Environmental risk of waste and its management - Environmental Deterioration and Contamination: Problems and their Management - page 156

soil quality. Some wastes and examples of application on soil have been collected
below:

• Sugar factory lime for acid soils and fertilizing in organic farming practice (Wasner

et al., 2001);

• Papermaking sludge for acid soils and to improve soil structure and hydrological

regime. It can be applied directly or after composting together with biological
waste of high N-content (Chinese Patent, 2005);

• Grain and crop residue which cannot be used as livestock feed, such as stubbles,

e.g., hemp stubble which is an excellent soil amendment for repairing texture,
increasing moisture storage and stability. It can also be applied as mulch due to its
moisture retention and evaporation-reducing properties (Karus & Vogt, 2004);

•

Corncobs have been used for acid soils without and after composting with highly
beneficial effect (Chung & Wua, 1997);

• Novel applications of traditional straw such as the stabilization of swampy soils

and reinforcing composite soils of poor texture with rye straw have been published
(Bouhichaa et al., 2005) or just increasing crop yield (Yang et al. , 2007). Rye
straw is widely used for phosphorous supplementation both as straw and ash after
incineration (Schiemenz & Eichler-Löbermann, 2010). Rye straw is a good mulch
material due to its high water retention capacity (Wagner-Riddle et al., 1996).

• Nutshells (almonds, coconut), hulls (coconut, coffee, sesame, etc.) are utilized in

many ways (Murthy & Naidu, 2012) e.g. applied directly on soil to loosen it or
increase sorption capacity. It is also used in composting (Rigane & Medhioub,
2011; Hachicha, 2009). Their most efficient utilization is in the form of biochar,
after carbonization. The application of biochars is common for water treatment
by adsorption, but their application for soil amelioration and remediation is new
(Klasson et al., 2011; Nabais et al., 2011; Tsabmba et al.; Li et al., 2008; Hoque
& Bhattacharya, 2001; Baquero et al., 2003).

• Ashes of wastes and by-products of agro- and silvicultural origin, such as straw,

hull, kernel, chipwood, trimmings, vine branch, etc. are widely used for soil
amendment to supplement nutrients, to physically stabilize soil structure and
chemically immobilize contaminating metals or other mobile substances (Vassilev
et al., 2011a,b; Feigl et al., 2012). Ashes from coffee hull, palm oil fuel (Chin-
daprasirt et al., 2007), rice husk-bark, cocoa husk (Onwuka et al., 2007) or the
ash of alfalfa gasification (Mozaffari et al., 2002) seem efficient soil amendments.

• Olive, sunflower, rapeseed, peanut and pumpkin seed cakes, the residues of

oil exhausting, are generally applied on soil after co-composting with high N-
containing wastes, such as other agro-food wastes and poultry manure (Hachicha
et al., 2008; Ramachandran et al., 2007; Sellami et al., 2008).

• Musselshell addition is beneficial to the chemical and biological properties of

deteriorated soil, increases microbiological activity, and chemically decreases the
mobility of toxic metals, resulting in lower uptake by plants (Paz-Ferreiro et al.,
2012; Ahmad et al. , 2012; Taboada et al., 2010; Lee et al. , 2008; Liu et al., 2009).

• Shredded rubber tires are able to modify soil compaction behavior (Tiwari et al.,

2012). They can be used as drainage material in cover systems for abandoned
landfills (Reddy et al., 2010), can prevent soil liquefaction (Promputthangkoon
& Hyde, 2010) and ensure a loose structure in soil (Zhao et al., 2011). Shredded