FUNCTIONAL ELEMENTS OF MSWM

Primary collection

Secondary
collection
Types of composting-II
In-vessel systems

Bin/tumbler
composting

An in-vessel composting system Source: https://compostingtechnology.com/in-vessel-

composting-systems/
Reactor configurations in in-vessel systems
✓ Horizontal drum
✓ Vertical silo
✓ Open tank

Schematic diagram of plug-flow horizontal reactor Schematic diagram of plug-flow vertical reactor
 Cont..

Schematic diagram of open, horizontal, rectangular tank

Schematic diagram of a composting facility using a

rotating horizontal drum
Schematic diagram of a vertical mixed reactor
Silos/Tower reactors
▪ Another in-vessel technique resembles a bottom-unloading silo. Each day an auger removes composted material from the bottom of
the silo, and a mixture of raw materials is loaded at the top.
▪ The aeration system blows air up from the base of the silo through the composting materials. The exhaust air can be collected at the
top of the silo for odor treatment. A typical composting time for this method might be 14 days, so one-fourteenth of the silo volume
must be removed and replaced daily.

▪ After leaving the silo, the compost is cured, often in a second aerated silo. This system minimizes the area needed for composting
because the materials are stacked vertically.
▪ However, the stacking also presents compaction, temperature control and air flow challenges. Because materials receive little mixing
in the vessel, raw materials must be well mixed when loaded into the silo.

Using the heat of an

external compost
heap for warming
up the inside of a
house
In-vessel drum composting systems ✓ Rotary drum composting provides agitation, aeration and
mixing of the compost, to produce a consistent and uniform
end product.

✓ In warm, moist environments with ample amount of

oxygen and organic material available, aerobic microbes
flourish and decompose the waste at a quicker pace.

In-vessel - rotary drum composter

Source: https://dairylane.ca/products/manure- Schematic diagram of a rotary drum composter
management/composter/bedding-master/
 Rotating drums
▪ This system uses a horizontal rotary drum to mix, aerate and
move the material through the system.

▪ A drum about 3.35 m in diameter and 36.58 m long has a daily

capacity of approximately 50 tonnes with a residence time of 3
days.

▪ In the drum, the composting process starts quickly and the highly
degradable, O-demanding materials are decomposed.
In-vessel drum composter
▪ Further decomposition is accomplished through a second stage
Source: https://www.ecoponics.com.sg/different-ways-of-
of composting, usually in windrows or aerated static piles. composting/

▪ Air is supplied through the discharge end and is incorporated

into the material as it tumbles. (Air moves in the opposite
direction to the material)
 Rotating drums (Cont.)
▪ The drum can be open or partitioned.

▪ An open drum moves all the material through

continuously in the same sequence as it enters.

▪ The speed of rotation of the drum and the inclination of

the axis of rotation determine the residence time.

▪ In some commercial systems, the composting materials

spend less than one day in the drum.

Rotary drum composter

 Cross-sectional views of the (a) rotating bioreactor and (b) static b ioreactor Showing the inlet and
outlet aeration ports and the locations of thermo couple sensors.
Source: Alkoaik FN (2019) Integrating aeration and rotation processes to accelerate composting of agricultural
residues. PLOS ONE 14(7): e0220343.

Time course of air temperatures recorded by the three sensors (Ta1, Ta2, and Ta3) fixed at
three different locations inside the rotating and static bioreactors
The Ridan® composter is
the simple and economic
solution for the in vessel
composters range of our
company, coming from the
UK.

