Properties and uses of Technosols made from both industrial and agricultural residues in SE Spain

Resumen del póster presentado a la 10th Conference of the Working Group on Soils of Urban, Industrial, Traffic, Mining and Military Areas (SUITMA), celebrada en Seoul (Korea) del 16 al 21 de junio de 2019.[Introduction]: Show that some mixtures of several industrial and agricultural residues in proper proportions can be used as Technosols to restore degraded environments including urban, industrial and military areas. Why some mixtures are suitable for restoring degraded hillslopes and for agriculture other mixtures are not.[Material and Methods]: The characterization of both the individual components and the Technosols include their particle size, elemental analysis, organic Carbon, pH, EC, bulk density, water absorption, permeability (Ksat), aggregate stability (Emerson test), Atterberg limits, COLE index. Specifically for Technosols, infiltration capacity and erodibility by means of simulated rainfall, survival and growth rate of planted species (both native and horticultural). Percolated water (lixiviated) from all Technosols were analyzed by means of XRF for their content in heavy metals.[Results]: The cumulative effects of some specific characteristics of industrial residues from the cement industry, e.g., very high pH and/or EC, excessively fine particle size, hinder the viability of Technosols, especially plant survival and growth, despite their mixture with high quality compost made from horticultural green wastes. However, other industrial residues like those of the artificial stone industry, consisting in sludge and slate fragments, were able de provide Technosols with physical and chemical properties quite similar to those of natural soils in semiarid environments. In these Technosols planted species, both autochthonous and horticultural, had a good rate of survival, grew successfully and gave standard quality fruits (tomatoes, peppers and eggplants). In all cases, the tested Technosols, both with and without successful plant growth, did not produce dangerous lixiviates according the European legislation for environmental quality standards in the field of water policy.[Conclusions]:Technosols made essentially from a high proportion of sludge of the artificial stone industry and a 10% of scarcely composted horticultural green wastes were successful to be used for both the restoration of degraded hillslopes and as substrates for horticultural production.Peer reviewe