Decentralised composting of garden waste in modified plastic drums - Waste and product characterisation

Garden waste (GW) is one of the major constituents of municipal solid waste (MSW). The waste assists in aerobic composting of food waste as bulking agent and its characteristics can affect the MSW composting significantly. Therefore, the degradation pattern of locally generated GW during composting process was studied. Among major parameters, the average values of moisture content, carbon to nitrogen (C/N) ratio, and organic matter were found to be 39%, 18.21, and ~83%, respectively. Biological parameters, namely, lignin, hemicellulose and cellulose were found to be ~48%, 22% and 26%, respectively (on dry wt. basis). A lab scale GW degradation was carried out in control and modified composting drums (to facilitate natural air circulation) for a 32-day period. Only partial decomposition of GW could be achieved despite modifying the drums. The formation of water-soluble compounds and reduction in aromaticity were confirmed using UV-Vis spectroscopy and Fourier transform infrared (FTIR) analyses.