Remediation potential of metalliferous soil by using extracts of composts and vermicomposts from Municipal Solid Waste

[Display omitted] •Remediation of metalliferous soil by compost/vermicompost extract was examined.•Vermicompost/compost extracts were exceptionally effective in Ni and Co remediation.•Remediation using extracts of vermicomposts outperformed to those of composts.•Treatment with vermicompost-extract from ground samples removed 79–92% of metals.•High RFs showed potential of using extracts for remediation of metalliferous soil. The intervention management strategy to mitigate ecotoxicity in a heavy metal (HM)-contaminated soil was evaluated through a new soil remediation technique trial by using extracts of composts and vermicomposts from Municipal Solid Waste (MSW). The MSW composts and vermicomposts which were >9.423mm in size referred as coarse and those Co>Cu>Cd >Cr>Zn. Results showed that treatments with compost-extracts from ground samples removed 90.83% Ni, 90.45% Co, 84.64% Cu, 79.01% Cd, 76.85% Cr and 76.77% Zn from the contaminated soil. On the contrary, treatments with vermicompost-extracts from ground samples caused moderately higher reduction in Ni (91.52%), Co (90.69%), Cu (85.18%), Cd (81.42%), Cr (79.06%) and Zn (79.02%). The remediation factors (RFs) of the HMs from the ground vermicompost-extracts can be classified in the order: Ni (8.06–10.98)>Co (8.28–10.61)>Cu (5.44–5.76)>Cd (2.82–4.41)>Zn (2.93–3.77)>Cr (1.37–2.11) whilst a lower RF value was obtained for the remediation treatments from the ground compost-extracts. Yet, in contrast of using compost-extracts from both coarse and ground samples to remediate metalliferous soil, data analysis revealed that vermicompost-extracts were more proficient in the mitigation of the concentration of HMs.