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Pill millipede compost: A viable alternative to utilize urban organic solid waste
Abstract and Figures
Urban organic solid waste needs appropriate attention for transformation into compost or manure through bioconversion to reduce the landfill and to avoid waste-borne hazards. This study proposes the possibilities of using pill millipedes (Arthrosphaera) as saprophagous fauna for transformation of urban organic solid waste into compost. Pill millipedes transform solid organic waste into quality compost (neutral pH, low phenolics, narrow C/N ratio and elevated nitrogen and phosphorus contents) within a short-time frame. Pill millipedes can be maintained or reared in the laboratory conditions throughout the year by feeding mixed organic waste (leaf litter) and soil. Various containers are recommended for bench-scale and green house conditions with a model compost bin to generate compost form organic solid waste using pill millipedes. Solid organic waste processing model has been proposed for eco-friendly production of manure using pill millipedes and earthworms.
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... Millipedes also seem to perform an interesting role in composting, since they are specialized in the consumption of vegetal detritus, being the most active saprophages in decomposition [18][19][20][21][22]. They act in pedogenesis and nutrient cycling, producing organic substances that enrich the soil with macro and micronutrients [18,19]. ...
... Studies conducted with earthworms [9-11, 15, 16], and millipedes [19,[22][23][24] reported that composts produced by invertebrates are of good quality and stimulate plant growth. However, millicomposting is still underrated. ...
Here we evaluated the efficiency of millicomposting (M, with millipedes), vermicomposting (V – with earthworms), and traditional composting (C – no invertebrates) of vegetal wastes.
To this aim, we did an controlled experiment with replication in order to obtain statistical comparisons through the analysis of variance (one-way and Welch procedures) and post-hoc comparisons. We assesed differences on temperature, volume profiles and chemical quality in both the produced humus and leachates.
Although all three composting types were efficient in producing mature, high-quality organic fertilizers, the addition of detritivorous animals improved the composting efficiency and the quality of the final products. Furthermore, vermicomposting produced humus of higher nutritional quality, whereas millicomposting leachates yielded higher nutritional levels and maturity degrees. Then , this study also attested the potential of millicomposting in producing good-quality liquid fertilizers.
... Millipedes also could have an interesting role in composting, since they are one of the most active saprophages in decomposition and they produce organic substances that enrich the soil [27][28][29][30][31]. Such capacity is probably due to its symbiotic intestinal microbiota, which breaks down cellulose into simple sugars [29]. ...
Millicomposting (MIL, with millipedes), vermicomposting (VER, with earthworms) and composting without invertebrates (CNT, control) were compared for the first time in a replicated controlled experiment to evaluate their efficiency and the quality of their products. Vegetal waste was degraded in small closed digesters to emulate household scale composting. Temperature profiles were similar in the three composting types. 92 days were enough to complete composting and obtain well-stabilized products (humus with C/N< 20; pH from 7 to 7.8). The mean final volume loss was about 8% higher in VER than MIL and CNT (P < 0.01) and it stabilized between the 32nd and 67th days (51,4% in VER, 43% MIL and 44% in CNT). Both invertebrates promoted gains in humus Ca content (about 34.5% higher compared to CNT), whereas the highest K and Mg contents were observed in VER humus. pH, P2O5, and S contents were also higher in VER humus than in CNT (all P < 0.05). The leachate volumes, electrical conductivity and Na⁺ and PO4³⁻ contents were similar (P > 0.05), while pH and contents of K⁺ and NH4⁺ were higher and NO3⁻ was lower in VER than in MIL (all P < 0.01). This resulted in higher maturity degrees in MIL than VER (NH4⁺/NO3⁻= 0.01 and 0.93 respectively). Although all three composting types were efficient in producing mature high quality organic fertilizers, this study showed that the addition of invertebrates improved the composting efficiency and the quality of the final products.
... Ref. [5] the proper management of the standardization of agricultural practices is critical to the performance and quality of the fruit. They concluded, the development of its products; after three consecutive seasons, from changes shown in nutrient status, physical integrity of the plant and reducing the number of imperfects in the plant. ...
... A taxa de degradação do material varia dependendo da sua origem, sendo classificada de decomposição rápida ou lenta (TREMIER et al., 2005;SOLE-MAURI et al., 2007). O aumento da área superficial, por meio da atividade promovida pela fauna saprófaga, é o requisito inicial mais importante durante a decomposição, estimulando as atividades microbianas e, por sua vez, a velocidade de biotransformação da matéria orgânica (GERLACH et al., 2012;AMBARISH;SRIDHAR, 2013). ...
