Vermiremediation and nutrient recovery of non-recyclable paper waste employing Eisenia fetida.

With the industrial growth, changing life style and consumeristic attitude paper consumption has increased significantly in yesteryears. The authors have observed that waste paper obtained from consumable items and used paper products are disposed in open by the consumers as these are not accepted by the salvaging industry. In the present study, an attempt has been made to vermicompost non-recyclable post-consumer paper waste (PW) amended with cow dung (CD) employing Eisenia fetida earthworm in order to transform it into a value added product, i.e., vermicompost. Vermicomposting of paper waste resulted in net reduction in ash content and total organic carbon (42.5-56.8%) but increment in total Kjeldhal nitrogen (2.0-2.4-fold), total potassium (2.0-fold), and total phosphorous (1.4-1.8-fold) was achieved after 91 days of worms' activity. The C:N ratio decreased with time in all the worm-worked vermireactors in the range of 71.9-82.0%, depicting advanced degree of organic matter stabilization. The FT-IR spectroscopy of the vermicomposts showed reduction in aliphatic compounds during the vermicomposting process. The results also demonstrated the worm growth and reproduction are not significantly affected if PW content is upto 30% in the vermireactor.

[1]  V. Garg,et al.  Feasibility of utilization of horse dung spiked filter cake in vermicomposters using exotic earthworm Eisenia foetida. , 2008, Bioresource technology.

[2]  K. Butt.  Utilisation of solid paper-mill sludge and spent brewery yeast as a feed for soil-dwelling earthworms , 1993 .

[3]  Y. K. Yadav,et al.  Livestock excreta management through vermicomposting using an epigeic earthworm Eisenia foetida , 2006 .

[4]  F. Binet,et al.  Earthworms change the distribution and availability of phosphorous in organic substrates , 2005 .

[5]  C. Plaza,et al.  Organic matter humification by vermicomposting of cattle manure alone and mixed with two-phase olive pomace. , 2008, Bioresource technology.

[6]  J. Domínguez,et al.  Changes in biochemical properties of cow manure during processing by earthworms (Eisenia andrei, Bouché) and the effects on seedling growth , 2000 .

[7]  M. Kumakura,et al.  Radiation and chemical pretreatment of chaff and its effect on enzymatic hydrolysis , 1983 .

[8]  U. Reeh.  Influence of population densities on growth and reproduction of the earthworm Eisenia andrei on pig manure , 1992 .

[9]  S. Mato,et al.  Bioconversion of solid paper-pulp mill sludge by earthworms , 1996 .

[10]  D. Cluzeau,et al.  Influence of temperature and food source on the life cycle of the earthworm Dendrobaena veneta (Oligochaeta) , 1997 .

[11]  V. Garg,et al.  Vermicomposting of mixed solid textile mill sludge and cow dung with the epigeic earthworm Eisenia foetida. , 2003, Bioresource technology.

[12]  Biswarup Sen,et al.  Chemolytic and solid-state spectroscopic evaluation of organic matter transformation during vermicomposting of sugar industry wastes. , 2007, Bioresource technology.

[13]  N. Senesi,et al.  Composted materials as organic fertilizers , 1989 .

[14]  A Jeyabal,et al.  Recycling of organic wastes for the production of vermicompost and its response in rice–legume cropping system and soil fertility , 2001 .

[15]  Clive A. Edwards,et al.  The growth and fecundity of Eisenia fetida (Savigny) in cattle solids pre-composted for different periods , 2002 .

[16]  S. N. Gupta,et al.  Solid waste management in India: options and opportunities , 1998 .

[17]  V. Garg,et al.  Vermistabilization of textile mill sludge spiked with poultry droppings by an epigeic earthworm Eisenia foetida. , 2005, Bioresource technology.

[18]  D. Kaplan,et al.  Growth of the earthworm Eisenia foetida in relation to population density and food rationing , 1980 .

[19]  S. A. Abbasi,et al.  Vermiconversion of paper waste by earthworm born and grown in the waste-fed reactors compared to the pioneers raised to adulthood on cowdung feed. , 2004, Bioresource technology.

[20]  Ena Smidt,et al.  The applicability of Fourier transform infrared (FT-IR) spectroscopy in waste management. , 2007, Waste management.

[21]  Surendra Suthar,et al.  Potential utilization of guar gum industrial waste in vermicompost production. , 2006, Bioresource technology.

[22]  V. Garg,et al.  Dynamics of biological and chemical parameters during vermicomposting of solid textile mill sludge mixed with cow dung and agricultural residues. , 2004, Bioresource technology.

[23]  S. Lo,et al.  Chemical and spectroscopic analysis of organic matter transformations during composting of pig manure , 1999 .

[24]  K. Kapoor,et al.  Vermicomposting of crop residues and cattle dung with Eisenia foetida , 2000 .

[25]  Pius M. Ndegwa,et al.  Effects of stocking density and feeding rate on vermicomposting of biosolids , 2000 .

[26]  P. K. Ghosh,et al.  Comparative efficacy of three epigeic earthworms under different deciduous forest litters decomposition. , 2003, Bioresource technology.

[27]  R. Nogales,et al.  Hydrolytic enzyme activities of extracted humic substances during the vermicomposting of a lignocellulosic olive waste. , 2005, Bioresource technology.

[28]  G Tripathi,et al.  Comparative studies on biomass production, life cycles and composting efficiency of Eisenia fetida (Savigny) and Lampito mauritii (Kinberg). , 2004, Bioresource technology.

[29]  J. Domínguez,et al.  Earthworms strongly modify microbial biomass and activity triggering enzymatic activities during vermicomposting independently of the application rates of pig slurry. , 2007, The Science of the total environment.

[30]  K. E. Lee.  Some trends and opportunities in earthworm research or: Darwin's children—the future of our discipline , 1992 .

[31]  J. Springett,et al.  Earthworm Ecology , 1983, Springer Netherlands.

[32]  V. Garg,et al.  Development of a water hyacinth based vermireactor using an epigeic earthworm Eisenia foetida. , 2007, Bioresource technology.

[33]  Debabrata Das,et al.  Solid state acidification of vegetable waste , 1998 .

[34]  B. Singh,et al.  Effect of textile effluents on growth performance of wheat cultivars. , 2005, Bioresource technology.

[35]  N. Dilbaghi,et al.  Vermiconversion of wastewater sludge from textile mill mixed with anaerobically digested biogas plant slurry employing Eisenia foetida. , 2006, Ecotoxicology and environmental safety.

[36]  Katia Lasaridi,et al.  Quality assessment of composts in the Greek market: the need for standards and quality assurance. , 2006, Journal of environmental management.

[37]  V. Garg,et al.  Stabilization of primary sewage sludge during vermicomposting. , 2008, Journal of hazardous materials.

[38]  P. Lavelle,et al.  Earthworm Management in Tropical Agroecosystems , 1999 .

[39]  P. L. Chan,et al.  The vermicomposting of pre-treated pig manure , 1988 .

[40]  Satyawati Sharma,et al.  Municipal solid waste management through vermicomposting employing exotic and local species of earthworms. , 2003, Bioresource technology.

[41]  E V Ramasamy,et al.  Vermicomposting of different forms of water hyacinth by the earthworm Eudrilus eugeniae, Kinberg. , 2002, Bioresource technology.

[42]  Renzhi Zhang,et al.  Assessment of maturity of vineyard pruning compost by Fourier Transform Infrared Spectroscopy, biological and chemical analyses , 2004 .