Rotary Drum Composting of Organic School Wastes and Compost Valorization

Laila Almulla (), Binson Mavelil Thomas, Mustapha F. A. Jallow, Amwaj Al-Roumi, Yeddu Devi and Joby Jacob
Additional contact information
Laila Almulla: Desert Agriculture and Ecosystems Program, Environment and Life Sciences Research Center, Kuwait Institute for Scientific Research, Safat 13109, Kuwait
Binson Mavelil Thomas: Desert Agriculture and Ecosystems Program, Environment and Life Sciences Research Center, Kuwait Institute for Scientific Research, Safat 13109, Kuwait
Mustapha F. A. Jallow: Desert Agriculture and Ecosystems Program, Environment and Life Sciences Research Center, Kuwait Institute for Scientific Research, Safat 13109, Kuwait
Amwaj Al-Roumi: Desert Agriculture and Ecosystems Program, Environment and Life Sciences Research Center, Kuwait Institute for Scientific Research, Safat 13109, Kuwait
Yeddu Devi: Desert Agriculture and Ecosystems Program, Environment and Life Sciences Research Center, Kuwait Institute for Scientific Research, Safat 13109, Kuwait
Joby Jacob: Desert Agriculture and Ecosystems Program, Environment and Life Sciences Research Center, Kuwait Institute for Scientific Research, Safat 13109, Kuwait

Sustainability, 2024, vol. 16, issue 6, 1-15

Abstract: Inappropriate waste disposal imposes significant health risks in densely populated urban environments and schools, necessitating sustainable waste management. Therefore, a study was carried out at Al-Jazaer School, Kuwait, to evaluate rotary drum composting (RDC) of organic school waste comprising used paper, dry leaves, and vegetable food wastes in a 1:4:20 ratio. Feedstock comprising 42% organic school wastes, 42% horse manure, and 16% sawdust produced mature compost with a C:N ratio of 20.55 on the 43rd day of composting. Distinct mesophilic, thermophilic, cooling, and curing phases were observed during composting. Mature compost recorded a moisture content of 54.3%, pH 8.56, EC of 2.71 mS/cm, total nitrogen of 0.77%, total organic carbon of 18.25%, carbon content of 15.86%, and sulfur content of 0.14%. Soilless growing media comprising peat moss, perlite, and rotary drum compost in three proportions (1:1:1, 1:1:2, and 1:1:3), and peat moss, perlite, and commercial organic compost in a 1:1:3 ratio were evaluated for greenhouse vegetable production. The performance of cucumbers ( Cucumis sativus cv. Ramos) raised in the lowest proportion of in-house prepared rotary drum compost (1:1:1 ratio) was comparable with that raised in the highest proportion of commercial compost (1:1:3). The study revealed the potential of RDC for decentralized sustainable waste management at the small-community scale and the suitability of compost from school wastes for soilless culture.

Keywords: rotary drum; municipal solid waste; aerobic composting; horse manure; C:N ratio; sustainable agriculture; greenhouse; soilless substrate (search for similar items in EconPapers)
JEL-codes: O13 Q Q0 Q2 Q3 Q5 Q56 (search for similar items in EconPapers)
Date: 2024
References: View complete reference list from CitEc
Citations:

Downloads: (external link)
https://www.mdpi.com/2071-1050/16/6/2428/pdf (application/pdf)
https://www.mdpi.com/2071-1050/16/6/2428/ (text/html)

Related works:
This item may be available elsewhere in EconPapers: Search for items with the same title.

Export reference: BibTeX RIS (EndNote, ProCite, RefMan) HTML/Text

Persistent link: https://EconPapers.repec.org/RePEc:gam:jsusta:v:16:y:2024:i:6:p:2428-:d:1357260

Access Statistics for this article

Sustainability is currently edited by Ms. Alexandra Wu

More articles in Sustainability from MDPI
Bibliographic data for series maintained by MDPI Indexing Manager ().