Municipal solid waste management through vermicomposting

employing exotic and local species of earthworms

Kaviraj
a
, Satyawati Sharma
b,
*
a
School of Energy and Environmental Studies, DAVV, Indore (M.P.) 452017, India
b
Centre for Rural Development and Technology, Indian Institute of Technology, New Delhi 110016, India
Received 10 March 2003; received in revised form 22 March 2003; accepted 26 March 2003
Abstract
A comparative study was conducted between exotic and local (epigeic-Eisenia fetida and anaecic-Lempito mauritii, respectively)
species of earthworms for the evaluation of their efficacy in vermicomposting of municipal solid waste (MSW). Vermicomposting of
MSW for 42 days resulted in significant difference between the two species in their performance measured as loss in total organic
carbon, carbon-nitrogen ratio (C:N) and increase in total Kjeldahl nitrogen, electrical conductivity and total potassium and weight
loss of MSW. The change in pH and increase in number of earthworms and cocoons and weight of earthworms were non-signi-
ficant.
Keywords: MSW; Eisenia fetida; Lempito mauritii; Vermicomposting
1. Introduction
A rapidly increasing population and high rate of in-
dustrialization has increased the problem of solid waste
management. The problem has further increased in cities
because of shortage of dumping sites and strict envi-
ronmental legislation, so scientists are seeking for
management alternatives, which should be ecofriendly,
cheap and fast. Municipal solid waste (MSW) is highly
organic in nature, so vermicomposting has become an
appropriate alternative for the safe, hygienic and cost
effective disposal of it. Earthworms feed on the organics
and convert material into casting (ejected matter) rich in
plant nutrients. The chemical analyses of casts show two
times available magnesium, 15 times available nitrogen
and seven times available potassium compared to the
surrounding soil (Bridgens, 1981). A number of refer-
ences are available on the potential of earthworms in
vermicomposting of solid waste particularly household
waste (Appelholf et al., 1998). Advanced systems for
vermicomposting are based on top feeding and bottom
discharge of a raised reactor thus providing stability and
control over the key areas of temperature, moisture and
aerobicity (Price, 1988). An improved mechanical sepa-
rator, having a novel combing action, for removing live
earthworms from vermicomposts has also been intro-
duced by Price and Phillips (1990).
The action of earthworms in the process of vermi-
composting of waste is physical and biochemical. The
physical process includes substrate aeration, mixing as
well as actual grinding while the biochemical process is
influenced by microbial decomposition of substrate in
the intestine of earthworms (Hand et al., 1998). Various
studies have shown that vermicomposting of organic
waste accelerates organic matter stabilization (Neuha-
user et al., 1998; Frederickson et al., 1997) and gives
chelating and phytohormonal elements (Tomati et al.,
1995) which have a high content of microbial matter and
stabilised humic substances.
In India the exotic epigeic species, like Eudrilus
euginae (Ashok, 1994), Parionyx excavatus (Kale et al.,
1982) and Eisenia fetida (Hartenstein et al., 1979) are
being used for vermicomposting. The hazards of using
alien species are well known. History is littered with
examples of confrontations between indigenous and
foreign organisms (Mackenzie, 1991). The introduction
of foreign species has been justified by a few scientists
(Lavelle et al., 1989; Murphy, 1993), though it is
170 Kaviraj, S. Sharma / Bioresource Technology 90 (2003) 169-173
extremely unnecessary and undesirable to tamper with
local biodiversity (Ismail, 1995). Keeping this in view
E. fetida and Lempito mauritii (exotic and local species
respectively) were chosen for the comparative study of
their potential in vermicomposting of MSW.
2.5. Species observation
The increase in growth rate, number of earthworms
and cocoons and weight of earthworms were observed
weekly. The mean of three replicates was used to express
the results.
2. Methods
2.1. Collection and culturing of earthworms
The earthworms E. fetida were obtained from an
earthworm bank (pit) in Micromodel, IIT Delhi where it
has been cultured for the last 4 years (initially the species
was collected from G.H.V.K. University, Banglore). The
species L. mauritii was collected from the soil of Mi-
cromodel, IIT Delhi and was identified by Prof. Julka,
National Zoological Survey of India, Solan, India.
2.6. Statistical analysis
All the reported data are the means of three repli-
cates. Two way analysis of variance (ANOVA) was done
to determine any significant difference among the pa-
rameters analysed in vermicompost. "Student's t-distri-
bution

was done to determine any significant difference

between the numbers and weights of earthworms (E.
fetida and L. mauritii) used.
3. Results and discussion
2.2. Collection of MSW
The organic waste used as substrate (MSW), was
collected from the waste collection site, IIT Delhi where
organic waste was being separated out manually. The
waste was predecomposed for eight days prior to study.
2.3. Experimental setup
The experiments were conducted in earthenpots, each
of capacity 2 kg waste, with a small hole at the bottom.
