New Approaches to Organic Waste Valorisation: An Agronomic and Environmental Perspective

Dear Colleagues,

The burning or burying of organic waste in landfills remains a global issue despite efforts to decompose it using mechanical, chemical, and biological treatments or recycle it through agricultural use. This problem is worsened by a growing global population, rising incomes, and the associated increasing demand for food, resulting in large amounts of food waste and municipal organic waste. The environmental hazards arising from the management of urban (e.g., sewage sludge and municipal green waste) and agricultural waste/by-products (e.g., animal manures, olive mill waste, and grape-processing residues) are often related to the presence of potentially toxic elements (PTE), phytotoxic compounds (e.g., polyphenols), pharmaceutical residues (e.g., pesticides and antibiotics), or pathogenic organisms (e.g., Salmonella spp). Alternatively, raw organic materials may contain a high content of organic matter and plant nutrients, which can be recovered as organic fertilisers to sustain crop growth and yield production. Fortunately, the valorisation of organic waste continues to be the focus of scientific interest and technological advances. The agricultural utilisation of organic wastes is increasingly seen as a viable valorisation option, which includes composting, pyrolysis, and anaerobic stabilisation, where the end product is potentially safe for use as a soil amendment. Additionally, the recovery of biomass-derived compounds, such as protein hydrolysates derived from residual crop biomass or agricultural by-products, has significant potential to become an alternative for synthetic chemicals in plant nutrition and protection.

This Special Issue welcomes research on the agronomical and environmental aspects of utilising organic wastes or their derivates in agricultural and horticultural applications. Topics include (but are not limited to) environmental and health risks, soil pollution, the transfer of PTE from soil to crops, toxic metal stress, phytotoxicity, phytoremediation, nutrient uptake, and effects on soil characteristics and utilisation of waste-derived substances.

Dr. Marko Černe
Dr. Aadil Bajoub
Dr. Igor Pasković
Guest Editors

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• organic amendments
• waste valorisation
• elemental phytoaccumulation
• nutrient uptake
• soil application
• risk
• compound recovery