Ohio University has the largest in-vessel compost facility in Ohio, USA
Source: https://www.pinterest.com/pin/450360031457434443/
 Novi-Comp design - perfecting the best This BCS offers a “plug The blades on the rotating
sizing, insulation and speed of rotation, and play” opportunity to vertical auger slash into the
eliminating corrosion internally test
One variouscan
operator feedstocks organic waste
handle the entire composting material
process thusof
because
Source: https://novid.ca/2019/06/13/the-in-vessel- and amendments, and breaking it into smaller
the automated features
compost-solution/ blending combinations at mposting.com/composter-rotating-drum-
pieces
Source: https://xactsystemsco
the job site technology/
Centralized vs. decentralized composting

Schematic description of the main systems of

centralized composting
Source: https://www2.mst.dk/udgiv/publications/2003/87-
Comparison of the three decentralized composting systems set up
7972-715-8/html/kap01_eng.htm
in the municipality of Allariz
Source: https://www.intechopen.com/books/solid-waste-management-in-
rural-areas/decentralized-composting-of-organic-waste-in-a-european-
rural-region-a-case-study-in-allariz-galicia
Centralized Composting Plant-Boragaon Dumpsite, Guwahati, India
Waste collection in Guwahati
DECTRALIZED COMPOSTING: ROTARYDRUM
Batch mode Batch operation: Pilot-scale rotary drum
Organi c Waste composter
0.3 mm metal sheet Metal chain

Nylon Rollers

Length = 1.1 m

Waste Segregation & Shredding Dia = 0.9 m

Compost
Rotary Drum
Composter
SPECIFIC ADVANTAGES OF ROTARY DRUMCOMPOSTER

Short composting period

Temperature reaches up to 65-70oC

Less Space requirement

ROTARY No Odor problem

DRUM
Ease in Operation

Yield uniform marketable compost

Environment Friendly

No Leaching or Spillage
LIMITATIONS
• Capital cost
• Power requirement (Negligible)
Pilot scale reactor

Feeding Inside view

Successful trials on various waste at Solid Waste Laboratory, IIT Guwahati by Waste
Management Research Group (WMRG)

❖ Vegetable (Food) waste

Vegetable waste
❖ Water hyacinth

❖ Hydrilla verticillata

❖ Sewage sludge

❖ Pulp and paper mill waste

❖ Phumdi from Loktak lake Manipur

❖ Terrestrial weeds

Temperature profile of vegetable waste compost

 Water hyacinth Hydrilla verticillata

Temperature profile of Water hyacinth compost Temperature profile of Hydrilla verticillata compost
 Sewage sludge Pulp and paper mill sludge

Temperature profile of sewage sludge compost Temperature profile of pulp and paper mill sludge compost
 Mikania
Phumdi biomass micrantha Kunth- an
from Loktak lake, invasive terrestrial
Manipur, India weed

Temperature profile of Phumdi biomass compost Temperature profile of Mikania micrantha Kunth
compost
Rotary drum composter installed in Solid Waste Laboratory
(Waste Management Research Group), IIT Guwahati, India

Rotary drum composter (inside view)

Rotary drum composter (side view)
Cont..

Rotary drum composter (front view) Rotary drum composter (rear view)
Cont..

Feeding into drum

Composting shed
Cont..

Waste within drum Water vapors after turning

Cont..
Cont..
Cont..
▪ Temperature profile
Cont..
▪ Maintained temperature
Cont..
▪ High rate decomposition
 TRADITIONAL COMPOSTING PROCESS
(Temperature pattern)

80
Temperature (oC) Composting period: 45-190 days
70
60
50
40 Active stabilization

30 Growth
10-25
20
days 30-150
7-15 days Maturation
10
days
Mesophilic Thermophilic Mesophilic
Time
 ROTARY DRUM COMPOSTING PROCESS
(Temperature pattern)

80 Composting period: 12-20 days

Temperature (oC)
70
60
Active stabilization
50
40
30
4-5 Cooling
Maturation
days
20 2-3
days 7-15
10 days

Thermophilic Mesophilic
Time
Compost quality
COMPOST
QUALITY
Compost quality can be evaluated through laboratory analysis, but the measurable properties used to evaluate composts
are different from those used to describe the soils to which they are added. There are many parameters that need to
evaluate during composting process

