Variables de estabilidad y madurez para medir la calidad del compost en biorresiduos generados en la plaza de mercado en Yumbo

Abstract

In Colombia within the Municipal Solid Waste (MSW), the highest proportion is equivalent to biowaste by 65%, which can be exploited through biological treatment options such as composting, considered one of the alternatives with greater application, because its cost of investment and operation is lower than that of other treatment systems. However, the compost is sometimes delivered as "soil conditioner" without evaluating its quality in terms of stability and maturity, which not only affects the "soil-plant" system, but also hinders its commercialization as it is an unstable product and immature. However, although there are different variables to assess stability and maturity, its application depends on the requirements and conditions of the study context; since some are expensive and difficult to implement because of the technical requirement and human talent. In this article, a literary review was made regarding the different alternatives for the use of biowaste, focusing on composting and the variables that allow evaluating their quality in terms of stability and maturity. Additionally, through a preliminary analysis, a selection tool was used. reported in other studies, in order to choose the options for measuring the quality of the compost according to the desired requirements. Therefore, the variables with the greatest potential in the context of the municipality of Yumbo to evaluate the quality of the compost obtained from biowaste generated in the market place are: self-heating, humidity, germination index, pH, conductivity, odor and color.