Country: Ethiopia
Lead organisation: Bio and Emerging Technology Institute, Ethiopia
After wastewater treatment, more than 30,000 tons of sludge is generated every day and discharged into the environment without proper waste management. This causes serious environmental problems and it has become one of the greatest challenges of industrial parks. There are several options for sludge management and treatments. One is the conversion of the sludge to nano-fertilisers, through zeolite formation and a composite formed with nitrogen and phosphorus from agro-waste. Zeolites are non-toxic, inexpensive, and environmentally friendly materials that can be easily synthesised. The project team will prepare a nano-fertiliser from the industrial waste sludge and manufacture an innovative zeolite-encapsulated nano-fertiliser blend from nitrogen and phosphorus-rich solid agro-waste. Nano-fertilisers release nutrients gradually and continuously for more than 30 days, which can help increase nutrient use efficiency without negative side effects. The team will work with communities on how to use the fertiliser to improve their soil fertility, increase crop productivity, reduce environmental degradation, and decrease the cost and consumption of fertilisers. The team is collaborating with the Wondogenet Agriculture Research Centre and Addis Ababa University, Centre for Environmental on this project