Presented by IWMIs Sudarshana Fernando and Nilanthi Jayathilake at a stakeholder workshop on 'Opportunities for sustainable municipal solid waste management services in Batticaloa District, in Sri Lanka, on September 23, 2016.

1. The Performance and Potential
of the Municipal Solid Waste
Compost Plants in Batticaloa
(Technical Assessment)
N. Jayathilake
S. Fernando

2. Structure of the presentation
• Municipal solid waste management in Sri Lanka &
Batticaloa
• Compost plants assessment
• Options for Nutrient enrichment and value
addition of compost

3. Solid Waste Management - Sri Lanka
tonnes/day
Total waste Generation 6,400 t
Waste collection 2,700 t (42%)
Organic waste to compost 400 t
Waste disposal 2,300 t
Moisture content 70 – 80% HIGH
Calorific Value 600 – 1000 kcal/kg LOW
(Bandara, 2008)

4. Solid Waste Management - Batticaloa
Collection and Segregation
LA/ Compost plant
SW collected
(T/day)
segregated waste
collected (T/day)
Batticaloa MC (BMC) 52.5 12
Kattankudy UC (KUC) 18.5 12
Kaluthavalai PS (MSEP-PS) 7.7 6
Arayampathy PS (MP-PS) 5.5 4.5
0.0
10.0
20.0
30.0
40.0
50.0
60.0
Batticaloa MC Kattankudy UC Manmunai South
(Kaluthavalai) PS
Arayampathy PS
Wastecollected(T/day)
LA
Present level of source segregation
SW collected (T/day)
segregated waste collected (T/day)

5. Local Authority
Waste
Collection
(T/day)
Amount To
compost plant
(T/day)
% of SW
composted
Amount to
landfill (T/day)
% disposed
at landfill
BMC 52.5 2.6 5% 49.7 95%
KUC 18.5 4 22% 14.5 78%
MSEP-PS 7.7 1 13% 6.7 86%
MP-PS 5.5 1.2 22% 4.3 77%
Solid Waste Management - Batticaloa
Treatment and Disposal
0 10 20 30 40 50 60
Batticaloa MC
Kattankudy UC
Kaluthavalai PS
Arayampathy PS
Waste Treatment and Disposal
SW composted (T/day) Total waste disposed at dump site (T/day)

6. Operating level of compost plants
Compost
plant
Design
capacity
(T/day)
Theoretically
compostable
potential
amount
(T/day)
Actual
amount of
SW
composted
Operating
level
BMC 12 7.2 2.6 36%
KUC 12 7.2 4.0 55%
MSEP-PS 7 4.2 1.0 24%
MP-PS 7 4.2 1.2 28%
In general most of the compost plants in Sri Lanka operate at an
average efficiency of 37%.

7. Compost Plants Assessment

8. Composting Process
Waste
preparation
Windrow
construction
Turning and
watering
Curing
Value
addition

9. Waste
preparation

10. Waste Preparation
Waste Sources
Source of waste
No. of units
BMC KUC MSEP-PS MP-PS
i. Domestic ( no. of households) 23,721 17,238 14,500 4,280
ii. Market 5 3 6 2
iii. Slaughter house 1 1 - 1
iv. Hotels/ restaurants 55 119 34 3
v. Hospital 3 1 2 1
vi. Commercial /Institutional 44 33 15 35
vii. Food processing industries - - - -
Waste input
Qty of segregated waste (T/day)
BMC KUC MSEP-PS MP-PS
Food & Market Waste 1 2 1 1
Bulky Green waste 9 6 3 3
Agricultural Waste - 1.5 0.5
Fecal Sludge - - - -
Any other (Banana waste) 2 2.5
Total (T/day) 12 12 4 4.5
Type of input waste (segregated)

11. Alternative Options
Input Type
Animal excreta (that includes dead livestock and manure)
Food waste (household/hotels/markets)
Fresh Bio-solids
Municipal Green
Dry waste (hay, grass, sawdust)
Hard dry waste (timber, tree branches)
Potential for composting
High
Low
Low pollution
potential
Source Availability
Segregated Hotel
and Restaurant
waste
A large volume of waste already been collected, but segregation is poor
Lagoon Algae The lagoon covers a total area of approximately 135.5 km2. Therefore a large quantity of algae
may be available
Livestock waste There are large quantities of cows, buffaloes, goats and chicken farmed in Batticaloa
Fish Waste BMC, KUC, MP-PS- and MSEP-PS area produce 6300MT, 1348 MT, 3460 MT and 1320MT of fish
harvest respectively
Faecal sludge Large numbers of households. Commercial entities.
Glidiceria/Giniseria There are large spaces in plant premises that can be cultivated
Husk ash Paddy farming is the major agriculture activity in the region with a large area
Source: Department of Environment Affairs (2013) The national Organic Waste Composting Strategy, South Africa

12. Pollution
potential of
waste sources

13. Windrow
Construction

14. Particle size
• The best sized particles for composting are
less than 2 inches (or 50 mm) in the largest
dimension
• Shredding creates a greater surface area,
which makes it more susceptible to
bacterial activities or biodegradation. Large
pieces of wood or leaves do not decompose
quickly in a compost pile
• Insufficient oxygen in the center of a wood
chunk or a wad of leaves does not permit
rapid aerobic decomposition

15. Windrow size
LA/ Compost plant
Qauntity
of one
pile (t)
Size of one pile
(L*W*H)
BMC 2.6 3m* 1.5m*2m
KUC 2.0 4m*2m* 2.5m
MSEP-PS 0.5 4m*2m* 2.5m
MP-PS 2.4 3m* 1.5m* 1.8m
The size of the windrow should be increased to provide higher temperatures in cold
weather or decreased to keep the temperatures from becoming too high in warm
weather.

