Heavy metals removal of leachates from a mechanical biological municipal solid waste treatment plant for use as fertilizers

Leachates produced from treatment plants contains carbon, nitrogen, phosphorus, potassium and trace elements. This work aims to develop heavy metals removal processes using solid adsorbents synthetized at CIMO and LSRE-LCM laboratories at Polytechnic Institute of Bragança, such as activated carbon produced from a compost material from the same treatment plant and modified clays obtained through a partnership with a Kazakhstan institution, to adequate the leachate from the composting line of a mechanical and biological treatment facility, into commercial fertilizers which fit the requirements of the European Legislation. Preliminary results show that the adsoption materials promoted a reduction in the heavy metals content, but this reduction also affected the organic carbon content. However, the activated carbons presented a better potencial for heavy metals removal. ; This work was financially supported by: Project VALORCOMP, funded by FEDER through Programme INTERREG V-A Spain - Portugal (POCTEP) 2014-2020 and Associate Laboratory LSRE-LCM- UID/EQU/50020/2019- funded by national funds through FCT/MCTES (PIDDAC). ; info:eu-repo/semantics/publishedVersion