Zero discharge composting of palm oil mill wastes

Abstract

The conventional methods of disposal and treatment of oil palm mill wastes are not environmentally friendly and they result in large amount of Greenhouse gases being emitted into the atmosphere. The technical feasibility of setting up a compost plant to use up all the palm oil mill wastes to produce compost was evaluated at FELDA Jengka 21 where the palm oil mill has been upgraded to use the new Eco-D two-phase decanter system instead of the conventional three-phase decanter system and the conventional batch steriliser system has been replaced by the continuous steriliser system. The result of the composting trials showed that the C:N ratios of the sieved compost materials was less than 20 after 30 days while the average C:N ratios of the compost materials were still above 30. Based on the results of the composting trial, all the POME produced by the palm oil mill can be used up in the compost plant.