Waste Management 156 (2023) 44–54

Contents lists available at ScienceDirect

Waste Management
journal homepage: www.elsevier.com/locate/wasman

Role of tobacco and bamboo biochar on food waste digestate

co-composting: Nitrogen conservation, greenhouse gas emissions, and
compost quality
Dongyi Li a, M.K. Manu a, Sunita Varjani b, Jonathan W.C. Wong a, c, *
a
Institute of Bioresource and Agriculture, Sino-Forest Applied Research Centre for Pearl River Delta Environment and Department of Biology, Hong Kong Baptist
University, Hong Kong
b
Gujarat Pollution Control Board, Gandhinagar 382010, Gujarat, India
c
School of Technology, Huzhou University, Huzhou 311800, China

A R T I C L E I N F O A B S T R A C T

Keywords: Anaerobic digestion is considered an environmentally benign process for the recycling of food waste into biogas.
Food waste digestate However, unscientific disposal of ammonium-rich food waste digestate (FWD), a by-product of anaerobic
Composting digestion induces environmental issues such as odor nuisances, water pollution, phytotoxicity and pathogen
Tobacco biochar
transformations in soil, etc. In the present study, FWD produced from anaerobic digestion of source-separated
Bamboo biochar
NH3 volatilization
food waste from markets and industries was used for converting FWD into biofertilizer using 20-L bench scale
Greenhouse gas emission composters. The issues of nitrogen loss, NH3 volatilization, and greenhouse gas N2O emission were addressed
using in-situ composting technologies with the aid of tobacco and bamboo biochar produced at pyrolytic tem­
peratures of 450 ◦ C and 600 ◦ C, respectively. The results demonstrated that the phytotoxic nature of FWD could
be reduced into a nutrient-rich compost by mitigating nitrogen loss by 29–53% using 10% tobacco and 10%
bamboo biochar in comparison with the control treatment. Tobacco biochar mitigates NH3 emission by 63% but
enhances the N2O emission by 65%, whereas bamboo biochar mitigates both NH3 and N2O emissions by 48% and
31%, respectively. Overall, 10% tobacco and 10% bamboo biochar amendment could reduce total nitrogen loss
by 29% and 53%, respectively. Furthermore, the biochar addition significantly enhanced the biodegradation rate
of FWD and the mature compost could be produced within 21 days of FWD composting as seen by an increased
seed germination index (>50% on dry weight basis). The results of this study could be beneficial in developing a
circular bioeconomy locally with the waste-derived substrates.

1. Introduction AD process has been carried out focusing on improving biogas and
methane yield. However, the lack of suitable treatment options for food
Circular bioeconomy is the need of the hour due to the depletion of waste digestate (FWD) has emerged as a limitation of the AD plants in
natural resources and to mitigate global warming. Anaerobic digestion completing the circular bioeonomy concept (Dutta et al., 2021). Typi­
(AD) is one such technology used to produce renewable energy using cally, solid or dewatered FWD accounts for 20–25% of initial food waste
food waste thereby alleviating the environmental issues caused by its quantity, and currently, ORRC1 is generating approximately 20–25
unscientific disposal (Johnravindar et al., 2022; Manu et al., 2021a). In tonnes of FWD per day (Manu et al., 2021a). Since FWD comprises of
addition, the scarcity of landfills in urban areas has endorsed the nutrients such as nitrogen and phosphorous, it can be a potential
development of anaerobic digestion plants in most countries. For resource for biofertilizer production. However, direct land application of
example, Hong Kong has developed the Organic Resource Recovery FWD could cause severe environmental impacts such as water pollution
Centre (ORRC1) in 2018 wherein 200 tonnes of food waste is treated by by leaching, soil contamination by toxic elements, and air pollution via
AD and 5–6 such facilities are in the underline to divert ~40% of food volatile emissions as well as threat to human health due to the pathogens
waste from landfills in the coming years (Manu et al., 2021a). In the past transformation (Barampouti et al., 2020; Nag et al., 2020). Hence, the
decade, continuous research on the technological advancements in the increasing global generation of dewatered FWD is demanding for

* Corresponding author at: Department of Biology, Hong Kong Baptist University, Hong Kong.
E-mail address: [email protected] (J.W.C. Wong).

https://doi.org/10.1016/j.wasman.2022.10.022
Received 17 June 2022; Received in revised form 12 October 2022; Accepted 18 October 2022
Available online 24 November 2022
0956-053X/© 2022 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.
D. Li et al. Waste Management 156 (2023) 44–54

