kitchen waste compost research paper

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KITCHEN WASTE COMPOSTING: A SUSTAINABLE WASTE MANAGEMENT TECHNIQUE

• N. Shukla , S. K. Juneja
• Published 2016
• Environmental Science

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• Published: 14 January 2017

Comparative effectiveness of different composting methods on the stabilization, maturation and sanitization of municipal organic solid wastes and dried faecal sludge mixtures

• Tesfu Mengistu 1 ,
• Heluf Gebrekidan 1 ,
• Kibebew Kibret 1 ,
• Kebede Woldetsadik 2 ,
• Beneberu Shimelis 1 &
• Hiranmai Yadav 1  

Environmental Systems Research volume  6 , Article number:  5 ( 2018 ) Cite this article

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Composting is one of the integrated waste management strategies used for the recycling of organic wastes into a useful product. Composting methods vary in duration of decomposition and potency of stability, maturity and sanitation. This study was aimed to investigate the comparative effectiveness of four different methods of composting viz. windrow composting (WC), Vermicomposting (VC), pit composting (PC) and combined windrow and vermicomposting (WVC) on the stabilization, maturation and sanitization of mixtures of municipal solid organic waste and dried faecal sludge.

The composting treatments were arranged in a completely randomized block design with three replications. The changes in physico-chemical and biological characteristics of the compost were examined at 20 days interval for 100 days using standard laboratory procedures. The analysis of variance was performed using SAS software and the significant differences were determined using Fisher’s LSD test at P ≤ 0.05 level.

The evolution of composting temperature, pH, EC, \({\text{NH}}_{ 4}^{ + }\) , \({\text{NO}}_{ 3}^{ - }\) , \({\text{NH}}_{ 4}^{ + }\) : \({\text{NO}}_{ 3}^{ - }\) ratio, OC, C:N ratio and total volatile solids varied significantly among the composting methods and with composting time. The evolution of total nitrogen and germination index also varied significantly (P ≤ 0.001) with time, but their variation among the composting methods was not significant (P > 0.05). Except for PC, all other methods of composting satisfied all the indices for stability/maturity of compost at the 60th day of sampling; whereas PC achieved the critical limit values for most of the indices at the 80th day. A highly significant differences (P ≤ 0.001) were noted among the composting methods with regard to their effectiveness in eliminating pathogens (faecal coliforms and helminth eggs). The WVC method was most efficient in eliminating the pathogens complying with WHO’s standard.

Turned windrow composting and composting involving earthworms hastened the biodegradation process of organic wastes and result in the production of stable compost earlier than the traditional pit method of composting. The WVC method is most efficient in keeping the pathogens below the threshold level. Thus, elimination of pathogens from composts being a critical consideration, this study would recommend this method for composting organic wastes involving human excreta.

As in many other cities of the developing countries, the rapid urbanization and high population growth of Dire Dawa (Ethiopia’s 2nd largest city) have resulted into a significant increase in generation of wastes from domestic and commercial activities, posing numerous questions concerning the adequacy of the current waste management systems, and their associated environmental, economical and social implications. A report by Beneberu et al. ( 2012 ) depicted that, despite the great efforts made by the Dire Dawa city municipality, it has been hardly possible to meet the ever-increasing waste management service demand of the city adequately and effectively. The per capita waste generation rate of the city is reported to be 0.3 kg day −1 and the city generates an estimated quantity of 77 tonnes of solid wastes per day (Community Development Research 2011 ). The same report indicated that, as there is very limited or no effort to recycle, reuse or recover the waste that is being generated; waste disposal has been the major mode of waste management practice. It has been observed that the indiscriminate dumping of wastes into the landfill is resulting in unexpectedly faster filling up of the city’s sanitary landfill which would, thus, likely be abandoned in the near future than anticipated 30 years (Beneberu et al. 2012 ).

In addition to the municipal solid wastes (MSW), the human excreta also constitute a significant component of wastes generated from Dire Dawa city. Faecal sludge (FS) accumulating in the commonly used on-site sanitation systems are periodically collected and dumped indiscriminately into its well-engineered sludge dewatering and drying bed. The faecal sludge, after being dried in the beds, since it has no purpose in Dire Dawa, was observed to be excavated from the drying beds and disposed in the landfill site. It is, therefore, of paramount importance to establish economically viable, environmentally sustainable and socially acceptable method of waste management for the sustainable development of the city.

Bundela et al. ( 2010 ) suggested that agricultural application of organic solid wastes, as nutrient source for plants and as soil conditioner, is the most cost effective municipal solid waste (MSW) disposal option because of its advantages over traditional means, such as land filling or incineration. Though, human wastes are a rich source of organic matter and inorganic plant nutrients and therefore used to support food production, their use without prior stabilization represents a high risk because of the potentially negative effects of any phytotoxic substances or pathogens they may contain (Garcia et al. 1993 ). Application of raw wastes may inhibit seed germination, reduce plant growth and damage crops by competing for oxygen or causing phytotoxicity to plants due to insufficient biodegradation of organic matter (Brewer and Sullivan 2003 ; Cooperband et al. 2003 ). Moreover, the reuse of untreated faeces for agricultural purposes can cause a great health risk, because a great number of pathogens such as bacteria, viruses and helminthes can be found in human excreta (Gallizzi 2003 ). Therefore, the management of urban solid wastes involving human excreta for recycling in agriculture should necessarily incorporate sanitization, stabilization and maturation aspects to minimize potential disease transmission and to obtain a more stabilized and matured product for application to soil (Carr et al. 1995 ).

Composting and vermicomposting are two of the best-known processes for biological stabilization of solid organic wastes by transforming them into a safer and more stabilized material that can be used as a source of nutrients and soil conditioner in agricultural applications (Lazcano et al. 2008 ; Bernal et al. 2009 ; Domínguez and Edwards 2010 ). Composting involves the accelerated degradation of organic matter by microorganisms under controlled conditions, in which the organic material undergoes a characteristic thermophilic stage that allows sanitization of the waste by elimination of pathogenic microorganisms (Lung et al. 2001 ). Vermicomposting, on the other hand, is emerging as the most appropriate alternative to conventional aerobic composting (Yadav et al. 2010 ) and it involves the bio-oxidation and stabilization of organic material by the joint action of earthworms and microorganisms (Lazcano et al. 2008 ). More recently, combining thermophilic composting and vermicomposting has been considered as a way of achieving stabilized substrates (Tognetti et al. 2007 ). Thermophilic composting results in sanitization of wastes and elimination of toxic compounds while the subsequent vermicomposting reduces particle size and increases nutrient availability (Mupondi et al. 2010 ).

Composting methods differ in duration of decomposition and potency of stability and maturity (Iqbal et al. 2012 ). Due to the ecological and health concerns of human wastes, extensive research has been conducted to study the composting process and to evaluate methods to describe the stability, maturity and sanitation of compost prior to its agricultural use (Brewer and Sullivan 2003 ; Zmora-Nahum et al. 2005 ). Although several studies have addressed the optimization of composting, vermicomposting or composting with subsequent vermicomposting of various organic wastes (Dominguez et al. 1997 ; Frederickson et al. 1997 ; Ndegwa and Thompson 2001 ; Tognetti et al. 2005 , 2007 ; Lazcano et al. 2008 ; Mupondi et al. 2010 ), information on the effectiveness of the different composting methods on biodegradation and sanitization of mixtures of MSW and dried faecal sludge (DFS) is scant. Moreover, regarding the sanitization efficiency of the different composting techniques, controversial reports have been presented in different literatures. Several researchers reported the effectiveness of thermophilic composting in eliminating pathogenic organisms (Koné et al. 2007 ; Vinnerås 2007 ; Mupondi et al. 2010 ). However, a few studies on composting of source-separated faeces claimed that a sufficiently high temperature for pathogen destruction is difficult to achieve (Bjorklund 2002 ; Niwagaba et al. 2009 ). Similarly, in vermicomposting, some studies have provided evidence of suppression of pathogens (Monroy et al. 2008 ; Rodriguez-Canche et al. 2010 ; Eastman et al. 2001 ), while others (Bowman et al. 2006 ; Hill et al. 2013 ) demonstrated the insignificant effect of vermicomposting in reducing Ascaris summ ova as compared to composting without worms. The effectiveness of vermicomposting for pathogen destruction was still remaining unclear due to conflicting information in the literature (Hill et al. 2013 ); the present scenario thus, calls for further exploration. Accordingly, the present study attempted to investigate the comparative effectiveness of four different methods of composting viz. windrow composting (WC), Vermicomposting (VC), pit composting (PC), and combined windrow and vermicomposting (WVC) on the stabilization, maturation and sanitization of mixtures of MSW and dried faecal sludge.

Experimental site, wastes and earthworms utilized

The study was carried out at Dire Dawa, a city in Eastern Ethiopia located at 9° 6′ N, 41° 8′ E and at an altitude of 1197 m above sea level. The Municipal solid organic waste used in this study was obtained from a door-to-door waste collection service provided by the Sanitation and Beautification Agency (SBA) of Dire Dawa city, in which the wastes were collected from various locations in the city. The dried faecal cake which was about to be excavated from the drying bed and dumped to the landfill site was collected from the dumping site. The garbage receives mixed organic and inorganic domestic wastes, upon arrival to the composting site; the wastes were spread flat on the ground and sorted manually into organic and non-organic fractions. All the compostable components were shredded manually into small pieces of particle sizes ranging from 3 to 5 cm as described by Pisa and Wuta ( 2013 ). The shredded MSW and dried faecal sludge were then mixed manually in a 2:1 mix ratio. The earthworm species ( Eisenia foetida ) were obtained from Haramaya University. Matured earthworms and their cocoons were brought to Dire Dawa, where they were made to be multiplied (reared) for about 4 months using cow dung as medium.

Composting treatments

The methods of composting tested were: turned windrow composting (WC), pit composting (PC) (a composting method commonly practiced by farmers of the study area), vermicomposting (VC) and combined windrow and vermicomposting (WVC). The composting was done in outdoor but under shade condition. Three replicates of each of the four composting methods were made being arranged in a completely randomized block design. Each composting pile was covered with a layer of dry grass (5 cm) to prevent excessive loss of moisture.

Windrow composting : In the thermophilic composting, the homogenized feedstock of 1 m 3 volume (~275 kg dry weight) was heaped into conical piles in about 1 m 2 area after being wetted with water to 50–60% (Maso and Blasi 2008 ).

Pit composting a homogenized feedstock with the same moisture level as in ‘a’ was filled in a pit with dimension of 1 × 1 × 1 m (length width and depth).

Vermicomposting : Vermicomposting was performed in vermicompost bed measuring 1 × 1 × 0.3 m (length, width and height respectively) framed with bricks where the walls and bottom of the structure was lined with polyethylene sheet. In order to drain the excess water, the bottom of the polyethylene sheet was made to have tiny holes. Mature earthworms ( E. foetida ) were introduced at the recommended stocking rate of 250 adult worms per 20 kg of bio-waste (Padmavathiamma et al. 2008 ). The moisture content of the material was maintained between 70 and 80% (Maso and Blasi 2008 ).

Combined windrow composting and vermicomposting : Thermophilic composting of the wastes was done in same manner as in windrow composting and the piled substrate was allowed to be composted until the temperature was dropped to mesophilic phase. After the completion of the thermophilic phase (15 days after the initiation of the process), the subsequent vermicomposting continued using earthworms ( E. foetida ) as described under vermicomposting (Mupondi et al. 2010 ) .

The pilled heaps in WC were turned and mixed every week while the substrates in other methods of composting were left intact. The moisture content of each pile was checked every week and adjusted accordingly. The compost mass in WVC received the same treatment as WC and VC during the thermophilic and mesophilic phases of composting respectively. The temperatures in each heap was measured daily with a temperature probe from randomly selected places (centre, bottom and top) throughout the process.

Compost sampling and analysis

Sampling procedure.

To evaluate the various physical, chemical and biological transformations of the compost, representative samples were collected from four different points of the compost pile (bottom, surface, side and centre) of each pile at every 20 days (20, 40, 60, 80 and 100 days). All the samples were sealed in plastic containers and transported immediately to the laboratory using an ice box. Up on their arrival to the laboratory, the samples were stored in a refrigerator at 4 °C until they were analysed. Physico-chemical and microbial analyses were carried out at Haramaya University following standard procedures.

Physico-chemical analysis of compost

Moisture content was determined as weight loss upon drying in an oven at 105 °C to a constant weight (Lazcano et al. 2008 ). Total nitrogen (TN) and organic carbon (OC) were determined using dried compost samples which were ground to pass through a 2-mm sieve as described by Pisa and Wuta ( 2013 ). For the determination of total N, samples were decomposed using concentrated H 2 SO 4 and catalyst mixture in Kjeldahl flask and subsequently, N content in the digest was determined following steam distillation and titration method (Bremner and Mulvaney 1982 ).Organic carbon was estimated by dichromate wet digestion and rapid titration methods as described by Walkley and Black ( 1934 ). Total volatile solids was determined as weight loss on ignition at 550 °C for 4 h in a muffle furnace as described by Lazcano et al. ( 2008 ). Ammonium N ( \({\text{NH}}_{ 4}^{ + }\) –N) was determined from 0.2 ml aliquot of 0.5 M K 2 SO 4 extract of the filtrate after colour development with sodium nitroprusside, whereas, Nitrate N ( \({\text{NO}}_{ 3}^{ - }\) –N) was determined in a separate aliquot (0.5 ml) after colour development with 5% salicylic acid using a spectrophotometer (Okalebo et al. 2002 ). Analysis for pH and electrical conductivity (EC) were performed in extracts of 1:10 (w/v) compost: distilled water ratio as described by Ndegwa and Thompson ( 2001 ). The C:N ratio was calculated using the individual values of OC and TN.

