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Composting is a promising source of mesophilic and thermophilic microorganisms directly involved in the decay of organic matter. However, there is a paucity of information related to bacterial and fungal diversity in compost and their enzymatic activities during the composting process. In this work, bacterial and fungal diversity during the mesophilic and thermophilic phases of textile waste composting was investigated as a way to explain the physical–chemical results obtained during the composting process. This was accomplished using a next-generation sequencing approach that targets either the 16S rRNA or ITS genomic regions of bacteria and fungi, respectively. It was observed that Proteobacteria, Bacteroidetes, and Actinobacteria were the dominant bacterial phyla present at the mesophilic phase but not at the thermophilic one. Composting textile waste exhibits a sustained thermophilic profile (above 55 °C) that usually precludes fungal activity. Nonetheless, the presence of fungi at the thermophilic phase was observed. Rozellomycota, Basidiomycota, and Ascomycota were the most dominant phyla during both composting phases. Such thermophilic fungi with great ability to decay organic matter could be isolated as pure cultures and used for the bioaugmentation of textile waste composting to achieve an advanced maturity level of textile waste compost.

In the present work, the impact of three new bacterial strains and their consortium on composting was evaluated using textile waste as a main substrate mixed with paper, cardboard and green waste, The effectiveness of these micro-organisms in accelerating organic matter degradation was tested. For bioaugmentation of composting, three concentrations (4%, 6% and 8%) were applied. Among the three strains tested, one strain and the consortium demonstrated high organic matter degradation potential, achieving a total organic carbon concentration between 19–21%, total Kjeldahl nitrogen between 1.29–1.56%, a C/N ratio between 13–16%, and a temperature exceeding 55 °C. In the current study, mature compost was attained in 10 weeks, instead of the 44 weeks required for conventional composting and the 12 weeks achieved with other strains previously used. Identification of the strains by 16S rRNA sequencing revealed that they belonged to Bacillus sp., Paenibacillus sp., and Enterobacter aerogenes, respectively. These strains are recognized for their remarkable potential to breakdown a broad variety of organic matter, including lignocellulosic molecules. Furthermore, incorporation of bacteria into the waste mixture (either separately or as a consortium) extended the thermophilic phase by 2 weeks in this study, especially Bacillus sp., Paenibacillus sp. and consortium, leading to a significant reduction in compost production time. It is noteworthy that the efficacy of these strains was considerably greater compared with the three previous strains (i.e., Streptomyces cellulosae, Achromobacter xylosoxidans and Serratia liquefaciens), which were isolated from compost and used for bioaugmentation in a previous study. Our results demonstrate that bioaugmentation by endogenous microbial strains and/or their consortium significantly accelerates the composting process.

The present investigation is devoted, for the first time, to the potential of autochthonous inoculums through bio-augmentation tests to improve the compost quality and to decrease the composting time during composting of textile waste. For this reason, three strains were isolated from a mixture of textile waste, green waste, paper, and cardboard waste, and therefore identified as Streptomyces cellulosae, Achromobacter xylosoxidans, and Serratia liquefaciens, employed using bio-augmentation test. The organic matter decaying was assessed according to three different inoculums doses, separately and in consortium (4%, 6%, and 8%), to describe the effect of bio-augmentation process on the organic matter decaying. Indeed, these three strains and their consortium have shown a strong potential of organic matter degradation, equally the bacterial consortium showed a total organic carbon degradation of 20.3%, total Kjeldahl nitrogen of 1.52%, and a Carbon/Nitrogen ratio of 13.36. Compost maturity has been completed after only 12 weeks of treatment instead of 44 weeks using the classical treatment by composting. Ultimately, according to these results, bio-augmentation could be an emerging and promising strategy to accelerate the composting process of solid waste, especially in the case of industrial waste. Equally, it could be an effective tool to avoid the accumulation of industrial waste disposal in public landfills and/or nature while allowing their treatment.

The production of stable and mature compost often depends on the performance of microbes and their enzymatic activity. Environmental and nutritional conditions influence the characteristics of microbial communities and, therefore, the dynamics of major metabolic activities. Using three waste mixtures (textile waste mixed with either green, paper, or cardboard waste), the maturity of the compost produced was assessed by following the physico-chemical parameters and enzymatic activities provided by the microorganisms that were identified using next-generation sequencing (NGS). Among the three mixtures used, it was found that the two best mixtures showed C/N ratios of 16.30 and 16.96, total nitrogen of 1.37 and 1.39%, cellulase activities of 50.62 and 52.67 Ug−1, acid phosphatase activities of 38.81 and 68.77 Ug−1, and alkaline phosphatase activities of 51.12 and 56.86 Ug−1. In addition, several lignocellulosic species, together with those that are able to solubilize phosphate, were identified. Among those known for cellulase and acid/alkaline phosphatase activities, bacteria belonging to the Proteobacteria, Bacteroidetes, Actinobacteria, and Firmicutes phyla were shown. The presence of species belonging to the Ascomycota and Basidiomycota phyla of Fungi, which are known for their ability to produce cellulase and acid/alkaline phosphatases, was demonstrated. These findings provide a basis for the production of stable and mature compost based on textile waste.

Energy conservation has emerged as a strategic target worldwide, which will enable the protection of the environment and the preservation of natural resources. Energy consumption in buildings for heating and cooling is considered one of the main sources of energy consumption in several countries. For this reason, there is an ongoing search for appropriate alternatives to preserve energy and reduce energy losses. To overcome this challenge, thermal insulation is becoming increasingly essential to save energy. Although a large number of insulation materials are used commercially, this sector still faces various challenges such as cost, thermal and mechanical properties, the end-of-life cycle, as well as health issues, etc. Furthermore, the harmful impact of buildings on the environment and health issues should be considered not only in relation to the energy expended whilst using them but also in relation to the energy performance materials they are constructed from. The insulation materials commonly used in the construction industry today are polymer-based materials such as polystyrene and polyurethane foam. These materials have a critical impact on the environment. In light of these results, several researchers have concluded that it is imperative to develop insulating materials with outstanding properties that have a lower impact on the environment and are relatively affordable. Agricultural and/or industrial wastes, and even natural fibers, are increasingly used as green insulation materials, as they are an eco-friendly, cost-effective alternative to conventional oil-based materials, as well as the fact that their end-of-life cycle does not pose a critical problem. This review paper discusses the several renewable resources and industrial wastes developed as thermal insulations. Furthermore, it sheds light on composite materials used as construction materials, as well as their end-of-life cycle.

To date, compost maturation monitoring is carried out by physical-chemical and microbiological analysis, which could be considered an overweening consumption of time and products. Nowadays, spectroscopy is chosen as a simple tool for monitoring compost maturity. In the present investigation, spectroscopy analysis was performed in the interest of corroborating the compost maturity. This goal was achieved by using the X-ray diffraction, infrared spectroscopy, and scanning electron microscopy. X-ray diffraction analysis showed the presence of the cellulose fraction in compost samples. At the same time, the intensity of pics decreased depending on composting time, thus proving that there was organic matter degradation. Infrared and scanning electron microscopy analysis allow for confirming these results. The correlation between spectroscopies analysis and physical-chemical properties was employed by partial least squares-regression (PLS-R) model. PLS-R model was applied to build a model to predict the compost quality depending on the composting time, the results obtained show that all the parameters analysis are well predicted. The current study proposed that final compost was more stabilized compared with the initial feedstock mixture. Ultimately, spectroscopy techniques used allowed us to confirm the physical-chemical results obtained, and both of them depict maturity and stability of the final compost, thus proving that spectral techniques are more reliable, fast, and promising than physical-chemical analyses.