A

SYNOPSIS
ON

RECYCLING OF SOLID WASTES INTO ORGANIC

FERTILIZERS USING LOW COST TREATMENT:
“VERMICOMPOSTING”

Submitted in the partial fulfillment of requirement for B.E. in

Civil Engineering

By

Mr. Rahul Gawade

Mr. Narendra More
Ms. Disha Pawaskar
Ms. Kirti Satam

UNDER THE GUIDANCE

OF

Prof. Siddharth Jadhav

Metropolitan Institute of Technology & Managment

University of Mumbai

(2022-2023)

Page 1 of 11
 SYNOPSIS

1. Name Of Institutes :- Metropolitan Institute of Technology & Management,

Sukalwad, Oras ; Dist. Sindhudurg(MH) 416534

2. Name Of Course :- Bachelor of Engineering in Civil Engineering

3. Name Of Project Student :- Mr. Rahul Gawade

Mr. Narendra More
Ms. Disha Pawaskar
Ms. Kirti Satam

4. Date of Registration :- 10th August 2022

5. Name Of Project Guide :- Prof. Siddharth Jadhav

6. Proposed Title For Project :- Recycling of solid wastes into organic Fertilizers using low
cost treatment:”Vermicomposting”

1. Introduction:

The ever increasing urbanization and change in life style has increased the waste load
and there by pollution loads on the urban environment to unmanageable and alarming
proportions. The existing waste dumping sites are full beyond capacity and under
unsanitary conditions leading to pollution of water sources and spreading communicable
diseases, foul smell and odors, release of toxic metabolites, unaesthetic ambiance and eye
sore etc.

Page 2 of 11
 It is difficult to get new dumping yards and open dumping is prohibited by law. This
is particularly true for Kolhapur, with severe constraints of land availability, dense
population, environmental fragility and expectation for management of solid wastes relies
on an overly centralized approach. In earlier days, municipal wastes, comprised mainly of
biodegradable matter, did not create much problem to the community as the quantity of
wastes generated was either recycled/reused directly as manure or was within the
treatment capacity of the local environment. The biodegradable waste of the urban
centers was accepted by the suburban rural areas for composting in the agricultural fields.
With increasing content of plastics and non-biodegradable packaging materials,
municipal wastes became increasingly unacceptable to cultivators. As a result, the
excessive accumulation of solid wastes in the urban environment poses serious threat.
There are two aspects to the challenge, the social engineering and technology
application. The social engineering deals with the ethics and efficiency for maintaining
environment. In the case of waste management, it is, broadly, the practice of reduce,
reuse and recover. The technology application deals with the improvement of assimilative
capacity as well as supportive capacity of environment.
Under present day condition, it becomes very essential to protect environment from
further degradation, develop appropriate technologies for use in recycling various organic
waste and to harness energy thus minimizing environmental stress. Vermitechnology is a
promising technique that has shown its potential in certain challenging areas like
augmentation of food production, waste recycling, management of solid wastes etc. The
word Vermiculture biotechnology implies a modern technique of harnessing the
ecosystem for effective utilization of the organic waste with the help of earthworms,
which results into generation of useful organic manure. It helps to avoid the
environmental pollution and expenditure of resources to treat the organic waste. A large
volume of organic matter generated from agriculture activities, dairy farm, industrial
establishments, animal shelters and household activities are dumped to putrefy without
proper utilization. Vermicompost is considered superior to other types of compost
because of its quality.
Vermicomposting technology is globally becoming a popular solid waste
management technique. Vermicomposting is the bioconversion of organic waste into a

Page 3 of 11
bio-fertilizer due to earthworms’ activity. The earthworms feed on the organic waste and
the earthworms’ gut acts as a bioreactor whereby the vermicasts are produced. By the
time the organic waste is excreted by the earthworms as vermicasts, it will be rich in
nitrogen (N), phosphorous (P) and potassium (K) as well as trace elements depending on
the feedstock type used. The vermicomposting process is a mesophillic process and
operating conditions such as temperatures, pH, electrical conductivity and moisture
content levels must be optimized. Normally, the vermicomposting process takes place in
vermi-reactors which include plastic, earthed pots and wood worm bins.

