A kinetic analysis of solid waste composting at optimal conditions.

This discussion explores the possibility of having a measure of the biodegradable organic carbon content in solid wastes. Currently, indirect measures for determining the concentration of biodegradable organic matter are being used and most of them are based on respiration indices (oxygen consumption or carbon dioxide production) or chemical parameters (volatile solids or total organic carbon). The results obtained for the cumulative carbon dioxide production in composting experiments can be expressed as "aerobic biodegradable carbon" for the wastes that were studied. The calculation of a useful biodegradable C/N can also be obtained from the aerobic biodegradable carbon content. A comparison with some results obtained in measuring the concentration of "anaerobic biodegradable carbon" also is presented.