effective treatment technology for its safer disposal. physical additive in FWD composting has not been explored. The lack of
Composting is the traditional treatment option for digestate disposal research on the nitrogen dynamics and its conservation during FWD
since it is an environmentally benign technology that converts the composting has motivated to conduct an experimental study using in-
phytotoxic digestate into a safer product called compost which can be situ strategies such as C/N ratio adjustment and biochar amendment.
used as a biofertilizer/ soil amendment (Wong et al., 2017; Logan and Through this approach, the utilization of biochar for FWD composting at
Visvanathan, 2019). By considering the effective operational manage­ ORRC1 could be investigated.
ment, combining the AD and composting process for the treatment of The objectives of the present work included FWD co-composting
organic waste could be a promising option to reduce environmental along with the performance assessment of tobacco and bamboo bio­
pollution compared to other treatment technologies (Logan and Visva­ char produced at pyrolytic temperatures of 450 ◦ C and 600 ◦ C, respec­
nathan, 2019; Pera et al., 2022). In Hong Kong, ORRC1 operations have tively. The nitrogen dynamics including the regular monitoring of NH3
adapted tunnel composting of FWD to produce nutrient-rich compost. and N2O emissions were examined along with the biodegradation ki­
However, the innate characteristic of FWD comprising of high ammo­ netics during biochar amended co-composting of FWD. The outcome of
nium nitrogen (NH+ 4 -N) is affecting the composting process causing the the study will be useful to promote the circular bioeconomy locally as
low-quality compost generation in longer composting duration (Manu Hong Kong has initiated the production of biochar as well as FWD
et al., 2021a). The inevitable loss of nitrogen (10–12%) during FWD compost.
composting owing to the high NH+ 4 -N via NH3 volatilization (8–10% of
the initial nitrogen) and greenhouse gas (GHG), N2O emissions (1–2% of 2. Materials and methods
the initial nitrogen) have caused the process performance as well as
reduced the fertilizer value of final compost (Manu et al., 2021b; Li 2.1. Feedstock materials and experimental design
et al., 2022). Hence, there is an urgent need to develop FWD composting
strategies focusing on nitrogen conservation by mitigating ammonia and The dewatered FWD produced after the anaerobic digestion of in­
N2O emissions. Furthermore, lack of studies addressing on the nitrogen dustrial and market food waste, and mature compost were collected
loss issues during FWD composting has motivated to investigate the from ORRC1, whereas the locally procured sawdust was used as a
present study. bulking agent. The physico-chemical properties of feedstock materials
In the last decade, the adaption of in-situ strategies (C/N ratio used in this study are summarized in Table 1. FWD was comprised of
regulation and additives) has proved to be effective in nitrogen con­ high NH+ 4 -N of ~8800 mg/kg on dry matter (dm) basis, implying a se­
servation during biowaste composting (Zhao et al., 2020). Among the vere phytotoxic effect on plants, moisture content of ~77% and C/N
several types of additives, biochar (BC) has been demonstrated to be a ratio of ~7 (Manu et al., 2021a). To obtain the optimum composting
superior amendment in mitigating the nitrogen loss and unwanted conditions (i.e., moisture content of ~55% and C/N ratio of 30), FWD
gaseous emissions during the composting of sewage sludge, livestock was mixed with sawdust and mature compost in the ratio of 1:3:1.3 (dry
manure, etc (Zhao et al., 2020; Sanchez-Monedero et al., 2018). weight ratio). Two types of biochar, namely, tobacco and bamboo bio­
Recently, literature on nitrogen conservation revealed that the biochar char produced at the pyrolytic temperatures of 450 ◦ C and 600 ◦ C,
amendment could reduce N loss by 25–50% by mitigating the ammonia respectively were used (Yang et al., 2017).
and N2O emissions by 35–75% and 30–70%, respectively (Zhao et al., The experimental design of the present study included three treat­
2020). The percentage variations were due to the changes in the com­ ments wherein the impact of two different biochar additives was
posting materials, biochar feedstock, and pyrolytic temperatures. assessed in comparison with a control treatment. The 1st treatment ‘R1′
Biochar is characterized by a large surface area, high sorption ca­ was control which comprised of FWD, sawdust, and mature compost
pacity, cationic exchange capacity, and higher pore volume which without any biochar amendment. In the second treatment ‘R2′ , the to­
significantly enhances the composting performance by improving bacco biochar (0.3–0.5 mm) with 10% dosage was mixed with com­
aeration and microbial proliferation (Lehmann et al., 2011; Sanchez- posting mixture, whereas in the third treatment ‘R3’, 10% (dry weight)
Monedero et al., 2018; Akdeniz, 2019). However, the biochar proper­ of bamboo biochar (0.3–0.5 mm) was used. 10% biochar dosage was
ties are highly dependent on the feedstock and the pyrolytic temperature selected based on our previous study wherein 10% coconut biochar
used for the biochar production which eventually imposes varied im­ showed superior composting performance along with nitrogen conser­
pacts on the composting process (Chowdhury et al., 2014; Godlewska vation (Manu et al., 2021b). In addition, previous studies have demon­
et al., 2017; Xiao et al., 2017). In the previous study, 10% tobacco strated improved composting and mitigation of nitrogen emissions with
biochar showed improved FWD biodegradation and reduced NH3 10% bamboo (Awasthi et al., 2020) and 10% holm oak biochar (Van­
emission at the initial C/N ratio of ~21 (Manu et al., 2021b). decasteele et al., 2016).
Bamboo biochar has been one of the commonly used biochar in
composting studies. 10% bamboo biochar has mitigated 12.59% of ni­ 2.2. Composting operation and sampling
trogen loss (Awasthi et al., 2020) and 9.2% of NH3 emission (Chen et al.,
2017) during poultry manure composting. Furthermore, the pyrolytic Composting was conducted using 20-L stainless steel bench-scale
temperature of biochar production significantly influences the nitrogen composters wherein ~7 kg of homogeneous mixture of FWD, sawdust
dynamics as well as the composting process. Vandecasteele et al. (2016) and mature compost in the ratio 1:3:1.3 (dry weight ratio) along with
reported enhanced organic matter decomposition and N2O emission 10% tobacco and bamboo biochar was used as feedstock. The com­
reduction by 14% using 10% Holm oak biochar produced at pyrolysis posters were connected with the feedback computerized controlling
temperature of 650 ◦ C during municipal solid waste composting. In system and a thermocouple inserted at the centre for continuous mea­
another study, corn stalk biochar produced at pyrolytic temperature of surement of temperature as shown in Song et al. (2021). The composters
450 ◦ C could enhance nitrification and reduce nitrogen loss by 27% were shielded to prevent heat loss, an air supply (0.25 L/kg min− 1) was
during beer vinasse composting along with the production of continuously blowed into the composters. In addition, provisions were
phytotoxicity-free compost (Wang, et al., 2017a). made for the collection of gaseous emissions at the outlet of the com­
The literature studies demonstrated that finding suitable biochar is poster. The composting study was carried out for 42 days during which
critical in reducing nitrogen loss and mitigating NH3 and N2O emissions ~300 g of homogeneous samples were collected on days 0, 3, 7, 10, 14,
during the composting process. Hong Kong has started biochar pro­ 21, 28, and 42 for assessing the changes in the composting parameters.
duction from wood and yard waste, and currently looking for suitable
market for biochar utilization. There are very few studies on FWD
composting and the application of amendment strategy with biochar as a