9. Relevance/Motivation:

Now days management of solid waste has become one of the biggest problems we are
facing today. The rapid increase in the volume of waste is one of the aspects of the
environmental crisis, accompanying recent global development. Most common practices
of waste processing are uncontrolled dumping which causes mainly water and soil
pollution. Besides dumping or sanitary land filling, the final disposal of solid waste can
be carried out by other methods like incineration and composting. Vermiculture is
another bio-technique for converting the solid organic waste into compost. Composting is
the process which converts organic waste into useful manure by aerobic conversion. The
active organisms in conventional vermicomposting are earthworms. The
vermicomposting improves the soil structure, enhancing soil fertility, moisture holding
capacity and in term increase the crop yield. It becomes an important tool of waste
recycling the world over.
Vermicomposting is environment friendly and cost effective technique for solid
waste management. Vermicomposting serves two main purposes for the welfare of
humans as it helps in the degradation of solid waste and the cast produced during this
process is used as a natural fertilizer. Vermicompost is much better than chemical
fertilizer because it is not associated with any kind of risk. Earthworms are potentially
important creatures that are capable of transforming garbage into gold. Eisenia fetida is
the most commonly used species of earthworms for vermicomposting.

Page 4 of 11
10.Literature Review:

Sonu K.,(2013), Studied that vermicomposting is a good technique for recycling food
waste. The vermicomposting was done for 45 days in which E. fetidia earthworms were
used. There were four substrate prepared of different composition. The compositions
were Soil+cowdung, Soil+ vegetable waste + fruit waste, Soil +vegetable waste+fruit
waste+cow dung, soil+ paper waste+ cowdung. Chemical anaysis was done at periodic
interval of 15 days during which TP, TK, TOC, TKN, C:N were analysed. It is conclude
that vermicomposting is very suitable in areas where there are no facilities to process the
waste i.e villages. It provides income and good organic manure to the farmers.
Manyuchi. M. and Phiri. A., (2013) Studied the vermicomposting is a bio
conversion process which is widely being used for solid waste management. In this bio
conversion process, earthworms feed on the organic waste to produce more earthworms,
vermicompost and\vermiwash as products. Earthworms which include Megascolex
Mauritii, Eisenia Fetida, Eudrilus Eugeniae, Perionnyx Excavatus, Lampito Mauritii,
Eisenia Andrei, Lampito Rubellus and Drawida Willis have been widely used for
vermicomposting. Vermicomposting has been done for various wastes including animal,
plant, pharmaceutical, food waste and sewage waste over vermicomposting periods
ranging from 28-120 days using these earthworms. The process conditions during
vermicomposting ranged from 18- 67°C for temperature, pH 5.9-8.3 and moisture content
10.6- 80%. Vermicompost yields of 30-50% have been achieved for various organic
wastes and composting periods. The vermicompost and vermiwash produced were rich in
nitrogen, phosphorous and potassium (NPK). The vermicompost obtained had NPK
compositions ranging from 0.3-4.19%, 0.2- 1.6% and 0.2-6.18% respectively. The
vermiwash obtained had NPK composition ranging from 0.14-1.58%, 0.05-7.53% and
0.47-1.26% respectively. Vermicompost and vermiwash have been applied on cow pea,
soy bean, maize and marigold as bio-fertilizers. Vermicomposting can be used for solid
waste management and the production of bio-fertilizers.
Farrell. M.,(2009) Studied municipal solid waste (MSW) commonly known as trash
or garbage, refuse or rubbish is a waste type consisting of everyday items that are

