Evaluation of Practical and Modern Composting Techniques in Kuwait

Abstract

Tareq Al-Sabbagh and Tareq Madouh

Kuwait imports more than 2 million sheep per year to feed its population. Moreover, Kuwait City produces 3.5 million kg of compostable municipal waste each day. Lastly, Desert Storm and Desert Shield has produced 120 oil lakes that need remediation. These three major environmental factors could be resolved by a simple solution, composting. This preliminary study focused on composting carcasses from the imported sheep and associated losses due to transportation. The unique climate conditions in Kuwait presented different challenges to composting. This study is the first step in addressing these environmental concerns.

This research was divided into 2 sections: 1) classic cement slab composting of dead sheep with microbiology assessment, and 2) Tri-Form Poly Ecodrum® composting of sheep with microbiology assessment. The classic method using the cement slab was modified by eliminating the turning step used to keep the process aerobic. Instead, air was introduced directly into the piles of compost. This modification did not shorten the time needed for composting but reduced the manual labor needed for the turning of piles. The Ecodrum® accelerated the composting process by at least five-fold; the four months processing by the traditional cement slab method was reduced to only 20 to 25 days using the Ecodrum®. This is the first report that investigates and details the comparison between classical and modern composting techniques to show their equivalency. The color and texture of the Ecodrum® and the cement slab products were similar. This report details the bacterial and fungal tests for the different compost products..

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