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D. Li et al. Waste Management 156 (2023) 44–54

Table 1
Physicochemical characteristics of raw materials and biochar.
Parameter Digestate Compost Sawdust Mixture Tobacco BC Bamboo BC

MC (%) 78.5 ± 0.01 13.2 ± 0.2 11.8 ± 0.1 51.2 ± 1.5 21.1 ± 0.2 5.0 ± 0.05
TN (%) 4.6 ± 0.2 4.2 ± 0.04 0.2 ± 0.01 1.1 ± 0.04 – –
TC (%) 31.7 ± 0.5 37.1 ± 0.5 42.5 ± 0.2 33.8 ± 0.6 – –
C/N 6.9 8.9 223.5 29.7 7.1 10.2
pH 8.6 ± 0.06 7.3 ± 0.05 5.1 ± 0.09 8.1 ± 0.04 10.3 ± 0.03 9.1 ± 0.12
EC (mS/cm) 17.8 ± 0.06 11.2 ± 0.2 0.8 ± 0.05 7.06 ± 0.5 22.2 ± 3.1 13.1 ± 0.8
NHþ4 -N (mg/kg dm) 8768.0 ± 798.3 1313.3 ± 94 4.4 ± 0.05 1712.3 ± 18.9 – –
BET SA (m2/g) – – – – 8.19 7.45
TPV (cm3/g) – – – – 0.018 0.014
PS (nm) – – – – 8.97 7.55

Note: Mixture: digestate-sawdust-compost = 1–3-1.3; MC: moisture content; TN: total nitrogen; TC: total carbon; EC: electrical conductivity; BET SA: Bru­
nauer–Emmett–Teller Surface Area; TPV: Total Pore Volume; PS: Pore Size. The values are the average of three replicates ± standard deviation.

