Waste Management

     Rubbish is what we generate everyday but tend to stay far away from it because it is dirty and smelly. It is a burden for people because we have to spend money to dispose it to ensure sanitation and hygiene.

     Rubbish or waste if not manage properly, will damage and pollute our environment. For example, wastes in landfills undergo anaerobic decomposition to release methane gas as a greenhouse gas which contributes to global warming. Unlike sanitary landfills, wastes at open dumping sites or some common landfills will produce leachate and will infiltrate to underground and thus the underground water might be polluted. Other than that, it causes hygienic problems too such as it attracts pests like rats.

     People nowadays have a common belief is that rubbish or waste is valueless. However, for us, it is a resource which is being ignored by most people. In 3R practices (reduce, reuse, and recycle), we reduce the waste, reuse the waste we generated and lastly only recycle those that cannot be reuse.

     In developing countries, for example Malaysia, out of the wastes that the citizens generate every day, more than half of the total wastes produced is organic wastes. When the income level of the citizens improves, more wastes will be generated too (if their awareness is not improved as well). Food is the necessary thing we have to have in order to survive. Due to the increasing demand for food and bad habit of people – wasting, the food wastes are a huge burden for our environment.

     With the technologies in waste managements, we have plenty of technologies and equipment to deal with the wastes for example, incinerators, carbonator, landfills (sanitary), and composting etc. Local waste, local technology concept should be understood. Since the moisture content of the local organic wastes is very high (approximately 60% or more), thus incineration is not efficient enough because the wastes need to pre-process to bring the moisture content down to appropriate level.

     So, which method is suitable for Malaysian conditions? Here, we would like to explain the natural method for decomposition of organic matter. What do you think about this natural method? Try to imagine at an undisturbed forest, how the fallen leaves disappear after a period of time? Insects? Microorganisms? It is slow. But with the assistance of earthworms, the organic material will be decomposed in a more efficient way.

     Vermicomposting is composting of organic matter using earthworm especially the composting worm. According to “Vermiculture Technology” edited by Edwards C.A., Arancon N.Q., and Sherman R. (2011), the common earthworm species uses in vermicomposting are Eisenia fetida (red wiggler), Eisenia Andrei, Dendrodrilus rubidus, Dendrobaena veneta, Lumbricus rubellus and Drawida nepalensis (Temperate species); Eudrilus eugeniae (African Night Crawler), Perionyx excavatus and Polypheretima elongate (Tropical speices). Before we further discuss it, first we need to know its importance and roles in environment.

According to “Vermiculture Technology” edited by Edwards C.A., Arancon N.Q., and Sherman R. (2011),

Earthworm play its roles in:-

1. Land Improvement – Land Rehabilitation
2. Production of Earthworm Protein for Animal Feed from Organic Wastes
3. Human Pathogen Reduction during Vermicomposting
4. The Potential of Earthworms in Production of Pharmaceuticals

And, Vermicomposts (Aqueous Solutions or Teas) are used:-

1. As Plant Growth Media for Greenhouse Crop Production
2. As Soil Amendments for Production of Field Crops
3. To Suppress Plant Pathogen
4. To Suppress Arthropod Pests & Plant Parasitic Nematodes
5. As Bio-fertilizers