Toward a sustainable green campus: Short-term co-composting of cafeteria food waste and cow manure with an algae bio-scrubber

Information from the abstract

To promote a sustainable green campus, this study surveyed the composition of food waste and developed a predictive model at Kasetsart University. Subsequently, an aerobic co-composting experiment using food waste and cow manure was performed, alongside an assessment of CO 2 utilization for algae cultivation using compost exhaust gas. Briefly, this study aimed to integrate food waste composting and CO 2 exhaust mitigation via algae cultivation. Carbohydrates were identified as the dominant food waste component, exceeding 65%, and the prediction model accurately reproduced the dominant carbohydrate fraction, with lower accuracy for trace components. Composting was conducted at 45–60 °C to achieve thermophilic conditions. A correlation between cow manure proportion and pH was observed; compost with 30% manure had a pH of 6.17, whereas that with 10% manure had a pH of 4.82. Nutrient analysis showed that compost from 30% manure contained 1.48% phosphorus and 2.13% potassium, whereas compost with 10% manure had the highest nitrogen content (2.85%) and electrical conductivity (9.75 dS/m). Compost exhaust gas contained 0.05–0.128% CO 2 by volume, while closed-loop microalgae bioreactors reached 0.18–0.20% CO 2 due to gas recirculation that supported microalgal growth, indicating the potential use of compost exhaust gas for bio-scrubber-based algae cultivation. Exploratory metabarcoding of one pooled sample from the 30% treatment detected diverse bacterial and fungal taxa and generated predicted ecological guild annotations. These findings provide an initial microbial community profile that can guide future replicated studies of microbial dynamics and compost-associated functions. Overall, co-composting food waste with cow manure was effective at producing nutrient-rich compost, while the emitted CO 2 supported algal growth and reduced CO 2 emissions compared with conventional landfilling.

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This record has an Impact Signal of 72/100 based on recency, source, collaboration, and bibliographic signals. It prioritizes monitoring and is not a judgment of research quality.

Related topics: Composting and Vermicomposting Techniques · Waste Management and Recycling · Anaerobic Digestion and Biogas Production