Foundation for Greentech Environmental Systems1

Windrow composting technology is known to have strong odour emission feature as a result of which the plants based on this technology often experience resistance from the community where they are set up. The odour envelope that develops expands over a radius of 2-3 km around the plant and causes adverse psychosomatic health impacts on the residents. This is attributed to creation of anaerobic conditions in the core of the windrows which is essentially due to inadequate energy inputs for meeting the commensurate oxygen requirement of the rotting waste. Several plants have been closed down primarily due this reason and one of the most pertinent examples is that of Thane near Mumbai. In order to improve acceptance of the plants among the host communities, it is desirable to mitigate their environmental impact by incorporating essential pollution control measures. In this regard an improved version of the windrow composting technology was developed by the Corp of Engineers of the US Army which provides for continuous supply of air through an embedded pipe into the rotting pile of waste. The foul air is then treated in a rather down-to-earth low cost bio-filter. This arrangement on one hand reduces or eliminates possibility of anaerobic conditions and on the other, provides for extremely simple and cheap method of air pollution control. It also eliminates the need for weekly turnings of the rotting piles and thereby minimises the operating costs associated with the material moving machinery. With an innocuous environmental footprint this is suggested as an affordable and appropriate technology option for the Indian conditions where rapidly developing communities in the urban peripheries are demanding equally better quality of life. Key words Windrow, static aerated pile composting, odour control, bio-filte