Resource recovery from paper mill sludge through vermicomposting

Huge amounts of paper mill sludge are generated from the paper manufacturing industries and these can pose environmental contamination problems if not properly managed. Vermicomposting was therefore investigated as a paper mill waste management initiative to produce vermicompost. A total of 3kg of paper mill sludge was fed into a vermireactor and allowed to vermicompost over a period of 60 days using Eisenia Fetida as the vermicomposting media. The paper mill sludge had a moisture content of 65% and the vermicomposting processed occurred under standard conditions aerobically. After the 60 days, the vermicompost was analysed for the total nitrogen (TKN), phosphorous (TP) and potassium (TK) composition using standard methods. The vermicompost had an average of 4.3%, 0.45% and 1.89% for TKN, TP and TK respectively. Vermiwash was also generated during the process and contained 1.63%, 0.14% and 0.59% respectively for TKN, TP and TK. The paper mill vermicompost can be used as a source of bio fertilizers.