Contents lists available at ScienceDirect Bioresource Technology journal homepage: www.elsevier.com/locate/biortech Comparing the agrochemical properties of compost and vermicomposts produced from municipal sewage sludge digestate Márk Rékási a, ⁎ , Nikolett Mazsu a , Eszter Draskovits a , Botond Bernhardt a , Anita Szabó b , Pierre-Adrien Rivier c , Csilla Farkas c , Barbara Borsányi d , Béla Pirkó a , Sándor Molnár a , György Kátay e , Nikolett Uzinger a a Institute for Soil Sciences and Agricultural Chemistry, Centre for Agricultural Research, Hungarian Academy of Sciences, 1022 Budapest, Herman O. út 15, Hungary b Inno-Water Inc., 1028 Budapest, Hidegkúti út 80/D, Hungary c Norwegian Institute of Bioeconomy Research, P.O. Box 115, NO-1431 Ås, Norway d Érd Region Public Utility Association, 2030 Érd, Diósdi u. 14/A, Hungary e Plant Protection Institute, Centre for Agricultural Research, Hungarian Academy of Sciences, 1022 Budapest, Herman O. út 15, Hungary GRAPHICAL ABSTRACT ARTICLE INFO Keywords: Macronutrients Organic matter quality Plant growth regulator Compost Vermicompost ABSTRACT The aim of this work was to investigate whether the agronomic traits of vermicompost prepared from partially stabilised sewage sludge digestate after thermophilic composting were more favourable than those of conven- tional compost. The effects of various additives (green waste, spent mushroom compost, wheat straw, biochar) were also tested after 1.5 months precomposting followed by 3 months vermicomposting with Eisenia fetida or by compost maturing. Vermicomposting did not result in significantly more intensive mineralisation than composting; the average organic carbon contents were 21.2 and 22.2% in vermicomposts and composts, re- spectively. Hence, the average total (N: 2.4%; P: 1.9%; K: 0.9%) and available (N: 160 mg/kg; P: 161 mg/kg; K: 0.8%) macronutrient concentrations were the same in both treatments. The processing method did not influence the organic matter quality (E 4 /E 6 ) either. However, on average the concentration of the plant growth regulator kinetin was more than twice as high in vermicomposts. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.biortech.2019.121861 Received 28 May 2019; Received in revised form 16 July 2019; Accepted 20 July 2019 ⁎ Corresponding author. E-mail address: rekasi.mark@agrar.mta.hu (M. Rékási). Bioresource Technology 291 (2019) 121861 Available online 23 July 2019 0960-8524/ © 2019 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved. T