2.3. Physicochemical parameter analyses and gaseous emissions

C = Cr (1 − exp( − kr t) ) + Cs (1 − exp( − ks t)) (2)
measurements
[C = Cumulative CO2 emission (%) at the time ’t’; Cr = rapidly
The periodically collected samples were subjected to the physico­ degrading component (%); Cs = slowly degrading component (%); kr =
chemical parameter analyses using standard methods (TMECC, 2003). degradation rate of rapidly degrading component (day− 1); ks = degra­
In brief, 20 g of fresh samples were extracted with deionized water at a dation rate of slowly degrading component (day− 1); t = time (day)].
1:5 ratio on a dry weight basis (w/v) for 1 h followed by filtration with
0.45 μm membrane filters to measure pH and Electrical Conductivity
(EC) using a pH meter (Orion Star™ A111 Benchtop pH Meter, Thermo 2.5. Statistical analysis
Scientific™), and EC meter (Orion Star™ A112 Benchtop Conductivity
Meter, Thermo Scientific™), respectively. The filtrate was used for the The physicochemical characteristics were measured in triplicates
determination of extractable NH+ and ANOVA test (P < 0.05) was conducted to determine the significant
4 -N by the indophenol-blue method
whereas total carbon (TC) and total nitrogen (TN) were determined by differences using SPSS program. Besides, the role of tobacco and
the CHNS analyzer (Elementar Vario MACRO, Germany). Seed germi­ bamboo biochar on emissions and N conservation was examined by
nation index (SGI) was calculated by growing Cress seeds in compost- making structural equation models (SEM) using AMOS program at the
water extract in 1:5 ratio (w:v) for 72 h (Chan et al., 2016). confidence interval of 95% (P < 0.05).
The functional groups in the tobacco and bamboo biochar samples
were measured by FT-IR (Spectrum Two FT-IR Spectrometer, Perki­ 3. Results and discussion
nElmer) between the wavenumbers ranging from 4000 cm− 1 to 500
cm− 1 whereas the morphological features of the biochar samples were 3.1. Physicochemical properties of biochar
captured using a scanning electron microscope (SEM, Zeiss, Germany).
The Brunauer–Emmett–Teller (BET) surface area and pore size distri­ The biochar produced from tobacco stalk and bamboo at the pyro­
bution of the biochar were determined by Surface Area & Porosimetry lytic temperatures of 450 ◦ C and 600 ◦ C, respectively, had distinguished
System (Micromeritics ASAP 2460, Japan). characteristics (Table 1). Both of the biochar were alkaline in nature
The gaseous emissions such as carbon dioxide (CO2), ammonia with a pH of 9–10 whereas the EC of tobacco biochar was high (22 mS/
(NH3), and nitrous oxide (N2O) were measured daily during the com­ cm) compared to the bamboo biochar (13 mS/cm). BET surface area and
posting process using gas analyzers (Guangzhou KunLian Technology the pore size were higher in tobacco biochar (8.2 m2/g and 8.9 nm)
Co., ltd). The gas sampling was carried out based on the procedure given compared to bamboo biochar (7.4 m2/g and 7.5 nm). The SEM images of
by Yang et al. (2015). Briefly, the emitted gas was collected at the outlet tobacco biochar showed an uneven surface with the formation of
of the composters by gas bags followed by the detection in gas analyzers negligible pores whereas the original vascular bundle structure was
using the syringe sampling method. The concentrations of each gaseous retained for the bamboo biochar with newly derived small pores or
emission were converted to emission rates using the formula (Yang crumbles to form a channel-like structure (Fig. 1a-1f) (Qin et al., 2018;
et al., 2015): Sahoo et al. 2021).
The different patterns of FTIR absorbance spectra of tobacco and
C*A*M bamboo biochar showed the presence of different functional groups
N= (1)
m*V (Fig. 1g). In tobacco BC, the peak at 2922 cm− 1 was a characteristic
stretching vibration for aliphatic groups (CH) and a broad wide peak at
where, N = gas emission rate; C = concentration of individual gas, ppm;
3200–2500 cm− 1 was carboxylic O–H moieties which were missing in
A = air flow rate, L/kg min− 1; M = molar mass of gas, g/mol; m = dry
bamboo BC while the absorption peak at 1581 cm− 1 correspond to the
weight of initial composting mass, kg; V = molar volume of gas, L/mol.
ester carbonyl functional group C– – O and aromatic C– – C that were
The gaseous emission losses were calculated based on the cumulative
similar in both BC (Wang et al., 2017b; Tan et al. 2020; Qin et al., 2018;
emission data with respect to the initial carbon or nitrogen mass.
Hagemann et al., 2018). The sharp peak in the range 1450 cm− 1 to 1380
cm− 1 in tobacco BC was correspond to the CH bending vibrations and
2.4. Kinetic analysis nitrate band which was not prominent in bamboo BC (Hagemann et al.,
2018; Sahoo et al., 2021). The absorption peak at 1015 cm− 1 for
The carbon decomposition was kinetically assessed with the first-first C–O–C was prominent in bamboo BC whereas the aromatic and het­
order model (Eqn. (2)) based on our previous studies wherein first-first eroatomic CH bending vibrations in the range from 873 cm− 1 to 775
order model was found to be suitable compared to other models such as cm− 1 were observed in both (Sahoo et al., 2021).
Chen and Hashimoto, and Levi-Minzi kinetic models (Song et al., 2021), The FTIR spectra of both tobacco and bamboo biochar clearly sug­
followed by statistical evaluation using chi-square (χ2), root means gest the effect of feedstock source and pyrolytic temperature on the
square error (RMSE), and model efficiency (EF). functional properties of biochar. As a result, the changes in functional

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D. Li et al. Waste Management 156 (2023) 44–54

Fig. 1. SEM images of tobacco (a-c) and bamboo (d-f) biochar; (g) FTIR of tobacco and bamboo biochar.

groups of both biochar was expected to influence the nitrogen dynamics conditions. This biochemical reaction is an exothermic process that re­
during digestate composting differently through chemical affinitiy or sults in heat generation through which the organic matter degradation
binding capacity of biochar on nitrogen species. For example, the can be described. Since the initial C/N ratio was 30, a rapid increase in
presence of acidic functional group carboxylic O–H moieties in tobacco the temperature was expected (Fig. 2a). The addition of biochar plays a
biochar could form strong affinity towards NH3 during composting crucial role in managing enhanced microbial activities.
therby reducing the NH3 emission (Huang et al., 2008). Further inves­ As the composting process started, the temperature increased in all
tigation is required to examine the influence of different functional three treatments (P < 0.05). In the control treatment, it took 3 days to
groups on nitrogen speciation during digestate composting. reach to thermophilic phase (>55 ◦ C) whereas, in the biochar amended
treatments, the temperature rapidly increased to the thermophilic phase
3.2. Impact of tobacco and bamboo biochar on temperature, pH and EC from day 1 indicating the positive impact of biochar particles on the
microbial activities (Xiao et al., 2017; Akdeniz, 2019). The thermophilic
Composting process is characterized by the active decomposition of phase was maintained till day 13 in both biochar amended treatments
available organic substances by various microbial species under aerobic and the active decomposition was mostly finished by day 18. In the