16. From Pilisaru experience

17. Windrow Locations
Compost
plant
Buildings area
Unloading & sorting Pilling area Preparation & store
m2
BMC 330 864 50
KUC 54 547 330
MSEP-PS 135 420 14.4
MP-PS 36 412 7
• From experience from other compost projects in the country (Pilisaru project), open
windrows during the initial stage has proven to be successful.
• Aged windrows should be moved to covered areas
Batticaloa compost plant
Kattankudy compost plant Arayampathy compost plant Kaluthavalai compost plant

18. Turning and
watering

19. Turning & Watering
50-60% of the moisture content in piles should be
maintained to allow accelerated microbial activities.
When the moisture content reaches 40% microbial
activities decrease & cease at 20%. Microbial activities are
reduced at moisture contents beyond 60% due to a low
availability of oxygen.
Quick & easy onsite methods could be practiced for
monitoring process parameters such as moisture,
temperature and proxy indicators such as odour
Compost plant Process Parameter
Decomposition time
3 days 1 week 3 weeks 5 weeks 8 weeks
Batticaloa MC Moisture % <40% >60% - <40% <40%
Temperature oC >500C >500C >600C >600C >500C
Kattankudy UC Moisture % - <40% 50% <40% <30%
Temperature oC - >500C 400C 40-450C 300C
Manmunai South
(Kaluthavalai) PS
Moisture % - <40% 60% 40% <40%
Temperature oC - >500C >500C >500C 300C
Arayampathy PS
Moisture % <30% <40% 60% 40% 30%
Temperature oC - 500C 500C 600C 500C

20. Temp. Change and Pathogen Die Off

21. Turning
Plant 1st turning after
Turning frequency
Decomposition
period
Batticaloa MC 10 days once in 10 days 10 weeks
Kattankudy UC
14 days once in 14 days (short term)/
once in 21 days (long term) 10 weeks
Manmunai South
(Kaluthavalai) PS
14 days
once in 14 days 10 weeks
Arayampathy PS
10 days Once in 10 days (short term)/
once in 15 days (long term) 10 weeks
Windrow turning should be decided by the
pile temperature rather than by fixed turning
intervals.
During the initial stage, high temperatures
demand frequent turning and later in the
process reduced temperatures demand low
frequency in turning.

22. Curing

23. Curing
LA/ Compost
plant
Decomposition
period
Curing
period
Batticaloa MC 10 weeks 2 weeks
Kattankudy UC 10 weeks 3 weeks
Manmunai South
(Kaluthavalai) PS 10 weeks 3 weeks
Arayampathy PS 10 weeks 2 weeks
To lower the phytotoxicity,
improve the pH, lower the
C/N ratio and stable
product
Parent feedstock quality, the manner and the degree of stability of the decomposing
organic matter will influence the time required for curing to stabilize the compost
Curing time can range from 21 days to months. Many researchers recommend at least
a month
Garilio et al (2010) confirms the germination bioassay using lettuce seed was sensitive
enough and was able to identify the presence of phytotoxic compounds in compost

24. Improvements to Compost
Consumer Need Frequency %
Increase the nutrient value 71 59%
Reduce the sand content 35 29%
Reduce the inert content 22 18%
Reduce odour 5 4%
Increase the particle size 3 2%
Reduce the price 3 2%
Proper labelling 3 2%
Top three consumer needs are about improving quality

25. Add moisture up to 25%
while measuring it with a
moisture meter
Add binding agents as per
the concentration as weight
Sieve the co-compost with
5 mm mesh (Manually or
Mechanically)
Check initial moisture of
the co-compost
Thoroughly mix the
mixture to get it a
homogeneous mixture
Feed into the pelletizer
and taken out the pellets
Dry pellets under sun for 5-
6 hours
Value
addition

26. Co-composting & Pelletizing
Co-Composting
Safe Organic Fertilizer

27. Septage treatment ( co-composting)
MSW
Septage
Compost
Site
Drying beds
Transporting
Organic
Waste
Sorting
DFS
Dewatering
Drying
PilePilePile
Co-
compost
Sieving
Maturing Turning
Turning
Watering
Incorporation

28. Value addition using mineral fertilizer
So far agronomic trials show that 5% of the N content is
adequate
Urea and Ammonium sulphate can be used as enrichment
agents

29. Quality of compost
Kattankudy
UC
Batticaloa
MC
Manamnunai
south PS
(Kalutavalai)
Arayampathy
PS
Acceptable
range
pH 8.17 8.36 8.43 8.75 6.5-8.5
EC ds/M 2.80 1.68 0.8 0.68 0.5-3
P2O5 % 1.33 0.69 0.62 0.60 0.5-4
K2O% 2.13 3.05 1.52 1.85 0.5-3
Total N % 1.46 1.4 1.11 0.96 0.5-3
Organic C % 13.26 24.58 17.84 20.90 20-35
Sand % 12.19 29.8 45.22 40.85 <10
Moisture % 27.9 23 10.7 12 20-30
C:N - 17.6 16.1 21.8 20-30

30. Recommendations
• Improve source segregation allowing high amount of short term
biodegradable waste supply at the plant. Eg: collecting waste from
organic waste sources in large quantities, which can be found in
segregated manner; i.e. market waste, food processing industry waste,
etc
• Educating workers to practice quick and easy onsite methods for
monitoring and maintaining process parameters such as moisture,
temperature and proxy indicators such as odour
• Windrow size as per Pilisaru finding
• Facilitate undercover composting as necessary to avoid unfavorable
conditions caused by extreme weather conditions
• Arranging regular knowledge transfer practices and training
programmes for the working force
• Value addition with nutrient rich waste sources such as manures, fecal
sludge, etc.

31. Thank you