Compost phytotoxicity test

For determining compost phytotoxicity, a modified phytotoxicity test employing seed germination was used (Zucconi et al. 1981 ). A 10 g of screened compost sample was shaken with 100 ml of distilled water for an hour, then the suspension was centrifuged at 3000 rpm for 15 min and the supernatant was filtered through a Whatman No 42 filter paper. Number 2 Whatman filter paper was placed inside a sterilized petri dish and wetted with 9 ml of the extract, 30 tomato seeds ( Solanum esculentum L.) were placed on the paper. Nine ml of distilled water was used as a control and all experiments were run in triplicate (Wu et al. 2000 ). The petri dishes were kept in the dark for 4 days at room temperature. At the end of the 4th day, the germination index (GI) was calculated using the following formula (Selim et al. 2012 ).

Faecal coliform analysis

For the determination of faecal coliforms in the initial raw materials and in the composts the procedures described by Mupondi et al. ( 2010 ) were employed. Aseptically weighed 10 g samples of either waste mixture or fresh compost were added to 90 ml of distilled water previously autoclaved at 121 °C for 15 min and the suspensions were then mixed using a blender to ensure thorough mixing. Additional serial dilutions were made up to 10 −6 . A 0.1 ml aliquot of each dilution was plated, in triplicate, in appropriate media-Violet Red Bile Agar (VBA) (Vuorinen and Saharinen 1997 ). The plates were then maintained in an incubator at a constant temperature of 44 °C for 24 h. For each of the treatment samples the numbers of faecal coliforms were expressed as log 10 CFU (colony forming unit) per gram of fresh sample and average values were calculated.

Helminth eggs recovery

The determination of helminth egg in this study was done based on the US EPA protocol ( 1999 ) modified by Schwartzbrod ( 2003 ). The analysis was carried out in triplicate for the initial raw waste and compost samples. The concentration of number of eggs per gram of dry weight of sample was computed according to the following formula (Ayres and Mara 1996 ):

where N = number of eggs per gram of dry weight of sample, Y = number of eggs in the McMaster slide (mean of counts from three slides), M = estimated volume of product at final centrifugation, C = volume of the McMaster slide, S = dry weight of the original sample.

Data analysis

The data obtained from this study were subjected to statistical analysis of variance (ANOVA) procedures using SAS software and the significant differences were determined using Fisher’s LSD test at P  ≤ 0.05 level.

Results and discussion

Characteristics of the raw waste materials.

The results of the analysis for the raw wastes are presented in Table  1 . The pH of the municipal solid waste (MSW) was alkaline and that of dried faecal sludge (DFS) was acidic in reaction. EC of MSW was much greater than that of DFS. The alkaline pH and high EC value in MSW could be attributed to the presence of wood ash which was observed to occur in considerable amount during the screening of the waste. The total N content of DFS was more double than that of MSW, indicating that it could be used to reduce the C:N ratio of the MSW.

The total helminth egg count for the dried faecal sludge and mixture of faecal sludge and MSW was 80.56 g −1 TS and 38.89 g −1 TS respectively, which is far greater than the recommended value for materials used in agriculture as per WHO’s guidelines (≤3–8 eggs g −1 TS) (Xanthoulis and Strauss 1991 ). Similarly, the total faecal coliform count of all the raw materials was found to exceed the standard threshold limit of <1000 cfu g −1 (WHO 2006 ). Therefore, it suggests that the raw wastes cannot be used directly for agriculture without being treated as it may result in soil contamination. The germination index values of the wastes was also far below the standard limit (>80%) substantiating the presence of phytotoxic substances which would make the raw wastes unfit for application in agricultural soils (Additional file 1 : Table S1).

Evolution of composting temperature

Considerable variations in temperature conditions were observed among the different composting methods on course of the composting period (Fig.  1 ). Though there were series of rise and fall in temperature, the general pattern of temperature for treatments (particularly for WC and PC) was similar. There was a rapid rise in temperature during the first few days of the composting process followed by a fall with time and finally it began to gradually reach to the ambient temperature. These temperature patterns denoted the thermophilic, mesophilic and maturation phases of a composting process, respectively. The rapid progress from initial mesophilic phase to thermophilic phase in WC and PC indicates a high proportion of readily degradable substances and self-insulating capacity of the waste (Sundberg et al. 2004 ). The change in temperature pattern observed in this study is in accord with other composting study (Tognetti et al. 2007 ).

Changes in ambient air temperature and temperature in the experimental piles during the composting process ( WC windrow composting, VC vermicomposting, PC pit composting, WVC combined windrow and vermicomposting)

Temperatures reached the thermophilic range (>45 °C) on the second and third day for the WC and PC which lasted for 15 and 19 days, respectively after initiation of the process. During these days of the process, a higher temperature was recorded for the WC than the PC. A peak average temperature ranging between 60.7 and 62.67 °C was recorded during the 3rd to 6th days for WC. Correspondingly for PC, the highest average temperature of 50.2–52.4 °C was registered during the 3rd to 9th day (Additional file 1 ). The increase in temperature within the composting mass was caused when the heat generated from the respiration and decomposition of sugar, starch and protein by the population of microorganisms accumulates faster than it is dissipated to the surrounding environment (Jusoh et al. 2013 ).

During the subsequent mesophilic phase (45–35 °C), however, PC registered a relatively higher temperature than WC. This phase was lasted for 13 days, from 16th to 28th day for WC and from 20th to 32nd day for PC and from the respective days on temperature values <35 °C and very close to the ambient temperature was recorded for both composting methods. The ambient temperature during the experimental period ranged from 23.7 to 33.7 °C (Fig.  1 ).

The vermicomposting unit (VC), where low temperature was induced intentionally by spreading the material in ground beds, tended to show the lowest temperature all through the process. The temperature profile for the WVC during the thermophilic phase showed similar pattern as that of the WC and has taken a different track during the subsequent vermicomposting process resembling the sole vermicomposting unit.

The size, initial moisture content and aeration of the piled substrate might have attributed for the variation in temperature of the different composting methods. Initially, to protect the earthworms from extreme thermophilic temperature and to keep an optimum condition for their performance, the height and moisture content of the pile in the vermicomposting unit were maintained to 30 cm and 80% compared to 1 m height/depth and 60%, respectively, in the WC and PC piles. As a result, the vermicompost with small volume of organic pile and relatively high moisture content does not heat up as such because the heat generated by the microbial population is lost quickly to the atmosphere, whereas in the WC and PC heat build-up particularly in the centre of the pile might have been insulated by the outer layer letting the temperature inside the pile to be raised. It is a well-established fact that, the smaller the bioreactor or compost pile, the greater the surface area-to-volume ratio, and therefore the larger the degree of heat loss to conduction and radiation ( http://www.cfe.cornell.edu/compost/invertebrates.html ).

The possible explanation for the variation in temperature profile of the WC and PC, given the same volume and moisture content of the pile, may be the differences in aeration (air circulation) in the piled substrates. The weekly turning of the compost mass in WC might have promoted the free circulation of air to enhance the microbial activity in the oxidation process and thereby raise the temperature; whereas in PC, the substrates being stacked in the pit without being turned the circulation of air in the pile might have been relatively restricted to impair the microbial activity and thereby the heat generated during the process. Finstein et al. ( 1986 ) who demonstrated the linear relationship between the oxygen consumed and heat produced during aerobic metabolism, support the finding of this study.

Evolution of pH

The first pH reading being taken at the 20th day after the initiation of the process, a sharp and significant (P ≤ 0.001) rise in pH than the initial state was observed in all the treatments. The rise in pH during these days is considered to be the result of the metabolic degradation of organic matter containing nitrogen (proteins, amino acids etc.) leading to formation of amines and ammonia salts through mineralization of organic nitrogen (Dumitrescu et al. 2009 ). As Smith and Hughes ( 2002 ) and Mupondi et al. ( 2006 ) suggested, it might also be attributed to the decomposition of organic acids to release alkali and alkali earth cations previously bound by organic matter. An increase in pH during composting of different substrates was also reported in many other studies (Sundberg et al. 2004 ; Tognetti et al. 2007 ; Gao et al. 2010 ).

The analysis of variance (ANOVA) showed a non-significant variation (P > 0.05) of pH values among the different methods of composting at the 20th day of sampling. Nevertheless, as composting progressed, significant variation (P ≤ 0.01) in pH was noted among the different composting methods (Fig.  2 ). Except for PC, which exhibited a further rise in pH, all other methods of composting showed a fairly stable pH during the 20th to 60th day of the process. This was followed by a slight fall to nearly neutral pH value during 80th to 100th day. In PC, a rise in pH value was observed to extend to the 60th day (8.03), after which it declined slightly at the 80th day and finally dropped to 7.83 at the 100th day.

Changes in pH in different composting methods with time. ( WC windrow composting, VC vermicomposting, PC pit composting, WVC combined windrow and vermicomposting, LSD least significant difference). Different letters indicate significant differences at P ≤ 0.05

Generally, from the 20th day till the end of the process (100th day), PC registered the highest pH value than the rest of the composting methods which were noted for their statistical parity (P > 0.05) (Fig.  2 ). This may possibly be caused due to the relatively higher concentration of ammonium ion maintained in PC. The relative decline in pH during the latter stage of the composting process might be caused due to the nitrification process which is responsible for the release of H + ion (Huang et al. 2001 ). This is also evident from \({\text{NO}}_{ 3}^{ - }\) data which was observed to increase remarkably during later stages of the process. Overall, the pH values achieved in all treatments at the end of the experiment were within the range acceptable for plant growth as recommended by Tognetti et al. ( 2005 ).

Evolution of electrical conductivity (EC)

The electrical conductivity values varied significantly (P ≤ 0.01) among the composting methods and over the different composting period. Generally, as indicated in Fig.  3 , all the treatments showed similar pattern of change in EC where the value decreased steadily with the progress in the composting process. It was found to be reduced by about 55.53, 54.66, 47.97, and 37.40% respectively for VC, WVC, PC, and WC at the 100th day as compared to the initial value of the raw material at day 0. The obtained results are in agreement with Yadav et al. ( 2012 ) and Gao et al. ( 2010 ) who reported an eventual decrease in EC value with progress in composting and vermicomposting. However this is in contrast with other studies (Gómez-Brandón et al. 2008 ) which reported increased EC values with composting time.

Changes in EC in composting mixtures of different composting methods with time. ( WC windrow composting, VC vermicomposting, PC pit composting, WVC combined windrow and vermicomposting). Different letters indicate significant differences at P ≤ 0.05

The progressive decline of EC value with time would justify that, firstly; there might be leaching of mineralized ions during periodic showering of water on the composting mass, secondly; as composting process progressed, humification would inevitably proceed and the resulting humic fractions might have complexed the soluble salts which in turn tend to decrease the amount of mobile free ions and thereby the EC (Rao 2007 ).

The ANOVA results revealed that the EC value during the entire composting period was significantly higher (P ≤ 0.001) for WC followed by PC, whereas VC which was in statistical parity with WVC recorded the lowest value (Fig.  3 ). This would justify that the piled substrates in PC, VC and WVC which were not turned, but rather watered periodically on top to maintain the moisture at optimum; the soluble ions might have gradually been leached down. Moreover in VC and WVC, owing to the smaller size of the pile and a relatively large quantity of water added, the leaching of those ions might have been even more pronounced than the PC. In WC on the other hand, the weekly turning and mixing up of the substrate might have helped the redistribution of the mineralized ions in the compost mass and hence the loss of those ions from the system through leaching might have relatively been reduced. This finding is in line with Lazcano et al. ( 2008 ) and Frederickson et al. ( 2007 ) who reported a significantly lower EC value for VC and WVC than WC. The EC value in the final product of all treatments was far below the threshold value of 3000 µS cm −1 indicating a material which can be safely applied to soil (Soumaré et al. 2002 ).

Evolution of total organic carbon

With advancement of the composting process, the total organic carbon content of the compost decreased consistently and significantly (P ≤ 0.01) for all the treatments (Fig.  4 ). The decrease in organic carbon content at the end of the composting process with respect to WVC, VC, WC and PC was 54.74, 54.52, 52.00, and 48.80%, respectively of their initial carbon content. The present finding is also in consent with the findings of Tiquia et al. ( 2002 ), who reported a total carbon loss that ranged from 50 to 63% in turned windrows and 30–54% in unturned windrows. Similarly, reviewing the works of other authors, Yadav et al. ( 2010 ) reported total organic carbon reduction values ranging between 26 and 66% during vermicomposting of wastes of various sources. The variation in the amount of OC lost from the different composting method may possibly be caused by differences in the aeration of the piled substrate. Turning the compost pile (in WC) and continuous borrowing and fragmenting of the material by earthworms (in VC and WVC) might have altered the aeration of the compost mass and accelerated the degradation process to enhance the loss of carbon as carbon dioxide. The results are in agreement with the findings of Guo et al. ( 2012 ) who demonstrated higher losses of carbon in treatments receiving higher rates of aeration.