Page 5 of 11
discarded by the public. The term municipal solid waste (MSW) describes the stream of
solid waste generated by households, commercial establishments, industries and
institutions. Municipal solid waste (MSW) is a common name for a very heterogeneous
mixture of wastes of residential, commercial, sometimes industrial, and urban origin.
MSW consist of different organic and inorganic fractions such as food, vegetables, paper,
wood, plastic, glass, metals, and other inert materials. MSW consists of everyday items
such as product packaging, grass clippings, furniture, clothing, bottles, food scraps,
newspapers, appliances, paint and batteries. It does not include medical, commercial and
industrial hazardous or radioactive wastes, which must be treated separately. Despite the
variability in its composition, organic content constitutes the highest percentage of solid
waste
Nandita M and Arun K.,(2013) Studied vermicomposting is environment friendly
and cost effective technique for solid waste management. Vermicomposting serves two
main purposes for the welfare of humans as it helps in the degradation of solid waste and
the cast produced during this process is used as a natural fertilizer. Vermicompost is
much better than chemical fertilizer because it is not associated with any kind of risk.
Earthworms are potentially important creatures that are capable of transforming garbage
into gold. Eisenia fetida is the most commonly used species of earthworms for
vermicomposting. Vermicomposting is a mesophilic process and should be maintained up
to 32°C with the moisture content of 60-80%. Earthworms break down organic matter
and leave behind castings that are an exceptionally valuable fertilizer. Vermicomposting
has many applications in crop improvement such as pathogen destruction, water holding
capacity of soil, improved crop growth and yield, improved soil physical, chemical and
biological properties and production of plant growth regulators.
Subbulakshmi. G. and Thiruneelakandan. R., (2011) Studied Most common
practices of waste processing are uncontrolled dumping which causes mainly water and
soil pollution. Besides dumping or sanitary land filling, the final disposal of solid waste
can be carried out by other methods like incineration and composting. Vermiculture is
another bio-technique for converting the solid organic waste into compost. Composting is
the process which converts organic waste into useful manure by aerobic conversion. The
active organisms in conventional vermicomposting are earthworms. The

Page 6 of 11
vermicomposting improves the soil structure, enhancing soil fertility, moisture holding
capacity and in term increase the crop yield. It becomes an important tool of waste
recycling the world over.
Sudhir.k.et al.,(2010), Solid waste is an unwanted byproduct of modern civilization.
Landfills are the most common means of solid waste disposal. But, the increasing amount
of solid waste is rapidly filling existing landfills, and new sites are difficult to establish.
Alternatives to landfills include the use of source reduction, recycling, composting and
incineration, as well as use of landfills. Incineration is most economical if it includes
energy recovery from the waste. Energy can be recovered directly from waste by
incineration or the waste can be processed to produce storable refuse derived fuel (RDF).
Information on the composition of solid wastes is important in evaluating alternative
equipment needs, systems, management programs and plans. Household surveys are done
in six divisions of Eluru Municipal Corporation, A.P, India and per capita waste for the
corporation is estimated. Pulverization of municipal solid waste is done and the
pulverized solid waste is dressed to form a bed and the bed is fed by vermi’s which
converts the bed into vermi compost.

Antiohos, S.; Maganari & K.; Tsimas, S. (2005) Concrete industry is one of the
largest consumers of natural resources due to which sustainability of concrete industry is under
threat. The environmental and economic concern is the biggest challenge concrete industry is
facing. In their paper, the issues of environmental and economic concern were addressed by the
use of saw dust ash as partial replacement of cement in concrete. Cement was replaced by Saw
Dust Ash as 5%, 10%, 15% and 20% by weight for M-25 mix. The concrete specimens were
tested for compressive strength, durability (water absorption) and density at 28 days of age and
the results obtained were compared with those of normal concrete. The results concluded the
permissibility of using Saw Dust Ash as partial replacement of cement up to 10% by weight for
particle size of range 90micron.

Page 7 of 11
 Balendran, R. V. and Martin-Buades, W. H. (2000), Utilization of waste
materials in concrete mixes is now recognized as one of the meaningful ways to dispose the
solid waste from other industries. Fly ash from the combustion of coal and granulated blast-
furnace slag from the iron-making plants are typical successful examples in replacing the
expensive Portland cement in concrete mixes. Apart from reducing the cost of concrete
delivered, they provide several technical advantages such as reduced heat of hydration,
improved cohesiveness and chemical resistance, reduced bleeding and permeability and
continuous strength improvement with age. In many developing and developed countries,
timber industry produces a significant quantity of sawdust as a by- product of the timber
processing. Although a limited quantity of it is used as fuel in some countries, most of the
sawdust generated is wasted. With the limited availability of dumping sites and landfills,
sawdust disposal has become a serious problem facing the timber industry. The type of wood
from the sawdust is produced is an important parameter, since different wood types have
different amounts of extractable sugar. Mixes containing oak wood particles have failed to
harden 24 hours after mixing

Ramadan (1988). The lime and calcium chloride are used in the mixes to minimize
influence of the retardation effect by the wood particles. Tests have shown that using the
current manufacturing methods and equipment it is economically possible to use sawdust in
manufacturing lightweight concrete block units that could be used in load-bearing applications
with a reduction in material cost of about 35 to 40%.

