Abstract
Utilisation of Municipal Solid Waste is important to curb the ever rising demand of scarce land for its disposal. Changing life style patterns, particularly in urban areas, has led to increase in generation of MSW. Municipal solid waste from Indian cities estimated to have 40% - 60% organic matter, which could be recycled as compost. The most suitable way to recycle it with low investment is aerobic composting using windrow method. With the compliance of Municipal Solid Waste (Management and Handling) Rules 2000, many cities in India are making compost with organic portion of MSW. Before applying MSWC for agricultural uses, it is important to inventories heavy metals in compost to assess its toxicity. In the present study the compost samples were quantified for its toxicity from three highly populated cities of India, i.e., Delhi (Capital of India), Ahmedabad (Gujarat) and Bangalore (Karnataka). The MSWC samples were analysed for total heavy metals and in extractable fractions. Few samples were found with higher concentration of metals then the prescribed limits for its application as compost in Indian MSW rules, whereas, samples have not showed significant heavy metals concentration in extractable fractions. Therefore, studied MSW compost samples had demonstrated its suitability to use as green compost.
Highlights
In India, composting of bio-degradable municipal solid wastes has been made mandatory by the Supreme Court (SC) following the recommendations made by the Burman Committee report in 1999
The ten representative samples of municipal solid waste compost was collected from three metropolitans cities of India, i.e., from Pirana landfill compost, Ahmedabad; Karnataka Compost Development Corporation (KCDC) sites, Bangalore; Okhla Municipal Solid Waste Compost (MSWC), Delhi
This study indicates that compost characteristics from studied metropolitan cities of India were found suitable to be used as green compost
Summary
In India, composting of bio-degradable municipal solid wastes has been made mandatory by the Supreme Court (SC) following the recommendations made by the Burman Committee report in 1999. The Municipal Solid Waste (Management and Handling) Rules 2000, encourage this [1,2]. In May 2007, the Supreme Court of India laid down that compost and biomethanation technologies were appropriate in view of the quality of MSW generated. Such as MSW had high organic waste (40% - 60%), high moisture contents and low calorific values around 800 - 1200 kcal/kg [3]. Indian Government is encouraging MSW management by the Jawaharlal Nehru National Urban Rural Mission (JNNURM) scheme, where a part of budget could be shared by state government for running waste processing plant in states and districts. On the other way as organic components is high in MSW from Indian cities, it is not suitable for waste to energy generation or for refuse derived fuel (RDF), incineration, pyrolysis etc
Sign-in/Register to view highlights & summary Sign-in/Register to access full text options 
Free) 
Talk to us
Join us for a 30 min session where you can share your feedback and ask us any queries you have
Schedule a call