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D. Li et al. Waste Management 156 (2023) 44–54

Fig. 2. Changes in (a) Temperature; (b) pH; (c) EC; (d) TC; (e) Daily CO2 emission; (f) Cumulative CO2 emission and (g) Kinetics of CO2 emission (R1 = control; R2 =
10% tobacco biochar; R3 = 10% bamboo biochar).

control treatment R1, the thermophilic phase was seen till 17 days and faster in biochar amended treatments. The biochar amendment reduced
the active phase was seen till day 35. All three treatments fulfilled the the time required to reach thermophilic phase due to the enhancement
criteria of achieving thermophilic phase for at least 3 days to ensure the of oxygen diffusion through the porous structure of biochar thereby
sanitization of compost product (Manu et al., 2017; 2019). The tem­ facilitating the microbial proliferation at faster rate compared to the
perature profile suggests that the bio-stabilization of FWD was slightly control (Zhang et al., 2021). Furthermore, the sorption of toxic elements

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D. Li et al. Waste Management 156 (2023) 44–54

such as ammonium nitrogen will shorten the acclimitaization period for the end of the composting process, the cumulative CO2 emissions in the
microbial degradation, as a result, the effective organic matter degra­ control treatment were 291 g/kg dm while the addition of tobacco and
dation leads to the temperature elevation sooner (Duan et al., 2019). bamboo biochar enhanced the cumulative CO2 production to 423 g/kg
Biochar is also known to provide suitable habitat for microbial prolif­ dm and 368 g/kg dm, respectively (Fig. 2f). Since FWD was partially
eration due to the porous surface area (Lehmann et al., 2011; Hagemann degraded during the anaerobic digestion process, the addition of biochar
et al., 2018). In addition, biochar adsorbs the NH+ 4 -N thereby reducing during composting is important to increase the degradation of FWD to a
the toxic effect on microbial activities. Although both tobacco and larger extent.
bamboo biochar showed similar temperature profiles, the impact of The rate of degradation using the first-first order kinetic model was
these two biochar was further examined through carbon mineralization determined using the CO2 emission (Fig. 2g). The impact of tobacco and
and nitrogen dynamics profiles. bamboo biochar on carbon mineralization was assessed by calculating
pH regulates the NH+ 4 -N oxidation and NH3 volatilization during the biodegradation rates (Table 2). The addition of biochar amendments
composting (Manu et al., 2021a). Significant changes in pH were not increased the percentage of CO2 emission (37–41%) compared to the
expected during FWD composting as it has already undergone biological control treatment (33%). The rapidly degradable contents percentage
degradation during anaerobic digestion (P > 0.05). Initial feedstock had (Cr) was higher in treatments with biochar amendments (53–56%)
a pH of ~8.1, the addition of 10% tobacco biochar increased the initial indicating the progressive degradation of FWD at the initial stages of
pH to 8.3 due to its high alkalinity whereas the addition of 10% bamboo composting. As a result, the degradation rate (kr) increased to 0.2936
biochar did not affect pH (Fig. 2b). The pH in all treatments was reduced day− 1 in bamboo biochar treatment and 0.3486 day− 1 in tobacco bio­
at the initial stages of composting due to the organic acids production char treatment compared to 0.2781 day− 1 in the control treatment. The
(Wong et al., 2017; Adhikari et al., 2009). In addition, the reduction was degradation rate ks was also found to be increased with biochar
less in tobacco biochar treatment compared to others which could be amendments (Table 2).
attributed to the less NH3 volatilization. As the composting progressed, The statistical analyzes were used to further evaluate the suitability
the pH changes were not significant due to the production of humic of first-first order model for fitting the experimentally obtained CO2
substances (Adhikari et al., 2009). After composting, pH in the control emission data. The chi-square (χ2) was used to determine the goodness
R1 was 7 while in tobacco and bamboo biochar treatments pH was of fit as it was calculated based on the deviations from the experimental
7.5–7.6 which was within the required standards (5.5–8.5) of Hong and calculated values, hence, the lower χ2 value represents the better
Kong Organic Resource Center (HKORC, 2021). fitting of experimental data into the model (Kulcu and Yaldiz, 2004). In
The FWD is characterized by EC and the initial composting mixture this study, the χ2 value was lower in the biochar amended treatments
had EC of ~7 mS/cm. The tobacco and bamboo biochar amendment compared to control treatment as the first-first order model predicted
increased the EC of the composting mixture to ~8 mS/cm and ~10 mS/ the CO2 emission effectively. However, the model was suitable for pre­
cm, respectively (Fig. 2c). During composting, only a slight reduction in dicting all three treatments as the model efficiency (EF) was found to be
EC was seen due to the volatilization of NH3 at the beginning and the closer to 1 in all three treatments. The higher model efficiency demon­
occurrence of humification during the curing phase (P > 0.05) (Gao strated the ability of first-first order kinetic model to predict the CO2
et al., 2010). In tobacco biochar treatment R2, continuous reduction in evoluation rate during FWD composting.
EC up to ~8 mS/cm was observed. The fewer changes in EC was due to
the formation of the humic substance during FWD composting (Song 3.4. Nitrogen dynamics of FWD composting affected by tobacco and
et al., 2021). bamboo biochar amendment

