Sustainable technologies for proper management of solid wastes are the important aspect of waste management. Biodegradable organic wastes constitute major part of solid wastes. Centralized treatment of solid wastes is not sustainable for several towns / cities due to high costs of collection and transportation of wastes. The Rules of Solid Wastes Management 2016, of Government of India emphasizes management of solid wastes at community and decentralized levels to overcome the problems of collection and transportation. It states that “The local authorities and Panchayats shall involve communities in waste management and promotion of home composting and biogas generation, decentralized processing of wastes at community level subject to control of odor and maintenance of hygienic conditions around the facility”.
MARC is a prefab FRP cylindrical structure fitted on MS stand with balls and bearing. Composting process is based on aerobic principle. For aeration no electrical energy is needed. It is operated on continuous basis. Feeding of wastes into the composter is done daily. There is no need to store wastes.
The MARC system has been developed, demonstrated and implemented successfully with the support from the Department of Scientific and Industrial Research (DSIR), Ministry of Science & Technology, Government of India. It has been patented with patent no – 385014
Compost is prepared after 20 days of last feeding of wastes in the composter.
Capacity and size of composter
The present capacity of composter ranges from 5-50 kg daily loading. However, capacity of higher loading as per the requirement can be manufactured.
Space requirement to install a composter of 20 kg daily loading capacity is around 2 m2 only.
An aerobic microbial consortium has been developed that also help accelerated degradation of wastes.
Advantages of MARC system
- Collection and transportation costs of wastes are minimized.
- Effective composting time is only 15-20 days.
- There is no smell during composting.
- It operates on continuous basis.
- It requires much less space and can be installed even in balcony or on roof top of house or small open ground.
- Compost can be directly used without any further process to kitchen gardens or sold.
- There is no recurring expense to maintain the system.
- Quality of compost is much better and meets the norms under the Rules of Solid Waste
- Management 2016 of Ministry the Urban Development, Government of India and Fertilizer Control Order 2013.