Os diplópodes são capazes de ingerir serapilheira parcialmente decomposta, transformando-a em matéria orgânica que enriquece o solo. Este trabalho objetivou avaliar potenciais fontes alimentares dos diplópodes da espécie Trigoniulus corallinus em laboratório fornecendo diferentes resíduos na forma de serrapilheira não decomposta, por um período de dez dias. Os resíduos utilizados neste experimento (todos senescentes) foram: aparas de grama batatais; folhas de gliricídia; de flemingia; de pata de vaca; de bananeira, além de um resíduo industrializado, neste caso, pedaços de papelão picado. O delineamento utilizado foi inteiramente casualizado, com dez repetições. Ao final de dez dias foram avaliados os seguintes parâmetros: massa seca do resíduo restante da alimentação dos diplópodes, massa seca dos coprólitos e mortalidade dos diplópodes. A mensuração das taxas de consumo dos diplópodes mostraram-se diferentes entre os tratamentos, sendo as maiores taxas observadas para as folhas de flemingia (25,4 %) seguido pelas folhas de gliricídia (21,2 %). A massa de coprólitos gerados foi maior a partir dos resíduos de flemingia (0,214 g) e foi ausente na presença de papelão e gliricídia. Observou-se 100% de mortalidade dos diplópodes após o consumo de folhas de gliricídia. Depreende-se dos resultados que diplópodes da espécie T. corallinus são capazes de ingerir resíduos pobres em nutrientes, porém exibem nitidamente preferência alimentar por resíduos que contenham maiores teores de nutrientes.
Palavras-chave: gongolos, compostagem, agricultura orgânica.
CONSUMPTION OF AGRICULTURAL AND URBAN WASTES BY THE DIPLOPODA Trigoniulus corallinus
ABSTRACT:
Diplopods are able to ingest litter partially decomposed, transforming them into organic matter that enrich the soil. This work aimed to evaluate potential food sources of the dipropods of the specie Trigoniulus corallinus in the laboratory providing different residues in the form of non - decomposed litter for a period of ten days. The residues used in this experiment (all senescent) were: batatais grass cuttings; Gliricidia leaves; of Flemingia; of cow's foot; of banana tree, in addition to an industrialized residue, in this case pieces of cardboard. The design was completely randomized, with ten replications. At the end of ten days, the following parameters were evaluated: dry mass of the remaining diplopods feed, dry mass of coprolites and mortality of diplopods. The measurement of the consumption rates of the diplopods were different among the treatments, with the highest rates observed for the leaves of flemingia (25.4%) followed by the leaves of gliricidia (21.2%). The mass of generated coprolites was higher from the flemingia residues (0.214 g) and was absent in the presence of cardboard and gliricidia. It was observed 100% mortality of the diplopods after consumption of gliricidia leaves. It appears from the results that dipropods of T. corallinus species are able to ingest nutrient-poor residues, but clearly exhibit their food preferences for residues containing higher nutrient contents.
Keywords: millipedes, composting, organic agriculture.
... ), y proveer una fuente de recursos económicos en barrios de bajos ingresos (Sridhar yAmbarish, 2013;Barik et al., 2011;CDM, 2011;Edwards et al., 2011;Sitton, 2010;Soto, 2007;ESCAP, 2006). El reciclaje de residuos orgánicos a través de la lombricultura es entonces una situación de ganar-ganar al reducir el flujo de basura, mejorar la salud pública, apoyar la producción de alimentos y crear oportunidades económicas (Porras et al., 2013;Cofie et al., 2009informales es a menudo inadecuada, debido a un rápido proceso de urbanización y a la falta de recursos, capacidad técnica, equipamiento, infraestructura, organización institucional y estrategias integradas de planificación urbana (Parrot et al., 2009;Bulle, 1999; Grierson yBrown, 1999). ...
La falta del servicio público de recolección de basura en Los Platanitos, un asentamiento informal en Santo Domingo Norte, República Dominicana, llevó a sus residentes a implementar un proyecto piloto de lombricultura con enfoque de género. El objetivo del proyecto fue disminuir la cantidad de residuos orgánicos depositados en los canales de agua que atraviesan la comunidad, y de esta manera reducir la contaminación del ambiente, mejorar la salud pública, y proporcionar una fuente de ingresos para las mujeres, que son quienes lideran el proyecto. El proyecto es innovador al integrar tecnologías culturalmente apropiadas a nivel local, desarrollar estrategias de género e inter-generacionales y tomar en cuenta principios de sostenibilidad económica. Se ha logrado establecer estructuras gerenciales y operativas que fortalecen la capacidad de organización y autogestión de la comunidad en general y de las mujeres en particular, lo cual demuestra el impacto positivo que este tipo de proyectos puede tener en el incremento del capital social y liderazgo comunitario local para la toma de decisiones que afectan la vida diaria de los residentes, en un momento en que la planificación institucional responde a un contexto político neo-liberal.
