Effect of physico-chemico-biological and operational parameters on composting of organic fraction of municipal solid waste and gaseous products emission: review

ABSTRACT

Composting enables microbial decomposition of biodegradable organic fractions of municipal solid waste (OFMSW) and converts them into a valuable resource having profuse application in agriculture and horticulture. The efficiency of composting, primarily, would depend upon physico-chemico-biological properties of the feedstock (moisture content, particle size and organic matter) and operational parameters (temperature, aeration rate and frequency, presence of bulking agents and microorganisms). However, lack of appropriate selection of the initial physico-chemico-biological properties of municipal solid waste (MSW) and inadequate maintenance of operational conditions during composting results in generating low-quality end products with undesirable characteristics, such as phytotoxicity and nutrients-deficiency. Also, the release of toxic elements, greenhouse gases and volatile organic compounds (odorants) into the environment are other major issues related to composting technology, which need immediate attention of the researchers. Hence, a critical synthesis of the literature has been conducted to understand the effect of different (i) physical (particle size, moisture content), (ii) chemical (pH, elemental composition), (iii) biological (type of microorganisms, enzymatic activities) and (iv) operational (temperature, aeration strategy, turning frequency, addition of bulking agents) parameters on the composting of OFMSW and emission of major gaseous products. Furthermore, by utilizing the available data in the literature, several trends have been developed to depict the impact of substrate characteristics and operational conditions on compost quality and emission of gaseous products. These relationships would be instrumental in devising general recommendations on the selection of initial properties of MSW to (i) obtain superior quality compost and (ii) reduce the emission of harmful gaseous products during composting.

GRAPHICAL ABSTRACT

KEYWORDS:

• Organic fraction
• municipal solid waste
• composting
• characteristics of feedstock
• operational parameters

Data availability statement

Data sharing is not applicable to this article as no new data were created or analyzed in this study.

Disclosure statement

No potential conflict of interest was reported by the author(s).

Additional information

Funding

The financial support received from the Department of Science and Technology, Technology Development and Transfer Division, India [grant number DST/TDT/WMT/2017/239-G] is thankfully acknowledged.

Notes on contributors

Arif Mohammad

Arif Mohammad is a research scholar at the Department of Civil Engineering, Indian Institute of Technology Bombay, India. He completed his Bachelor of Engineering (BE) in Civil Engineering from Jadavpur University, West Bengal. He conducts research in environmental geotechnics, mainly in the area of sustainable decomposition of municipal solid waste, advanced characterization of geomaterial, experimental and numerical simulation of coupled processes in porous media.

Venkata Siva Naga Sai Goli

Venkata Siva Naga Sai Goli a research scholar at the Department of Civil Engineering, Indian Institute of Technology Bombay, India. He obtained MTech in Environmental Engineering from NIT Warangal, India. Currently, he is working on the utilization of municipal plastic waste, landfill mined resides, industrial by-products as a part of wide approach of integrated solid waste management.

Petra Martínez Barroso

Petra Martínez Barroso, Ing., is a young talented Early Career Researchers at the Department of Applied and Landscape Ecology, Faculty of AgriSciences, Mendel University in Brno, Czech Republic. Her research focuses on the anthropogenic effect on soil contaminants and their interaction with plants. Ing. Petra Martínez Barroso current work involves studies on developing an effective tool for restoration of an area affected by human activities. The aim is to compare and assess various approaches (viz., aided phytoremediation, secondary succession) from different perspectives.

Magdalena Daria Vaverková

Magdalena Daria Vaverková, Assoc. Prof., is an Investigator at the Department of Applied and Landscape Ecology, Faculty of AgriSciences, Mendel University in Brno, Czech Republic. Her scientific activity covers issues in the field of environmental protection and development, which includes bioindicators, bioindication, ecotoxicology, waste utilization, reclamation and remediation of degraded areas. Assoc. Prof. Magdalena Daria Vaverková has long-term experience in determining environmental pollution and application of phytoremediation. The results of her long-term research confirm the validity of views indicating the need to monitor environmental changes caused by human activity. She is a member of the International Geosynthetics Society, the International Society for Soil Mechanics and Geotechnical Engineering as well as the Society of Soil Science and International Union of Soil Sciences.

Devendra Narain Singh

Devendra Narain Singh (FNAE, F.ASCE, FICE(UK)) is a Professor at the Department of Civil Engineering, Indian Institute of Technology Bombay, India. His research and developmental activities are in quite diversified areas of environmental geotechnics (viz., mechanics of unsaturated soils, soil characterization based on mineralogical, thermal and electrical properties, contaminant transport through porous media, utilization and recycling of industrial and municipal waste, etc.). Prof. Singh has founded Environmental Geotechnics, ICE Publishing, London, UK, and has been its Editor-in-chief. He has published numerous technical articles in the refereed journals and collaborated with several international and national agencies and institutes.