Published in Scientific Papers. Series E. Land Reclamation, Earth Observation & Surveying, Environmental Engineering, Vol. XIII
Written by Elena Mihaela NAGY, Teodor Gabriel FODOREAN, Dragos Vasile NICA, Evelin-Anda LAZA, Teodor VINTILA
Wool waste production cannot be avoided, so reuse and recycling are the best solutions for managing this keratinous waste. At present, in Romania, wool in different forms - raw or washed wool, pelleted wool or wool hydrolysate - is used in agriculture on a relatively small scale, both as a fertilizer and to improve certain physical characteristics of the soil. A good knowledge of the physico-chemical properties of wool-based fertilizer granules will also contribute to increasing the use of this resource. In this research, the characteristics of some wool granules produced in Romania were studied, such as bulk density, granule moisture, water absorption, and the effect of alkaline hydrolysate obtained from them on soil-beneficial bacteria of the Bacillus genus and Rhizobium genus. Among the results obtained, it should be mentioned that the water absorption capacity of the granules is around 200%. Also, the research proved that the alkaline hydrolysate obtained from the wool pellets studied does not show inhibitory effect on the Bacillus and Rhizobium species tested.
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