Recent Trends and Advances in Additive-Mediated Composting Technology for Agricultural Waste Resources: A Comprehensive Review

Abstract

Agriculture waste has increased annually due to the global food demand and intensive animal production. Preventing environmental degradation requires fast and effective agricultural waste treatment. Aerobic digestion or composting uses agricultural wastes to create a stabilized and sterilized organic fertilizer and reduces chemical fertilizer input. Indeed, conventional composting technology requires a large surface area, a long fermentation period, significant malodorous emissions, inferior product quality, and little demand for poor end results. Conventional composting loses a lot of organic nitrogen and carbon. Thus, this comprehensive research examined sustainable and adaptable methods for improving agricultural waste composting efficiency. This review summarizes composting processes and examines how compost additives affect organic solid waste composting and product quality. Our findings indicate that additives have an impact on the composting process by influencing variables including temperature, pH, and moisture. Compost additive amendment could dramatically reduce gas emissions and mineral ion mobility. Composting additives can (1) improve the physicochemical composition of the compost mixture, (2) accelerate organic material disintegration and increase microbial activity, (3) reduce greenhouse gas (GHG) and ammonia (NH₃) emissions to reduce nitrogen (N) losses, and (4) retain compost nutrients to increase soil nutrient content, maturity, and phytotoxicity. This essay concluded with a brief summary of compost maturity, which is essential before using it as an organic fertilizer. This work will add to agricultural waste composting technology literature. To increase the sustainability of agricultural waste resource utilization, composting strategies must be locally optimized and involve the created amendments in a circular economy.

Figure 1

Composting temperature variations and the resulting microbial populations and organic molecules. Phases during which pathogen microorganisms are eliminated are marked with stars.

Figure 2

Schematic diagram of the aerobic composting reaction process.

Figure 3

Prospective consequences, both good and bad, of biological, organic, and inorganic additives. When selecting an additive, a choice between these consequences must be established.

Figure 4

Schematic showing the microbiological processes involved in the production of greenhouse gases during composting.

Figure 5

Classification of composting parameters.

Figure 6

Future applications of biochar as an addition in the composting of organic solid waste are schematically illustrated.