Production and Characterisation of Biochar from Tender Coconut and Sugarcane Bagasse Wastes for Potential Applications in Agricultural Sector

The management of municipal solid waste from the urban areas of developing countries is very difficult, due to its mixed composition of organic and other wastes along with high moisture content. Hence, collection, treatment and safe disposal of segregated bulk waste are required for proper management of MSW in urban areas of developing countries. Some of the segregated bulk fibrous organic wastes generated such as banana peduncle, tender coconut and sugarcane bagasse require some special treatment methods for disposal as some conventional treatment methods such as Anaerobic Digestion (AD) and composting are not effective for these fibrous wastes. In this study, the conversion of Tender Coconut (TC) and Sugarcane Bagasse (SB) fibrous wastes into biochar through slow pyrolysis at 600 °C for 10 °C/min and 60 min, evaluating their yield and characteristics, for their potential agricultural applications have been investigated. The biochar yields were found to be 25.42 ± 0.47% for SB and 32.95 ± 0.19% for TC. CHNS analysis revealed a significant increase in carbon content from 53.25% to 82.45% for SB and from 45.03% to 66.31% for TC after pyrolysis, while SEM–EDX and XRD confirmed porous, mineral-rich structures containing macro- and micronutrients (Ca, P, Fe, Zn). The biochars for SB and TC exhibited alkaline pH of 9.55 and 8.20, high cation exchange capacity of 107 and 50.5 cmolc/kg, and organic carbon of 2.58% and 6.83%, indicating their strong potential for soil fertility improvement in agricultural sector. Both biochars from SB & TC meet the Class 1 standards of the European Biochar Certificate (EBC) and International Biochar Initiative (IBI). The results from this study demonstrated the potential of carbon-rich and nutrient-stable biochar suitable for agricultural applications. The conversion of urban fibrous waste into biochar aligns with SDG 12 (Responsible Consumption and Production) and SDG 13 (Climate Action), while supporting India’s National Mission on Sustainable Agriculture and Swachh Bharat Mission through circular resource utilization and carbon recycling.