Rashwan et. al. 1992). Thse results showed that, although the sawdust blocks had lower
mortar-to-unit bond strength, the walls in which they were used exhibited higher flexural
strengths than conventional cavity walls. This paper reports and discusses the results of an
experimental investigation into the effects of the mix compositions on the properties of
sawdust concrete. The purpose of this study is to develop a suitable mix composition for
sawdust concrete using a locally available sawdust for the purpose of producing load-bearing
lightweight concrete masonry units.

Page 8 of 11
11. Objectives:

The proposed work is based on the following objectives.

1) To develop lab-scale model of vermicomposting pit.
2) To carry out performance evaluation study for vermicomposting pit with varying
solid waste constituents.
3) To carry out characterization of compost manure.

12.Scope:

There are a lot of ill effects of chemical fertilizers; due to that organic farming is a
better option. As the name suggest organic farming it includes the use of organic manure,
green manures, composts, bioinoculants, biofertilizers and so on to provide nutrients to
the plants. Composting is a slow process hence vermicomposting increases the rate of
formation of organic manure and known as rapid composting. Vermicomposting plays
vital role in organic farming. The better interactions of bioinoculants with earthworms
which may further reduce the time of composting and improve the quality of compost.
Hence vermicompost can be used for organic wastes to yield compost at a faster rate for
organic farming.

13.Methodology:

The methodology will be adopted as follows:

1. To develop vermicomposting pits for different type of solid waste.
2. Design data for vermicomposting unit shall be developed based on results obtained
from experimental studies.

Page 9 of 11
14.Facilities Available and Requirements:

The entire instruments required for project are available in Department of

Technology, Shivaji University Kolhapur.
 Kjheldal assembly.
 Atomic Absorption Spectrophotometer.

15. Expected Date of Completion: - April 2023

16. Approximate Expenditures: - 15,000/-

17. Name of the Sponsor: - Nil

18. References:
1. Sonu kumari., “Solid waste management by vermicomposting”, International Journal
of Scientific & Engineering Research, Volume 4, Issue 2,(2013).
2. Manyuchi. M .M. and Phiri. A.,“Vermicomposting in Solid Waste Management: A
Review”, International Journal of Scientific Engineering and Technology, Volume
No.2, Issue No.12, (2013),pp : 1234-1242.
3. Nandita Mehta,and Arun Karnwal.,”Solid waste management with the help of
vermicomposting and its applications in crop improvement” Journal of Biological
Earth Science,Vol No.3,Issue No.1,(2013),pp:8-16.
4. G.Subbulakshmi, and R.Thiruneelakandan,”Vermicomposting is valiant in
vandalizing the waste material” International Journal of Plant, Animal and
Environmental Sciences, Volume-1, Issue-3,(2013), pp 134-140.
5. J.Sudhir Kumar.,, Venkata Subbiah.K., Prasada Rao.P.V.,”Management of municipal
solid waste by Vermicompost-A case study of Eluru” International journal of
Environmental Science, Volume 1,(2010), pp 82-90.
6. Walkey, J.A. and Black, I.A.,"Estimation of organic carbon by the chromic acid
titration method", Soil Science, 37, (1934), pp-29–38.

Page 10 of 11
 7. CPCB,"Central Pollution Control Board (CPCB),” Management of Municipal Solid
Wastes”, Ministry of Environment and Forests, New Delhi, India,(2000).
8. Mall, A.K., Dubey, A. and Prasad, S.,"Vermicompost: an inevitable tool of organic
farming for sustainable agriculture", Agrobios Newsletter, 3(8):10-12,(2005).
9. Singh, R., Pradhan, K.,"Determination of nitrogen and protein by Kjeldahl method",
In: Forage Evaluation Science. Pvt. Publishers Ltd., New Delhi, (1981),p. 23-25.

Submitted by

SR STUDENT NAME ROLL NO SIGN

1
Mr. Gawade Rahul Prakash 02

2
Mr. More Narendra Devendra 36

3
Ms. Pawaskar Disha Dilip 52

4
Ms. Satam Kirti Ritesh 99

Guide: - Prof. Siddharth Jadhav

(Asst. Professor, Civil Engg.
Department, MITM Oras)

Page 11 of 11