Vermicomposting Medical University of South Carolina

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VermicompostingMedical University of South
Carolina

• Christine Risher von KolnitzRecycling Coordinator

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Worm Biology Basics

• The worm used in these two projects is the Red
  Wiggler or manure worm Eisensia Foetida
• The red wiggler has no teeth, it uses its lip to
  grasp food. They coat their food with saliva to
  make it easier to eat. Small stones in the
  gizzard grind up the food. The food passes
  through the intestine and comes out as a casting.
  Worms have no eyes or ears, but can sense
  vibration or light. They breath through their
  skin.

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MUSC VermicompostingA Case Study

• MUSC with help from DHEC grants and DHEC SC State
  Energy Office funding and the V. Kahn Rassmusen
  Foundation have partnered to compost the
  following
• Foodwaste
• Animal lab waste
• Yardwaste

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The Waste Management Technique

• In-vessel Vermi-Organic Digester
• footprint 7 x 18 x 5 with electric panel,
  motors, and hydraulic pack
• contains blowers, A/C, and heat
• requires 208-240 volts or 3 phase
• purchasing shredder/mixer/conveyor unit
• capacity is 100-300 pounds per day

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Necessary Materials and Supplies

• 4-45 gallon Rubbermaid Brute containers with
  wheels.
• A concrete pad 18 x 24 and a metal structure
  over the pad
• The pad must be coated with acrylic so that the
  castings can be cleaned up easily
• Supply electric and water to the pad
• Purchase scale, long handle squeegee, gloves,
  long handle plastic head broom, and dustpan

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The Plan

• In May 99, we will start composting food waste
  from our main cafeteria and mix shredded paper as
  necessary
• Tests will be performed to determine the PH and
  existence of pathogens
• All castings will then be used by our grounds
  department on campus and we hope to have a
  demonstration planting bed

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The Plan (Continued)

• In September 99, we will start to accept lab
  animal waste
• As before tests will be performed to determine
  the PH and existence of pathogens

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Real Life

• On July 13, 1999, we started composting food
  waste from our main cafeteria and mixed shredded
  newspaper as necessary. We were using a ratio of
  4 pounds of newspaper to 12 pounds of food. It
  took approximately one and half hours for one
  person to feed the worms this way.

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Problems

• The cafeteria personnel were reluctant to work
  with us because they did not understand why they
  were feeding worms.
• After two and half months of feeding the bin
  newspaper and food we started to notice dry spots
  throughout the bin.
• Worms were crawling out a dying for about a week
  before we realized the temperature of the bin was
  too low.

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Solutions

• Completed an in-service training with cafeteria
  staff and worked closely with mangers to make
  sure we had compliance.
• We started to water the bin more often and with
  increased participation fro the cafeteria we were
  able to feed the bin more often. We stopped
  feeding the bin newspaper and started using
  cardboard. We also used a smaller ratio of 1 to
  12 paper to food.
• We adjusted the temperature and began to monitor
  it on a daily basis.

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Long Term Goal

• To be able to compost all food waste and
  non-hazardous animal lab waste by adding 8
  sections to the container to increase the capacity

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Expenses and Payback

• We received three grants totaling 37,000
• Total costs has been 55,000 which does not
  include labor for first year
• Our tip fee at the incinerator is 59.50/ton
• Payback will be in approximately four years

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