UNIT-IV

Biological Treatment:

Solid and Hazardous Waste Composting; bioreactors;

anaerobic decomposition of solid waste; principles of
biodegradation of toxic waste; inhibition; co-
metabolism; oxidative and reductive processes; slurry
phase bioreactor; in-situ remediation.
 Composting
Composting is a biological process in which the organic
portion of refuse is allowed to decompose under carefully
controlled conditions. Microbes metabolize the organic
waste material and reduce its volume by as much as 50
percent. The stabilized product is
called compost or humus. It resembles potting soil in
texture and odour and may be used as a soil conditioner or
mulch.
• Composting offers a method of processing
and recycling both garbage and sewage sludge in
one operation. As more stringent environmental
rules and siting constraints limit the use of solid-
waste incineration and landfill options, the
application of composting is likely to increase.
The steps involved in the process include sorting
and separating, size reduction, and digestion of
the refuse.
 Sorting and shredding
• The decomposable materials in refuse are isolated
from glass, metal, and other inorganic items
through sorting and separating operations.
• These are carried out mechanically, using
differences in such physical characteristics of the
refuse as size, density, and magnetic properties.
• Shredding or pulverizing reduces the size of the
waste articles, resulting in a uniform mass of
material. It is accomplished with hammer mills and
rotary shredders.
 Digesting and processing
• Pulverized waste is ready for composting either by the open
windrow method or in an enclosed mechanical facility.
• Windrows are long, low mounds of refuse. They are turned
or mixed every few days to provide air for the microbes
digesting the organics.
• Depending on moisture conditions, it may take five to eight
weeks for complete digestion of the waste.
• Because of the metabolic action of aerobic bacteria,
temperatures in an active compost pile reach about 65 °C
(150 °F), killing pathogenic organisms that may be in the
waste material.
• Open windrow composting requires relatively
large land areas. 
• Enclosed mechanical composting facilities can
reduce land requirements by about 85 percent.
• Mechanical composting systems employ one
or more closed tanks or digesters equipped
with rotating vanes that mix and aerate the
shredded waste.
• Complete digestion of the waste takes about
one week.
• Digested compost must be processed before it can
be used as a mulch or soil conditioner.
• Processing includes drying, screening, and
granulating or pelletizing.
• These steps improve the market value of the
compost, which is the most serious constraint to
the success of composting as a waste management
option.
• Agricultural demand for digested compost is
usually low because of the high cost of transporting
it and because of competition with inorganic
chemical fertilizers.
 Fertilizer–Environment Impact
• Fertilizer is defined as any substance of natural
or synthetic origin that is added to soil to
supply certain elements crucial for plant
growth .
• Fertilizer is required to be applied to the soil
to replace the nutrients taken up by crop from
the land with the primary goal of maximizing
productivity and economic returns
 Fertilizer–Environment Impact
• chemical fertilizers have been said to be toxic
to soil organisms such as earthworms, which
are well known to promote soil fertility as a
case study. Fertilizers can be grouped into
organic or inorganic fertilizer according to
their source of production
 Fertilizer–Environment Impact
• Organic fertilizer is a fertilizer that is produced from
organic substances or materials which could be
biofertilizers or composts, e.g., plants and animals remain,
while inorganic fertilizer is made from synthetic or
inorganic raw materials.
• The deleterious effect caused by the chemical fertilizers on
the environment through chemical toxicity and leaching
into the waterways thereby affecting aquatic life directly or
indirectly has necessitated the need for safer alternatives.
Some alternatives have been proposed such as the use of
microorganisms, composting, among others.
 Composting Methods
• There are different composting methods, with
each method having its advantages and
disadvantages. Therefore, the method that best
suits the goal of the researcher and the type of
material to be composted dictates the
composting method to be adopted. Some of
the composting methods are enumerated below
 Indian Bangalore Composting
• The Indian Bangalore composting method was
developed at Bangalore in India . The method
is majorly recommended for the composting of
night soil and refuse. The composting is
carried out by digging trenches or pits about
one meter deep where organic residues and
night soil are put in alternate layers . The pit is