Well maturity
No organic No foreign matter
contaminants

No pathogenic Low amount of

organisms trace elements

Contain humic Good physical and

substances chemical characters
IMPORTANT PARAMETERS ANALYSED DURING
COMPOSTING PROCESS

• Bulk Density
• Porosity
Physical Parameters • Void Ratio
• Water holdingcapacity

• pH, EC
• TKN, Ammonia Content
Chemical Parameters • Total and available phosphorus
• Macronutrients (Na, Ca, Mg and Fe)

• sBOD
Biological • sCOD
• Caliform (Total and Fecal)
Parameters • Stability (O2 Uptake rate & CO2 evolution rate)
 PHYSICAL EFFECT OF COMPOSTING ON SOIL STRUCTURE

➢ A Compost particle is lighter and finer than a soil particle.

➢ On mixing with the soil, the compost particle decreases the bulk density as mass per unit volume reduces owing to lighter compost particle.
➢ Compost particle being finer, increases the adsorption area, which in turn increases the water holding capacity, void ratio, porosity etc.
 CHEMICAL PARAMETERS Ammonia release
Organic acid production Ammonia volatilization
pH
✓ Precipitation of essential nutrients out of
solution may occur at higher pH.

✓ A pH between 5.5 and 8.0 is optimal for

compost microorganisms (6.0-7.5 for
bacteria and 5.5-8 for fungus).

▪ Mature compost generally has a pH of Vegetation/Plant requirement: 6-8

between 6 and 8. As compost decays, it
goes through a cycle of varying pH levels.
It usually begins quite acidic, but over time
the composting materials become more
neutral.
▪ If the soil in your yard is slightly alkaline or
acidic, you can try to modify your
compost’s pH level to counterbalance and
amend your soil.
 The Stoichiometry of Composting

▪ The degradation of organic waste, neglecting the

minor contributions of degradation of N and S to
the mass loss, can be approached
stoichiometrically by (after Tchobanoglous et al.,
1993):

CaHbOc + 0.5 (ny + 2s + 0.5b − 0.5nx − c)O2 →

nCwHxOy + sCO2 + (0.5b − 0.5nx)H2O

where s = a – nw

The term CaHbOc represents the initial mole

composition of the waste and CwHxOy the mole
composition of the stabilized waste.

Chart showing the availability of nutrients at different pH

levels. Slightly acidic soil (6.0–6.5 pH) is best for most plants.
Source: CoolKoom/Wikimedia.
Electrical conductivity
(EC)
✓ EC refers to mineral salts or amount of mineral ions in the solution of compost and water.

✓ Concentration of final EC also depends upon the conductivity of soil.

Release of ions Precipitation of mineral ions/
(Mineral, NH4, PO4) Volatilization of NH4

Phytotoxicity of plants
Higher

Required final EC = 2-3 dS/m

Organic matter
(OM) ✓ Organic matters are the sources of nitrogen and carbon to the microorganisms.

Microbial assimilation
period

Easily biodegradable OM
(Protein and Carbohydrate) Stable organic fraction
Hard to degrade (Newly formed
(Lignin) macromolecules,
humic substances)
Nitrogen
dynamics
✓ Microorganisms utilize nitrogen for synthesizing and building cell structures.

Net loss of dry mass/ Nitrogen fixing bacteria

Microbial water loss
assimilation TN
period
Strong degradation/
Mineralized to NH4-N

Ammonification Norg

Loss of NH3
Nitrification NO3-N
< 0.4%
High Temp/
excessive ammonia NH4-N
Stability (CO2 evolution and Oxygen uptake rate
(OUR))
➢ During various metabolic activities like respiration carbon is used as the source of energy during composting process
which leads to decline in organic carbon and release of CO2

➢ OUR is a direct manifestation of oxygen consumption by the microbial population and hence, microbial activity.

