Investigating the leaching properties of MBT wastes and composts from aerobic/anaerobic processes

Abstract

This work assessed and compared the leaching properties of two types of compost and stabilized waste from a mechanical-biological treatment (MBT) plant. The first type of compost and the MBT waste were produced by aerobic treatments, while the second type of compost was generated from a combination of anaerobic and aerobic biodegradation processes. Both static-batch leaching tests, carried out applying a single liquid to solid (L/S) ratio equal to 10 L kg^-1, and dynamic column percolation tests, investigating constituents release as a function of different L/S ratios, were performed. The three materials were also characterized in order to investigate their biological stability degree, organic matter content, and metals total content. As expected, due to the differences in feed input waste or treatment conditions, the three types of samples showed different characteristics and leaching concentrations. However, the leaching behavior of the three types of treated materials presented similar trends of dissolved organic carbon (DOC) and metals (Cu, Ni, Pb, Zn) leaching as a function of the L/S ratio. A screening model proposed and developed for MBT waste in a previous study, which allows the description DOC release as a function of the L/S ratio, was applied and discussed. The comparison of model predictions with the experimental leaching data highlighted that for all three samples the screening model describes quite well the release trends of metals.