... Biofuels in general and bio-hydrogen from organic Source: http://www.aaas.org/spp/cstc/briefs/biofuels/ waste in particular seem to be well-positioned to play an important role in the near future, providing that they are economically viable and environment friendly (Sridhar and Ambarish 2013). Fuel cells offer the transportation sector the promise of decreased dependence on fossil fuels, low or zero tailpipe emissions, and high efficiency. ...
This paper reviews the situation of biofuels production with regard to climate change and sustainability. The
biomass energy or biofuels combustion is carbon neutral or even carbon negative as the carbon, which is stored during its growth, is released and does not add new carbon to the active carbon cycle, whereas fossil fuels such as coal, oil and natural gas remove carbon from geologic storage and contribute to climate change by emission of GHGs. Biofuel also controls the carbon emissions from biomass facilities which would have been released back into the atmosphere through natural decay or disposal through open-burning. Inspite of these GHG benefits, the progress in biofuels expansion is at crossroads as it is influenced by various factors like land use changes and food security related issues. However biofuels from degraded land and from non-food crops are promising and will help in climate change mitigation. Proper planning in land use and identifying most appropriate policies for promoting this will help in tackling the global issue and in achieving the goal. The technology utilizing carbon sequestered in various sources, for ethanol, biodiesel and other biofuels production is a sustainable solution to climate change rather than biofuels from food crops
... Although pill-millipedes are the prime players in mechanical fragmentation of leaf litter, the biochemical transformation is carried out by soil microbial communities (Domínguez, 2004). Giant pill-millipedes, belonging to the genus Arthrosphaera (order, Sphaerotheriida; family, Sphaerotheriidae) and occurring in Southern Peninsular, India, are microendemic and actively participate in degradation of leaf litter in forest floors Sridhar and Ambarish, 2013). Pill-millipedes being obligate detritus feeders prefer mixed against single leaf litter to meet their nutritional requirements (Ashwini and Sridhar, 2005;Ambarish and Sridhar, 2013a). ...
Soil macroinvertebrates are highly diverse and their major ecological service include breakdown of organic matter and in turn improve soil fertility and pill-millipedes are well-known for their significant role in ingestion, disintegration and decomposition of organic matter in soil. This study characterized the feed, the decomposing leaf litter of coconut (Cocos nucifera), and faeces of two endemic giant pill-millipedes Arthrosphaera disticta and A. fumosa collected from forests of the Western Ghats of India based on chemical features and microbial profile. In both millipedes, electric conductivity and total phosphorus were significantly increased in faeces, while the crude protein, organic carbon, total nitrogen and total phenolics were significantly decreased, as compared to those in feed. Heterotrophic bacteria, actinomycetes, rhizobia and phosphate-solubilizing bacteria were significantly higher in faeces than in feed, while filamentous fungi and yeast substantially decreased in faces compared to feed in both the millipedes. Spectrum of fatty acid methyl esters was considerably different between feed and faeces of both the millipedes. The total saturated fatty acids were higher than the total unsaturated fatty acids in feed as well as faeces, while the ratio of unsaturated/saturated fatty acids decreased from feed to faeces. Dodecanoic and tetradecanoic acids in A. disticta and octadecanoic acid in A. fumosa significantly increased, while (9Z)-octadec-9-enoic and (9E,12E)-octadeca-9,12-dienoic acids in A. disticta and hexadecanoic, tetracosanoic and (9E,12E)-octadeca-9,12-dienoic acids in A. fumosa significantly decreased in faeces compared to feed, indicating millipede-dependent changes in fatty acids. Icosanoic acid was present in faeces of both the millipedes, and hexadec-9-enoic acid was confined to faeces of A disticta, while pentadecanoic, heneicosanoic, (9Z,12Z,15Z)-9,12,15-octadecatrienoic and eicosenoic acids were confined to faeces of A. fumosa. Pill-millipedes enrich the soil quality by leaf litter conditioning in their gut through specific microbial communities. Fingerprinting of fatty acid methyl esters in faeces of these millipedes reflected the activity of specific microbial population in their guts.
