Abstract
Household food-waste composting is an attractive alternative for Brazilian waste management; however, there are few programs or studies regarding the implementation or management of this small-scale process. This study investigates the performance of food‑waste composting using a simple and small-scale domestic composter. Three composting trials were conducted using food waste and wood chips in 10 L plastic bins using different filling schemes. In the first trial, the composter was filled weekly over two months. In the second, the composter was filled once with a mixture of food waste and 100% of the used wood chips from the previous trial. In the last third trial, the composter was filled with food waste and wood chips (50% of wood chips used in the second trial and 50% of untreated wood chips). The physical chemical parameters of the compost were monitored and the total coliforms and E. coli were measured. In all trials, the temperature varied between 26.7°C and 46.2°C throughout the process. The reduction in wet mass was 58-69%, while the reduction in dry mass was 37-61%. The pH value, the contents of carbon and nitrogen and the C/N ratio were in accordance with the values recommended in norm 25 (July, 2009) adopted by Brazil's Agriculture Ministry. Only the compost from Trial 2, which had 1900 MPN g-1total solids, did not meet the E. coli standards; this was likely due to the fact that when the temperatures did not reach the thermophilic phase, the relatively long time the waste remains in the composter allows these pathogenic microorganisms to decay naturally.
Highlights
Brazilian households, small commercial enterprises and cleaning services produce nearly 94,335 ton day-1 of organic waste, which represents 51% of the municipal solid waste produced (Brasil, 2012)
According to Ryckeboer et al (2003), under optimal conditions the composting process can be divided into four phases: an initial mesophilic phase (10°C - 42°C) which can last for hours or days, a thermophilic phase (45°C - 75°C) which can last a few days, weeks or months, a second mesophilic phase and the final maturation and stabilization phase
Studies on household food waste composting in compact systems found a similar temperature variation pattern as that found in this study, with a thermophilic stage that is non-existent or only lasts a few hours (Colón et al, 2010)
Summary
Small commercial enterprises and cleaning services produce nearly 94,335 ton day-1 of organic waste, which represents 51% of the municipal solid waste produced (Brasil, 2012). 1% of this waste is destined for composting systems, while 59% is disposed of in landfills and 39% is dumped. The National Solid Waste Policy (Brasil, 2010) has zero-waste guidelines for waste, recycling, composting, incineration and end-of-life disposal in landfills. The National Plan of Solid Waste prioritizes composting as an alternative for organic waste management (Brasil, 2012). The few composting systems in operation in Brazil are mostly open-air, centralized and at a municipal scale. Composting has advantages over incineration and disposal in landfills due to lower operating costs, reduced environmental pollution and, more importantly, the beneficial use of the final product, which can be used as a soil conditioner or fertilizer (Li et al, 2013)
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