Project description:Large quantities of kitchen waste are produced in modern society and its disposal poses serious environmental and social problems. The aim of this study was to isolate degradative strains from kitchen waste and to develop a novel and effective microbial agent. One hundred and four strains were isolated from kitchen waste and the 84 dominant strains were used to inoculate protein-, starch-, fat- and cellulose-containing media for detecting their degradability. Twelve dominant strains of various species with high degradability (eight bacteria, one actinomycetes and three fungi) were selected to develop a compound microbial agent "YH" and five strains of these species including H7 (Brevibacterium epidermidis), A3 (Paenibacillus polymyxa), E3 (Aspergillus japonicus), F9 (Aspergillus versicolor) and A5 (Penicillium digitatum), were new for kitchen waste degradation. YH was compared with three commercial microbial agents-"Tiangeng" (TG), "Yilezai" (YLZ) and Effective Microorganisms (EM), by their effects on reduction, maturity and deodorization. The results showed that YH exerted the greatest efficacy on mass loss which decreased about 65.87% after 14 days. The agent inhibited NH3 and H2S emissions significantly during composting process. The concentration of NH3 decreased from 7.1 to 3.2ppm and that of H2S reduced from 0.7 to 0.2ppm. Moreover, E4/E6 (Extinction value460nm/Extinction value665nm) of YH decreased from 2.51 to 1.31, which meant YH had an obvious maturity effect. These results highlighted the potential application of YH in composting kitchen waste.
Project description:An eco-friendly approach to inhibit the corrosion of boiler quality (BQ) steel by onion waste in acidic media was investigated. The extract from onion peel was characterized using the conventional extraction method and was characterized using HPLC. The efficacy of the onion peel extract (OPE) as a green corrosion inhibitor was studied using the weight loss method and a variety of electrochemical techniques, including open-circuit potential (OCP), potentiodynamic polarization (PDP), and electrochemical impedance spectroscopy (EIS). The Tafel polarization revealed that at 200 mg L-1 of onion peel extract (OPE), corrosion current density was reduced maximum in both 1 (M) HCl and 0.5 (M) H2SO4 media. From the electrochemical impedance spectroscopy studies, the maximum inhibition efficiencies of 91.30% and 90.71% were found at 200 mg L-1 in 1 (M) HCl and 0.5 (M) H2SO4, respectively. The Langmuir isotherm was determined to be the best-fitting model, and the thermodynamic parameter, such as free energy ΔGads∘ , was computed, which indicated the physisorption of OPE onto the BQ surface. In theoretical investigations, density functional theory DFT was used to determine the adsorption efficiency and reactive sites of the OPE molecule by exploring various quantum chemical parameters.Supplementary informationThe online version contains supplementary material available at 10.1007/s11696-022-02549-7.
Project description:This study measured the total quantity and composition of waste generated in a large, New York City (NYC) hospital kitchen over a one-day period to assess the impact of potential waste diversion strategies in potential weight of waste diverted from landfill and reduction in greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions. During the one-day audit, the hospital kitchen generated 1515.15 kg (1.7 US tons) of solid waste daily or 0.23 kg of total waste per meal served. Extrapolating to all meals served in 2019, the hospital kitchen generates over 442,067 kg (487 US tons) of waste and emits approximately 294,466 kg of CO2e annually from waste disposal. Most of this waste (85%, 376,247 kg or 415 US tons annually) is currently sent to landfill. With feasible changes, including increased recycling and moderate composting, this hospital could reduce landfilled waste by 205,245 kg (226 US tons, or 55% reduction) and reduce GHG emissions by 189,025 kg CO2e (64% reduction). Given NYC's ambitious waste and GHG emission reduction targets outlined in its OneNYC strategic plan, studies analyzing composition, emissions, and waste diversion potential of large institutions can be valuable in achieving city sustainability goals.
Project description:We report here the complete genome sequence of Bacillus subtilis subsp. subtilis strain IITK SM1, isolated from kitchen waste compost. We have sequenced the whole genome of this strain to identify and characterize the enzymes that participate in efficient composting activity.
Project description:It is expected that due to the new European Union regulation focus on waste management, managing kitchen waste will become more important in the future, especially in households. Therefore, it is crucial to develop user-friendly and odour-free containers to store kitchen waste. The study aimed to test the effectiveness of composts' biochar in reducing noxious odours and volatile organic compounds (VOCs) released during kitchen waste storage. Various amounts of compost biochar (0%, 1%, 5%, and 10%) were added to food waste samples and incubated for seven days at 20 °C. The released VOCs were analysed on days 1, 3, and 7 of the storage simulation process. The results indicated that adding 5-10% of composts' biochar to kitchen waste significantly reduced the emissions in 70% of the detected VOCs compounds. Furthermore, composts' biochar can be used to eliminate potential odour components and specific dangerous VOCs such as ethylbenzene, o-xylene, acetic acid, and naphthalene. A new composts' biochar with a unique composition was particularly effective in reducing VOCs and could be an excellent solution for eliminating odours in kitchen waste containers.