Compost from market garbage using locally acclimatized organisms.

Abstract

Nearly 80% of Sri Lankan garbage is biodegradable organic material. Today organic wastes are increasingly being converted into compost. Therefore it is necessary to look into the possibilities of improving compost quality and reducing the time taken for producing stable compost. This study was conducted using market garbage as the major ingredient of the composting process. The objective of this study is to reduce the production time of compost with the use of inoculants and aeration. Vegetable garbage, air-dried grass clippings, saw dust, cow dung & coir dust were used as the raw organic materials. The windrow method was used to prepare compost under indoor environmental conditions. A hollow triangular wooden frame was used in the pile to facilitate aeration. Mature compost was used as the inoculant to accelerate the composting process. The initial total weight of garbage was 250 Kg and after two months became 125 Kg. During the composting period compost pile was mixed once a week and the samples were tested in the laboratory. Physical & chemical changes of composting process were studied to evaluate the increasing efficiency due to inoculation & aeration. The periodic changes of temperature, pH, percentage of organic matter, carbon dioxide production rate, bulk density, weed seed germination were monitored during the composting process. The C/N ratio was measured to evaluate the degree of maturity of the compost. After two months of composting process, presence of pathogenic organisms (coliforms & ascaris egg mortality) and the maturity of the compost were determined. The study conducted up to now indicates that this process will give considerable information, which will help to reduce the environmental problem otherwise created by this market garbage