Mitigation of NH₃ and N₂O emissions during food waste digestate composting at C/N ratio 15 using zeolite amendment

Composting of food waste digestate (FWD) is challenging as it requires more bulking agents, and the nitrogen loss is inevitable. To address these issues, FWD composting was conducted at a relatively lower C/N ratio of 15 with zeolite amendment in the dosage range of 5–15%. The impact of zeolite addition on nitrogen loss, NH₃ and N₂O emissions was assessed during FWD composting. The results showed that the addition of 10–15% zeolite could significantly reduce the phytotoxic nature of FWD and the compost maturity level could be reached in 10–21 days. Furthermore, ∼45% total nitrogen loss could be reduced by mitigating NH₃ and N₂O emissions upon 10 and 15% zeolite amendment. The outcome of the present study could be used as an effective strategy for composting FWD in any part of the world as the FWD characteristics are similar irrespective of the type of food waste.