Effects of bulking agents, load size or starter cultures in kitchen-waste composting

摘要

To prevent the interruption of the carbon cycle by the disposal of waste to landfills, organic kitchenwaste requires proper treatment such as composting to reduce its uncontrolled degradation on disposal sites andsubsequent greenhouse gases, odour emissions and nutrient losses. This study investigated the effects of bulkingagent, newspaper and onion peels, composting waste load sizes of 2 and 6 kg, or the use of starter culture onkitchen-waste composting consisting of nitrogen-riched substrates, vegetable scraps and fish processing waste inan in-vessel system. The optimised formulation of kitchen waste mixture was used for a 30-day composting study,where the temperature profiles were recorded and the carbon-to-nitrogen ratios were measured as an indication ofcompost maturity. The kitchen-waste composting process was conducted in parallel in two fabricated kitchenwaste composters.