Domestic composting: an alternative for organic solid waste

Abstract

With the increase on urban domestic waste generation, the domestic composting arises as an alternative for the organic fraction of this material. Thus, the objective of this study was to evaluate the viability of composting of organic solid waste collected selectively from house located in Uberlândia-MG. For the composting process, it was used a composter, with 200 L capacity, kept in a covered area at the Federal University of Uberlândia, in Uberlândia, MG, Brazil. The composting period was from November 2007 to March 2008, in a total of 120 days. The organic compost formed presented levels of organic carbon, total nitrogen and moisture, C/N ratio and pH within the limits established by law, for marketable organic compost. It could be concluded that the domestic composting was viable for the cycling of organic solid waste and it resulted in an organic compost with good physical and chemical characteristics, with potential for agricultural use as soil conditioner and/or plant substrate.