Changes in total organic carbon in composting mixture of different composting methods with time. ( WC windrow composting, VC vermicomposting, PC pit composting, WVC combined windrow and vermicomposting). Different letters indicate significant differences at P ≤ 0.05

Evolution of total nitrogen

Changes in the total nitrogen of the different composting methods varied significantly (P ≤ 0.01) with the different sampling period, while the variation among the composting methods was found to be statistically insignificant (P > 0.05) (Fig.  5 ). The total nitrogen content of the initial raw material of all treatments was reduced significantly (P ≤ 0.01) during the first 20 days of composting. However, during the subsequent sampling, there was a gradual increment of total nitrogen, the maximum value being recorded at the 100th day. The decline in the total nitrogen during the first 20 days might be attributed to the loss of nitrogen in the form of ammonia which is apparent during the active phase of composting. Witter and Lopez-Real ( 1988 ) reported nitrogen losses that could amount to 50% and considered that nearly all nitrogen lost is due to ammonia volatilization.

Changes in total nitrogen in composting mixture of different composting methods with time ( WC windrow composting, VC vermicomposting, PC pit composting, WVC combined windrow and vermicomposting). Different letters indicate significant differences at P ≤ 0.05

The rise in total nitrogen after the 20th day may be caused due to a concentration effect that resulted from degradation of organic C compounds which in turn leads to weight loss and therefore, a relative increase of N concentration (Dias et al. 2010 ). As Bernal et al. ( 1998 ) explained the concentration of N usually increases during composting when the loss of volatile solid (organic matter) is greater than the loss of NH 3 . This would generally indicate that there was a relatively greater increase in total N compared with the decrease in the organic carbon content. The results of the present study would, therefore, justify that during the first 20 days of composting, losses of N through NH 3 volatilization occurred at a greater rate than organic matter degradation, while during the subsequent periods, the rate of N loss as NH 3 might be slower than the rate of dry matter loss as CO 2 . In addition, the N level might have also been increased due to the fixation of atmospheric N within the compost heap by the free living N fixing microorganisms’ activity that commonly occurs during the later stage of the composting process (Seal et al. 2012 ). In their co-composting study of pig manure and corn stalks, Guo et al. ( 2012 ) reported results that were in agreement with the trends of the present study—a general decrease of total nitrogen during the thermophilic phase followed by an increase then after.

Evolution of C:N Ratio

The C:N ratio of the composting material of all the treatments narrowed consistently and significantly (P ≤ 0.01) with the advancement of the composting time (Fig.  6 ). The initial C:N ratio of the raw material at day 0 was 19:1 which was within the recommended range suitable for composting (35–12) (Epstein 1997 ). This was found to decrease to nearly 11:1, 9:1, 10:1 and 9:1 at the 100th day of sampling for PC, VC, WC and WVC, respectively. Obviously, throughout the composting process the organic matter is decomposed by microorganisms through which the organic carbon was oxidized to CO 2 gas to the atmosphere and thus lowers the C:N ratio (Jusoh et al. 2013 ). This is in conformity with the findings of other studies (Kumar et al. 2009 ; Khwairakpam and Kalamdhad 2011 ).

Changes in C:N ratio of composting mixture in different composting methods with time ( WC windrow composting, VC vermicomposting, PC pit composting, WVC combined windrow and vermicomposting). Different letters indicate significant differences at P ≤ 0.05

C:N ratio value for PC was significantly (P ≤ 0.01) higher than the other methods of composting which were statistically at par (P > 0.05) with each other (Fig.  6 ). The variation seemed to arise mainly due to the differences in the amount of total organic carbon as could be witnessed from previous discussion and the same justification given above can also be claimed for the variation in C:N ratio among the different composting methods. Generally, the C:N ratios in the final product of all the treatments were found to be satisfactory because matured compost material usually has a C:N ratio of 15 or less (Hock et al. 2009 ).

As Gómez-Brandón et al. ( 2008 ) pointed out C:N ratio may not be a good indicator of compost stability because it can level off before the compost stabilizes. When wastes rich in nitrogen are used as source material for composting, the C:N ratio can be within the values of stable compost even though it may still be unstable. By the same token, Zmora-Nahum et al. ( 2005 ) reported a C:N ratio lower than the cut-off value of 15 very early during the composting of cattle manure, while important stabilization processes were still taking place. Correspondingly, in the present study, three of the four treatments (VC, WVC and WC) and PC achieved a C:N ratio of <15 at the 40th and 60th day of sampling, respectively, while the degradation of the organic material was still significant till the 60th and 80th days for the respective treatments. As evidenced earlier a statistically stable values for total organic carbon was observed during the 60th to 100th and 80th to 100th day of sampling for the respective treatments.

Evolution of \({\text{NH}}_{ 4}^{ + }\) , \({\text{NO}}_{ 3}^{ - }\) and \({\text{NH}}_{ 4}^{ + }\) :NO 3 ratio

The concentration of \({\text{NO}}_{ 3}^{ - }\) –N and \({\text{NH}}_{ 4}^{ + }\) –N varied significantly (P ≤ 0.001) for the different composting methods and over the different composting period, notwithstanding that all the treatments have generally shown similar pattern of changes in both ammonium and nitrate concentrations (Figs.  7 , 8 ). As can be seen from the graph (Fig.  7 ), all the composting methods showed a rise in \({\text{NH}}_{ 4}^{ + }\) –N concentration during the 20th day of sampling which was then declined sharply as evidenced at the 40th day and coming to decrease slightly from the 40th day until the end of the experiment (100th day).

Changes in \({\text{NH}}_{ 4}^{ + }\) concentration of composting mixture in different composting methods with time ( WC windrow composting, VC vermicomposting, PC pit composting, WVC combined windrow and vermicomposting). Different letters indicate significant differences at P ≤ 0.05

Changes in \({\text{NO}}_{ 3}^{ - }\) concentration of composting mixture in different composting methods with time ( WC windrow composting, VC vermicomposting, PC pit composting, WVC combined windrow and vermicomposting). Different letters indicate significant differences at P ≤ 0.05

The rise in \({\text{NH}}_{ 4}^{ + }\) –N concentration during the first 20 days was likely to be caused as a result of the mineralization of organic matter (the conversion of organic N to \({\text{NH}}_{ 4}^{ + }\) via the ammonification process), thus reflecting active transformation of organic matter and unstable substrate (Tognetti et al. 2005 ; Guo et al. 2012 ). Whereas the decrease in \({\text{NH}}_{ 4}^{ + }\) –N during the subsequent sampling periods was probably due to NH 3 volatilization (Gao et al. 2010 ), the microbial immobilization as nitrogenous compounds such as amino acids, nucleic acids and proteins and/or its oxidation to \({\text{NO}}_{ 3}^{ - }\) through nitrification process (Guo et al. 2012 ). An increase in \({\text{NH}}_{ 4}^{ + }\) –N concentration during the initial stage of composting and its reduction afterwards was reported by Gao et al. ( 2010 ).

The analysis of variance indicated that PC registered the highest concentration of \({\text{NH}}_{ 4}^{ + }\) –N during all the sampling period. However, a statistically significant (P ≤ 0.01) variation of \({\text{NH}}_{ 4}^{ + }\) –N among the treatments was recorded only at the 20th and 40th day of sampling (Fig.  7 ). Turning the piled substrate in WC and the smaller size and increased surface area of the vermibed in VC and WVC might have resulted in increased loss of ammonia leading to a relatively low level of ammonium at this day of sampling (20th day). The compost pile in PC, on the other hand, being not turned and mixed, the loss of N in the form of ammonia might have relatively been reduced and this might have contributed for the increased level of ammonium nitrogen in PC than the other methods of composting. Similar results were reported by Guo et al. ( 2012 ) who noted highest level of ammonium nitrogen in treatments with low than high aeration rate.

Regarding the \({\text{NO}}_{ 3}^{ - }\) –N, for all the treatments its level was sharply and significantly (P ≤ 0.01) decreased at the 20th day sampling than the initial. This might be caused due to either the leaching of nitrate by water during periodic watering of the composting mass or its immobilization by the decomposing microorganisms. During the subsequent composting period (20th to 60th days), however, the \({\text{NO}}_{ 3}^{ - }\) –N level came to be relatively stable and during these days the variation in \({\text{NO}}_{ 3}^{ - }\) –N level among all the treatments was insignificant (P > 0.05) (Fig.  8 ). This was followed by a sharp rise of \({\text{NO}}_{ 3}^{ - }\) –N after the 60th day (for WC, VC and WVC) and 80th day (for PC) as evidenced on the 80th and 100th day of sampling, respectively. At the end of the process (100th day), PC exhibited a significantly lower value of \({\text{NO}}_{ 3}^{ - }\) –N than the other methods of composting. It seems that due to the better aeration by earthworms (in VC and WVC) and turning of the piles (in WC), the oxidation of \({\text{NH}}_{ 4}^{ + }\) to \({\text{NO}}_{ 3}^{ - }\) might have been enhanced in the respective methods of composting than in PC.

The \({\text{NH}}_{ 4}^{ + }\) –N content of the starting material was clearly higher (1014.28 mg kg −1 ) than the \({\text{NO}}_{ 3}^{ - }\) –N content (684.5 mg kg −1 ), giving the \({\text{NH}}_{ 4}^{ + }\) : \({\text{NO}}_{ 3}^{ - }\) ratio to be 1.48. On course of the composting process the ratio was found to be raised sharply at the 20th day of sampling for all the treatments. This is followed by a drastic decline during the 40th day and coming to be declining gradually during the subsequent periods of composting (60–100 days) (Fig.  9 ). PC registered the highest ratio during all the sampling periods; however, a statistically significant variation among the composting treatments was noted only at the 20th and 40th day of sampling (Fig.  9 ). At the 20th day, the highest (13.57) and lowest (9.42) ratio was recorded for PC and WVC, respectively. At the 100th day of sampling the value was found to drop to 0.06, 0.026, 0.016 and 0.02, respectively for PC, VC, WC and WVC.

Changes in \({\text{NH}}_{ 4}^{ + }\) : \({\text{NO}}_{ 3}^{ - }\) ratio of composting mixture in different composting methods with time ( WC windrow composting, VC vermicomposting, PC pit composting, WVC combined windrow and vermicomposting). Different letters indicate significant differences at P ≤ 0.05

Critical limit values of <400 mg kg −1 for \({\text{NH}}_{ 4}^{ + }\) –N (Zucconi and de Bertoldi 1987 ), >300 mg kg −1 for \({\text{NO}}_{ 3}^{ - }\) –N (Forster et al. 1993 ) and <1 for \({\text{NH}}_{ 4}^{ + }\) -: \({\text{NO}}_{ 3}^{ - }\) ratio (Brewer and Sullivan 2003 ) has been established as a stability/maturity indices for composts of various origins. Concomitantly, except for PC all the other composting treatments satisfied the critical limits for stability/maturity at the 60th day of sampling. Whereas, PC achieved these values( \({\text{NO}}_{ 3}^{ - }\) –N and \({\text{NH}}_{ 4}^{ + }\) : \({\text{NO}}_{ 3}^{ - }\) ratio) at the 80th day, implying that PC was late to achieve the index value for maturity than the other three methods of composting and the same explanation given above pertaining to differences in aeration would also be suggested for the variation in these values among the treatments.

Evolution of total volatile solids (TVS)

The average total volatile solid (TVS) content of the raw waste was 523.4 mg kg −1 which steadily decomposed throughout the experimental period. The change in TVS with composting time showed the same pattern as the change in total organic carbon in that it decreases significantly (P ≤ 0.01) with the advancement of composting time. The greatest reduction in TVS was noted during the first 20 days of composting signifying the fast degradation of the substrate during this active phase of composting (Fig.  10 ). The decrease in TVS content of the sample indicates the degradation of organic matter of the waste during the composting process (Levanon and Pluda 2002 ). Values of TVS varied significantly (P ≤ 0.01) among the different methods of composting (Fig.  10 ). On the course of composting, the highest and lowest values of TVS were recorded for PC and WVC, respectively.

Changes in total volatile solids of composting mixture in different composting methods with time ( WC windrow composting, VC vermicomposting, PC pit composting, WVC combined windrow and vermicomposting). Different letters indicate significant differences at P ≤ 0.05

The analysis of variance revealed that the values of TVS for the three methods of composting (WC, VC and WVC) after the 60th day was insignificant (P > 0.05) indicating the stability of the product at the 60th day. Whereas, for PC a statistically stable value was achieved at the 80th day of composting, implying the relatively longer period of time the latter has taken for the product to be stable. This is due to the relatively slow rate of degradation of the organic matter in PC. The important role played by the earthworms in reducing the TVS through degrading wastes was reported by Yadav et al. ( 2012 ).

Phytotoxicity assessment

All the composting treatments followed the same general pattern of changes in germination index (GI) over the different sampling period and the variation in GI values among the treatments was insignificant (P > 0.05; Fig.  11 ). However, the values varied significantly (P ≤ 0.01) with the composting time. The lowest value of this variable was recorded at the 20th day of sampling which was of course statistically not different from the starting material (day 0). This was observed to increase with the advancement of composting period up to the 60th day and from the 60th day on it came to a more or less stable value with insignificant variation (Fig.  11 ). Tiquia and Tam ( 1998 ) also reported findings that are similar to the results of this study.