Key Words: Arthrosphaera, coconut leaf litter, fatty acids, mesocosm, microbiota, nutrients
... Pill-millipede manures produced by offering mixed leaf litter to A. fumosa and A. magna resulted in increased nitrogen and phosphorus in appreciable quantity within 2-4 weeks denotes the impact of nitrogen fixers and phosphate solubilizers in manures (Ashwini and Sridhar, 2006;Ambarish and Sridhar, 2013a). Being Gondwanan origin, Arthrosphaera seems to harbor rare and extremophilic microbiota involve in plant growth promotion, production of secondary metabolites and production of organic manure as alternative to vermicompost (Sridhar and Ambarish, 2013). Within three weeks of composting mixed leaf litter using pill-millipedes, eggs of earthworms likely inoculants from decomposing mixed leaf litter hatched out and the juveniles were active showing the compatibility of pill-millipedes and earthworms in manure production (Ambarish and Sridhar, 2013b). ...
Assessment of microbial communities in food, gut and feces as a consequence of ingestion and egestion of organic matter by saprophagous fauna assumes importance in elemental recycling and improvement of soil fertility. This study addresses the dynamics of six microbial communities in food (native leaf litter), intestine (gut contents) and fecal pellets (manure) of two endemic giant pill-millipedes of the Western Ghats (Arthrosphaera fumosa and A. magna). Load of four bacterial communities (heterotrophic bacteria, actinomycetes, phosphate solubilizing bacteria and rhizobia) showed siginficantly increasing trend from leaf litter to gut content to feces, while it was opposite for filamentous fungi as well as yeast. The overall microbial dynamics was similar between pill-millipedes in spite of their occurrence in different habitats of the Western Ghats. Microbial dynamics in pill-millipedes has been compared with other millipedes and earthworms. A combination of pill-millipedes and earthworms has been proposed for the production of quality organic manure.
This is the first complete catalogue documenting all species, genera, and higher categories of the giant pill-millipedes, order Sphaerotheriida. It provides a list of all 39 known potential apomorphies of members of the order that could be used as a template for future phylogenetic studies at the ordinal level in the Diplopoda. The catalogue also includes illustrations of key characters of the order, as well as illustrations of the intraordinal variation of the female vulva and male posterior telopods. It further includes a key to all five Sphaerotheriida families, short descriptions for each of the 24 genera and a summary of the state of knowledge of the ecology and development of the giant pill-millipedes. Synonymies for all 24 valid genera are listed in a convenient tabular format. All 351 valid Sphaerotheriida species and their synonyms are listed; 14 remain nomina dubia, while five cannot be placed in any family. For each family, genus and species, bibliographic citations are presented, including all subsequent citations in chronological order. For each species, the number and location of type depositories as well as the locality data from the literature are provided. Bothrobelum sulcatulum (Butler, 1872) is presented as a new combination (ex Zephronia). Lectotypes are designated for Zoosphaerium blandum (deSaussure & Zehntner, 1902), Z. globulus & Z. imbecillum (both synonyms of Z. voeltzkowianum (deSaussure & Zehntner, 1897)), and Z. piligerum (deSaussure & Zehntner, 1897).
At present, the millipede fauna of India comprises over 270 nominate species or subspecies in at least 90 genera, 25 families and 11 orders. As complete a catalogue as possible is compiled of all species or subspecies of Diplopoda formally reported from India, some of which remain dubious. Additionally, a checklist is also compiled of millipedes that have erroneously been recorded in India. Given also several literature lacunae, as well as numerous taxonomic problems, the number of species and even genera cannot be claimed precise. The following new transfers are proposed: Delarthrum pumilum (Attems, 1944), comb. n. ex Dasypharkis Attems, 1936; Stemmiulus crassipes (Carl, 1941), S. insolitus (Carl, 1941), S. mulierosus (Carl, 1937), S. plumipes (Carl, 1941) and S. vagans (Carl, 1941), all comb. n. ex Diopsiulus Silvestri, 1897; Cryptocorypha riparia (Carl, 1932), comb. n. ex Archandrodesmus Carl, 1932. A new record of Stenobolus insularis Carl, 1918 is given from India.
