Composting of Pig Effluent as a Proposal for the Treatment of Veterinary Drugs

Abstract

Pig farming currently occupies a prominent place in the southern states of the Brazil, owning approximately 50% of the national squad, estimated at 42 million pig heads. However, the swine activity contributes significantly to the generation of environmental impacts on the environment. Recently, the greatest need for animal protein has exerted pressures on the current animal production system and one of the alternatives has been to the use of veterinary medicines, which have several uses ranging from therapeutic use, preventive in the treatment of various diseases and as growth promoters. Its indiscriminate and uncontrolled use is currently endangering the environmental balance of producing sites through effluent contamination. Many producers have been using contaminated slurry as a biofertilizer. In this sense, further studies on techniques and processes of treatment of organic effluents contaminated by veterinary drugs are necessary. Alternative low-cost and environmentally viable treatment systems are needs to minimize the entry into the environment of these contaminants. Therefore, the composting process that can defined as a process of aerobic microbial decomposition of organic matter and nutrient recycling can be an alternative for the treatment of effluents contaminated by veterinary drugs.