Recently, the Agricultural Clean Watershed Team at the Institute of Environment and Sustainable Development in Agriculture, Chinese Academy of Agricultural Sciences studied aerobic composting assisted with the electrokinetic (EK) technology. The study revealed the mechanism of achieving the dual targets of efficient maturation of organic waste and effective control of antibiotic resistance, providing a theoretical basis and methodological support for safe and efficient aerobic composting. These findings have been published in  Chemical Engineering Journal .

Aerobic composting is an important way to utilize animal manure. However, the frequently detected antibiotic-resistant bacteria (ARB) and antibiotic resistance genes (ARGs) in manure pose potential risks to both the environment and human health. Based on the previous work, this study explored aerobic composting using the EK technology. The results showed that the EK treatment significantly increased the temperature, total nitrogen (TN), germination index and humus index of the compost, and shortened the maturation period by 5 days compared with control; while ARB and ARGs at the end of composting decreased by 33.52-90.66% and 68.60-85.24%, respectively. In the EK treatment, the increased abundance of  Bacillus ,  Thermobacillus , and  Halocella accelerated the maturation and humification. The nitrogen fixation capacity was attributed to the enhanced abundance of  Chryseolinea . Furthermore, the potential ARG host bacteria decreased, reducing the environmental and health risks of antibiotic resistance.

This research was supported by the National Key Research and Development Program and the Agricultural Science and Technology Innovation Program of the Chinese Academy of Agricultural Sciences.

Linkage：https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S1385894724010660