Composting an Emerging Technology for Solid Waste Management in India

Abstract

This chapter describes how “Solid waste” (SW) is a term usually applied to an assorted collection of wastes produced in urban areas, the nature, characteristics and quantity of which varies from region to region. Waste generation is influenced not only by lifestyle of the region's inhabitants, but also by copiousness and type of the region's natural resources. Composting of municipal solid waste is, therefore, a simple and cost-effective technology for treating the organic fraction of municipal solid waste. As the composting proceeds there occurs drastic change in microbial communities, and resemblance to the initial community is lost with process. Generally, three categories of microorganisms play a vital role in composting process: bacteria, actinomycetes and fungi. It is primarily the mesophilic (> 45 °C) and specifically the thermophilic bacteria (< 60 °C), that plays a major role by rising the temperature of the piles. This chapter mainly focused on composting process for Municipal waste stabilization and role of microbes in the process.