Title: Composting of Municipal Solid Waste through chemical pretreatment

Authors: Sunil Kumar, J.K. Bhattacharyya, Suprotim Das, Roshan Singh

Addresses: Solid Waste Management Division, National Environmental Engineering Research Institute (NEERI), Nagpur – 440020, India. ' Solid Waste Management Division, National Environmental Engineering Research Institute (NEERI), Nagpur – 440020, India. ' Solid Waste Management Division, National Environmental Engineering Research Institute (NEERI), Nagpur – 440020, India. ' Solid Waste Management Division, National Environmental Engineering Research Institute (NEERI), Nagpur – 440020, India

Abstract: Composting is one of the viable options for bioprocessing of Municipal Solid Waste (MSW). An important aspect of the composting process is the period required for attaining stability/maturity, and the quality of compost. In order to enhance the rate of degradation and improve the quality of compost, several pretreatments on MSW were investigated. Chemical pretreatment with low strength NaOH (0.1%) followed by steaming was found to be most effective in enhancing the degradation rate. Pretreatment with 0.2% ethylene glycol followed by steaming also showed appreciable results but pretreatment by steaming alone had no significant improvement in the degradation rate.

Keywords: composting; chemical pretreatment; degradation; bioprocessing; biodegradable fraction; municipal solid waste; solid waste compost.

DOI: 10.1504/IJETM.2007.015147

International Journal of Environmental Technology and Management, 2007 Vol.7 No.3/4, pp.298 - 303

Published online: 18 Sep 2007 *

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