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Greenhouse gas emissions after application of landfilled paper mill sludge for land reclamation of a nonacidic mine tailings site

Summary

Published in Journal of Environmental Quality 46: 950-960. https://doi.org/10.2134/jeq2017.03.0119

Large areas of mine tailings are reclaimed by applying organic amendments such as paper mill sludge (PMS). Although mining industries can use PMS freshly generated by paper mills, operational constraints on paper industries make temporary landfilling of this material an unavoidable alternative for the paper industries, creating the most prominent PMS source for mining industries. This study aimed to quantify soil greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions (N2O, CO2, and CH4) after application of landfilled PMS (LPMS; i.e., excavated from a landfill site at a paper mill) and LPMS combined with a seeding treatment of white clover (Trifolium repens L.) on nonacidic mine tailings site prior to reforestation. Soil N2O, CO2, and CH4 fluxes were measured after applications of 50 and 100 Mg dry LPMS ha−1 during two consecutive snowfree seasons on two adjacent sites; LPMS was applied once in the first season. The LPMS application increased N2O emissions (7.6 to 34.7 kg N2O-N ha−1, comprising 1.04 to 2.43% of applied N) compared with the unamended control during the first season; these emissions were negligible during the second season. The LPMS application increased CO2 emissions (~5800 to 11,400 kg CO2–C ha−1, comprising 7 to 27% of applied C) compared with the unamended control on both sites and in both seasons. Fluxes of CH4 were negligible. White clover combined with LPMS treatments did not affect soil GHG emissions. These new GHG emission factors should be integrated into life-cycle analyses to evaluate the C footprint of potential symbioses between the mining and paper industries. Future research should focus on the effect of PMS applications on soil GHG emissions from a variety of mine tailings under various management practices and climatic conditions to plan responsible and sustainable land reclamation.

Sector(s): 

Forests

Categorie(s): 

Scientific Article

Theme(s): 

Ecosystems and Environment, Forestry Research, Forests

Departmental author(s): 

Ouimet, Rock

Author(s)

FAUBERT, Patrick, Simon DUROCHER, Norman BERTRAND, Rock OUIMET, Philippe ROCHETTE, Pascal TREMBLAY, Jean-François BOUCHER and Claude VILLENEUVE

Year of publication :

2017

Format :

Paper

Keywords :

matières résiduelles fertilisantes, résidus miniers, gaz à effet de serre, reboisement, écosystèmes et environnement, article scientifique de recherche forestière, ecosystems and environment, fertilizing residual materials, mine tailings, greenhouse gas, reforestation

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