Quantification and environmental impact of slaughter waste during its life cycle.

Considering the lack of an in-depth and comprehensive study on slaughter waste quantification and its management, despite the growing demand for meat this study aims to quantify the slaughter waste generated in Mumbra, Thane, India, from the meat retail stores. The study also endeavors to find the composition of slaughter waste in municipal solid waste by employing the questionnaire survey method. The literature reviewed the published studies on the life cycle analysis of food products for global warming potential values for meat and vegetable products along with the vegetarian and non-vegetarian dietary patterns. In this study, it was observed that 55.93% of the population were non-vegetarian consumers and the composition of slaughter waste was 7% of total municipal solid waste disposed of in disposal sites resulting in greenhouse gas emission of 0.11 Gg CO2 Eq./year. The study presents the implementation of a biomethanation plant as a mitigation measure, along with an evaluation of the theoretical biogas potential and electricity generation capacity derived from slaughter waste, considering it as a potential feedstock. The outcomes of this study also highlight the necessity for further focused research in this specific area, aiming to increase consumer knowledge regarding the environmental impacts of meat-based diets. The finding of this study will help researchers and assists policymakers in facilitating effective management and understanding the scale of the emissions resulting from meat products and slaughter waste and identifying suitable mitigation approaches, and actively contributing to reducing the environmental footprint.

In-vessel composting of household wastes.

The process of composting has been studied using five different types of reactors, each simulating a different condition for the formation of compost; one of which was designed as a dynamic complete-mix type household compost reactor. A lab-scale study was conducted first using the compost accelerators culture (Trichoderma viridae, Trichoderma harzianum, Trichorus spirallis, Aspergillus sp., Paecilomyces fusisporus, Chaetomium globosum) grown on jowar (Sorghum vulgare) grains as the inoculum mixed with cow-dung slurry, and then by using the mulch/compost formed in the respective reactors as the inoculum. The reactors were loaded with raw as well as cooked vegetable waste for a period of 4 weeks and then the mulch formed was allowed to maturate. The mulch was analysed at various stages for the compost and other environmental parameters. The compost from the designed aerobic reactor provides good humus to build up a poor physical soil and some basic plant nutrients. This proves to be an efficient, eco-friendly, cost-effective, and nuisance-free solution for the management of household solid wastes.