Vermicomposting: A sustainable tool for environmental equilibria

Abstract

Improperly managed organic waste constitutes a serious environment threat across the globe. This has led to a worldwide struggle to strike a balance between the rapid generation of such wastes and protection of the environment. With the unique advantages of lower operational and maintenance costs compared with other waste management technologies, the use of vermicomposting to manage organic wastes has been increasing rapidly in recent years. Still, some factors (e.g., characteristics of substrate composition before and after treatment) are in need of additional, specific studies so that researchers can better understand the metabolism involved in the process. Vermicomposting provides employment opportunities as it protects the environment, augmenting crop productivity when it is used as a fertilizer supplement and helping to maintain ecological balance. Thus, vermicompost plays an important role in the circular economy. This article provides an overview of the research activities that have been conducted on the use of vermicomposts to remove pollutants from the soil, in wastewater treatment, and in organic waste recycling throughout the world. Circular economic assessment has revealed that vermicomposting technology is usually feasible except in certain cases. Most other methods of waste disposal lead to soil deterioration, toxic effects, and increased pollution affecting land, air, water, and living beings, in addition to the sometimes considerable expense of their implementation. Thus, an eco‐friendly method that removes waste in one step is needed. Determining the long‐term performance and sustainable operation of vermicomposting systems still poses a challenge, however, as treatment performance is affected by design parameters, operational conditions, and environmental factors. This article summarizes the factors influencing pollutant removal through the vermicomposting process. Finally, this article highlights additional research that should be conducted on these issues to improve the performance of vermicomposting.

Consolidating the current knowledge on urban agriculture in productive urban food systems: Learnings, gaps and outlook

“…Of interest here is the technical utilization of those techniques to speed up the natural composting process. Vermicomposting promises an effective and fast, one-step organic waste treatment of different types of feedstock with the potential to remediate pollutants and conserve fertilizing minerals (Singh and Singh, 2017). It has been used to produce soil conditioner in Cuba for many years, and the humic substances generated improve plant growth performance and metabolism as well as plant defenses (Hernandez et al, 2014).…”

Evaluating the Conservation Status of a North-Western Iberian Earthworm (Compostelandrilus cyaneus) with Insight into Its Genetic Diversity and Ecological Preferences

“…Although direct consumption of earthworms is limited to some indigenous populations, “earthworm flour” is increasingly used as a protein source in human and animal nutrition [ 10 ]. Earthworms are also used as fish bait and in vermicomposting, both of which are economically important [ 11 ].…”

Sustainable management of diseases and pests in crops by vermicompost and vermicompost tea. A review

“…Martin and Brathwaite 2012). As compared to compost, vermicast is produced in a shorter time because of the presence of humic substances that enhances the process of humification, which intensifies the conversion of organic matter (Singh and Singh 2017), and also because earthworms host millions of degrading microorganisms, hydrolytic enzymes, and hormones that help to rapidly decompose complex organic waste into vermicast over a relatively shorter period of one to 2 months (Sanchez-Monedero et al 2001) compared to conventional composting that takes almost 5 months (Munnoli et al 2010).…”