An assessment of the modified composting barrel for sustainable organic waste management in tropical regions

Composting is emerging to be a popular municipal waste management alternative both in developed and developing countries. In this paper, a special designed steel barrel used as a composting unit in typical tropical monsoon climate regions is presented. The proposed barrel which is generally used to store oil and chemical has a diameter of 53cm and height of 86cm. The barrel is expected to lower the cost and to have easy-operation feasibility. To ensure the quick and uniform aerobic digestion used for composting unit, two modifications are made on the barrel; (1) processing 1.25cm diameter openings throughout the sides and (2) placing a 1.25cm diameter perforated PVC pipe in the middle portion of the barrel. A conical shaped top cover is used to avoid the excessive rains and sunlight in the tropical regions. A rectangular opening with the size of 20cm x 30cm together with a hinge system is used at the bottom of the barrel for collecting the composting mass. The chemical and microbial analysis of ready compost samples indicate that the presences of various nutrients are almost same as those of compost sample of international market. No pathogenic bacteria were found in the compost, as the elevated temperature during composting destruct the pathogens in the modified composting barrel.