Effect of cell concentration of effective microorganisms on the degradation of organic matter in co-composting of Horse Stable and tea ground wastes

Abstract

Horse stable waste and tea ground which are one of the waste materials produced daily and not managed well by Malaysian, have the potential value to be converted into compost as fertilizers. Four co-compost beds of horse stable waste and tea ground with the size of 3 kg each were built up with the suitable condition and composting process was carried out for the time period of 10 days. Each of the compost beds was added with different concentration of activated effective microorganisms which were 0, 5, 10 and 20 % v/v separately to study how the cell concentration of effective microorganisms affect the degradation of organic matter in the waste materials. Parameters such as temperature, moisture content and total organic carbon content were measured and analysed during the composting process. From the result, the changing of both of the temperature, moisture content and total organic carbon content to low and steady point at the end indicated that compost with high stability was produced. In comparison, the waste beds with the highest concentration of Effective Microorganisms (20 % v/v) added decomposed the organic matter in faster rate, showing that higher concentration of effective microorganisms can enhance the rate of composting. The degradation of total organic carbon in composting process was successfully assessed to be obeyed the first order kinetic model equation.