Composting

It is well known that municipal organic waste and industrial organic waste generate a large amount of lingo-cellulosic by-products including fruit peel, stem, stalk, husk, bagasse, slaughterhouse, poultry processing, sugar industry, and dairy industry among others. Most of these organic wastes have the potential to be used as a substrate or support in solid state fermentation (SSF) processes to produce valuable products.

Meanwhile, the time has a great effect on the composition of MSW. Biodegradation of such MSW according to the time is an important factor that governs the amount of recyclable material particularly the organic content

Household or municipal wastes are usually generated from variable sources where different human activities are encountered. Several studies reported that the municipal solid waste that are generated from the developing countries are mainly from households (55–80%), followed by market or commercial areas (10–30%). The later consists of variable quantities generated from industries, streets, institutions and many others.

Traditionally, the most commonly used technologies for the treatment of the Organic Fraction of Municipal Solid Waste (OFMSW) are the composting and Anaerobic Digestion (AD). Anaerobic Digestion is based essentially on the anaerobic microorganism's metabolism, particularly the methanogenic bacteria. Such anaerobic metabolism produce CH4 from CO2 to H2 (hydrogenotrophs) and/or from CH3COOH (acetoclastics). An appropriate temperature is requires for the Anaerobic Digestion.

The final “product” of composting system is the stabilized organic matters that can be used as a soil conditioner in agriculture, if they are free from chemical or biological contaminants. Utilization of composted municipal organic wastes in field application can certainly reduce the use of synthetic fertilizer for agriculture purposes. It also reduces irrigation, tillage, and pesticides.

Meanwhile, this approach represents a potentially low cost and effective technology for organic solid waste as an important tool for waste management in developing and poor countries.