7.5 7.5

OUR (mg/g. VS/day)

6
CO2 (mg/g. VS/day)

4.5
4.5

3
3
1.5
1.5
0
0 0 2 4 6 8 10 12 14 16 18 20
0 2 4 6 8 10 12 14 16 18 20 Time of composting (Days)
Time of composting (Days)
▪ Metals in compost

✓ Reduced soil fertility

Direct problems
✓ Altered microbial population and

Soil pollution processes

✓ Modified carbon mineralization
✓ Anomalous nitrogen transformation

✓ Induced oxidative damage

Contamination in
Indirect problems

crops ✓ Modifications of signaling and

biosynthetic pathways
Water pollution
✓ Abnormal reproductive
response
Air pollution
✓ Anomalous genetic behavior
 PATHOGENS IN COMPOST

➢ The presence of coliform bacteria is often used as an indicator of overall sanitary quality of the compost
➢ Salmonella species were regarded as a problem of the hygienic quality
➢ The major factor contributing to reduction of both total and fecal coliform is the attainment of thermophilic
temperatures during composting process

Recommended Fecal coliform and Fecal streptococci densities for compost hygeinazation

Sample Fecal coliform (MPN/g) Fecal streptococci (MPN/g)

Compost 5 × 102 5 × 103

Phytotoxici
➢
ty-Phytotoxicity is one of the
most important criteria for evaluating the suitability of compost for agricultural purposes
and to avoid environmental risks before these composts can be recycled back to agricultural land.

Mikania micrantha spotted at tea plantation Mikania micrantha leaf Chopped Mikania micrantha Rotary Drum Composting
+ Inoculum + Bulking Agent
Stable
Compost

Reduced Nutrient
Toxicity Rich
Toxicity test ensuring degradation of allelochemicals Temperature profile ensuring stability of compost

Toxicity assessment of compost produced from invasive weed (Kauser et.al., 2018)
Ref: Kauser, H., Pal, S., Haq, I., & Khwairakpam, M. (2020). Evaluation of rotary drum composting for the management of invasive weed Mikania micrantha Kunth and its toxicity
assessment. Bioresource Technology, 123678.
 Phytotoxicity test done on Vigna radiata and Alium cepa using compost made from Mikania micrantha

Fig 2: Growth of onion in (a) Mikania micrantha extract and (b) compostextract

Fig 1: Seedling of moong bean in (a) Mikania micrantha extract and (b)
compost extract
Model compost specification according to USEPA for soil
amendment

Source: https://archive.epa.gov/composting/web/pdf/highwy4.pdf
CANADIAN COUNCIL COMPOST STANDARDS (CLASS 1 AND 2)

Product safety and exposure

➢ Products must be safe for sale or use.

➢ When assessing the safety of a product, exposure must also be considered; if there is no exposure there can be no
“risk”.
➢ These guidelines attempt to integrate the concept that exposure is an integral part of the risk by establishing
different grades of material (Category A - unrestricted and Category B - restricted) on the basis of safety.
Compost product guidelines

Categories
Unrestricted Use
➢ Category A – Compost that can be used in any application, such as agricultural lands, residential gardens, horticultural
operations, the nursery industry, and other businesses.

✓ Category A criteria for trace elements are achievable using best source separated MSW feedstock ormunicipal
biosolids, or pulp and paper mill biosolids, or manure.
 Standards for stability parameters of compost (Source: Brinton, 2000)

SL NO PARAMETERS STANDARD

1 Oxygen uptake rate 0.5-1.5 mg/g (VS)/d

2 CO2 evolution rate 2-8 mg/g (VS)/d

Brinton, W. F. (2000). Compost quality standards and guidelines. ttp. compost. css. cornell. edu/Briton. pdf, 14(01), 2011.
 Germination standards for compost (Source: Brinton,2000)

Germination index is an important parameter to know compost quality

Very mature Mature Immature

Seed Germination % > 90 80 - 90 < 80

Ref: Brinton, W. F. (2000). Compost quality standards and guidelines. ttp. compost. css. cornell. edu/Briton. pdf, 14(01), 2011.
INDIAN STANDARDS