3.3. Effect of tobacco and bamboo biochar on FWD carbon The consumption of nitrogenous compounds along with carbona­
mineralization ceous substrates for microbial proliferation results in the reduction of
nitrogen content in the matrix (Wong et al., 2017). However, due to the
FWD composting is a biological process during which macromolec­ mass reduction, the TN was found to be showing an increasing trend
ular organic matter is decomposed into smaller molecular organic (Fig. 3a). The TN contents were increased from ~1.2% to ~1.8% in all
matter by the microbial population. Further mineralization of the small three treatments. The actual nitrogen loss was calculated based on the
molecular organic matter leads to the production of CO2 and humic mass balance and the interpretation is given in section 3.5. The critical
substances (Lu et al., 2020). Hence, monitoring the CO2 emission could parameter in FWD composting is the presence of NH+ 4 -N since it causes a
indicate the extent of microbial decomposition. In this study, the phytotoxic effect on the plants (Manu et al., 2021a). HKORC standards
elevated temperature in all three treatments indicated higher CO2 evo­ require the mature compost to have NH+ 4 -N<500 mg/kg dm for its safe
lution due to the active FWD decomposition process. As the composting use (HKORC, 2021). In this study, the initial composting matrix had
process progressed, the TC values showed decreasing trend in all treat­ ~1700 mg/kg dm, and the addition of 10% tobacco biochar reduced the
ments indicating the effective decomposition of FWD (Fig. 2d). It is initial ammonium to ~1500 mg/kg dm due to the high sorption capacity
speculated that the majority of carbon mineralization was from FWD as
the other co-composting components such as mature compost and Table 2
sawdust were mostly considered recalcitrant due to their low biode­ Model kinetic parameters determined from first-first order kinetic model.
gradability. At the end of the composting, the TC was decreased to
R1 – R2 – Tobacco R3 – Bamboo
~26% in treatments R1 and R2 with bamboo BC whereas, in tobacco Control BC BC
biochar treatment R3, it was ~23%.
Cumulative CO2-Cexp 32.56 41.09 36.65
The CO2 emission was seen from the beginning in all treatments (%)
which are in correspondence with the temperature trend (Fig. 2e). The Cumulative CO2-Cpred 32.21 41.09 36.65
CO2 evolution was high in the first week of the process wherein the peak (%)
CO2 production of ~36 g/kg dm was observed in control and bamboo BC Cr (%) 49.82 55.75 52.64
Cs (%) 50.18 44.25 47.36
treatments on days 3–4 whereas ~45 g/kg dm of CO2 production was
kr (day¡1) 0.2781 0.3486 0.2936
seen in tobacco BC treatment on day 3 indicating superior microbial ks (day¡1) 0.1082 0.1505 0.1322
decomposition at the beginning of composting. During the process, the R2 0.9793 0.9976 0.9921
CO2 emission pattern was similar in both biochar amended treatments χ2 8.28 5.34 7.15
R2 and R3, while the lower emission in control treatment R1 indicated RMSE 1.92 1.22 1.58
EF 0.97 0.99 0.97
the positive impact of biochar particles on microbial decomposition. At

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D. Li et al. Waste Management 156 (2023) 44–54

Fig. 3. Changes in (a) TN; (b) NH+

4 -N; (c) Daily NH3 emission; (d) Cumulative NH3 emission; (e) Daily N2O emission and (f) Cumulative N2O emission (R1 = control;
R2 = 10% tobacco biochar; R3 = 10% bamboo biochar).