Article History Millipedes are known to be macro detrivorous terrestrial arthropods which feed on decaying vegetable matter and mineral soils. An attempt was made to assess the ability of millipede Xenobolus carnifex in composting the commonly available organic wastes such as leaf litter, sugarcane trash, rice husk and sawdust and the influence of millicompost prepared from different organic wastes on the growth of vegetable plant, Abelmoschus esculentus. In addition, biochemical constituents were also estimated in the millicompost by using standard procedures. The millipede compost derived from leaf litter residues possessed better nutritional content than other organic residues. Further plant height, leaf number, leaf length and fruit length and weight were enhanced when leaf litter derived millicompost was applied. Compost derived from different organic wastes could act as effective organic manure to the crop plants and ecofriendly alternative source to minimize the usage of synthetic fertilizers.
Bacterial strains from the gut of millipede, Xenobolus carnifex, were isolated and screened for their ability to produce different hydrolytic enzymes that are important in digesting the plant materials. Of 53 isolates, 48 were cellulase and xylanase producers while 13 were amylase producers. Four strains produced proteinase. Three isolates namely, XGB12, XGB16 and XGB 41 had the ability to produce all the four enzymes. Based on the biochemical characteristics, the isolate XGB12 was confirmed as Proteus mirabilis while the isolates XGB16 and XGB41 were confirmed as Citrobacter freundii.
Seasonal occurrence and activity of endemic pill millipedes (Arthrosphaera magna) were examined in organically managed mixed plantation
and semi-evergreen forest reserve in southwest India between November 1996 and September 1998. Abundance and biomass of millipedes
were highest in both habitats during monsoon season. Soil moisture, conductivity, organic carbon, phosphate, potassium, calcium and
magnesium were higher in plantation than in forest. Millipede abundance and biomass were about 12 and 7 times higher in plantation than in
forest, respectively (P < 0.001). Their biomass increased during post-monsoon, summer and monsoon in the plantation (P < 0.001), but not in
forest (P > 0.05). Millipede abundance and biomass were positively correlated with rainfall (P = 0.01). Besides rainfall, millipedes in plantation
were positively correlated with soil moisture as well as temperature (P = 0.001). Among the associated fauna with pill millipedes,
earthworms rank first followed by soil bugs in both habitats. Since pill millipedes are sensitive to narrow ecological changes, the organic
farming strategies followed in mixed plantation and commonly practiced in South India seem not deleterious for the endangered pill millipedes
Arthrosphaera and reduce the risk of local extinctions.
Microcosm experiments were carried out to assess the palatability, litter consumption,
growth and food conversion efficiency of pill millipede Arthrosphaera magna. Among
the five diets assessed, millipedes preferred conditioned leaf litter over fresh leaf
litter in 24 h feeding trial. Highest litter ingestion was seen in areca followed by
banana, Acacia and cashew. Ingestion and faecal pellets production was highest on
mixed litter in 3 days and 10 days feeding trials. Coconut was the most preferred
single litter in both trials, however, its consumption and faecal pellet production was
higher in 10 days than in 3 days trial. Weight of faecal pellets of millipedes fed with
mixed litter outweighed monolitter feeds. Among the monolitter diets, coconut
ranked first in faecal pellet production. Total weight of faecal pellets produced on 10
days trial on six kinds of diets significantly differed (P ¼ 1:66 � 10�9, one-way ANOVA).
Significant difference was also seen in mass of faecal pellet between mixed litter and
coconut litter diets (P ¼ 0:029, paired t-test). Except for coconut litter, the rest
showed higher organic matter in litter than in faecal pellets. Faecal pellets produced
on all litter diets showed higher calcium than litter. Similarly, faecal pellets produced
on banana, cashew and mixed litter diets showed higher magnesium than other diets.
On monolitter diets offered for ten days, ingestion rate, weight and number of faecal
pellets were highest between 2 and 4 days, subsequently, all except for coconut litter,
steep decline was seen in these parameters and attained almost lowest profile on the
10th day. However, on coconut litter diet, ingestion and faecal pellet production were
high, but declined gradually. On mixed litter diet, rate of consumption, mass and
number of faecal pellets were high on the first day and more or less it was constant
and never declined as in monolitter diets. On comparison, the rate of food ingestion of
mixed litter by A. magna was several folds higher than temperate and other tropical
millipedes (561.1–598.2 vs. 1.02–157 mg/animal/day), so also the faecal pellet
production (550–570 vs. 0.97–126.05 mg/animal/day). The nutrients of mixed litter
might fulfill the nourishment for growth, maturity and reproduction of A. magna. Food
conversion efficiency of A. magna was higher on mixed litter than monolitter diets in
our study, justifying distribution and abundance of Arthrosphaera spp. in mixed
forests of the Western Ghats of India.
