Advanced swine manure treatment and utilization in Brazil A. Kunz * , M. Miele, R.L.R. Steinmetz Embrapa Swine and Poultry, C.P. 21, 89700-000, Concórdia, SC, Brazil article info Article history: Received 25 July 2008 Received in revised form 28 October 2008 Accepted 29 October 2008 Available online 6 January 2009 Keywords: Environmental impact Management Swine effluents Treatment strategies abstract Animal production has changed from subsistence to an industrial model, lowering production costs but giving rise to higher potential environmental impact. When the effluents are not correctly managed, seri- ous pollution events can occur. In Brazil liquid manure is commonly stored in reception pits or covered lagoons (biodigestors), followed by land application as a biofertilizer. In some regions there is an excess of manure due to low soil support capacities, and in these cases new technologies have to be adopted to export or treat the excess effluent. Manure storage time in pits/covered lagoons and new polymers to separate the solid fraction have been studied in Brazil. Treatment technologies, like swine manure treat- ment systems (SMTS), have been developed from a technical and economical point of view to optimize the processes and give a technological alternative to pork producers increasing production while reduc- ing environmental impact. Ó 2008 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved. 1. Introduction Production has dramatically changed in the last three decades, from a small, subsistence model to larger concentrated animal feeding operations (CAFOs). This trend towards big industrial feed- ing operations is promoted by the reduction in costs of production and logistics for both farmers and meat processors (FAO, 2006). An additional trend in meat production is the migration of production operations from developed to developing countries due to lower operating costs, availability of feed, land, and water, as well as the less restrictive environmental policies as those of Europe (EU-nitrate directive), or USA (EPA–CAFO rules) (FAO, 2005). In Brazil, the regulation for effluents disposal in superficial waters is in the federal sphere (Conama, 2005), and is very restrictive for animal wastewater. The regulation for land application is more flexible and has a great regional diversity and there is no regulation for water reuse. Brazilian swine production is an important activity, with a herd of 35 million heads, representing the fourth largest producer (3 millions ton/year), fourth largest exporter (600 thousand ton/year) and the sixth largest consumer (11–13 kg/inhabitant/year). Swine production in Brazil is concentrated in the southern part of the country, but in the last decade has rapidly expanded into the Cen- tral-West region (IBGE, 2006; Miele and Waquil, 2007). There is a set of potential environmental impacts involved in the production of pork meat due to this rapid expansion. These impacts, including an increase in atmospheric ammonia emissions and decrease in water quality, can be seen in all segments of the supply chain, from grain and animal production, to the processing, distribution and consumption links. However, it is the animal production that has been central to public discussions because of the large amount of waste generated by swine operations and its potential impact on air, soil, and water resources (Zhu, 2000; Sharpley et al., 2002; Pereira et al., 2008). The aim of this paper is to present some recent advances in swine manure management research and practices in Brazil, and assessing their technical and economic performances. 2. Swine manure management strategies in Brazil Liquid manure storage and land application is the predominate manure management practice in Brazil and other parts of the world due to its simplicity, low cost, and the possible reduction in crop production costs through the replacement of chemical fer- tilizers by manure nutrients (Kunz et al., 2005). The main disad- vantage of land application is the fact that the manure transportation is not economically viable for distances beyond kilometers (Seganfredo and Girotto, 2004). This is a limiting factor for the scaling up of animal production facilities. Additionally, due to the great variety of soils, plant fertilizer requirements, agro- nomic practices, and manure composition, land application of manure has the potential to promote an unbalance in the soil/plant nutrient absorption capacity (Seganfredo, 1999; Bauer et al., 2007). Swine manure treatment strategies are based on several types of physical, chemical, and biologic processes that are able to reduce the manure’s pollution potential and convert them into usable by- products including biogas (heat and electricity), organic fertilizers and carbon credits (Certified Emissions Reductions – CERs) (Burton and Turner, 2003; Kunz and Encarnação, 2007; Vanotti et al., 2008). 0960-8524/$ - see front matter Ó 2008 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved. doi:10.1016/j.biortech.2008.10.039 * Corresponding author. Tel.: +55 49 3441 0400; fax: +55 49 3442 8559. E-mail address: airton@cnpsa.embrapa.br (A. Kunz). Bioresource Technology 100 (2009) 5485–5489 Contents lists available at ScienceDirect Bioresource Technology journal homepage: www.elsevier.com/locate/biortech