whereas 10% bamboo biochar amendment did not alter the NH+ 4 -N plant growth in soil (Hagemann et al., 2018; Guo et al., 2020).
significantly at the initial stage (Fig. 3b). The presence of high NH+ 4 -N at The NH3 volatilization is unavoidable during FWD composting at
the early composting phase could also cause an inhibitory effect on elevated NH+ 4 -N and thermophilic phases (Wang et al., 2016). As shown
microbial proliferation which can be minimized by the biochar in Fig. 3c, the emission of NH3 mainly occurred in the first 2 weeks due
amendment (Xiao et al., 2017). The continuous reduction of NH+ 4 -N was to the deprotonation of NH+ 4 under the higher temperature. The
observed in all treatments due to the elevated temperature causing NH3 maximum NH3 emission was seen in R1 (control) with the highest
volatilization along with the combined biotic and abiotic biochemical emission of 186 mg/kg dm on day 3. Among the biochar amended
reactions. In R1, the NH+ 4 -N reduction was less and slower possibly due treatments, the tobacco biochar was effective in reducing NH3 emission
to the inhibition on the microorganisms. On the other hand, the tobacco which could be attributed to the strong affinity and adsorption capacity
and bamboo biochar amended treatments showed a faster reduction, for NH+ 4 /NH3 compared to bamboo biochar, hence daily NH3 emission
and the permissible limit of 500 mg/kg dm could be reached within 21 was less than 100 mg/kg dm throughout the process (Xiao et al., 2017;
days of composting compared to 42 days in the control treatment. The Guo et al., 2020). Furthermore, the acidic functional groups such as
sorption of NH+ 4 -N on biochar could be beneficial as the biochar mixed carboxylic O–H moieties on tobacco BC significantly contribute in
compost could act as a slow-releasing nitrogen source for enhanced mitigating NH3 emission due to the strong chemical affinity (Huang

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D. Li et al. Waste Management 156 (2023) 44–54

et al., 2008). As a result, the cumulative NH3 emission in R1 was 914 process (Cao et al., 2021). The cumulative N2O emission was 381 mg/kg
mg/kg dm while the tobacco and bamboo biochar could reduce the dm in the control treatment R1 whereas, amending tobacco biochar
cumulative NH3 emission to 345 and 532 mg/kg dm, respectively further increased the N2O emission to 601 mg/kg dm and the bamboo
(Fig. 3d). biochar could mitigate the N2O emission to 292 mg/kg dm (Fig. 3f).
The nitrogen transformation during FWD composting also includes These results suggested that the surface properties of biochar caused by
the production of greenhouse gas, N2O emission possibly due to the the pyrolytic temperature and the feedstock materials have a significant
nitrification via hydroxylamine oxidation and denitrification (Manu impact on the gaseous nitrogenous emissions. The effect of biochar
et al., 2021a). N2O production was observed from the beginning of the amendment on denitrification genes corresponding to N2O emission
composting process which could be attributed to the hydroxylamine during the FWD composing should be explored in future studies to
oxidation during the coversion of NH+4 -N to NO2-N (Fig. 3e) (Xiong et al.,
–
mitigate the N2O emission.
2021). In future studies, nitrite and nitrate concentrations at different
stages of composting should be investigated to understand the mecha­ 3.5. Carbon and nitrogen balance
nism of N2O emission during the digestate composting. In the beginning,
daily N2O emission (~55–70 mg/kg dm) was similar in all three treat­ The mass balance was performed to assess the actual degree of car­
ments, however, during the process, N2O emission was reduced in R1 bon mineralization and nitrogen losses that occurred during the tobacco
and the bamboo biochar amended treatment R3. In contrast, the tobacco and bamboo biochar amended FWD composting process. The carbon loss
biochar enhanced the N2O emission reaching the maximum daily N2O in R1 was found to be 32% whereas the tobacco biochar amendment
emission of ~70 mg/kg dm on day 9. This could be due to the presence significantly enhanced the biodegradation of FWD and resulted in a
of labile carbon in tobacco biochar which might have stimulated the carbon loss of 50% (Fig. 4a). The bamboo biochar addition also
microbial nitrogen mineralization (Chen et al., 2015). enhanced the degradation and ~41% of carbon loss was observed. Since
Towards the later stages of composting, N2O emission was found to the CO2 emission from the biogenic sources is not considered a GHG
be higher in tobacco biochar amended treatment followed by bamboo emission, the biochar amendment could be considered a positive impact
biochar treatment which could be attributed to the denitrification on FWD biodegradation. In previous studies, carbon loss of 7–60% has

Fig. 4. (a) Carbon loss; (b) Nitrogen loss and (c) Possible pathways of nitrogen transformation during FWD composting (R1 = control; R2 = 10% tobacco biochar; R3
= 10% bamboo biochar).

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D. Li et al. Waste Management 156 (2023) 44–54

been reported with the application of 8–10% of biochar during livestock

manure composting (Czekała, 2016; Awasthi et al., 2017).
The nitrogen loss was unavoidable due to the gaseous NH3 and N2O
emissions. The mass balance calculations showed that 27% of nitrogen
loss occurred in the control treatment R1 without any biochar amend­
ment (Fig. 4b). However, the addition of 10% tobacco and 10% bamboo
biochar significantly reduced the nitrogen loss to 19% and 13%,
respectively. The gaseous emissions such as NH3 and N2O emissions had
a significant impact from biochar amendment during FWD composting.
Several studies have reported 7–98% of NH3 emission reduction during
different types of organic waste composting (Sanchez-Monedero et al.,
2018).
The organic matter degradation during FWD composting lead to the
production of mature compost. The biochar amendment enhanced the
microbial consumption of carbonaceous and nitrogenous substrates
which was demonstrated by a higher CO2 emission rate in treatments R2
and R3 compared to control R1. The effective aeration provisions
ensured aerobic decomposition, and hence, CH4 emissions were not
observed. The nitrogen changes during biochar-amended digestate
composting were assessed through the regular monitoring of NH3 and
N2O emissions, and correlated with total nitrogen changes. As seen in
Fig. 4c, the NH3 emission of 6.4% in control treatment R1 could be
reduced to 2.3% and 3.3% by amending FWD with tobacco and bamboo
biochar, respectively. The surface properties of biochar particles
significantly contributed in reducing the NH3 emission. Furthermore,
the presence of biochar particles altered the microbial community to
induce the nitrification process. However, the tobacco biochar enhanced
the N2O emission to 3.2% from 2.1% in the control treatment whereas
the bamboo biochar mitigated the N2O emission to 1.4%. The enhanced
N2O emission in the presence of tobacco biochar could be due to the
nitrifier denitrification which needs further investigation. Considering
the mitigation of nitrogen loss by 53%, NH3 loss by 48%, and N2O
emission by 31%, bamboo biochar was found to be the effective biochar
in nitrogen conservation during FWD composting.

