Sustainable plant nutrients generated from symbiotic waste treatment for safe application in food crop production

Adequate soil nutrients are necessary for plant growth and health. Nitrogen sources from synthetic ammonia production have a high energy requirement, with implications for global warming. Innovative ways of producing nitrogen, such as crop nutrients from municipal organic waste, have significance on materials circularity and the achievement of a number of sustainable development goals. The feasibility of transforming potentially hazardous waste into plant nutrients is explored. The physiological response of tomato crops cultivated with the as-produced nitrogen source in a completely randomized design pilot field trial to evaluate the quality and health risk associated with the recycling of potentially hazardous waste into nutrient sources for food cultivation is reported. The recycled solid nutrient source can support the cultivation of tomatoes with plant physiological responses comparable to the same nitrogen levels application of artificial fertilizer. The risk associated with heavy metals and pathogen contamination of food is also limited.