Researchers from the Graduate Program in Environmental Technology and
from the Chemical Engineering course at Unaerp have developed fertilizer for
sugarcane using solid waste, more specifically "filter cake", from a fertilizer
industry. The study, started last year, is conducted by professors Isadora Alves
Lovo Ismael and Murilo Daniel de Mello Innocentini.

During the production of fertilizers, effluents and residues are generated which,
if improperly disposed of in nature, can cause damage to human health and the
environment. In the context of the study, the so-called filter cake, a by-product
of sugar cane production, is currently discarded through the incineration
process, that is, thermal destruction, via oxidation, resulting in high costs for the
agricultural industry.

Facing the need to use the residue in a sustainable and safe way, the fertilizer
was produced with vegetable soil, varying the concentration of the filter cake
from the industry. For analysis, sugarcane seedlings planted in cells suitable for
their cultivation were used.


Photo 1: Study reduces production costs and contributes to environmental
preservation

NEW FERTILIZER - This year, the new stage of the work consists of
characterizing the residue, including analysis of physical-chemical and
biological aspects, for the production of a new fertilizer, which can be made
available in different forms, such as granules and sachets, for agriculture use.

Researcher and professor Isadora Alves Lovo Ismail highlights, in addition to
the benefits for the industry, the importance of the study for environmental
preservation, considering recycling and the circular economy. "We save money,
sometimes, on the issue of sending this waste to a landfill, there is also the
issue of atmospheric pollution, which, if incineration is not done correctly, can
pollute the environment. So, there are a series of environmental factors that we
can avoid with this reuse, this reuse of waste", he points out.



Photo 2: Fertilizer was produced from the use of filter cake from the industry.