3.6. Compost maturity evaluation

Fig. 5. Compost maturity assessment: (a) C/N ratio and (b) SGI (R1 = control;
R2 = 10% tobacco biochar; R3 = 10% bamboo biochar).
As a maturity indicator, the C/N ratio gradually decreased during
FWD composting (Manu et al., 2021b). At the end of the composting, the
explained in Manu et al. (2021b) (Fig. 6). The models demonstrated that
C/N ratio in the biochar amended treatments was lower than 20 whereas
the composting time had crucial role in the gaseous emissions. The
in the control treatment it was ~23 (Fig. 5a). As per the HKORC stan­
standardized total effect of time was higher in tobacco and bamboo
dards, the C/N ratio below 20 indicates the maturity of the compost
biochar amended treatments compared to the control representing the
(HKORC, 2021). SGI provides a direct indication of compost maturity
mature compost generation in less time. The impact of NH+ 4 -N on SGI
through the biological indication of plant growth (Manu et al., 2017;
was stronger in the control treatment which was reduced in both to­
2019; 2021b). At the beginning of the composting (day 0), the SGI
bacco and bamboo biochar treatments. The impact of biochar amend­
values were 0% caused by the highly phytotoxic NH+ 4 -N (Fig. 5b).
ment was significant on the NH3 and N2O emissions as seen by the total
Further, the SGI values increased in all three treatments due to the
standardized effects which resulted in higher nitrogen conservation
combined effect of NH+ 4 -N reduction as well as the production of stable
compared to the control treatment.
humic substances which are the precursors for plant growth. HKORC
standards consider 50% SGI value (dry weight basis) for the compost
4. Conclusions
maturity (Zucconi et al., 1981; HKORC, 2021). Notably, although no
significant difference was found (P > 0.05) in the final SGI value in all
Food waste digestate could be used as a potential source to produce
three treatments, the duration to attain the qualifying standard showed
nitrogen-rich compost. However, the nitrogen loss via NH3 and N2O
the effectiveness of the biochar addition. The time taken to reach 50%
emissions were inevitable during the composting process. The tobacco
SGI in R1 was 42 days while the tobacco and bamboo biochar addition
and bamboo biochar amendments with 10% dosage were found to be
reduced the duration to 21 days. The results demonstrated that the
effective in mitigating these gaseous emissions thereby reducing the
phytotoxic FWD could be converted into mature compost in 21 days
nitrogen loss by 29% and 53%, respectively. The present study
with the addition of 10% biochar amendments.
demonstrated that 10% tobacco was superior in reduction of NH3
emission by 64%, while 10% bamboo biochar showed better mitigation
3.7. Relationship amongst the nitrogen species and gaseous emissions
of N2O emission by 31% during FWD composting. In addition, these
during tobacco and bamboo biochar assisted FWD composting
biochar amendments improved the rate of FWD degradation and resul­
ted in the carbon loss of 36% and 19% higher than the control treatment.
The correlation between TN, NH+4 -N and gaseous emissions NH3 and
Furthermore, the biochar amendment reduced the composting duration
N2O emissions on the compost quality represented by SGI along with the
to reach compost maturity. Overall, two types of biochar not only
time of composting was drawn using structural equation modeling
contributed to the mitigation of nitrogenous emissions but also
(SEM) (Zhao et al., 2018). The SEM estimates were calculated as

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D. Li et al. Waste Management 156 (2023) 44–54

Fig. 6. Structural equation models and standardized total effect in R1 (a & d) (control), R2 (b & e) (tobacco biochar) and R3 (c & f) (bamboo biochar). Arrows depict
causal relationships, red and blue lines indicates positive and negative effects, respectively. Continuous and dashed line indicates significant (p < 0.05) and non-
significant (p > 0.05) relations, respectively. Numbers adjacent to the arrows are path coefficients. The thickness of arrows indicates the strength of the path.

accelerated the composting process and increased the fertility value of Acknowledgments
the final product. The developed strategies could be useful in promoting
a circular bioeconomy locally by converting the waste matrix into value- Hong Kong Environmental Protection Department (HKEPD) and
added products. Oscar Bioenergy Limited, Hong Kong are greatly acknowledged for
providing the raw materials.
Declaration of Competing Interest
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