Changes in germination index (GI) of composting mixture in different composting methods with time ( WC windrow composting, VC vermicomposting, PC pit composting, WVC combined windrow and vermicomposting). Different letters indicate significant differences at P ≤ 0.05

The reason for the low germination index value of in the initial sample and the sample taken at the 20th day of the composting process could be attributed to the presence of phytotoxic compounds in the raw wastes and their production in the substrate during the active phase of composting. Phytotoxic compounds, such as; ammonium ions, fatty acids, and low molecular weight phenolic acids are reported to impair seed germination and root elongation (Delgado 2010 ; Gómez-Brandón et al. 2008 ). It was also evident from the chemical analysis of the raw material and compost samples of this study that the highest level of ammonium was recorded at the 20th day of sampling followed by the initial substrate at day 0. The detrimental effect of high levels of ammonium to seed germination and root elongation was reported in many other studies (Tiquia and Tam 1998 ; Selim et al. 2012 and Guo et al. 2012 ).

The rise in GI late at the 60th day might be due to the degradation of the phytotoxic compounds which were present in the initial raw wastes or produced during the active phase of composting as intermediate products of microbial metabolism (Bernal et al. 1998 ). According to Haq et al. ( 2014 ) compost with GI of more than 80% is considered to be matured and practically free of phytotoxic substances. In this study as indicated in the graph (Fig.  11 ), all the treatments were found to have a GI value of >80% at the 60th day of sampling, implying that, about 60 days were needed to overcome the threshold limit of 80% by reducing the phytotoxicity of the compost to levels consistent for a safe soil application (Soares et al. 2013 ).

Pathogen inactivation

Total faecal coliforms.

Except for VC all other methods of composting showed a substantial reduction in population of faecal coliforms at the 20th day of sampling. These treatments were effective in keeping the population of the faecal coliforms in the compost below the minimum allowable limit (<1000 cfu g −1 ) right at the 20th day. The reduction in the population of faecal coliforms in these methods of composting might be related to the high temperature generated in the compost pile during the thermophilic phase. Perhaps in this study the first sampling was taken at the 20th day, but it is likely that these methods could have attained such low population even much earlier than the 20th day. As per the reports of WHO ( 2006 ) and Schönning and Stenström ( 2004 ), pathogen inactivation in composting is achieved when temperatures above 50 °C are maintained for at least 1 week. Temperatures exceeding 50 °C were also recorded in those methods (WC, PC and WVC) involving thermophilic phase of the current study.

Some inconsistencies in reduction pattern of the faecal coliforms were detected in WC during the mesophilic and curing phase, where the population of these pathogens came to rise and fall at different sampling periods (Fig.  12 ). This may be due to the contamination of the compost mass from the external source during the periodic and manual turning of the compost pile.

Elimination of faecal coliform during co-composting of dried faecal sludge and municipal solid organic wastes with time. ( WC windrow composting, VC vermicomposting, PC pit composting, WVC combined windrow and vermicomposting). Different letters indicate significant differences at P ≤ 0.05

Regarding VC, contrary to the former methods, the number of the faecal coliforms was found to increase remarkably at the 20th day of sampling, this was then declined steadily during the subsequent sampling periods (Fig.  12 ). The increasing of faecal coliforms in VC during the 20th day of sampling could be attributed to creation of a good environment for multiplication of this pathogen through rehydration and subsequent availability of easily degradable substrates by dissolution following rehydration (Mupondi et al. 2010 ). The reports by Schönning and Stenström ( 2004 ) and WHO ( 2006 ) also indicated that certain types of pathogenic bacteria can increase in numbers when conditions favouring their growth are established in their storage medium/environment.

The reduction of the faecal coliforms population during the subsequent period of vermicomposting may be attributed to some activities of earthworms which possibly include: selective predation/consumption (Edward and Bohlen 1996 ; Kumar and Shweta 2011 ); mechanical destruction through action of gizzard (Edwards and Subler 2011 ); microbial inhibition through humic and coelomic acids or other enzymes secreted within the digestive tract (Edwards and Subler 2011 ); stimulation of microbial antagonists (Kumar and Shweta 2011 ); and indirectly through stimulation of endemic or other microbial species which outcompete, antagonize, or otherwise destroy pathogens (Edwards and Subler 2011 ).

Helminth egg count

During the composting process, there was a general reduction in the number of helminth eggs for all the treatments (Fig.  13 ). The total helminth egg count was found to decrease from 38.89 g −1 TS of the starting material to 8.33 (WC), 19.44(VC), 14.81 (PC) and 2.78 (WVC) in the final product as evidenced at the 100th day. These values correspond to a 78.57, 50, 61.9 and 92.86% total reduction of eggs for the respective treatments. It has been observed that the extent to which the helminth eggs were eliminated varied significantly with time and among the treatments (P ≤ 0.01). Those treatments involving thermophilic composting (WC, PC and WVC) demonstrated a drastic reduction of eggs during the first 20 days of the process when the active thermophilic phase was prevailing. This amounts to 84.85% (WC), 73.08% (PC) and 74.36% (WVC) of the total reductions recorded in the respective treatments. Whereas the treatment without a thermophilic phases (VC), the greatest reduction of helminth eggs was observed during the latter stages of the composting process. More than 75% of the total reduction was recorded after the 60th day of the process while only 23.81% of it was recorded during the first 40 days of the composting process.

Helminth eggs removal dynamics during co-composting of faecal sludge and municipal organic solid waste. ( WC windrow composting, VC vermicomposting, PC pit composting, WVC combined windrow and vermicomposting LSD Least significant difference). Different letters indicate significant differences at P ≤ 0.05

The highest reduction of eggs was achieved in WVC method followed by windrow method of composting (WC), while the sole vermicomposting method (VC) registered the lowest value (Fig.  13 ). However, only the former treatment (WVC) is complying with the WHO guidelines of <3–8 Ascaris egg g −1 TS while all the rest treatments were found to have egg counts more than the threshold limit. The result of this study clearly demonstrated that the high temperature produced in the thermophilic phase of the composting process is much more effective in sanitizing pathogenic parasites of faecal sludge than the earthworms did. It has been suggested that high temperature may increase the permeability of the Ascaris eggs’ shell, allowing transport of harmful compounds, as well as increasing the desiccation rate of the eggs (Koné et al. 2010 ).

Even though numerous authors reported the full elimination of parasitic eggs under thermophilic condition (Plym-Forshell 1995 ; Gantzer et al. 2001 ), this had not come about in the present study where helminth eggs were still detected despite the fact that the thermophilic condition (≥45 °C) was maintained for about 15–19 days. It is likely that the lethal temperature, being not evenly distributed throughout the piled biomass, the complete destruction of the eggs may not be ensured. The substrates that lay on the top of the pile, being exposed to the open atmosphere, might have experienced a relatively cooler temperature than the inner laid ones. Strauch ( 1991 ) suggested that composting ensures hygienization of the material on condition that all biomass is exposed to a sufficiently high temperature (55 °C for 14 days).

The temperature reading of the present study indicates that, on average, a high temperature of (>55 °C) was recorded only for 8 days in windrows and during which the pile was turned only once letting it to experience the high temperature of >55 °C for only a day after this first turning. This would therefore suggest that, had the piled feedstock been turned more frequently such that every 2 or 3 days, the biomass would have enjoyed the lethal high temperature uniformly and for relatively longer period of time and thus would have resulted in increased efficiency of helminth egg elimination. This justification is of course in argument with the reports of Koné et al. ( 2007 ) who demonstrated the non-significant effect of turning frequency on the inactivation efficiency of helminths egg. However, it has been explained that the size of the piled feedstock determines the magnitude of heat generated and the time duration in which the thermophilic phase would be maintained during the composting process. The larger the size of the pile the higher the magnitude of heat generated and the longer the thermophilic phase would be maintained within the pile, and thus the less frequently it can be turned. In cases where the pile size is smaller, the thermophilic phase would last for a short period of time; therefore, unless turned frequently there would be no chance for the out laid biomass to enjoy the lethal high temperature which is usually formed inside the pile. In the United States of America, the compost is regarded as hygienically safe if a temperature >55 °C is maintained in windrows for at least 15 days with a minimum of 5 turnings during the high temperature period (USEPA 1999 ).

Conclusions

The biodegradation process of organic wastes is markedly influenced by the methods of composting employed. Turned windrows (WC) and composting involving earthworms (VC and WVC) hasten the biodegradation process of organic wastes and result in the production of stable compost earlier than the traditional pit method of composting (PC). Even though all the tested methods of composting remarkably reduced the pathogenic organisms (faecal coliforms and helminth eggs), it was only the WVC method that qualify the standard set by WHO, keeping the concentration of helminth egg below the threshold level. Thus, elimination of pathogens from composts being a critical consideration, this study would recommend the WVC method for composting organic wastes involving human excreta.

Abbreviations

analysis of variance

colony forming unit

dried faecal sludge

electrical conductivity

germination index

faecal sludge

municipal solid waste

organic carbon

pit composting

total:nitrogen

total volatile solids

United States Environmental Protection Agency

vermicomposting

windrow composting

windrow plus vermicomposting

world health organization

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Authors’ contributions

TM conceived and carried out the study; performed the analyses and drafted the manuscript. HG participated in the design of the study; KK, KW, BS and HY participated in the design of the study supervised the analysis process and helped draft the manuscript. All authors read and approved the final manuscript.

Acknowledgements

This study was financially supported by the Ministry of Education of the Federal Democratic Republic of Ethiopia. Authors wish to thank the Sanitation and Beautification Agency (SBA) and Water Supply and Sewerage Authority (WSSA) of Dire Dawa City Administration for their cooperation in collecting and providing the compostable material.

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Mengistu, T., Gebrekidan, H., Kibret, K. et al. Comparative effectiveness of different composting methods on the stabilization, maturation and sanitization of municipal organic solid wastes and dried faecal sludge mixtures. Environ Syst Res 6 , 5 (2018). https://doi.org/10.1186/s40068-017-0079-4

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• Faecal coliform
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Composting: A Sustainable Route for Processing of Biodegradable Waste in India

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Surging populations, coupled with the ever-increasing demand for sustenance, have led to the generation of behemoth proportions of wastes throughout the globe. The processing of such a considerable amount of waste has raised concerns for environmental planners, policymakers, and researchers in regard to maintaining sustainability. Biodegradable waste is a part of the total waste stream. Consideration should be given to the importance of making better use of biodegradable waste. The technology that is adopted for the management of biodegradable waste should be ecologically sustainable and cost-effective, as well as beneficial to social well-being. The most efficient way of managing biodegradable waste must include different methods for the optimal utilisation of such waste, ranging from the small scale (single household) to the very large scale (entire city). Amid all the other waste processing technologies, composting stands out as a most potent option because of its ability to maintain and restore soil fertility, along with the transformation of waste into a resource. Composting is one of the few technologies which has a benefit–cost ratio higher than 1 at all scales of operation. This chapter analyses the most significant aspects of the composting process, including the recent developments and dynamics involved in it. The chapter discusses various aspects of composting via analysis of the integrated waste management system and composting-related projects implemented at the community level in the Indian context. Finally, the chapter presents policies and the efforts put in place by the Government of India with the aim of encouraging composting practice and related activities.

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Composting: An Alternative with Marked Potential for Organic Waste Management

From waste to wealth: exploring modern composting innovations and compost valorization

Organic waste composting and sustainability in low-income communities in Palestine: lessons from a pilot project in the village of Al Jalameh, Jenin

• Biodegradable waste
• Biological decomposition
• Community-based implementation
• Composting techniques
• Municipal solid waste (MSW) management
• Sustainable utilisation

1 Introduction

The swelling population, along with ever-increasing demands, has led to the generation of behemoth volumes of waste. The waste generation rate is proportional to the human population throughout the globe. Management of these enormous volumes of generated waste tends to put pressure on urban local bodies governing the cities or the urban parts of the Indian country. In the twenty-first century, solid waste management has gained significant consideration from various environmental planners, policymakers, non-governmental organisations and waste managers because of the negative environmental impacts resulting from unscientific management and adoption of unsafe disposal practices in respect of waste. The situation is particularly distressing in developing countries: municipal solid waste (MSW) can be spotted almost ubiquitously in the urban as well as semi-urban parts of most developing countries. Eco-friendly MSW management has become a challenging task in India due to the increasing population, unparalleled and unalterable urbanisation, as well as industrial development (Ramachandra et al. 2018 ). To give an idea of the size of the problem, Table 3.1 presents today’s MSW generated per capita in India and other developing countries, as well as the forecast figures (Hoornweg and Bhada-Tata 2012 ).

MSW poses a considerable risk to the surrounding environment, including water, soil, and human health. According to the Central Pollution Control Board (CPCB) report, the MSW in India has significantly higher fraction of organics (CPCB 2013a ). Enormous volumes of biodegradable solids get generated as earthly and aquatic weeds, leaf litter, and agricultural waste. The weeds, if left untreated, may infest the land and water resources and may lead to their depletion. In developing nations, the practice of burning agricultural waste and leaf litter in the open air is still prevalent, which not only abolishes the significant deal regarding carbon and other nutrients but also causes air pollution, resulting in global warming.

