Use of Cellulose from Waste Paper to Improve the Water Capacity of Soils Within the Circular Economy

Helena Raclavská, Michal Šafář, Konstantin Raclavský, Marek Kucbel (), Pavel Kantor, Barbora Švédová, Karolina Slamová and Dalibor Matýsek
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Helena Raclavská: ENET Centre, CEET, VSB–Technical University of Ostrava, 17. listopadu 15/2172, 708 00 Ostrava-Poruba, Czech Republic
Michal Šafář: ENET Centre, CEET, VSB–Technical University of Ostrava, 17. listopadu 15/2172, 708 00 Ostrava-Poruba, Czech Republic
Konstantin Raclavský: ENET Centre, CEET, VSB–Technical University of Ostrava, 17. listopadu 15/2172, 708 00 Ostrava-Poruba, Czech Republic
Marek Kucbel: ENET Centre, CEET, VSB–Technical University of Ostrava, 17. listopadu 15/2172, 708 00 Ostrava-Poruba, Czech Republic
Pavel Kantor: ENET Centre, CEET, VSB–Technical University of Ostrava, 17. listopadu 15/2172, 708 00 Ostrava-Poruba, Czech Republic
Barbora Švédová: ENET Centre, CEET, VSB–Technical University of Ostrava, 17. listopadu 15/2172, 708 00 Ostrava-Poruba, Czech Republic
Karolina Slamová: Institute of Foreign Languages, VSB–Technical University of Ostrava, 17. listopadu 15/2172, 708 00 Ostrava-Poruba, Czech Republic
Dalibor Matýsek: Department of Geological Engineering, Faculty of Mining and Geology, VSB–Technical University of Ostrava, 17. listopadu 15/2172, 708 00 Ostrava-Poruba, Czech Republic

Agriculture, 2025, vol. 15, issue 17, 1-20

Abstract: The article focuses on verifying the potential of using cellulose obtained from waste cardboard to improve the soil’s water retention capacity, depending on its texture and type, in accordance with the principles of the circular economy. The study compares reference cellulose (RFC) and waste carton-extracted cellulose (WCC) in terms of their structure and water-holding capacity (WHC), using FTIR spectroscopy and experiments across various soil types. Results showed that WCC has a significantly higher WHC (12.6 g/g) than RFC (0.75 g/g) due to its greater proportion of amorphous sections and the presence of lignin and hemicellulose. In contrast, the high crystalline content of RFC limits its water sorption capabilities. Soil texture and soil organic matter (SOM) play a crucial role in water retention. The highest WHC values were observed in fine-grained soils classified as silt loam. The study confirms that SOM has a stronger influence on WHC than texture alone. Applying WCC led to a linear increase in WHC across different soil types. Even soils with initially low WHC showed notable improvement with low doses of WCC (1%). The findings highlight the potential of waste carton-extracted cellulose as a soil amendment to enhance water retention in agricultural soils, especially in adapting to climate variability and drought conditions.

Keywords: soil organic matter (SOM); waste carton-extracted cellulose (WCC); water-holding capacity (WHC); soil texture; FTIR (search for similar items in EconPapers)
JEL-codes: Q1 Q10 Q11 Q12 Q13 Q14 Q15 Q16 Q17 Q18 (search for similar items in EconPapers)
Date: 2025
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