Suitability of anthropogeomorphic materials as soil amendments: a biogeochemical study

Abstract

In recent decades, the amount of waste produced by humans has increased greatly. Society demands increasingly high standards of production and quality, leading to the production of greater volumes of waste and consequent increases in the associated risks of contamination. There is international concern regarding the management of all types of wastes and the consequent environmental degradation and public health risks. Land application of wastes, such as animal excrement or vegetable residues, has been carried out since long time ago. However, many environmental problems have now appeared primary because the final goal of the addition of wastes to soils is often the elimination of wastes rather than the enhancement of soil fertility or improvement of soil physical properties. The objective of this thesis was to evaluate the suitability of anthropogeomorphic wastes as soil amendment or fertilizer. For this, different studies have been carried out and described in six chapters: four of them describe the study of Technosols and the other two describe the geochemical accelerated weathering study of biochar and biomass fly ash.