According to Tomić and Schneider ( 2017 ), different approaches have been adopted as alternatives to traditional methods of solid waste management. These include the reuse of MSW and biodegradables waste, which is done via thermal processing and bioprocessing techniques. Thermal processing techniques comprise incineration, pyrolysis, and gasification; however, these do not seem feasible due to the low calorific values (800–1000 kcal/kg for Indian MSW) of MSW generated in developing countries, high energy intensiveness, as well as the fact that they result in other environmental hazards. Bioprocessing techniques comprise anaerobic digestion and composting. Among all other waste processing technologies, composting seems to be a powerful option because of its ability to maintain and restore soil fertility, along with the transformation of waste into a resource. Composting is among the best known processes for the biological stabilisation of biodegradable waste and is one of the few technologies which has a benefit–cost ratio greater than 1 for all scales of operation.

Composting can be explained as the process of transforming the organic substrate into nutrient-rich manure through the medium of microbial communities. The prerequisite of the composting process is the availability of substrate in an organic origin (Gajalakshmi and Abbasi 2008 a). More precisely, composting signifies the process of the biodegradation of the mixture of organic substrate conducted by the populations of various microbial species in aerobic environments in the solid state.

The process of composting generally takes place in four phases, and they may occur concomitantly, rather than sequentially (Belyaeva and Haynes 2009 ). These four phases include:

The mesophilic phase

The thermophilic phase

The cooling phase

The curing phase

During the initial phase (the mesophilic phase), which is also termed the decomposition phase, the bacterial community present in the mixture of organic substrate combines oxygen with carbon to produce energy and carbon dioxide. A portion of the energy is utilised by the microorganisms for growth and reproduction processes, and the rest is released as heat. In this stage, the oxidation of easily degradable organic matter takes place, along with the proliferation of mesophilic bacteria, resulting in a rise in temperature of the substrate to be composted. These mesophilic bacteria may include E. coli and other bacterial strains which are inhibited by the temperature as the process is taken over by the thermophilic bacteria in the transition range.

The next phase, i.e. the thermophilic phase, which is also termed the stabilisation phase, involves the mineralisation of slowly degradable molecules, along with complex process like humification of lignocellulosic compounds. In this stage, a rise in temperature can be observed, which lasts only for a few days. After the completion of a thermophilic phase, the available manure seems to be digested, but the bristlier materials will remain intact. This phase is the cooling phase, in which the mesophilic microbes, which were hurtled away during the thermophilic phase, take over the system and start digesting the more resilient organic constituents of the substrate. Fungi and other macroorganisms like earthworms also enter back into the system.

A long curing time acts as a safety net for the destruction of remaining pathogens. The immature compost can be detrimental to plants and may even result in the production of phytotoxins. These phytotoxins may deprive the soil of nitrogen and oxygen and can contain higher levels of organic acids (Vandergheynst 2009 ).

2 Composting of Different Wastes

Composting is a cost-effective and clean option for waste disposal. It also offers extra benefits such as reduction of greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions, space taken by the landfill sites, and groundwater and surface water contamination by waste. The reduction in GHG emission consequently helps in regard to the issue of global warming/climate change (Hubbe et al. 2010 ).

Composting is a fundamental feature of an integrated solid waste management strategy. For effective integrated solid waste management, the key approaches are reducing, reusing, recycling, and managing waste to ensure environmental and human health safety. Local situations and needs vary from region to region and so does the composting process. Composting is a part of organic recycling, which converts organic waste into a nutrient-rich soil conditioner and also results in a reduction of GHG emissions (Lou and Nair 2009 ). The composting of different waste substrates is discussed in brief in the following subsections.

2.1 Agricultural/Lignocellulosic Waste

To maintain sufficient and long-lasting humus, biodegradable wastes, such as sawdust, wood shavings, coir pith, pine needles, and dry fallen leaves, are mixed together (Gajalakshmi and Abbasi 2008 ). However, it is observed that lignin-rich plant materials do not disintegrate rapidly. To enhance the decomposition, the waste material is treated with lime. They are mixed in a ratio of 5 kg of lime per 1000 kg of waste to prepare a good compost from hard plants. Lime can be in the form of dry powder or semi-solid substance when mixed with water. Liming weakens the lignin structure and enhances the humification process in plant residues, thus improving the humus quality (Hubbe et al. 2010 ). As an alternative to lime, phosphate rock in a dry powder state can be mixed in a ratio of 20 kg per 1000 kg of organic waste; it contains phosphates and micronutrients, which make a compost that is rich in plant nutrients. 

2.2 Sewage Sludge

Sludge from sewage can be mixed with carbon by-products from agricultural sources, such as straw, sawdust, or wood chips, to produce compost. Microorganisms and parasites, which can cause diseases, are killed by the heat generated from bacteria digesting both sewage sludge and plant material in the presence of oxygen. Proper air circulation is obtained by maintaining aerobic conditions under 10–15% oxygen and bulking agents like shredded tyres. Stiff materials separated from softer leaves and lawn clippings maintain better ventilation (Fang et al. 1999 ).

An insulating blanket of previously composted sludge is placed over aerated composting piles for uniform distribution of pathogen-killing temperatures. The composting mixture should have an initial moisture level of about 50%, but if the temperature is inadequate for pathogen reduction, then the compost moisture content rises above 60%. Hence, composting mixtures piled on concrete pads with built-in air ducts might improve air circulation (Fang et al. 1999 ). A blower drawing vacuum may be used to minimise odours. When the moisture reaches 70%, exhausting through filtering pile can be replaced. The accumulated liquid in the underdrain ducting may be returned to the sewage treatment plant. For better moisture control, roofing of composting pads is required.

After a small interval that is sufficient for pathogen reduction, undigested bulking agents are recovered for reuse. The optimum initial carbon-to-nitrogen ratio of a composting mixture is between 26:1 and 30:1, but the amount required to dilute concentrations of toxic chemicals in the sludge to acceptable levels for the intended compost use determines the composting ratio of agricultural by-products. Agricultural by-products have less toxicity; however, suburban grass clippings containing residual herbicide levels are detrimental to some agrarian purposes, and freshly composted wood by-products may contain phytotoxins that inhibit the germination of seedlings until detoxified by soil fungi (Jouraiphy et al. 2005 ).

Composting yard trimmings, agricultural wastes, and sewage sludge have increased the interest in composting of organic fractions from MSW. MSW contains materials that vary in size, moisture, and nutrient content, and the organic fractions can be mixed with varying degrees of non-compostable wastes and possibly hazardous constituents. Producing a market-savvy compost product requires a range of physical processing technologies, in addition to the biological process management (Varma and Kalamdhad 2013 ).

Modern MSW composting system consists of four tasks: collection, contaminant separation, sizing and mixing, and biological decomposition. The collection task is representative of the characteristics of the incoming waste, which largely determines the processing requirements of the remaining tasks. The separation task generates recyclable and rejects streams. Biological activity can be enhanced by increasing the surface area of the waste in size reduction, whereas mixing ensures the adequacy of nutrients, moisture, and oxygen in the material.

Evaluation of system design: Several criteria are important, like cost (capital, operations, and maintenance), market specifications for compost and recyclable by-products, and system flexibility to respond to a changing MSW feedstock. The economic analysis of a composting facility should evaluate options like landfilling or incineration, along with different ways of achieving the same goal. It should also include analysis of cost between source separation, centralised separation, contaminant removal, and market assessment for recyclable by-product streams and the compost product (Wei et al. 2017 ). A composting facility should consider the quality control and product, as it might be a problem if a particular technology produces a less recyclable product as compared to markets. A flexible facility will be able to adapt to changes in the regulatory environment, in market specifications, and in the waste stream. Hence, the MSW facility should be flexible, in order to operate in the long term.

2.4 Biomedical Waste

Biomedical waste needs to be pre-treated with 5% sodium hypochlorite (NaOCl) at the disposal site for safety measures (Dinesh et al. 2010 ). It should be subjected to an initial decomposition process by blending it with cow dung slurry and can be further treated using the vermicomposting technique. Various epigeal species of worms can be utilised for this purpose. Practising this methodology for treating biomedical wastes can make these worms more efficient in carrying out the decomposition process. Vermicomposting with proper handling of biomedical waste can be an energy-efficient, eco-friendly approach for reducing and recycling this hazardous waste (Dinesh et al. 2010 ).

3 Composting Techniques Used in India

The organic fraction comprises the significant portion of waste generated in developing countries like India, and due to improper waste management practices, only a minor portion of the total waste volume is processed. The composting technique has been divided into two categories: the first category comprises conventional composting techniques, while the other category includes novel composting techniques. Each of the composting techniques is explained in brief in the following section. Figure 3.1 shows different composting techniques adopted for processing various types of biodegradable waste.

Different composting techniques practised in India

3.1 Conventional Composting Techniques

Windrow composting.

In a windrow composting system, piles of waste are kept for the decomposition and aeration activity and are turned simultaneously. The turning of waste piles leads to the lowering of the temperature of the compost and also allows the circulation of air in the system. Windrow systems are comparatively economical since there is no such requirement of any mechanical tools for providing aeration. The height of the windrow depends on the type of waste substrate and the equipment or tool used for flipping purposes. The intermittent flipping of the waste heaps is necessary for maintaining the optimal temperature (Kumar 2011 ).

Aerated Static Pile Composting

In an aerated static pile composting system, the waste substrate is decomposed without any physical activity over 30–35 days. Perforated pipes are used for providing aeration to the waste piles. These waste piles can be kept open, covered, semi-covered, or in windrow form. The rate of aeration is one of the most critical factors in this type of composting system. The asperity of aeration produces the vertical temperature difference within the entire structure of the waste pile (Hubbe et al. 2010 ).

Vermicomposting

The process of vermicomposting involves the utilisation of earthworms of different species for the disintegration of semi-decomposed biodegradable waste. It has been found that the earthworms can consume up to five times their body mass every day. According to CPCB (CPCB 2013b ) report, the total number of composting and vermicomposting plants located in several states of India are shown in Fig. 3.2 . Earthworm species commonly used in the vermicomposting systems are Perionyx excavatus , Eudrilus eugeniae , and Eisenia foetida . These epigeal species are extremely prolific feeders which can devour diverse streams of organic waste.

Total number of composting and vermicomposting plants across India. (Source: CPCB 2013b )

Aerobic Composting

The aerobic composting system is carried out in the presence of air at a specific temperature and pH range where the microbial consortia decompose the biodegradable waste into a nutrient-rich bio-fertiliser (Monson and Murugappan 2010 ). During the aerobic composting process, the optimal rate of aeration can solve the problem of odours.

In-vessel Composting

The in-vessel composting system involves the decomposition of the organic fraction of the waste in a closed container or vessel in a controlled environment (Manyapu et al. 2017 ). Various in-vessel composting systems comprise rotating drums and agitated bags. Instinctive aeration and mechanical agitation can enhance the decomposition process and boost the rapid composting process. Motorised agitation may lead to contravention of particles, providing a healthier contact of the microorganisms with the carbon, while the higher temperature in the vessels can finish the pathogenic activities in the system, and an unceasing aeration results in the removal of odours from the system (Monson and Murugappan 2010 ).

3.2 Novel Composting Techniques

To overcome the problems associated with conventional composting practices and to improve the efficiency of the composting system, different researchers and environmentalists throughout the globe have adopted various approaches for effectual composting of biodegradable waste; these are termed novel composting techniques in this chapter. One of the approaches, called the co-composting technique, involves the utilisation of different waste substrates; another approach involves utilisation of arthropods like millipedes, black soldier flies, and similar organisms for composting purposes. Both of these techniques are explained in brief in this section.

Co-composting of Different Waste Substrates

This is a technique in which two different waste substrates are mixed together and applied to augment the composting activity. Co-composting of the waste substrate using specific type of bulking agent can offer sufficient particle structure and the denseness of the particles may tend to provide airspace needed for improving the aerobic microbial activity, leading to an increased rate of biodegradation. Various researchers have utilised food waste as a substrate for co-composting with other waste substrates because of their unique characteristics. Practising the co-composting of food waste can prove to be the best solution for processing food waste. Food waste can be blended with other waste substrates like chopped hay, rice husks, wooden chips, wheat straw, rice bran, sawdust, and other similar biodegradable waste to maintain the favourable carbon/nitrogen (C/N) ratio, void spaces, moisture, and nitrogen content. The problem regarding the lower pH of the food waste can be solved by adding sodium acetate in the mixture of the waste, to balance the pH level of the system. Similarly, different feedstocks, like pig manure, poultry litter, etc., can be applied for co-composting activities with other supplementary waste substrates (Kumar et al. 2018 ).

Composting Using Arthropods

Among the different techniques practised for the management of biodegradable waste, fertilising the soil is the most favoured one. In recent years, novel techniques have been developed for efficient composting of biodegradable waste, and various arthropods have been used in the composting process. Many species of insects are efficiently utilised for reprocessing and transforming waste of vegetal origin. The blends of different types of waste formed at diverse stages of decomposition entice an essential species of arthropods whose life cycle is over in the compost, while any further addition to it enhances the decomposition process. These arthropodal species boost the development of the consentient species (Kumar et al. 2018 ). Arthropods like millipedes and black soldier fly larvae have been successfully used by Karthigeyan and Alagesan ( 2011 ) and Diener et al. ( 2015 ) for the composting of different types of organic waste. The millipedes transform the waste substrate into faecal pellets, which affect the required physicochemical characteristics by decreasing the C/N ratios (Karthigeyan and Alagesan 2011 ).