Heavy metal standards in compost as per CPCB,

2006, India
 Fertilizer Control Order (FCO) standards for compost
SL NO PARAMETERS FCO STANDARD
1 Moisture content (%) 15-25
2 pH 6.5-7.5
3 Electrical conductivity (ds/m) <4.0
4 TN (%) 0.5 (min)
5 Phosphorus (%) 0.5 (min)
6 Potassium (%) 1 (min)
8 C:N 20 (max)
9 Zn 1000
10 Cu (mg/kg) 300
11 Cd(mg/kg) 5
12 Pb(mg/kg) 100
13 Ni(mg/kg) 50
 Fertilizer Control Order (FCO) standards for vermicompost

SL NO PARAMETERS FCO STANDARD

1 Moisture content (%) 15-25
2 pH 6.5-7.5
3 Electrical conductivity (ds/m) <4.0
5 Phosphorus (%) 0.5 (min)
6 Potassium (%) 0.8 (min)
7 TN (%) 1 (min)
8 C:N 20 (max)
9 Zn 1000
10 Cu (mg/kg) 300
11 Cd(mg/kg) 5
12 Pb(mg/kg) 100
13 Ni(mg/kg) 50
 Compost Quality – Good or Bad (For layman person)
Bad Compost

➢ Foul smell (indicates presence of toxic compounds,

mostly ammonia smell)
➢ Squeeze (drain of water indicates immature compost)

Good compost

➢ Proper texture and colour

➢ No foul smell (look for an earthy musty smell)
➢ There should not be any smell of ammonia
➢ Appropriate moisture content
➢ It should not be sticky or greasy
➢ Colour (Dark brownish colour indicates mature and
stable compost)
➢ It should be free from insects and nematodes
Vermicomposting
Vermicompost
▪ Vermicompost is
ing the product of the decomposition process using various species of worms, usually red wigglers
(Eisenia fetida), white worms (Enchytraeus buchholzi), and other earthworms, to create a mixture of decomposing
vegetable or food waste, bedding materials, and vermicast.
▪ Vermicast (also called worm castings, worm humus, worm manure, or worm faeces) is the end-product of the
breakdown of organic matter by earthworms.

▪ Vermicompost contains water-soluble nutrients and is an excellent, nutrient-rich organic fertilizer and soil conditioner.
Cow pat pit (CPP) Nadep Compost/ VermiCompost
Vermiwash
Soil Shampoo
Mechanisms of vermicomposting
Biodegradable materials

Homogeneous mixing

Wormbiomass
Vermicomposting NH3
O2
process CO2
H2 O

Earthworm/cocoons
Worm biomass
harvesting

Vermicompost with
living cultured soil
microbes
Worms in
vermicomposting
▪ ANACIEC (Lumbricus terresters)
✓ Build permanent burrows in the deep soil.
✓ Drag down their food from soil surface to their burrow.
✓ Used as bait for fishing purpose.

▪ ENDOGIEC (Endrilus eugeniae)

✓ Build burrows on upper layer of soil.
✓ Feed on organic matter.
✓ Mostly visible in rainy season.

▪ EPIGIEC (Eisenia fetida)

✓ Feed on decaying organic matter.
✓ Do not form burrows.
✓ Useful for VERMICOMPOSTING.
Biology of earthworm species suitable for
composting
Parameters Eisenia fetida Eudrilus eugeniae Perionyx excavatus

Duration of life cycle (days) 70 60 46

Growth rate (mg/worm/day) 7 12 3.5
Maximum body mass (mg/worm) 1500 4294 600
Maturation attained at age (days) 50 40 21
Start cocoon production (days) 55 46 24
Cocoon production (/worm/day) 0.35 1.3 1.1
Incubation period (days) 23 16.6 18.7
Hatching success in water (%) 73 50 63.4
Mean number of hatching (/cocoon) 2.7 2.7 1.1
Number of hatching from one cocoon 1-9 1-5 1-3
Biology of earthworm species suitable for composting (Cont.)

