Romanian Journal of Ecology & Environmental Chemistry
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Sustainable Sludge Management - its use for Remediation of Degraded Lands


Authors: VALERIA NICORESCU, LADISLAU ANDRES, SORINA CLAUDIA NEGREA, DORIAN GABRIEL NEIDONI, CAROL BLAZIU LEHR, CORINA ORHA

Keywords: sludge, degraded land, circular economy
https://doi.org/10.21698/rjeec.2020.224

The sludge management resulting from the urban wastewater treatment plants, from the point of view of circular economy, follows its using as a fertilizer for agricultural lands, degraded lands, in horticulture and forestry. The aim of this paper is the proposing of an alternative way of using the sludge resulting from urban wastewater treatment plants in a sustainable way with a low impact on the environment. The experimental results showed the efficiency of using the stabilized sludge as fertilizer for naturally and anthropically degraded lands and cultivated with Salix sp. The use of stabilized sludge determined the improvement of the nutritional characteristics of the degraded lands, which allowed the growth, development and maintenance of the culture of Salix sp. Considering the characteristics of the cultures and the quantities of metals accumulated by Salix sp., it can be concluded that it has adapted to the environmental and the substrate conditions from the studied degraded lands. The results obtained on the two degraded lands indicate that Salix sp. can be used for its introduction in the economic circuit, both of the salty soils and of the slag and ash deposits.