A total of 54 earthen pots were used and kept in three
sets of 18 pots for E. fetida, L. mauritii and control
(without any earthworms). One kilogram of waste was
taken in each pot along with 200 g of cowdung and soil
(100 g cowdung and 100 g soil) to provide an initial
favorable environmental condition for the worms.
Twenty healthy earthworms of the same size (E. fetida
and L. mauritii) were introduced in each of two sets of
earthen pots. Moisture content was maintained between
40% and 60% during the study. The duration of experi-
ments was six weeks.
2.4. Chemical analysis
The chemical analysis of raw organic waste used and
vermicompost samples, collected weekly, was done for
total organic carbon (TOC), total Kjeldahl nitrogen
(TKN) and total potassium (TK), electrical conductivity
(EC) and pH. The TKN and TOC were estimated by
micro-Kjeldahl (Singh and Pradhan, 1981) and Walkey
and Black's Rapid Titration methods (1934), respec-
tively. TK was estimated by Flame Emission Technique
while EC and pH were determined using conductivity
meter and pH meter.
Table 1 summarizes data pertaining to TOC, TKN,
and C:N ratio. The initial TOC, TKN and C:N ratio of
MSW were 17.6%, 0.31% and 56.7%. Data revealed a
significant difference in percentage decrease of the TOC
in all three treatments (L. mauritii, E. fetida and con-
trol). The maximum carbon reduction, after 42 days,
was obtained with E. fetida (44.3%) followed by L.
mauritii (44.1) and control (17.3). Our data are sup-
ported by Elvira et al. (1998) who observed 2O^12%> loss
of carbon as CO2 during vermicomposting of paper mill
and dairy sludges.
Total nitrogen content increased as a result of carbon
loss with significant differences between the treatments
(Table 1(Panel A)). The loss of dry mass (organic car-
bon) in terms of CO
2
as well as water loss by evapora-
tion during mineralization of organic matter (Viel
et al., 1987) might have determined the relative increase
in nitrogen. However in general the final content of
nitrogen in vermicomposting is dependent on initial
nitrogen present in the waste and the extant of decom-
position (Crawford, 1983; Gaur and Singh, 1995). De-
crease in pH may be an important factor in nitrogen
retention as this element is lost as volatile ammonia at
high pH values (Hartenstein and Hartenstein, 1981).
Table 2 summarizes the data related to K and EC. A
10% increase was observed in TK by E. fetida and 5%
increase by L. mauritii (control did not show any TK
increase). The TK difference between treatments was
significant while it was found to be non-significant rel-
ative to the duration (Table 2(Panel A)). The E. fetida
was superior to L. mauritii in this regard. The microflora
also influences the level of available potassium. Acid
production by the micro-organisms is the major mech-
anism for solubilizing of insoluble potassium. The im-
portant acids in phosphorus solubilisation are carbonic,
nitric, and sulfuric. The enhanced number of microflora
Kaviraj, S. Sharma / Bioresource Technology 90 (2003) 169-173 171
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present in the gut of earthworms in the case of vermi-
composting might have played an important role in this
process and increased K
2
O over the control.
All the treatments showed a similar pattern of
change in EC, which increased from the initial value of
1.60-1.86 ms/cm in the case of E. fetida, 1.73 in
L. mauritii and 1.64 ms/cm in control after the whole
period of decomposition. A gradual increase in EC
was observed with increase in decomposition time.
These results are corroborated by Wong et al. (1997).
The increase in EC might have been due to the loss of
weight of organic matter and release of different mineral
salts in available forms (such as phosphate, ammonium,
potassium).
The results related to the weight loss and pH are
depicted in Table 3. There was a decrease in total bulk
weight of the substrates with the passage of time. On
analysing the result by ANOVA, the decrease in weight
of substrate varied significantly between the treatments
and days. The pH decline in all the cases was believed to
occur because of the high mineralization of the nitrogen
and phosphorus into nitrates/nitrites and orthophos-
phate.
Interesting results were obtained pertaining to the
growth of earthworms. Although the doubling rate in
terms of number was greater in the case of E. fetida (51)
than in L. mauritii (46), the latter gained more weight
(0.39 g/earthworm) than did E. fetida (0.20 g/earth-
worm) in 42 days (Table 4). Ismail (1995), who got
double numbers of L. mauritii in 38.0 days, supports our
data. When the results were analyzed by t-test the dif-
ferences between these two species were found to be
non-significant. The increase in population might also
be attributed to the C:N ratio decreasing with time
(Nedgwa and Thompson, 2000).
4. Conclusion
On the basis of chemical analysis, the observations
indicated the E. fetida to be superior in performance
over L. mauritii, in terms of loss of TOC, reduction in
carbon to nitrogen ratio, increase in EC and TK.
Though the epigeic species of earthworms (i.e. E. fetida)
are capable of working hard to convert all the organic
waste into manure, they are of no significant value in
modifying the structure of soil. The anaecic (like L.
mauritii) however, are capable of both organic waste
consumption as well as of modifying the soil structure.
