Solid Wastes Treatment by Composting

Solid wastes treatment is nowadays very important because, on the one hand, their quantity increases regularly and, on the other hand, their storage in landfills tends to be forbidden. This is particularly true for urban solid wastes. In this frame, the biological treatment of solid wastes, or composting, often associated with biological sludges from 

The aim of solid wastes treatment is both to reduce their size and to stabilise their organic content. In order to obtain qualitative and quantitative information about humification of anthropogenic organic matter during the treatment process or waste valorisation, a simple analytical method has been developed [7], 

Many tests and criteria have been proposed in order to evaluate the maturity level of compost, but they are generally time consuming and not easy to run. The humification process and organic matter evolution can be followed with two approaches  

This last seems to contain more soluble and absorbing compounds than the fresh one, and the increase of absorbance is continuous during the treatment, with an enlargement of a shoulder at around 260-270 nm [7,20], 

The chromatogram corresponding to the fresh compost is characterised by three peaks of absorbance (followed at 270 nm), the first being more intense. The UV spectra of 

---