COMMUNITY LEVEL COMPOSTING OF MUNICIPAL SOLID WASTE

RISE-AT Waste Management Factsheet 2
Community Level Composting of Municipal Solid Waste
STEP 1 – HOW TO BUILD THE PILE
Pile Design:- Two methods are described below, you can select either based on your
requirements and the size of the composting facility.
1) Standard Windrow Design
Build elongated piles of waste, as shown in figure 1. Ideally they should be built on a well
drained, impermeable surface, such as a paved or concrete surface. The ideal shape is a
semicircular profile. The pile size should follow these guidelines:-
Height – 1.5 to 2 m high. Any lower and the temperatures inside the pile will reduce, Any
higher than 2m and the chances of anaerobic pockets developing in the pile are likely.
Note the size of the pile is also important when turning. The higher the pile, the more
difficult the manual turning process will be.
Width – 1.5 to 2.0 m wide.
Length – The length of the pile will have no effect on the biological composting process. It
should be determined depending on the amount of waste being processed, the space
available and the practicalities of the plant layout. It is sometimes convenient to have
each windrow containing one days waste, this will simplify the turning rota.
Figure 1 – Standard Windrow
1.5 -
2.0
Length - not
critical
1.5 - 2.0
m
Page 9