Co-composting of eggshell waste in self-heating reactors: Monitoring and end product quality

Industrial eggshell waste (ES) is classified as an animal by-product not intended to human consumption. For reducing pathogen spreading risk due to soil incorporation of ES, sanitation by composting is a pre-treatment option. This work aims to evaluate eggshell waste recycling in self-heating composting reactors and investigate ES effect on process evolution and end product quality. Potato peel, grass clippings and rice husks were the starting organic materials considered. corporation of 30% (w/w) ES in a composting mixture did not affect mixture biodegradability, nor its capacity to reach sanitizing temperatures. After 25 days of composting, ES addition caused a nitrogen loss of about 10 g N kg−1 of initial volatile solids, thus reducing nitrogen nutritional potential of the finished compost. tudy showed that a composting mixture with a significant proportion of ES (30% w/w) may be converted into calcium-rich marketable compost to neutralize soil acidity and/or calcium deficiencies.