Received: February 15th, 2022 ; Accepted: June 27th, 2022 ; Published: August 12th, 2022 ; Correspondence: [email protected] the perspective of sustainable agriculture established by the Green Morocco Plan,
it is interesting to direct research more towards the agronomic valorization of olive pomace, to
give birth to a clean olive growing which leads to a viable economy thus respecting a pillar of
sustainable development. Several studies have shown the effectiveness of using olive pomace as
a soil amendment. Therefore, in this study we want to increase the agricultural performance of
olive pomace by composting by mixing it with other waste.
Morocco is considered one of the major olive-producing countries with an annual production of
1.41 million tonnes (MT), part of it is dedicated to olive oil production. Morocco produces
approximately 26.8 MT of waste annually, 8.3 MT are household waste, 70% are organic
household waste (5.8 MT). The current production of organic household waste in urban areas is
estimated at 4.8 million tonnes per year, or an average of 0.76 kg hab-1 day-1
, and in rural areas
1 million tonnes per year, or an average of 0.30 kg hab-1 day-1 (SNRVD, 2015). Agri-food
industry waste is around 3 million tonnes with 600,000 to 700,000 tonnes of olive oil waste
(pomace) (Agricultural Development Agency, 2018). The rejection of this waste without any
prior treatment contributes to the environment deterioration. However, a large part of this waste
remains recoverable, which would reduce both waste volume to be eliminated and the associated
management cost. This; will contribute to reducing the negative impacts on receiving environments
and the cost of restoring the environment state, and ensuring a transition towards a circular
economy. Our work is part of the context of solid waste management and recovery, in particular
organic waste from household and food-processing activities, and is oriented towards the pomace
recovery by composting, mixing it with different percentages of organic household waste.
This work consists on composting olive pomace from the three phases system with another
structural agent (organic household waste). Comparing the mixtures (6 treatments) with different
concentrations in terms of composting process parameters (pH, electrical conductivity, organic
matter temperature, etc.), organic matter evolution and composts quality, with manual aeration of
the compost, in order to increase the agricultural yield of the olive pomace. Residues from the
fermentation process can be used in agriculture. All the different mixtures of the different
percentages are characterized at the initial state and at the end of the composting process in order
to highlight their nutritional values
