Assessment of Composting Technologies For Organic
Assessment of Composting Technologies For Organic
Junidah Abdul Shukor1, Mohd Faizal Omar1*, Maznah Mat Kasim1, Mohd Hafiz Jamaludin2,
Mohd Azrul Naim3
1
School of Quantitative Sciences, Universiti Utara Malaysia, 06010 Sintok, Kedah, Malaysia
2
Faculty of Agro Based Industry, Universiti Malaysia Kelantan, 17600 Jeli, Kelantan, Malaysia
3
Kulliyyah of Science, International Islamic University Malaysia, 25200 Kuantan, Pahang, Malaysia
ABSTRACT
Organic waste disposal in landfills has created various environmental issues, such as
greenhouse gas emissions and leachate. Awareness of this issue has resulted in diverting landfill
to compost. Thus, there is a need to develop an analytical tool to select the best composting
technology. Therefore, this paper reviews a range of assessment steps designed to evaluate
specific sustainability criteria (environmental, social, economic, and technical) for organic
waste management to select the most suitable composting technology. Due to the complexity of
conflicting criteria and alternatives in composting technology, a multi-criteria decision-making
(MCDM) technique is suggested to ensure the quality of the decision-making process. As an
additional benefit, the synthesis results via the MCDM tool will be more credible when seeking
validation by stakeholders.
1. INTRODUCTION
Organic waste or green waste can be defined as organic material that is easily biodegradable
(Kadir et al., 2016). Organic material is derived from natural sources. Essentially, any residual
kitchen waste (vegetable peelings, food, tea bags, and egg shells), agro-waste (food and
beverage processing waste, dairy products, animal waste, and crops), grass clippings, dried
leaves, and timber can degrade naturally (Hartono et al., 2015; Ng & Yusoff, 2015; Kadir et al.,
2016). The process of degradation is performed by microbial (fungi, bacteria, actinomycetes,
and protozoa) and invertebrate (insects and earthworm) organisms, which digest and break
down the organic matter (Basri et al., 2005; Fauziah & Agamuthu, 2009; Kadir et al., 2016).
Due to the ability of organic waste to degrade naturally, dumping it into landfills is the most
common waste disposal method. Unfortunately, various studies have indicated the undesirable
environmental impacts of using landfills to manage the disposal of organic waste (Manfredi et
al., 2009; Fauziah & Agamuthu, 2010). Leachate contamination in surface and groundwater,
infestation by pests, and the emission of greenhouse gases are some effects of organic waste
disposed into landfills (Manfredi et al., 2009; Fauziah & Agamuthu, 2010). These effects
contribute to global warming and environmental pollution.
The awareness of environmental issues has encouraged society to find other alternatives to
manage the organic waste disposal process instead of landfills. The composting process can be
used for biological decomposition, and this technology has the potential to manage organic
*
Corresponding author’s email: [email protected], Tel. +604-928-4772, Fax. +604-928-4756
Permalink/DOI: https://doi.org/10.14716/ijtech.v9i8.2754
1580 Assessment of Composting Technologies for Organic Waste Management
waste, transform it into valuable agricultural products, and minimize pollution (Basri et al.,
2005; Hartono et al., 2015; Kadir et al., 2016). However, several important aspects need to be
considered before implement composting technology. These include sources of waste feedstock
in terms of quantity (small scale like home composting, medium scale, or large scale
composting) and quality (moisture content and nutrient content) (Basri et al., 2005; Fauziah &
Agamuthu, 2009; Zabaleta et al., 2014; Hartono et al., 2015; Ng & Yusoff, 2015), technology
set-up in terms of site location and area required (Basri et al., 2005; Zabaleta et al., 2014),
required operational skill, and capital and operating costs (Basri et al., 2005; Malakahmad et al.,
2017). Besides these, the quality of the compost end-product also needs to be taken into
consideration (Zabaleta et al., 2014). Most of these aspects or criteria vary with composting
technology. Composting can be performed using different methods or systems, such as the
static pile system (Ilham & Esa, 2017; Lim et al., 2017), windrow system (Zaini et al., 2015;
Ilham & Esa, 2017), in-vessel system (Zaini et al., 2015; Ilham & Esa, 2017; Malakahmad et
al., 2017), and vermicomposting system (Fauziah & Agamuthu, 2009).
