Evaluating the quality of communities made compost manure in South Africa: A case study of content and sources of metals in compost manure from Thulamela Municipality, Limpopo province

The main aim of this research was to assess the quality of the compost manure of a community project which is part of Government’s initiative for job creation. This was done by determining the sources, presence and concentrations of metals in the composting materials and compost manure. Generally, there are many communities involved in making compost manure with no assessment of the quality of the compost. This is because no quality assurance guidelines are in place. The main source of heavy metals in the composting materials was found to be sawdust while cabbage was the main source of the essential nutrient elements such as magnesium calcium and potassium. The level of heavy metals in all the compost materials were found in the following order: Fe > Mn > Cr > Ni > Zn > Cu > Co > Cd. The level of essential elements was in the following order: Ca > Mg > K > S > Na > Li > Si > P. The level of heavy metals in the compost materials reflected the level in the final compost manure. The concentration of metals in the compost materials and compost manure was below the international standards of compost manure. Therefore, compost manure can be said to be of good quality. However, sawdust was found to be not a good compost material as it was the source of main heavy metals.