We employed pill millipedes (Arthrosphaera magna) to
generate compost from plantation crop residues on a
pilot-scale. Three combinations of residues (w/w), viz.
areca leaf litter and areca nut husk (1 : 1), cocoa leaf
litter and cocoa pod husk (1 : 1) and mixed leaf litter
(areca, acacia, cocoa and cashew) (1 : 1 : 1 : 1) in cement
tanks were offered to millipedes with adequate moisture
up to two months for composting. Particles less
than 5 mm of millipede compost weighed about five
times higher than control treatments. Total nitrogen
(P = 0.004), phosphate (P = 0.0006) and C/N ratio
(P = 1.19 ´ 10–6) significantly differed between control
and treated residues. Organic matter and C/N ratio
substantially declined in treated than in control residues.
In areca compost, moisture and total nitrogen
were elevated and pH was shifted from acidic to neutral.
In mixed litter compost, phosphate, calcium and
magnesium were elevated. Quality of millipede compost
has been compared with vermicompost and importance
of pill millipedes in recycling plantation residues
has been discussed.
The feeding response and faecal pellet production by the pill millipede Arthrosphaera magna endemic to southern India and Sri Lanka was investigated as a pilot study. Six diets comprising partially decomposed plantation leaf litter (acacia, areca, banana, cashew, cocoa and coconut) mixed with sandy loam soil at 1:1 ratio (w/w), humus and sandy loam soil were offered to millipedes for four days. Humus consumption yielded the highest amount of faecal pellets (0.67 g/animal/day). while least on soil consumption (0.03 g/animal/day). Feeding litter amended with soil resulted in faecal matter production between 0.35 and 0.47 g/animal/day. Except for areca litter amended with soil, faecal pellet production decreased gradually from first day to fourth day. One-way ANOVA revealed significant difference in the weight of faecal pellet only between four litter diets amended with soil (acacia, banana, cashew and coconut) and humus diet (p=0.03-0.04). Organic matter in faecal pellets of the millipedes fed with acacia, banan, cashew and coconut litter amended with soil ranged between 70.1 to 75.8%, while it was least in soil fed millipedes
(9.3%).
Key words: Arthrosphaera magna, pill millipede, faecal pellets, plantation litter, organic matter
The possibility of converting available organic wastes in arecanut (Areca catechu L.) and cocoa (Theobroma cacao L.) gardens into vermicompost by using African night crawler (Eudrilus eugeniae) was studied during 1994-95. The result indicated that the organic wastes could be efficiently converted into vermicompost with a recovery of 74.65-87.75% in a cornposting period of 3 months. Earthworm biomass doubled irrespective of organic waste used in a period of two months. Major nutrient (NPK) and micronutrient (Cu, Zn, Fe and Mn) contents were slightly higher in all the vermicompost samples than in normal compost. Vermicompost had lower C:N ratio and pH than normal compost irrespective of the source of organic waste. Microbial population was considerably higher in vermicompost than in normal compost. Economics of vermicompost production revealed that the profit of Rs 1.51-1.69 could be realized from 1 kg of the compost. Estimated cost of commercial vermicompost production showed that a profit of Rs 11 114/could be obtained from the vermicompost production from organic wastes available in 1 hectare of arecanut plantation.
Worm growth, maturation, cocoon production and cocoon viability were affected by the food supplied. The worms grew and matured rapidly when maintained on sheep dung.-from Authors
It is possible to reduce the amount of the solid waste produced and its economical cost by conducting recycling projects. In this study, physical analysis and characterization of-the solid wastes originated from the high, medium, and low income group households in Mustafakemalpasa district municipality; in Bursa were undertaken, and the recycling rates were determined. The samples were collected by applying the "separation at source" method. The solid waste amount per person in the district, the waste density, and the recycling ratio were determined as 0,76 kg/day, 0,4 ton/m3, and 22%, respectively. The gravimetric composition of the recyclable solid waste was found as 43% paper/cardboard, 27% plastic, 12% glass, 4% metal, 3% pasteboard, 8% textile, and 3% wood. The 27% plastic component was found to be composed of 11% Nylon, 8% PET, 5% PE, 1% PS, and 1% PP As a result of the cost-benefit analysis, the net income was calculated as 123,83 YTL/ton. It was seen that the solid waste recycling plant that would be established would amortize its capital investment within 15 months.