4 Composting as a Technique for Solid Waste Management in the Indian Scenario

Like other developing countries, India is also confronting solid waste management as one of the major issues it faces. Due to the expeditious growth in population, urbanisation, and industrialisation, India is switching towards an industrial and service-based economy and away from an agricultural-based economy. India has 29 states and 7 union territories and has climatic, geographical, ecological, cultural, traditional, and religious heterogeneity. The present urban population of India accounts for 31.2% (377 million) of its total population (Census 2011 ). As per CPCB (CPCB 2013b ), India generated about 127,486 tonnes per day (TPD) of waste in 2011, out of which 89,334 TPD (70%) was collected; only 15,881 (12.45%) of the total waste was processed (CPCB 2013b ). Being a developing country, the organic fraction of MSW in India is usually high. The urban MSW composition in Indian cities contains approximately 40% organic, 40% inert, and 19% of recyclable fractions (Sharholy et al. 2008 ). India has 279 composting plants, 138 vermicomposting facilities, 172 bio-methanation processors, 29 pelletisation plants, and 34 landfill sites across the country (Planning Commission 2014 ). From the numbers, it can be understood that composting technology is the most favoured and recommended among all the other technologies for efficient waste management. The problem of waste management is still prevalent in the country and is one of the major concerns for urban local bodies, which govern the urban parts of the country. In spite of the facilities above, it is believed that 90% of waste in India is dumped in an unscientific manner (Gajalakshmi and Abbasi 2008 ). The average per capita waste generated ranges from approximately 0.17 to 0.62 kg depending on location, economic activity, and culture (Kumar et al. 2009 ). The rapid composting technique is highly encouraged in big Indian cities. Indore composting centre is one of the foremost maintained composting plants in the country. Considering different zones in India, the following subsections discuss the current scenario of composting in several cities, along with the overall scenario of composting on the ground level.

4.1 Composting in the City of Kolkata

Kolkata city is the capital of the state of West Bengal. According to the South Asian Forum for the Environment, Kolkata generates 4000 tonnes of waste per day, out of which 37% is compostable (Dutta 2018 ). The major issue being faced by the Kolkata Municipal Corporation is the unavailability of land. The only landfill site in the region is “Dhapa”, and it is already oversaturated from use over the last 30 years. The Dhapa dumpsite is located in the East Kolkata Wetlands, which is a Ramsar Convention Wetland. Dhapa dumpsite alone contributes to 7500 cubic metres of GHGs per hour (Times News Network 2013 ). According to a news daily, Kolkata city needs at least two solid waste treatment plants for the efficient management of waste (Dutta 2018 ). Keeping in view the massive problem of waste management, many housing complexes and societies have started installing compost machines within their premises for the treatment of MSW generated from household activities. The Belani Group of Companies, which is a housing development firm, has installed two composting facilities near the Hiland Riverside project in Batanagar. It has been announced that the Kolkata Municipal Corporation will be installing a similar composting facility in Tollygunge, Madhyamgram, and Rajarhat. These areas are among the most densely populated regions in Kolkata city and are also being developed at a rapid pace. Over 1100 apartments in South City (Residential Complex) in Kolkata have also joined this movement and have decided to sensitise the MSW for soon implementing the same mechanism in their housing complexes (Desai 2018 ). A small town in West Bengal named Uttarpara has helped Kolkata in receiving a prestigious award under the Urban Solid Waste Management category in the C40 Mayors’ Summit held in Mexico on 1 December 2016, for its exclusive and effective solid waste management, which was mainly focussed on the segregation of waste at source. It was found that all the waste in Uttarpara is separated at source into biodegradable and non-biodegradable categories (Rao 2016 ). It has been reported that, earlier, a dumpsite, with debris ranging up to 50 ft. in length, was present in the town. However, a composting facility has been installed there and is operating successfully (Bhattacharya 2016 ). Nowadays, the composting facility at Uttarpara receives about 12–14 tonnes of raw biodegradable waste and produces 3 to 4 tonnes of manure per day (Rao 2016 ). The attitude of negligence towards the dumping site in Kolkata resulted in deplorable hygiene conditions and health impacts. Kolkata is a metropolitan city which is gradually moving towards a clean society. Small steps may gradually change the current scenario, but at the same time, the pace needs to be boosted to overcome the surging waste management problems.

Similarly, to promote sustainable waste management and utilise the nutrient-rich manure from composting processes, two female entrepreneurs from Kolkata, namely, Avantika Jalan and Rashmi Sarkar, have created a social enterprise called Mana Organics to recover soil fertility by producing chemical-free organic compost. Currently, they are operating four small composting projects: one in Tinsukia city, situated in the state of Assam, and the other three in villages in Madhya Pradesh. The compost produced from these composting facilities is marketed and sold in New Delhi and Kolkata. The firm started with a capital of 33.75 Lacs Rupees in 2011 (Basu 2014 ). Both entrepreneurs were inspired by their visit to Khargone district in the state of Madhya Pradesh. During their visit, they observed that a few regions in that district were devastated due to the failure of the cotton crop, and so they decided to help in solving the problem of the farmers (Basu 2014 ). The composting technique was adopted to manage the organic waste generated by agricultural and household activities to produce chemical-free organic manure, and they also spread awareness about the same among the farmers. Today, Mana Organics works with Adivasi (tribal) farmers in three villages of Madhya Pradesh: Sultanpur, Lachera, and Koriyakal (Basu 2014 ).

4.2 The Scenario of Composting in Delhi

Delhi is a union territory and the capital of India, and its present population is 11 million (Census 2011 ). According to a renowned environmental magazine, Down to Earth , Delhi generates 9500 TPD of waste, out of which 8000 TPD is collected and transported to three landfill sites, namely, Bhalswa, Ghazipur, and Okhla (Mudgal 2015 ). In some localities of the city, like Dwarka, Defence Colony, Sarita Vihar, Preet Vihar, and Dilshad Garden, composting facilities are already installed in their respective community parks, and segregation at source at the domestic level is being practised. The chairman of Delhi Municipal Corporation, Mr. Naresh Kumar, claimed that five localities in the state would become self-sustainable and would be transformed into a zero waste discharge site by the end of 2018 (Mudgal 2015 ). These five North Delhi Municipal localities are Pandara Park, Jor Bagh, Kaka Nagar, Bapa Nagar, and Golf Links. This idea was proposed in collaboration with a local resident welfare association. This plan emphasised segregation at source and separation into the wet waste, dry waste, and e-waste categories (Halder 2017 ). Delhi has three centralised composting plants at Narela, Bhalswa, and Okhla, which process around 500 TPD of biodegradable waste. Temples in Delhi are also coming forward to contribute to green practices. In Jhandewalan Temple, 5000–10,000 devotees visit every day, which results in the generation of 200 kgs of floral waste per day. On Tuesdays and Sundays, the waste generation rises to 500 kg, and during Navratri Puja (Goddess Festival), it goes up to about 1 TPD (Desai 2018 ).

In 2013 Delhi University invested 4 Lacs Rupees in the renowned college “Miranda House” to encourage composting within its premises to manage biodegradable waste most efficiently. The institute uses the raw material, comprising a mixture of horticulture and kitchen waste in a 1:3 ratio, for composting. The period required for composting is about 12–15 days (Mudgal 2015 ). The institute collaborated with Green Bandhu Environmental Solutions & Services, and now they produce 60 kgs of organic compost every day. It is encouraging the use of compost for recreational purposes in the region. The institute also earns around 4000–5000 Rupees by selling the supplementary compost produced from the composting plant and ultimately saves 12,000 Rupees which would have been incurred in the transport of waste (Mudgal 2015 ).

The General Pool Residential Complex in New Moti Bagh region is spread across 110 acres, with 1100 families. In 2013, this residential complex installed a composting facility provided by Green Planet Waste Management Pvt. Ltd. An area of 300 m 2 was needed for the composting facility, which receives around 700 kg of kitchen waste and 900 kg of horticultural waste per day (Mudgal 2015 ). The period required to get a matured compost is 15–20 days, thus producing organic compost. The company invested about 8 million Rupees in setting up this plant, and now the operators are struggling to recover the expense invested in installing the facility. A financial crisis or losses may result in its failure (Mudgal 2015 ).

The Defence Colony in the state of Delhi is practising composting for its kitchen waste using effective microorganisms (EM1) microbial solution-based pit composting. The composting period for this technology is relatively high, at 3–4 months. This setup requires a land area of just 30 m 2 , costing 70,000 Rupees only (Mudgal 2015 ). The cost for every household served by this plant is 45 Rupees only, which is quite affordable. This setup was established by the Residential Welfare Association (RWA), with the help of a non-profit organisation named Toxics Link. Two rag pickers are trained by the RWA to operate the compost facility, and their wages are paid for from the compost facility itself.

Recently, the North Delhi Municipal Corporation has declared that it will shortly set up four “bio-methanation” and “aerobic drum compost plants” under its jurisdictions. The bio-methanation plants are proposed to deal with green waste, having an intake capacity of 5 TPD, and the compost plants will have a capacity of 1 TPD load. These plants will deal with green waste generated from RWAs, parks, and vegetable markets. The total expenditure for 5 years for the procurement, operation, and maintenance of the plants would be a minimum of 17.95 Crores (Adak 2018 ).

4.3 Status of Composting in Nagpur City

Nagpur is the third largest city in the state of Maharashtra and ranks 13th in terms of population in India. Nagpur is a central part of India, with a population of more than 2.4 million (Census 2011 ). The average waste collection in Nagpur is 1119 TPD, out of which only 200 TPD is processed by Hanjer Biotech Energies Pvt. Ltd. This company produces 35–40 tonnes of compost daily, which is sold to Rashtriya Chemicals and Fertilizers (Times News Network 2017 ). A waste characterisation of Nagpur city was performed by CSIR-NEERI in all ten zones of the city. The sampling sites were decided based on different sources of wastes, viz. residential (slum and non-slum areas) and institutional areas, community bins, commercial areas, and disposal site. The household waste composition indicated a 77% organic fraction, 11.60% plastic, 7.66% paper, and 3.74% textiles and cardboard. However, the average value of all ten zones had a waste composition comprising 60% organic fraction, 15.50% plastic, 11.20% paper, 2.10% inerts, and the remaining 11% including wood, metal, glass, and other parts (Dutta 2017 ). The total waste dumped during the year 2016–2017 was estimated at approximately around 14,000 TPD by the Nagpur Municipal Corporation (NMC). Initially, the garbage was processed for bio-mining and then segregation, harrowing, and finally spraying of bio-cultures to speed up the degradation. This process proved effective in reducing the height of the piled waste to some extent. However, there is a need to market the produced compost. A recent massive fire and the unpleasant odour of the waste indicate that enormous challenges remain (Times News Network 2017 ).

The NMC also launched one project in June 2017 to deal with garden waste. This was a pilot project: they planned to include five gardens in the city and a women’s self-help group in the processing of biodegradable waste. This initiative was undertaken to reduce the burden of waste, in terms of transportation, as well as at the dumpsite. Provision was made to utilise the compost produced by any garden in the same garden (Dutta 2017 ).

4.4 The Scenario of Composting in Alappuzha and Thiruvananthapuram

Alappuzha and Thiruvananthapuram are cities located in the state of Kerala in the southern part of India. The populations of Alappuzha and Thiruvananthpuram 1,74,176 and 7,43,691, respectively (Census 2011 ). The Centre for Science and Environment, which is a not-for-profit public interest research and advocacy organisation based in New Delhi, assessed the performance of 20 cities for waste segregation at source, transportation, waste processing, and adoption of decentralised systems. In this assessment, these two cities won the four-leaf award and were ranked second in position, after Vengurla, which is a town in the Sindhudurg district of Maharashtra. Under the “Clean Home, Clean City” (Nirmal Bhavan, Nirmal Gram) initiative, the Alappuzha established a pipe composting system, an aerobic composting system, and biogas plants. The municipality set up fixed as well as portable biogas plants in both residential and public places. According to the renowned magazine Down to Earth , this pilot project soon was successful and benefited almost 40,000 households in 52 wards (Agarwal 2017 ). This progress of waste management was the result of a protest in 2012 in response to the shutting down of the dumping site at Sarvodayapuram, where garbage had been dumped for decades. This protest turned into a movement, and cameras were installed to catch people who litter. Alappuzha saved approximately 11 Lacs Rupees on transportation and liquefied petroleum gas bills. The city was recognised by United Nations Environmental Programme (UNEP), alongside four other anti-pollution cities across the world. The other four cities in the list were Osaka (Japan), Ljubljana (Slovenia), Penang (Malaysia), and Cajica (Colombia) (Agarwal 2017 ).

In Thiruvananthapuram, composting is being practised at the household level. Thiruvananthapuram consists of 100 wards, and each ward has 2500–3000 households (Bhardwaj 2017 ). The residents receive assistance on the technical element of composting. For composting at the source, local service providers put forward a three-layered bin and 30 l coco peat-based inoculum. The local service provider collects only the biodegradable waste. The technician will assist in the operations and also collects the compost if it is not required by the household and charges 200 Rupees monthly for providing the services (Bhardwaj 2017 ). The residents are also encouraged to use biodegradable products and to boycott non-biodegradable products through a programme called “Green Protocol”, which was launched by the state government of Kerala during the Onam celebrations, which is Kerala’s grand festival.