Type of worms Substrate type

Dry olive oil, waste water sludge from paper pulp industry, sludge from paper mill
1. E. andrei and diary industries, solid paper pulp mill sludge mixed with primary sewage
sludge
Fly ash, sewage sludge, waste activated sludge, crop residue cattle manure, paper
2. E. fetida mulch, solid textile, mill sludge, kitchen waste, aquaculture effluent solids, poultry
droppings, biogas slurry
3. E. euganiae Water hyacinth, cow dung, neem leaves, waste paper, mango leaves, MSW
4. Octalasian tyrtaeum Savigny Organic residues

5. Pheretima elongate Tomato skin and seed waste

6. Perionyx excavatus Cow dung

7. Lampito mauritii MSW, biogas slurry, wheat straw, leaf litter, sawdust, kitchen waste
Salient Requirements

The basic requirements during the process of vermicomposting are

• Suitable bedding
• Food source
• Adequate moisture
• Adequate aeration
• Suitable temperature
• Suitable pH

Bedding

Bedding is any material that provides a relatively stable habitat to worms.

• High absorbency: As worms breathe through skin, the bedding must be able to absorb and retain adequate water.
• Good bulking potential: The bulking potential of the material should be such that worms get oxygen properly.
•Low nitrogen content (high Carbon: Nitrogen ratio): High protein/nitrogen levels can result in rapid degradation and
associated heating may be fatal to worms.
Common Bedding Material

Bedding Material Absorbency Bulking Potential C/N Ratio

Horse Manure Medium-Good Good 22-56
Peat Moss Good Medium 58
Straw-Wheat Poor Medium-Good 100-150
Paper from MSW Medium-Good Medium 127-178 If available, shredded
paper or cardboard makes
Newspaper Good Medium 170
excellent bedding,
Bark-Hardwood Poor Good 116-436 particularly when
combined with typical on-
Bark-Softwood Poor Good 131-1285
farm organic resources
Corrugated Cardboard Good Medium 563 such as straw and hay
Saw Dust Poor-Medium Poor-Medium 142-750
Shrub-Trimmings Poor Good 451-819
Leaves-Dry, Loose Poor Good 212-1313
Ref. : Vermicomposting for solid waste management, Garg, V.K., Gupta, R, Yadav, A.
Food
Source
✓ Regular input of feed materials for the earthworms is most essential step in the vermicomposting process.
✓ Earthworms can use a wide variety of organic materials as food but do exhibit food preferences.
✓ Under ideal conditions, worms can consume amount of food higher than their body weights, the general rule-of-
thumb is consumption of food weighing half of their body weight per day.

✓ In adverse conditions, earthworms can extract sufficient nourishment from soil to survive.

Moisture
✓ The most important requirement of earthworms is adequate moisture.
✓ They require moisture in the range of 60-70%.
✓ The feed stock should not be too wet otherwise it may create anaerobic conditions which may be fatal to
earthworms.
Aeration

✓ Factors such as high levels of fatty/oily substances in the feedstock or excessive moisture combined with poor
aeration may render anaerobic conditions in vermicomposting system.

✓ Worms suffer severe mortality partly because they are deprived of oxygen and partly because of toxic substances
(e.g. ammonia) produced under such conditions.

Temperature

✓ The activity, metabolism, growth, respiration and reproduction of earthworms are greatly influenced by
temperature.
✓ Worms have an optimal temperature range of 16 to 25°C.
✓ Temperature above 40°C can kill worms.
pH

✓ Worms can survive in a pH range of 5 to 9, but a range of 7.5 to 8.0 is considered to be the optimum.
✓ In general, the pH of worm beds tends to drop over time due to the fragmentation of organic matter under series of
chemical reactions.