Moreover L. mauritii can also be used for other pur-
poses i.e. medicinal (Reynolds and Reynolds, 1972; Hori
et al., 1974), as a rich source of protein (Hennuy and
Gaspar, 1986) or pig feed (Hardwood and Sabine, 1978;
Makarda et al., 1979) and in nematode control (Dash
et al., 1980; Yeates, 1981) besides vermicomposting.
172 Kaviraj, S. Sharma / Bioresource Technology 90 (2003) 169-173
Table 2
Chemical analysis of compost produced with different treatments for EC and TK (Panel A), ANOVA of days and species for TK and EC (Panel B)
Days
Panel A
0
7
14
21
28
35
42
Panel B
Days
Treatments
Residual
Exotic
EC
1.60 0.05
1.60 0.06
1.61 0.08
1.61 0.03
1.72 0.09
1.79 0.07
1.86 0.02
SS
TK
0.0004
0.0003
0.0003
TK
0.20 0.02
0.20 0.03
0.20 0.01
0.20 0.09
0.21 0.05
0.22 0.03
0.22 0.02
EC
0.0157
0.0625
0.0227
Local
EC
1.60 0.06
1.60 0.08
1.61 0.07
1.61 0.02
1.67 0.03
1.720.01
1.73 0.01
DF
TK
6
2
12
TK
0.20 0.09
0.20 0.02
0.20 0.03
0.21 0.01
0.21 0.05
0.21 0.06
0.21 0.02
EC
6
2
12
Control
EC
1.60 0.03
1.60 0.02
1.600.01
1.62 0.08
1.62 0.02
1.64 0.03
1.64 0.05
MSS
TK
0.01576
0.00015
0.00030.02
TK
0.20 0.01
0.20 0.05
0.20 0.03
0.20 0.04
0.20 0.03
0.20 0.02
0.20 0.01
EC
0.0026
0.0312
0.0018
F-value
TK EC
3.0 8.72
7.5 17.33
-
All values are the mean of three replicates; all values of K are given in the percentage and EC in ms/cm.
Table 3
Chemical analysis of compost produced with different treatments for weight loss and pH (Panel A), ANOVA of days and treatments for weight loss
and pH (Panel B)
Days
Panel A
0
7
14
21
28
35
42
Panel B
Days
Treatments
Residual
Exotic
Wt . l os s pHWt . l os s
00.00
3.3 0.01
6.6 0.02
9.4 0.03
13.50.02
20.00.12
39.30.12
SS
Wt . l os s pHWt . l os s
1422.3
257. 8
341.8
pH
8.9 0.09
8.40.12
7.40.12
6.90.11
7.1 0.09
6.9 0.01
6.9 0.02
pH
5.10
5.85
40.39
Local
Wt. loss
00.00
3.3 0.09
5.5 0.08
5.5 0.06
16.8 0.02
16.80.16
30.71 0.10
DF
Wt. loss
6
2
12
pH
8.9 0.09
8.40.12
7.00.13
7.0 0.09
7.2 0.08
7.2 0.09
7.1 0.02
pH
6
2
12
Control
Wt. loss
00.00
2.3 0.08
3.60.06
3.6 0.02
8.0 0.06
8.0 0.02
9.4 0.03
MSS
Wt. loss
237
128.9
28.4
pH
8.9 0.02
8.4 0.03
7.20.01
7.20.01
6.7 0.02
6.7 0.06
6.7 0.03
pH
8.50
2.92
3.36
F-value
Wt. loss
8.34
4.53
-
pH
0.25
0.86
-
All values are the mean of three replicates; the value of weight loss is given in percentage.
Table 4
Change in growth rate, number of earthworms and cocoons and weight of earthworms
Days
0
7
14
21
28
35
42
Exotic
NW
20.0
20.0
20.0
21.0
22.0
37.0
51.0
GR
0.0
0.0
20.0
4.5
8.5
85.5
156.5
NC
0.00
0.10
0.26
0.80
1.60
9.60
14.0
Wt.
4.0
4.1
4.2
4.4
5.2
11.6
12.0
Local
NW
20. 0
20. 0
21. 0
22. 0
22. 0
29. 0
46. 0
GR
0.0
0.0
3.0
6.5
7.5
46.5
130.0
NC
0.00
0.05
0.13
0.75
1.60
6.60
8.60
Wt.
6.0
6.2
6.2
6.6
7.6
13.6
18.6
NWme a n number of ear t hwor ms; GRg r o wt h r at e of ear t hwor ms ( number ) i n percent age; NCme a n number of cocoons; Wt . me a n wei ght of
ear t hwor ms (gm); t-calculated: ear t hwor ms ' number = 0.20, ear t hwor ms ' wei ght = 0.96.
Kaviraj, S. Sharma / Bioresource Technology 90 (2003) 169-173 173
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