Summary
Integrated red meat processing and tannery activities generate wastewater and solid waste with predominantly high salt and organic content. The reuse of wastewater and effluents for irrigation on adjacent land can result in excessive nutrient build-up in the soil which over time may cause land degradation.
Conventional remediation of the effluent is costly and therefore implementation of a more economical wastewater management process is required. This project is to explore new ways to 'polish' waste water from abattoirs using 'Phytoremediation' (the use of plants to clean up polluted soils) as a more sustainable measure towards wastewater management.
