title: Composting of waste algae: a review.
abstract: Although composting has been successfully used at pilot scale to manage waste algae removed from eutrophied water environments and the compost product applied as a fertiliser, clear guidelines are not available for full scale algae composting. The review reports on the application of composting to stabilize waste algae, which to date has mainly been macro-algae, and identifies the peculiarities of algae as a composting feedstock, these being: relatively low carbon to nitrogen (C/N) ratio, which can result in nitrogen loss as NH3 and even N2O; high moisture content and low porosity, which together make aeration challenging; potentially high salinity, which can have adverse consequence for composting; and potentially have high metals and toxin content, which can affect application of the product as a fertiliser. To overcome the challenges that these peculiarities impose co-compost materials can be employed.
authors.affiliation: School of Chemical Engineering, University of Queensland, Queensland, Australia.
authors.forename: Wei
authors.initials: W
authors.lastname: Han
authors.affiliation: School of Chemical Engineering, University of Queensland, Queensland, Australia; School of Civil Engineering, University of Queensland, Queensland, Australia.
authors.forename: William
authors.initials: W
authors.lastname: Clarke
authors.affiliation: School of Chemical Engineering, University of Queensland, Queensland, Australia. Electronic address: s.pratt@uq.edu.au.
authors.forename: Steven
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Pratt
mesh_terms: D002244:Carbon / Q000032:analysis*; D000460:Chlorophyta / Q000737:chemistry*; D000458:Cyanobacteria / Q000737:chemistry*; D005308:Fertilizers / Q000032:analysis; D009584:Nitrogen / Q000032:analysis*; D000459:Phaeophyceae / Q000737:chemistry*; D012037:Refuse Disposal; D012987:Soil / Q000737:chemistry; D018505:Waste Management / Q000379:methods*
chemical_list: D005308:Fertilizers; D012987:Soil; D002244:Carbon; D009584:Nitrogen
keywords: Carbon footprint; Compost stability; Composting; Composting process; Waste algae