4.5 The Overall Scenario of Composting in India

Organic matter makes up more than 65% of MSW generated in India (NEERI Report 2012 ). If this organic fraction of MSW is processed by employing technologies like composting and anaerobic digestion, it can result in a reduction of 50% of the load on landfill sites. In India, only 10–12% of the total MSW is processed by means of composting, and the resulting compost possesses a poor nutrient value and mostly contains heavy metals like zinc, copper, lead, cadmium, lead, nickel, and chromium in higher concentrations as compared to the prescribed standard for compost (Hoornweg et al. 2000 and Waste to Energy Research Council 2012 ). This poor quality of compost is mainly due to the mixed nature of the waste (Hoornweg et al. 2000 ). Due to a lack of a continuous supply of feedstock to the compost plant and improper management, composting of biodegradable waste is not successful at large scale in India.

Similarly, improper segregation of waste, higher costs involved in the operation and maintenance of composting plants, and higher costs of manure than chemical fertiliser are major reasons for its non-viability in the Indian context (UNEP 2004 ). From a field survey, it was observed that many places in India face a failure of composting plants. For example, a windrow composting plant at Durgapur (300 TPD) and Kamarhati (200 TPD), West Bengal, was not able to achieve sales breakeven point due to issues with the waste characteristics; the plants are about to close. In the same state of West Bengal, the vermicompost plant at Chandannagar and Kalyani is performing well, but the vermicompost plants at Panihati (100 TPD), Bhadreshwar (20 TPD), and Khardah (30 TPD) are in poor shape because of the large variation in the waste characteristics and lack of supervision in the quality control of the product. The same situation applies to the vermicomposting plant (50 TPD) at Bidhannagar. The Kolkata Municipal Corporation is operating a 200 tonnes capacity windrow composting plant sporadically, at less than one-fourth of its capacity, due to the variation in waste characteristics. The compost plants at Mangalore (300 TPD) and Mysore (400 TPD) in the state of Karnataka and a 500 TPD compost plant situated at Nasik in the state of Maharashtra are also processing at lower plant capacity (Aich and Ghosh 2019 ).

5 Capacity Building Efforts: Strategies and Schemes Launched by the Government of India

Indian MSW management has good potential for composting as waste because it contains a significant amount of organic waste. A decentralised composting system is an appropriate option for India to efficiently run a composting unit. The Indian Government is also encouraging decentralised composting systems, since many environmentalists, policymakers, and researchers have advised that composting is the most feasible and effective waste management technique, in comparison to other techniques (Aich and Ghosh 2019 ). The government has also developed schemes for MSW capacity building in the country (Ministry of Chemicals and Fertilisers (MOC&F) 2017 ). Door-to-door waste collection and segregation at the source aid in the collection of waste that has similar characteristics and its disposal at the right place in an economical and efficient manner. A Market Development Assistance scheme has also been launched to enhance capacity building for the compost market. The Indian Government is encouraging all stages of capacity building for city compost. In the last few years, all countries throughout the globe have begun developing strategies for the management of solid waste in a sustainable manner. Composting, as a part of integrated solid waste management, is effective in almost all scenarios. In view of this, the Government of India has also framed different policies and strategies to encourage the practice of composting in India. Schemes like “Swachh Bharat Mission” promote the concept of cleaner and greener cities. Most of the challenges related to the efficient management of MSW in the country are stated in the CPHEEO ( 2016 ). The management of solid waste in the country is among the key factors in urban development, and for this reason, the Government of India has launched different schemes, including the Atal Mission for Rejuvenation and Urban Transformation (AMRUT), Jawaharlal Nehru National Urban Renewal Mission (JNNURM), Swachh Bharat Mission, and Smart Cities Mission. In these schemes, solid waste management is generally associated with the water supply system, storm drain system, and sewerage system. Regarding organic waste management, in particular, one recent report, “34th Report on Implementation of Policy on Promotion of City Compost”, was presented in the Parliament (Lok Sabha) on 10 April 2017. This report addressed one of the most serious problems associated with urbanisation. According to this report, the stated framework of City Compost is explained in the following section:

The “Swachh Bharat Mission” scheme is very closely associated with organic waste processing and its use as compost. Hence it can be considered as a rational part of this scheme.

The composting process helps in reducing the amount of waste at landfill sites.

Composting also prevents GHG emissions and harmful toxic materials from leaching into groundwater.

The organic carbon constituent of compost is useful in maintaining and improving soil fertility.

According to the Ministry of Urban Development, the entire potential of city compost plant in India is 0.71 MT per year, while the current production is 0.15 MT per year.

In the view of this, the MOC&F of the Government of India released a notification in Parliament (Lok Sabha), dated 10 February 2016, to promote city compost schemes (MOC&F 2017 ). The key features of the scheme are as follows:

An amount of 1500/− Rupees will be provided per tonnes of city compost in the form of marketing development, which in turn will encourage the manufacturing and marketing of the city compost.

At the initial stage, the existing fertiliser manufacturer will be promoted by the marketing of city compost. Meanwhile, other marketing entities marked by concerned state governments may also be involved, with the approval of the Department of Fertilisers.

The manufacturer involved in the promotion and sale of city compost may get a subsidy as per the decision of the Department of Fertilisers.

A fertiliser manufacturer can co-market city compost with chemical fertilisers through their network in the market.

Companies will adopt the village to encourage city compost utilisation.

The government and public sectors in India will also promote the use of city compost for their gardens and horticulture, to the greatest possible extent.

Farmers should be educated about the benefits of city compost through information, education, and communication campaign conducted by the Department of Agriculture, Cooperation, and Farmers’ Welfare. Agricultural universities will also participate in the same.

The Ministry of Urban Development will look after installations of the compost plants across the state.

A Bureau of Indian Standards (BIS) or eco-mark will be developed with the association of BIS to ensure good quality of compost and so its acceptance among farmers.

Government bodies like the Department of Agriculture and Fertilisers and the Ministry of Urban Development will be involved in monitoring to provide information on the availability of city compost. This mechanism will help compost manufacturers and fertiliser marketing concerning coordination issues.

Expenditure on market development assistance will be met from the budget provision for the Department of Fertilisers.

As a result of this notification, fertiliser companies have adopted 100 villages to promote the city compost. After the implementation of this policy, the production of compost plants is expected to increase, and the target is the processing of 100% of MSW. Significant results are expected to be seen in a year (MOC&F 2017 ). Decentralised composting units are a feasible option, but skilled manpower is required in good strength. The Indian Government is helping right from waste pickers to farmers with appropriate schemes for the efficient management of organic waste in a sustainable manner.

The Indian Government is also taking steps towards spreading awareness among citizens and by providing e-learning for MSW practices. These courses involve case studies to explain the appropriate options for particular situations. Specialised courses on composting are included in the subcategory of the 200 series (205, 206, 214, 217, 230, 235, and 252) (CPHEEO 2016 ). This course has been designed to systematically enhance capacity building on composting in India. These courses comprise several case studies of Indian cities, such as Vijayawada, Coimbatore, Bengaluru, Thiruvananthapuram, and Kochi. Apart from the case studies, these courses offer training on choosing suitable composting facilities (CPHEEO 2016 ).

6 Conclusion and Recommendations

Composting has been practised in India for a long time. However, the extent of its use is surging with time and need. At present, waste management has become a major challenge due to the unscientific practices of waste management observed in the past few decades. Composting technology can be successful or may fail: this depends on its planning and execution. Decentralised composting is burgeoning in India, as the management of smaller units is comparatively easier than bigger units, and the installation cost also affects the financial sustainability of the operational plant. Implementing composting plants of greater capacity generally requires huge investments, and recovering the invested amounts becomes difficult; thus, the losses incurred may lead to the closure of the plants. As discussed earlier, the installation of decentralised smaller composting units is effective at the ground level (MHUA 2018 ).

One of the major factors in the sustenance of composting plants is community participation. The active participation of the general masses is extremely important; if waste is segregated at the source itself, then the management of waste can be done most effectively. Earlier, the Indian population was negligent towards waste segregation; however, changes in behaviour started when Indians started experiencing the unpleasant views, odours, and health issues that arise due to growing volumes of MSW left unmanaged. Moreover, awareness of the health risks related to unprofessional MSW management has increased. Cities like Alappuzha, Thiruvananthapuram, Mysuru, Panjim, and Panchgani are progressing towards the concept of zero waste discharge and becoming self-sustainable cities. In mega metro cities, adopting composting technology for effective waste management is still a major issue, due to behemoth volumes of waste generation, and in big cities, composting is still a big issue as the amount of waste generated is too huge to manage.

Busy lifestyles, coupled with higher living standards, in the urban parts of the country have also led to negligence regarding the management of waste. However, the critical steps taken by the government to manage generated wastes and put to better use have also resulted in a change in the perspective of the general population. It has been observed that the population is becoming aware of problems associated with effective waste management and is becoming more conscious regarding the effectual management of waste. People are sensitised about this topic, and they are trying to involve themselves more in waste management activities.

Adopting composting techniques for processing organic waste has shown a fair reduction in emissions, as well as in the cost involved in different waste management techniques. Cities with successful operation composting facilities are inspiring other cities to adopt the same, thus resulting in a reduction in their investment and emissions. Apart from these benefits, the general population is also experiencing health benefits, which are also extremely important. If the metro cities plan to install large-scale composting units, precise planning for the recovery of cost should be done in advance by forming various market strategies. It will always prove beneficial to install and operate a pilot-scale composting unit rather than directly going for large-scale composting plants. A reconnaissance study of the concerned region, along with the characteristics of the waste and the acceptance of the technology, should be carried out before the installation of the composting plants. Different urban parts of the country are gradually coming forward to join the initiative for sustainable waste management in India. The government is also encouraging them to manage their waste by providing technical assistance, subsidies for plant installation, and a compost market. The government schemes and strategies are also playing a paramount role in successful compost plant operation.

As described in previous sections, several schemes supporting the composting of organic waste generated from the urban regions of the country have been launched and promoted by the Government of India. Despite all the policies and schemes framed by the government, their implementation on the ground level is still a major challenge. From experience, it has been found that the ruling government has tried to implicate all the perspectives of a composting technique for making it feasible. Different states in the country have different perspectives on and different visions of composting. Sates which have been practising composting for a few years have a commercial approach, while states in the country which are planning to adopt composting to manage their waste have a sustainable approach, ultimately resulting in sustainable development. The efforts taken by the government to promote composting technology should be appreciated, and the policies should be strictly followed to ensure their successful implementation. It is the fundamental duty of every citizen to consider their country as their own home and to take care to keep it green and clean .

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Mandpe, A., Kumari, S., Kumar, S. (2020). Composting: A Sustainable Route for Processing of Biodegradable Waste in India. In: Hettiarachchi, H., Caucci, S., Schwärzel, K. (eds) Organic Waste Composting through Nexus Thinking. Springer, Cham. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-030-36283-6_3

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Composting can help fight climate change. Get started in 5 easy steps

Julia Simon

Credit: Becky Harlan/NPR

This story was originally published on April 8, 2020, and has been updated.

Climate change is affecting our food, and our food is affecting the climate. NPR is dedicating a week to stories and conversations about the search for solutions .

About 8% of planet-heating emissions come from wasted food , and about 30% to 40% of food gets wasted in the United States.

But as much as you're meal planning and reducing your food waste , there are certain things you're just not going to eat — like banana peels, or, if you're me, a frightening amount of pineapple tops.

Keeping food out of landfills can help fight climate change . And, luckily, there's an easy solution for your home food waste: Composting!

It doesn't matter if you're in a suburban home or a tiny apartment. This guide will help you turn your food waste into beautiful earthy compost in five simple steps.

1. Select your food scraps

Start with fruits and veggies — the skin of a sweet potato, the top of your strawberry. Also tea bags, coffee grounds, eggshells, old flowers — even human hair!

Meat and dairy products, though, are asking for trouble. Leonard Diggs is the director of operations at the Pie Ranch Farm in Pescadero, California. He says you gotta ask yourself, "Do you attract rodents? Do you attract animals to your pile? Meat products are likely to do that."

Other things that may attract pests? Cooked food, oily things, buttery things and bones.

Also important to note that some products say "compostable" on them — like "compostable bags" and "compostable wipes." Those are compostable in industrial facilities, but they don't really work for home composting.

2. Store those food scraps

How To Reduce Food Waste

When you're composting, your kitchen scraps should be part of a deliberate layering process to speed up decomposition. There's a method for adding them to the pile ( see step 4! ), so you'll need to store them in a container so you can add them bit by bit.

"It doesn't have to be, you know, all the things that you find online that are really cute little ceramic containers," says Diggs. He says it "can just be an old milk carton. When you make the first chop of the butt of that asparagus, boom, it could go right in there."

Also, you can store the food scraps in a bag in your freezer or the back of the fridge. That's an easy way to avoid odors and insects in your kitchen.

3. Choose a place to make your compost

Worms make great pets, and other reasons to compost at home.

For this step, you gotta think about the space you're currently living in.

If you don't have a backyard and still want a traditional composting experience you can take your food scraps to a compost pile that you share with neighbors or at a community garden.

If you want to break down your food scraps in your own apartment, there are still options. Jeffrey Neal , founder and chief executive of Loop Closing , a composting business in Washington, D.C., is a big fan of worms . He says you don't need a big container for " vermicomposting " — a 5 gallon box will do. Or you can go bigger.

