Collaborative Research: Utilizing Industrial Waste for Sustainable Soil Restoration Post-wildfire

This collaborative project will address a major challenge in food manufacturing – the annual generation of millions of tons of waste. This waste is called food industry byproduct. It cannot be recycled or used in agriculture due to possible contamination and its alkaline nature. This project will explore the possibility of using food industry byproduct to restore wildfire-impacted soils. Wildfires pose a growing threat to U.S. communities. They burn millions of acres annually and negatively influence soil, resulting in decreased soil nutrients, loss of vegetation, soil erosion, landslides, ash deposition, and soil and water contamination. The project will conduct experiments to determine conditions under which food industry byproducts can be used to stabilize and re-fertilize soils affected by wildfires. Undergraduate and graduate students will participate in the research. The team will engage K-12 students and high school teachers and students with hands-on experiences to stimulate interest in STEM fields. This project will develop a sustainable approach for wildfire-burned soil rehabilitation using waste from the food industry for soil stabilization and re-fertilization. The project will (i) characterize the physical-chemical-geotechnical, erosion, and leaching properties of food industry byproduct and wildfire-burned soil; (ii) evaluate the suitability and efficacy of food industry byproduct amendment for stabilization of burned soil under controlled lab conditions, simulating variable field conditions; (iii) evaluate the life cycle sustainability and develop a quantitative sustainability design framework for food industry byproduct amendment of wildfire-burned soil; and (iv) evaluate the feasibility and develop guidelines for field implementation. The outcomes from this project will be: (1) a comprehensive understanding of the fundamental mechanisms underlying the interaction between burned soils and the food industry byproduct and (2) a quantitative sustainable design framework and a decision-support matrix to recommend the required proportions of food industry byproduct under varying conditions such as fire intensity and burn severity, soil conditions, and climatic factors. Through comprehensive laboratory testing, statistical analyses, and life cycle resilience and sustainability assessment, the project will provide a comprehensive framework for sustainable wildfire recovery and an innovative waste management strategy for food industry byproducts. This award reflects NSF's statutory mission and has been deemed worthy of support through evaluation using the Foundation's intellectual merit and broader impacts review criteria. NSF Award ID: 2514372 | Program: 01002627DB NSF RESEARCH & RELATED ACTIVIT | Principal Investigator: Arvin Farid | Institution: Boise State University, BOISE, ID | Award Amount: $285,308 View on NSF Award Search: https://www.nsf.gov/awardsearch/show-award/?AWD_ID=2514372 View on Research.gov: https://www.research.gov/awardapi-service/v1/awards/2514372.html