Chapter 6
Vermitechnology: A Sustainable Approach
in the Management of Solid and Liquid
Waste
Soubam Indrakumar Singh, Deachen Angmo, and Rahil Dutta
Abstract Solid and liquid waste (SLW) has become one of the serious problems
and leads to significant damage to the environment and public health. With the
increasing and fast-approaching water crisis, it is extremely essential to effectively
treat the SLW before it enters the water bodies. The contamination of soil and water
is increasing due to various anthropogenic activities, which has alarmed the scientific
community. Different methods like thermal methods, landfilling, etc. for solid waste
and primary, secondary, and tertiary treatment for liquid waste are being practiced
worldwide. But, they seem to produce harmful gases, leachate, thereby affecting the
environment and human health, and they are of high costs in installation and
maintenance. Therefore, there is an urgent need for cost-effective and eco-friendly
techniques for addressing these concerns. Thus, this chapter focuses on
vermitechnology-using earthworms, like vermicomposting and vermifiltration to
manage various types of solid and liquid waste like industrial sludge, food waste,
animal waste, etc. into vermicompost (nutrient-rich manure) which acts as a soil
conditioner and purifies the wastewater.
Keywords Solid waste · Liquid waste · Earthworms · Vermicomposting ·
Vermifiltration
6.1 Introduction
Waste is generated in every city in the world and, if not properly handled, results in
spreading disease among the human and animal populations, and the amount of
waste generated differs from place to place. Waste is any item beyond use in its
current form and discarded as unwanted. Most businesses define waste as “anything
that does not create value” (BSR 2010). However scientifically speaking, there is no
S. I. Singh · D. Angmo · R. Dutta (*)
Department of Botanical and Environmental Sciences, Guru Nanak Dev University, Amritsar,
India
© The Editor(s) (if applicable) and The Author(s), under exclusive licence to
Springer Nature Singapore Pte Ltd. 2020
S. A. Bhat et al. (eds.), Earthworm Assisted Remediation of Effluents and Wastes,
https://doi.org/10.1007/978-981-15-4522-1_6
87
Vermitechnology: A Sustainable Approach
in the Management of Solid and Liquid
Waste
Soubam Indrakumar Singh, Deachen Angmo, and Rahil Dutta
Abstract Solid and liquid waste (SLW) has become one of the serious problems
and leads to significant damage to the environment and public health. With the
increasing and fast-approaching water crisis, it is extremely essential to effectively
treat the SLW before it enters the water bodies. The contamination of soil and water
is increasing due to various anthropogenic activities, which has alarmed the scientific
community. Different methods like thermal methods, landfilling, etc. for solid waste
and primary, secondary, and tertiary treatment for liquid waste are being practiced
worldwide. But, they seem to produce harmful gases, leachate, thereby affecting the
environment and human health, and they are of high costs in installation and
maintenance. Therefore, there is an urgent need for cost-effective and eco-friendly
techniques for addressing these concerns. Thus, this chapter focuses on
vermitechnology-using earthworms, like vermicomposting and vermifiltration to
manage various types of solid and liquid waste like industrial sludge, food waste,
animal waste, etc. into vermicompost (nutrient-rich manure) which acts as a soil
conditioner and purifies the wastewater.
Keywords Solid waste · Liquid waste · Earthworms · Vermicomposting ·
Vermifiltration
6.1 Introduction
Waste is generated in every city in the world and, if not properly handled, results in
spreading disease among the human and animal populations, and the amount of
waste generated differs from place to place. Waste is any item beyond use in its
current form and discarded as unwanted. Most businesses define waste as “anything
that does not create value” (BSR 2010). However scientifically speaking, there is no
S. I. Singh · D. Angmo · R. Dutta (*)
Department of Botanical and Environmental Sciences, Guru Nanak Dev University, Amritsar,
India
© The Editor(s) (if applicable) and The Author(s), under exclusive licence to
Springer Nature Singapore Pte Ltd. 2020
S. A. Bhat et al. (eds.), Earthworm Assisted Remediation of Effluents and Wastes,
https://doi.org/10.1007/978-981-15-4522-1_6
87