Municipal solid waste management through vermicomposting employing exotic species of earthworm Eudrilus eugeniae

Majority of municipal (urban) solid waste (MSW) is disposed of in landfills (anaerobic composting). However, this disposal system is reported to produce hazardous environmental impacts and new policies are initiated to protect the environment from such impacts by discouraging the practice of disposal of solid waste in landfills. Eco-friendly disposal alternatives to landfills need to be explored. One of the technological options for treatment and disposal of organic solid wastes is vermicomposting. Commercial vermicomposting is reported to be practicable for treatment and disposal of many organic solids and byproducts in agricultural production and processing industries. However, this alternative has not been tried for MSW on large scale. This paper highlights the application of vermicomposting for treatment of organic solid waste, generated at urban residential area at Pune [organic component of this urban solid waste (MSW)]. Vermicomposting was tried on this segregated solid waste using exotic species of earthworm--Eudrilus eugeniae--commonly called 'African Night Crawler'. Bench scale reactor studies were carried out on organic solid waste under controlled optimum environmental conditions (moisture content: 48-52 percent, pH: 7.0-7.2, temperature: ambient), with variable vermi-loading [40-80 g of worms/kg of urban solid waste (MSW)]. Characteristics of solid waste were monitored through conventional parameters and additional environmental parameters like BOD5 and COD. The results of investigative studies are encouraging and indicate that organic solid waste can be treated in a reasonable period of 32-34 days through vermicomposting with around 60 percent reduction in the volume.