiment without NPK supplementation, N concentrations in shoots and P in roots were the highest for the compost application (leaf N 12% and root P 32% higher than in the control), while in the experiment with NPK supplementation, no significant differences were observed between treatments. Total DMY was ~10% higher in the set of treatments with NPK in comparison to treatments without NPK. Leonardites did not affect significantly any measured variables in comparison to the control. In this study, a good management of the majority of environmental variables affecting plant growth may have reduced the possibility of obtaining a positive effect on plant nutritional status and growth from the use of commercial leonardites. The leonardites seemed to have caused a slight effect on biological N immobilization. This is not necessarily an advantage or a drawback; it is rather a feature that must be understood to help farmers make better use of these products. Full article