"There are times when I made [my worm box] an ottoman so I could relax with my feet up on them! You can use it like a piece of furniture."

Another small space idea, Neal says, is fermenting your food scraps with a Japanese method called Bokashi . "All you need is a container you can seal and Bokashi mix, a colony of bacteria on grain." (Here's some more info on how to use worms and Bokashi.)

Of course, it's totally fine if you want to give your food scraps to someone else to make compost. Some municipalities will pick up your food scraps from your home. You can also ask your local grocery stores, restaurants or farmers markets to see if they have programs to take food scraps.

If you do have some outdoor space, your compost bin doesn't have to be complicated. "I think keeping it simple," Diggs says. An old trash bin, an old wooden chest — just work with what you have available.

You can also buy a bin online or Diggs says, "You could just create the pile naked!" Basically you can just have a heap of compost — but don't put it up against a wall as it could stain it.

4. Make the compost mix

In the world of composting you're inevitably gonna hear about "the greens and browns" — the two main ingredients for your mix.

"Greens" are typically food scraps, like fruit and vegetable peelings, coffee grounds, or, if you have a yard, grass clippings. These add nitrogen — a crucial element for microbial growth. Microorganisms are the true heroes of this process, they do the heavy lifting of decomposition.

"Browns" are more carbon rich — think egg cartons, newspapers, dried leaves, and pine needles. It helps to shred up the paper products before putting them in your pile.

A good thing to remember is that green materials are typically wet, and brown materials are typically dry. When you're layering, you want the dry browns on the bottom with the wet greens on the top.

This Is A Good Time To Start A Garden. Here's How

Diggs says the browns are key because they allow water to flow, and air to flow, something called aeration. That will make sure microorganisms can do their job. "If one hundred percent of it is water, then nothing is going on. The microorganisms can't work. You got this soggy, smelly pile," Diggs says, "So drainage makes a difference."

A helpful analogy is to think of tending to your compost like tending a fire. Just as in a fire you need to structure the wood to get the air going, in compost you have to do a similar thing, adding spaces to give oxygen to those heroic microbes.

And it really is layering — browns then greens, browns then greens. The number of layers depends on your space and your amount of food scraps, but try to keep the layers to an inch or two. You can also put a little bit of browns on the very top to keep away flies and odors.

As for the ratio of "browns" to "greens," you often hear three or four parts of browns to one part greens. Sometimes two to one. Ultimately you always want more browns than greens — again, gotta have the dry to sop up the wet.

5. Wait and aerate

How To Talk To Kids About Climate Change

How long do you have to wait for decomposition? "If it's hot, you could get there in two months pretty easy, " Diggs says, "If it's cold made, you could be there in six months. And for every component to break down, it might be a year."

To keep things moving, you'll want to turn or rotate the pile, perhaps with a stick or spade. Remember the fire analogy — you gotta make sure the air is flowing, that it's wet but not too soggy.

As for how much you turn it, you'll probably turn it less if you have the right ratio of greens to browns. Diggs says when you start out you might be turning the compost once every seven to 10 days.

Typically the more compost you have, the faster it will go.

Neal says in the end "the nose knows" when your compost is ready. "Bad compost smells, well, bad," he says, "It's like what a smelly trash can or dumpster smells like ... Basically, it smells like a landfill."

If it smells bad, it probably means it's not decomposing — maybe your pile might be too wet or you might need to readjust your ratios of greens and browns.

Diggs says he loves smelling finished compost,"You know, it just smells so ... Oh, gosh. Woody, earthy, but also a sweet smell. Or sometimes a sour smell. And the feel! How fluffy it is!"

When you've got that fluffy, earthy compost, put it in your garden, or in a plant on your windowsill. Or you can donate to your local community garden — just be sure to text ahead!

Of course composting takes patience — you might run into unexpected things. We don't want you to give up so here are some more resources below.

The Texas A&M AgriLife Extension has an excellent " compost trouble-shooting guide ." For example, it has suggestions of what to do if the pile has insects or is too wet.

• Jeffrey Neal from Loop Closing has compiled resources for those looking to try worm composting or Bokashi .
• Oregon State has a comprehensive guide for composting and "vermicomposting" — using a worm composter to break down organic materials. 
• Cornell University's Waste Management Institute has a more detailed guide to composting and "greens" and "browns," plus a lot more resources on their website.

We'd love to hear from you. If you have a good life hack, leave us a voicemail at 202-216-9823 or email us at [email protected]. Your tip could appear in an upcoming episode.

Want more Life Kit? Subscribe to our newsletter .

The audio portion of this story was produced by Audrey Nguyen.

Roundup: Your Tips To Fight Food Waste

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Recycling of organic wastes through composting: process performance and compost application in agriculture.

1. Introduction

2. composting process, 2.1. process parameters, 2.2. composting stages, 2.3. stability and maturity of compost, 3. application of compost in agriculture, 3.1. the ideal form of nutrients in the compost, 3.2. implication of maturity and stability on the compost quality in agriculture, 3.3. effects of compost on biological and enzymatic activities in soils, 3.4. effects of compost on soil physical properties, 3.4.1. soil aggregate and stability, 3.4.2. bulk density, 3.4.3. infiltration rate and water-holding capacity, 3.5. effect of compost on chemical properties of soil, 3.5.1. enhancement of nutrient level, 3.5.2. cation exchange capacity (cec) and ph value, 3.6. effects of compost on crop productivity and yield, 3.7. effects of compost on plant pathogens and diseases, 4. application of compost as growing media, 5. compost application as bioremediation agent for contaminated soil, 6. potential risks of compost application in agriculture, 7. conclusions, author contributions, acknowledgments, conflicts of interest.

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Share and Cite

Sayara, T.; Basheer-Salimia, R.; Hawamde, F.; Sánchez, A. Recycling of Organic Wastes through Composting: Process Performance and Compost Application in Agriculture. Agronomy 2020 , 10 , 1838. https://doi.org/10.3390/agronomy10111838

Sayara T, Basheer-Salimia R, Hawamde F, Sánchez A. Recycling of Organic Wastes through Composting: Process Performance and Compost Application in Agriculture. Agronomy . 2020; 10(11):1838. https://doi.org/10.3390/agronomy10111838

Sayara, Tahseen, Rezq Basheer-Salimia, Fatina Hawamde, and Antoni Sánchez. 2020. "Recycling of Organic Wastes through Composting: Process Performance and Compost Application in Agriculture" Agronomy 10, no. 11: 1838. https://doi.org/10.3390/agronomy10111838

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Lomi review: Kitchen appliance transforms food waste into compost

We love the made-in-Canada countertop composting appliance

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Lomi  is made in Canada (Kelowna, B.C. to be specific) but is loved beyond our borders as a wonderfully efficient way to reduce organic kitchen waste volume (think carrot peelings, eggshells, soggy vegetable clippings, leftovers and coffee grounds) by up to 80 per cent. 

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The popular kitchen appliance takes the ick out of composting by transforming kitchen waste into garden-quality fertilizer for indoor or outdoor plants. I’ve tested the Lomi and here are my thoughts.

Summary : Lomi is a Canadian success story and an eco-friendly and easy way to deal with the gross task of composting and adding some dirt to our garden. I tested the original Lomi 1 model, but the newer Lomi 2 is available for $599 USD.  

Price : $685 Where to buy : Amazon

You might be interested in the Lomi if;

• You hate collecting the compost because it gets stinky, slimy and gross 
• You don’t fancy the flies that sometimes find a way into the compost bin under your sink
• You don’t want to go back to getting-the-worms-to-do-the-dirty-work kind of composting
• You want to lower your carbon footprint by being less of a debaucherous human
• When you say you want to contribute something to Mother Earth, you don’t mean copious amounts of trash
• You like funky technology that makes your little home just a little more eco-friendly

In the box 

• Activated carbon for two different filters on the machine to help snuff the stink
• A pack of 45 LomiPods which are “a proprietary blend of probiotics that improve the speed of degradation the reduction of smell and most importantly help create the most healthy end product to add to gardens/lawn planters”
• A paper instruction manual means you don’t have to consult a website or video to get started. This is very much appreciated by the team here at Shopping Essentials

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The cardboard packaging in the box is, you guessed it, compostable if you break it down into smaller pieces and introduce it slowly, as in about 10 per cent of the total compost at a time.

What it didn’t come with? Enough composting material for me to run the Lomi through a few rounds. My neighbours were more than happy to oblige by dropping off their kitchen scraps and were fully impressed by how the fancy bit of technology took a full bucket of Lomi-approved waste (more on that below) and turned it into something far less offensive.

What does Lomi do?

The countertop composter that does an ugly job but looks pretty good while doing it — it’s a sleek white-ish matte machine — breaks down organic waste into fragments that can be mixed with existing compost, added to your green bin with other compostable materials or if you use the right mode on your Lomi, used as soil that is packed with nutrients and organic content.

Setting it up

It’s not hard. The most challenging part might be finding a spot for your Lomi. Depending on how often you use it, you could keep it in a pantry and pull it out once a week to do its job. Mine fits on my counter and although it is pretty enough, I really don’t fancy hogging counter space when not in use. I’d like to save that for more important things like dirty dishes and meal prep.

Some specs :

• Lomi is 22 lbs with an off-white, matte-finish 
• It is 16 x 12 inches 
• Three processing cycles; drying, mixing and cooling
• You can hear it operating, but it’s like a low hum, and we kind of like the sound of work being done, especially when it’s not us doing the work
• Two filters require carbon pellets (that’s our fancy word) which need to be replaced once, maybe twice a year

More about the processing modes

These vary based on how long you want to wait and what final result you want.

Eco-express — Three to five hours. Offers quickest results with low energy consumption. 

Lomi approved — Five to eight hours. This mode is for bioplastics , compostable commercial goods and packaging that is Lomi-approved. You can find more on their website .

Grow — 16 to 20 hours. When you are operating in this mode, it runs at low heat “to preserve the microorganisms and bacteria most helpful to soil.” 

What Lomi likes to be fed and what you ought to trash 

It likes a diverse diet, so a mixed assortment works well and gives the best results. 

You can add everything from fruits and vegetables to leftovers, plate scrapings, meat scraps, soft bones and shells, coffee filters and grounds, tea bags, nuts, bread, pasta, rice, cheese yogurt, plants, flowers and yard trimmings.

Do not add hard animal bones, cooking oils, fruit pits, soiled diapers, cigarettes, metal, plastic, glass, foil wrap, styrofoam or pet waste. 

My experience 

I filled the bucket to the maximum line, added one of the LomiPods and closed the lid on the stink. When I hit start, I didn’t realize it defaults to Eco-Express mode when what I really wanted was a little something something for my hungry houseplants. That’s fine, I had to try every mode anyhow but just a word of caution.

By the way, the bucket where you chuck it all is made from aluminum with a non-stick coating and is dishwasher safe. 

It hums along, not quite as loudly as my dishwasher or microwave and quietly enough you can listen to music or have a Zoom meeting nearby. A few times, it gurgles and grumbles as it digests the contents but when it’s done, it’s a sight to behold. 

In Eco-Express mode, I started with a big mess of egg shells, cooked quinoa, half a grapefruit, vegetable peels and pieces and some fruit that was well past its prime time. 

When I excitedly opened the lid several hours later, there was what I would describe as a small amount of mulch-like sawdust at the bottom of the once two-thirds full bucket. Dry, clean and virtually scent-free. 

The grow mode delivers something softer and richer and ready to help my houseplants become even more luscious and lovely. It’s best to do this one overnight because it is the longest mode. The Lomi-approved mode can process bioplastics (the site has more details) like Uber Eats containers, forks and knives. 

For those concerned about how disruptive running a Lomi might be, the noise level is less than 60 decibels For reference, a normal conversation is about 60 decibels and a lawn mower is about 90 decibels. 

It’s easy to clean by wiping the exterior with a soapy cloth and the bucket is dishwasher safe. 

Others’ take on the Lomi

Reviews are by and large fantastic. The makers say they have sold more than 85,000 units, sharing plenty of customer reviews, here . One happy purchaser calls it “their best friend,” which we think may be a bit much but other than that, we kind of agree on all the applause. 

We did find one critic scoffing at the technology saying it is counterintuitive given it takes hours of electricity to do its job. But (we did the math) and using anywhere from .6 kWh to one kWh, (that’s during each hour of its longest mode) is hardly significant given the average Canadian uses about 1,000 kWh a month . 

A bit about Lomi

The minds behind the Lomi began in 2017 with the Pela Case , the first biodegradable phone case. In April 2021 the Lomi took off. Khloe Kardashian, out of the blue, (ie, she wasn’t sent a sample to review) dubbed it the Gift of the Year , says Gareth Everard, Lomi’s chief marketing officer.

Last year the Kelowna-based company which created the kitchen gadget after tonnes of research and development done by hardware engineers, software experts and soil scientists,  pre-sold nearly 50,000 units, mostly in Canada and the U.S., the bulk bought by Americans. 

Why is it called Lomi? It is cute, approachable and evocative of EVE from the film WALL-E . It also plays the words ‘ loam ’ and ‘soil.’

Why is it so popular? “I think people really like the reduction in mess and the no stink,” Everard says. “The thing that is really redeeming and heartwarming is how much impact people are saying the Lomi has on the volume of garbage. They reduce the number of bags they are bringing out to the curb.”

Where to buy :   Amazon

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