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Overload of coal ash (CA) generated from several coal fired plants poses acute problems of disposal and contamination of soil and water resources. Since CA generated from tea factories has not yet been characterized from environmental viewpoints, we attempted to critically characterize the agro-ecological compatibility of CA samples (CA1, CA2, CA3, and CA4) collected from four distantly located tea factories. Among these samples, we found CA3 and CA4 to have low pH and high metal content. Accordingly, we restricted our study to predict the solubility pattern of non-metal and metal ions in CAs by adopting a geochemical model (Visual MINTEQ). Various fractions of metals like Fe, Mn, Cu, Zn, Cr, Ni, and Pb were studied to figure out the mobility pattern of metals in the environment. The results clearly indicate that tea industry derived CA substantially differs from thermal power plant CA as regards several physico-chemical properties, for example, sandy texture, low pH and high nutrient content. Risk evaluation of human exposure to trace elements and the metal fractionation study led us to conclude that CA1 and CA2 are highly compatible with agricultural use.

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India has a giant jute-producing basket which produces considerable quantity of toxic jute mill waste (JMW). Conversely, report on usability potential of JMW is rather scanty. The present study illustrates the efficiency of vermicomposting in bioconversion of JMW for agricultural use. Various combinations of JMW, cow dung, and vegetable waste were fed to Metaphire posthuma in vermireactors. Rapid increment of earthworm count, body weight, and cocoon production was evidenced. Total organic carbon and pH reduction was noteworthy, but N, P, and K availability, formation of stable humic acid C, fulvic acid C, and microbial biomass C substantially increased due to vermicomposting. FTIR spectroscopy confirmed a higher stability of vermicomposted JMW over the composted product. A significant decline in heavy metal concentration (Cr, Pb, Fe, and Zn) in the vermicomposted JMW further establishes the potential of vermicomposting with M. posthuma in successful conversion of the toxic JMW into valuable product.