finally covered with a 15–20 cm thick layer of
refuse
 Indian Bangalore Composting
• The materials are left in the pit without turning or
watering for three months. During this period,
there is a reduction in the volume of the materials,
and more night soil and refuse are placed on top in
alternate layers and covered with mud or earth to
prevent loss of moisture and breeding of flies. This
type of composting takes about six to eight months
to obtain the finished product . This method is
laborious and expensive to support
 Vessel Composting
• In-vessel composting refers to any type of
composting conducted in an enclosed area
such as a container, building, or vessel. In-
vessel methods depend on a variety of forced
aeration and mechanical turning techniques to
enhance the composting process . This method
is labor-intensive and expensive.
 Windrow Composting
• Windrow composting is conducted by placing
raw materials in long narrow piles or
windrows, which are turned regularly. The
mixing of the materials allows aeration into the
setup. A typical windrow composting set up
should start from 3 feet in height for dense
materials like manures and 12 feet high for
fluffy materials like leaves . It is difficult, and
costly to support, but it is rapid and retains heat
 Vermicomposting
• The term refers to the use of earthworms for composting
degradable organic matters . Earthworms can degrade
practically all kinds of organic matter by feeding on
them. They can eat their body weight per day. For
example, earthworms that weigh 0.1 kilogram can eat 0.1
kilogram of residue per day. The excreta of the worms—
termed “castings”—are rich in nitrate, as well as available
forms of phosphorus, potassium, calcium, and
magnesium, which improve soil fertility . The existence
of earthworms in the soil promotes bacterial and
actinomycetes growth.
 Static Composting
• This is a traditional method of composting where wastes are
composted aerobically using passive aeration (little and
infrequent turnings or static aerations like perforated poles or
pipes).
• This method is time-consuming, though it is a simple way of
composting, which has low operational and capital costs
compared to vermicomposting, windrow, vessel, and Indian
Bangalore composting.
• This method simply involves the formation of a pile of raw
materials and has a low requirement of labor and equipment.
Aeration is based mainly on the passive movement of air
through the pile, thereby degrading the organic matter slowly
 Sheet Composting
• Sheet composting release the benefit of decayed organic
material without building a composting pile. In this method,
organic matters such as leaves, garden debris, grass clippings,
weeds, and vegetative food are thinly spread directly onto the
soil as a mulch.
• The organic materials are then tilled in with a hoe, spade or
garden fork and left to decay there, rather than in a heap or
container.
• One or more layers of organic material(s) are spreads over the
growing area, watered thoroughly and left to decompose until
planting time. More layers of organic materials are placed at
the bottom layers decompose thoroughly.
• The method is cheap and straightforward.
 Indian Indore Composting
• Indian Indore method involves a mixture of raw materials
such as plant residues, animal dung, and urine, earth,
wood ash, and water. All organic wastes available on a
farm such as weeds, stalks, stems, fallen leaves, pruning,
chaff, fodder leftovers are made into a layer about 15-cm-
thick until the heap is about one and a half meters high.
The heap is cut into vertical slices of about 20–25 kg for
the night rest. The bedding is taken to the composting pits
and filled layer by layer within a week. Enough quantity
of water is sprinkled over the materials in the pit to wet
them.
• Moisturizing of the compost is done only three
times throughout the whole period of composting.
The moisturizing is done on the fifteenth day after
stacking the compost pit, on the next 15 days after
the first moisturizing and finally after one month
after the first moisturizing. This method is labor-
intensive and time-consuming. It is also prone to
flies, and pest disturbances and wind can lead to
loss of nutrients
 Berkley Rapid Composting
• This is a fast composting method. Here, materials compost
faster if the size is between 0.5–1.5 inches in size. Soft,
succulent tissues do not need to be chopped in very small
pieces because they decompose rapidly.
• The harder the tissues, the smaller they need to be
chopped to enhance decomposition. Once a pile is started,
nothing should be added because it takes a certain length
of time for the initial materials to break down, and
anything added has to start from the initial breakdown
stage—thus lengthening the decomposition time for the
whole pile
 Uses of Compost
• Increase in Soil Fertility, Crop Yield, Erosion
Control, and Soil Amendment