Other Important Parameters

✓ Pre-composting of organic waste: It is established that pre-composting of organic waste is very essential to avoid the
mortality of worms.
✓ Salt content: Worms are very sensitive to salts, preferring salt contents less than 0.5% in feed .
✓ Urine content: Excessive urine will build up toxic gases like ammonia in the bedding.
✓ Other toxic components: Different feeds can contain a wide variety of potentially toxic components. Some of the
more notable are:
✓ De-worming medicine in manures (particularly horse manure).
 How to build a worm home ??
▪ Worms need air to survive. They can live in a plastic
bin or a wooden box, with several air holes punched
or drilled all around. GUNNY BAGS (To retain the moisture)

▪ It is more convenient to have several smaller, more

portable units rather than one large one.
▪ Do not use a bin that was once used to store WASTE
chemicals, such as pesticides, or you may end up with EARTHWORMS

a pile of dead worms.

▪ Vermicomposting container box should be shallow, BEDDING MATERIAL
and wider than it is tall.
▪ An average size vermicomposting bin for a household
of two people should be 30 cm high x 40 cm deep x HOLES

60cm long.
Vermicomposting systems

✓ Windrows
✓ Wedge (modified windrow)

Harvest here
✓ Beds
✓ Continuous flow through reactor

Wedge composting
• US: Yelm Earthworm Farm (Washington)
• 30,000 square feet of indoor windrows

Windrow vermicomposting. US: American Resource

Recovery (California)
• 70 acres
• 75,000 tons/yr.
Continuous flow through reactors

Dr. Clive Edwards at Rothampstead experimental station, UK 1970’s

 VERMICOMPOSTING SYSTEMS

Vermicomposting processes

Large scale Medium scale Small scale

(>250 kg/wk, >3.5 m2) (250-20 kg/wk, 3.5-0.5 m2) (<20 kg/wk, <0.5 m2)

Windrow Continuous Flow

Tray/Stacking Batching Wedge

Large continuous flow through reactors

Vermitech (AU)

www.vermico.com

Oregon Soil Corporation

www.musc.edu
Vermicomposting in large scale
Box/Batch type vermicomposting systems

Tray/stacking vermicomposting systems

Location of worm bin

✓ Worm bin can be located in a number of places, such as the kitchen, basement or backyards.

✓ It is important to allow air to circulate through the bin by leaving the air holes uncovered.

Feeding Worms: Worm food

✓ An otpimum C/N ratio of the order of ( 30 : 1 ) must be maintained.

✓ Any fruit or vegetable waste generated during food preparation can be used.

✓ Citrus peels, coffee grounds, and tomatoes can be added, but only in moderation, as they can acidify the bedding.

✓ Adding dried crushed eggshells will help to control acidity, and will also provide the worms with valuable nutrition.

✓ A blender works well, however cutting or mashing the food scraps will do.
Harvesting of worms

Light separation method

Worm harvester
 ADVANTAGES

✓ Labour and equipment cost minimal.

✓ One of the promising decentralized composting technology.

Excellent composting concept for smaller communities that require a rapid and enclosed pathogen kill process.

✓ It can be very useful in peri-urban areas of large cities, institutional areas, vegetable markets, large dairies along with
nurseries and demand driven places (garden/park areas and official areas).

✓ Worm Castings improve plant growth.

✓ Earthworms double their population every four months.

DISADVANTAGES

✓ Initial cost high.

✓ Care for Survival very sensitive.
Troubleshooting
▪ Problem: The bin has more food than bedding.
▪ Solution: Don't add any more food for a week or two.

▪ Problem: The bedding is too wet and compacted.

▪ Solution:
a) Gently stir the entire contents to allow more air in and stop adding food waste for a week or so. Make sure
that your food waste is still buried.

b) The lid can be removed or left slightly ajar to allow the contents to dry out.

▪ Problem: The bedding is too acidic, causing the worms to crawl through the holes of the bin.
▪ Solution: Add egg shells and cut down on the amount of citrus peels, tomatoes, coffee grounds and other
acidic food waste.