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Questionnaire and onsite survey on municipal solid waste composting in Sri Lanka

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Abstract

This study was conducted to evaluate the composting processes in Sri Lanka and to identify essential improvements. The study consisted of a questionnaire survey, field observations, and interviews. The main shortcomings identified by this study were: no source separation at origin, and no monitoring for temperature, moisture, stability, or maturity during processes of composting. These problems hinder the smooth operation of the composting processes and lead to low demand for compost. Based on the findings, the recommendations for increasing the demand for compost are performing source separation during waste collections, improvement of processes by monitoring the temperature and moisture, and marketing compost so as to improve the popularity of the compost among farmers.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Solid Waste Disposal Engineering Laboratory, Division of Environmental Engineering, Graduate School of Engineering, Hokkaido University, Kita-ku, Kita 13 Jo, Nishi 8 Chome, Sapporo, 060-8628, Japan

    Kotte Hewa Praween Madusanka, Toshihiko Matsuto, Yasumasa Tojo & In-Hee Hwang

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  1. Kotte Hewa Praween Madusanka
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  2. Toshihiko Matsuto
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  3. Yasumasa Tojo
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  4. In-Hee Hwang
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Correspondence to Toshihiko Matsuto.

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Madusanka, K.H.P., Matsuto, T., Tojo, Y. et al. Questionnaire and onsite survey on municipal solid waste composting in Sri Lanka. J Mater Cycles Waste Manag 19, 804–814 (2017). https://doi.org/10.1007/s10163-016-0479-y

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s10163-016-0479-y

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