• Biocontrol of Diseases, Bioremediation and

Safe Waste Management
 Major Elements in Compost
• For compost to be useful, it must have some
elements in an optimum quantity which will
supply adequate nutrients to plants. Though
these elements may not be necessary if the
compost is meant for landfills.
1. Nitrogen
2. Phosphorus
3. Potassium
Biochemistry of Composting
 Factors Aecting Composting
 Temperature and Carbon to Nitrogen (C:N) Ratio
• Temperature is an essential factor in composting
because it helps to hasten the composting process and
eliminate pathogenic organisms that are harmful to soil
organisms, plants, animals, and humans .
• Microorganisms present during the composting
process are classified according to the temperature at
which they exist. Microorganisms growing at 20–40 C
are classified as mesophilic organisms, while those
growing above 40–70 C are thermophilic bacteria.
 Temperature and Carbon to Nitrogen
(C:N) Ratio
• Mesophilic organisms start the composting process; they break down the
readily degradable compounds of the waste.
• Their metabolism leads to a rapid increase in compost temperature. The
volume of the wastes treated sometimes aects the temperature (heat
generation);
• if the volume of waste is low, the high temperature may not be attained.
Sometimes the temperature during composting does not rise to 45 C, but
pathogens could die when nutrients present in the composting materials
are exhausted and when competitive organism excrete enzymes which are
capable of destroying the pathogens.
• An ideal C:N of 30 is optimum for a composting process . When
composting materials are low in C:N, air will fail to penetrate the pile,
which results in anaerobic conditions and causes odor production in
addition to nitrogen loss in the form of ammonia gas. In addition, if the
C/N ratio is too high, the activities of microorganisms will be reduced,
and the rate of decomposition will be slow
 Oxygen and pH
• The presence of oxygen is important during the
composting process. When organisms oxidize carbon for
energy formation, the oxygen present is used up, and gases
are produced. Without adequate oxygen, the composting
process will become anaerobic, and gases (methane,
carbon dioxide, and ammonia) will be produced, leading to
the production of undesirable odors .
• The pH of the materials that are composted aects the
composting rate. Alkaline pH has been reported to be best
for composting. When pH is acidic, composting is very
slow because the microorganisms are destroyed
 Moisture Content, Particle Size, and Raw
Material Texture
• Moisture is a key factor that supports the metabolic activities
of microbes. The moisture content for composting materials
should be maintained between 40% to 60% .
• The presence of moisture in compost was reported to come
from either the initial water added or the metabolic water
produced by the actions of the microorganism.
• Excess water leads to a reduction in the diffusion of oxygen,
and this, in turn, reduces the metabolic activities of the
organisms. Microbial cells fully depend onwater for their
metabolic activities. Thus the metabolism of organic
molecules by microorganisms isonly possible when such
organic molecules have been dissolved in water. Moisture
decreases as the composting process proceeds
 Moisture Content, Particle Size, and Raw
Material Texture
• Best composting conditions are usually attained when the material’s
particle size ranges from 1 to 2 inches in diameter . This size brings
about a higher surface area, which helps to increase microbial activity
as well as the composting process.
• The rate at which aerobic decomposition takes place increases as the
particle size decreases. However, extremely Small particles may reduce
the oxygen movement within the pile, thereby reducing the composting
rate. Besides, tiny particle size encourages moisture retention and
reduces airspace thus leading to a decrease in the composting process.
• Degradable organic materials with hard texture, high lignin or though
texture generally composts slowly . For instance, hard, textured leaves
have a high tendency to compost slower than soft textured leaves.
Leaves that have thorns also may take a longer time to compost
because of their physical barrier. Leaves with leathery or hard texture
may be due to high lignin content.