Enhancing aerobic composting of food waste by adding hydrolytically active microorganisms.

The biomass of native microorganisms in food waste (FW) suitable for accelerated composting is initially low and requires time for adaptation. Adding of efficient hydrolytic microorganisms should be able to enhance compost-specific microbial activity, adjust microbial community structure, and potentially hasten FW biodegradation. This study aimed to identify bacterial and fungal strains with growth characteristics suitable for accelerating FW composting.

Threshold Behavior Hidden in the Growth Response of Peat Moss to Temperature.

The balance between photosynthetic carbon accumulation and respiratory loss in plants varies depending on temperature. This leads to a situation where the increased need for carbon is not met when a certain temperature threshold is reached. Over the last two decades, temperature thresholds in carbon metabolism in autotrophic systems have been widely studied.

Removal of terpenes in the presence of easily degradable compounds during biofiltration of gas emissions from composting of municipal solid waste.

Composting of the organic fraction of municipal solid waste (OFMSW) is accompanied by the emission of large volumes of harmful, hazardous and foul-smelling volatile organic compounds (VOCs). To improve the efficiency of terpenes removal, which constitute a significant part of VOCs, pure cultures of microorganisms dominating in its microbiota were isolated from the microbial community of the biofilter, which has been cleaning such emissions for a long time. Seven pure cultures were isolated and then tested for being able to grow on a mineral medium in the presence of terpene vapor as the only source of carbon and energy.

Degradation of high concentrations of commercial polylactide packaging on food waste composting in pilot-scale test.

The increasing use of synthetic biodegradable polymers, such as aliphatic polyesters, has led to a greater need to understand their behavior in an end-of-life scenario as food packaging materials. The aim of this work was to investigate the effect on composting of high to 10 wt% concentration of commercial polylactide packaging in food waste during a 98-day pilot-scale test. Members of the genera Bacillus, Geobacillus, Caldibacillus, Compostibacillus, Novibacillus, Planifilum and Aeribacillus accounted for 77 % of the bacterial community at the initial stage.