Therefore, selecting the best composting technology is not a straightforward process. Specific
decisions must be made based on these various criteria. The decision maker needs to understand
the assessment steps required to make the best decision and to identify the specific weaknesses
and strengths of that decision. This procedure can decrease the probability of mistakes and risk
during the process planning and execution phases. Additionally, assessment activities will help
the decision maker to evaluate each technology proposed so that the optimal alternative can be
identified (Zurbrügg et al., 2014; Abdullah, 2015).
2. METHODS
This paper critically reviews some assessment steps for decision making when choosing
between various courses of action. Each alternative can be viewed from different dimensions
that represent various criteria. These criteria can be arranged in a hierarchical manner. Some of
these criteria are associated with several sub-criteria. Based on the sustainability of each aspect
or criteria, the decision maker can then identify the best tool or method (Triantaphyllou et al.,
1998; Zurbrügg et al., 2014).
2.1. Assessment Criteria
Assessing the available composting techniques for organic waste management is complex and
complicated. While most waste management models consider environmental and economic
aspects, very few consider social and technical aspects. The emphasis in social and technical
aspects in the decision-making process has developed in recent years (Ghinea & Gavrilescu,
2010). Therefore, to ensure the sustainability of the decision support framework regarding
composting technology for organic waste management, all four criteria (environmental,
economic, social, and technical) need to be evaluated (Zurbrügg et al., 2014; Zaini et al., 2015;
Bababola, 2015; Coelho et al., 2017). Table 1 shows a simplified set of criteria and sub-criteria
as a basis of assessment for selecting a suitable composting technology based on previous
studies. Alternative criteria and sub-criteria can be determined from many sources, such as an
expert in the field, the literature, and secondary information (Samah et al., 2010; Georgiadis et
al., 2013).
Shukor et al. 1581
experts, decision makers, and stakeholders will act as the evaluators. They will use
numerical values to represent the weight or degree of importance of each criterion
(Nasrin & Susanna, 2013; Zaini et al., 2015) when assessing the technologies.
Sometimes data normalization is necessary for comparability among indicators when
presented with different units or scales (Coelho et al., 2017). The results of the data
analysis can be presented as a ranking of criteria according to their importance (Nasrin
& Susanna, 2013; Zaini et al., 2015).
resources such as streams, ponds, and wells. The size of the system should be based on waste
capacity and the system set-up location (Kalbasi et al., 2006).
3.4.4. Duration of processing time
A shorter period to complete the composting process is preferred in order to reduce large
volumes of waste in a shorter time (Zaini et al., 2015). The processing time also affects the
operational costs (Kalbasi et al., 2006).
3.4.5. Processing conditions
The type of waste affects the quality and quantity of the compost, and it is essential to ensure
that the nutrient contents of the compost are valuable for agricultural use (Anwar et al., 2015).
Most widely used co-composted materials are animal manures together with agro-waste in
order to reduce heavy metals reduction and gain a maximum nutrient content in compost which
is suitable for soil amendment.
3.4.6. Compost quality
In terms of nutrient contents, phosphorous, potassium, calcium, sulfur, sodium, and magnesium
are required for agriculture (Khan & Ishaq, 2011; Rama & Vasanthy, 2014). Different
composting methods affect the nutrient status of the compost and its effects on soil content
(Kadir et al., 2016).
4. CONCLUSION
MCDM can be applied in any discipline to make effective and accurate decisions based on various
evaluation criteria. This study focused on how the MCDM approach can be used to choose the best
composting technology for organic waste. However, the assessment step (basic step as mention in
section 2.3, the four steps commonly used: (1) Determine of work objective; (2) Define theoretical
framework; (3) Determine relevant of criteria, sub-criteria, and alternative or possible solution; and (4)
Data collection and data processing) is fundamental not specifically for technology selection, but rather
expansion knowledge of decision maker system. Using the MCDM system can result in improved
outcomes and more comprehensive support for the decision makers. As an additional benefit, the
synthesis results made using MCDM will be more convincing and valid to the stakeholders.
5. ACKNOWLEDGEMENT
The authors gratefully acknowledge the support and assistance from UUM Collaboration 1+3
Research Grant (S/O Code: 14036) for this research and the cooperation of research teams from
IIUM, UMK, and D&Y Coldchain Venture. M.H.J was supported by Niche Research Grant
Scheme from Ministry of Higher Education of Malaysia (grant number:
R/NRGS/A07.00/00413A/004/2014/000150) and M.A.N was supported by Research Matching
Scheme of IIUM (grant number: RMGS17-004-0030).
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