ALBERT

Description: Publication date: 2016 Source: Procedia Environmental Sciences, Volume 35 Author(s): Vasanthy Muthunarayanan, Karthika Arumugam, Tamilselvi Duraisam Organic and postconsumer wastes are the major waste of today's concern in our living environment. Though they are one of the very rich sources of nitrogen and carbon, improper disposal results in different types of pollution including aesthetic pollution too. Hence, our aim is to manage the dried paper cup waste, temple waste and bay leaf waste in an eco friendly manner. Vermicomposting is a method involving biooxidation and stabilization of organic matter with the help of earthworms and microorganisms thereby turning waste into valuable soil amendments. The intensive objective of this study is to investigate the physico chemical characteristics, biomass, microbial population and also the histopathalogical analysis of the three different types of waste. Three different sets were prepared for this study, which includes paper cup waste and cowdung along with E. eugenia (A), Temple waste, cow dung along with E. eugenia (B), Bay waste, cow dung along with E. eugenia (C) in 1:1 ratio to carry out the degradation process in an eminent way. These materials were left for pre-composting followed by the introduction of the selected earth worms. Physico-chemical parameters (pH, Electrical conductivity (EC), Total organic matter (TOM), Total Nitrogen (TKN), C:N and Total Phosphorus) were analyzed. We have found that the aging of vermicompost reduce the microbial biomass of both bacteria and fungi. The histopathology analysis showed differences in the tissue damage of earthworm employed in different types of waste. Coherently, we have found noticeable earthworm behaviour during the addition of bay leaf waste and temple waste when compared to the paper cup waste. By this way the earthworms were active till the end of the process of degradation. Thus the addition of organic waste along with the post-consumer waste is justified.