FEASIBILITY AND ACTION PLAN FOR COMPOSTING OPERATION INCORPORATING APPROPRIATE TECHNOLOGY AT RIVERTON
DISPOSAL SITE, KINGSTON, JAMAICA
Preston S. Pendley
A REPORT
In partial fulfillment of the requirements
for the degree of
MASTER OF SCIENCE IN ENVIRONMENTAL ENGINEERING
0 Preston S. Pe~~dley 2005
This report "Feasibility and Action Plan for Composting Operation Incorporating Appropriate Technology at Riverton Disposal Site, Kingston, Jamaica" is hereby approved in partial fulfillment of the requirements for the degree of MASTER OF SCIENCE IN ENVIRONMENTAL ENGINEERING.
Civil and Environmental Engineering
Master's International Program
Report Adviser
James R. Mihelcic
Department Chair
C. Robert Baillod
Date
PREFACE
1. Master's International Program
In 1987, the Un~ted States Peace Corps created a graduate study program called Master's
international (MI). Through the MI Program, students can earn a Master's degree in any of a
number of disciplines that matched Peace Corps sectors, such as Forestry, Public Health,
Environmental Engineering, and Business Development, to name a few (US Peace Corps,
2005). Currently over 40 colleges and universities are MI 'Paflner Schools', including Michigan
Tech with MI programs in Civil and Environmental Engineering (CEE), Forestry, and the newest
program in Mit~gation of Natural Geological Hazards. MI students are currently serving in each
of the 71 countries where Peace Corps has active programs. The Michigan Tech CEE program
has eleven Returned Volunteers and eighteen current Volunteers who have servedlare serving
in BeJrze, Cameroon, Dominican Republic, Honduras, Jamaica, Kenya. Mali, Mauritania,
Macedonla, Madagascar, Panama, Philippines, Uzbekistan, Vanuatu (Michigan Tech, 2005).
Peace Corps (PC) was founded on March I , 1961 with one of the first Executive Orders of
President John F. Kennedy. Over 170,000 citizens have served in 136 foreign countries
through the Peace Corps (Peace Corps, 2005). The goals of the Peace Corps are three fold:
(1) to promote understanding of the USA in other countries through the presence of the
Volunteers, (2) to promote understanding of foreign cultures through the Returned Volunteers,
and (3) to increase the technical skills of citizens in developing countries that choose to host
Peace Corps.
After completing graduate coursework, usually 2-3 semesters, at the partner school, the student
enters Peace Corps. Following a training period in the host country with a group of other
trainees, he is sworn in as a Volunteer and begins a two-year service with a host country
community-based organization, non-government organization or government agency. A project
or several projects In that service will be developed into a Master's report, which she will defend
post-service at the partner schooJ. In the agreement between the partner school and Peace
Corps, the school promises that the Volunteer will have some expertise in the sector, and the
Peace Corps promises that the Volunteer w~l l be placed in an assignment where a project can
be developed in the Volunteer's field of study and expertise.
2. Personal Assignment: Peace Corps Jamaica (PCJ)
Jamaica first received Peace Corps Volunteers in 1962, making it one of the first countries to
establish PC programs. The relationship between US Peace Corps and the Government of
Jamaica is uninterrupted for over 40 years now, allowing some 3,348 volunteers to serve.
(Peace Corps, 2005).
PCJ maintains sectors in Environmental Promotion, At-Risk Youth, HIVIAIDS, IT, Small
Business, and Community Environmental Health (CEH) with 100+ volunteers currentiy in
service. Following a 7-week training program with 18 other volunteers in the CEH sector, I was
placed at the head office of the National Solid Waste Management Authority (NSWMA) in
Kingston.
3. Composting facility and Riverton Disposal Site
R~verton Disposal Site, outside Kingston, is one of seven official disposal sites in Jamaica. It
receives approximately 60°A of collected solid waste on the island, serving approximately the
same percentage of the population. While working with the Planning and Research Department
of the NSWMA, I helped develop materials to promote home composting, participated in public
relations events, and compiled data for a study to raise the efficiency of collection routes and
street sweeping contracts. My primary project, which is the focus of this report, was performing
a feasibility study and developirlg an action plan for municipal level composting at the Riverton
Disposal Site.
TABLE OF CONTENTS
SECTION PAGE NUMBER
PREFACE iii TABLE OF CONTENTS v LIST OF ACRONYMS vii LIST OF FIGURES viii LIST OF TABLES ix ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS x
ABSTRACT- xii
SECTION I - INTRODUCTIONp 1
SECTION 2 - BACKGROUND 3 lntro to Jamaica 3 History 3 Economy 4 Major Problems 5 Population 5
SECTION 3 - SOLID WASTE 6 GDP indicators of solid waste 6 Waste generation research 9 NSW MA history 10 Perceptions and limitations 12 Riverton 14 Recycling 18
SECTION 4 - COMPOSTINGp 20 Internal process 20 Technologies for large-scale approach 22 Parameters of a large-scale facility 23 Bans on yard waste in developed countries 23 Composting in Jamaica 24
SECTION 5 - ORGANIC WASTE RESEARCH- 27 Sources and quantities for Riverton 27 Compost pilot and market waste characterization 30 Markets 34 Parks 37 Agro-processors 38 Caymanas Horse Park 38 Other commercial sources 39 Abbatoirs 40 Sewage sludge 41 Residential Waste 42
SECTION PAGE NUMBER
SECTION 6 - FEASIBILITY AND ACTION PLAN 43 Appropriate technologies 43 Options for large-scale 43 Choice of mechanized equipment 44 Pre-processing 45 Wood waste 45 Sorting 46 End-use of compost 47 Overall plan for Riverton 47 Capital costs and site planning 47 Operation costs 58 Cornposting operations 62
SECTION 7 - END-USE AS COVER MATERIAL 65 Literature review on compost-as-cover 65 Cover material as NSWMA disposal sites- 66 Benefits of compost-as-cover 66
APPENDICES Cornposting equipment vendors 70 Pile monitoring record sheet 71 Agro-waste data sheet 72 Further Research 73
REFERENCES 74
ADC - -
APCD -
GDSS --
GNI --
GOJ -
IDB -
KIA --
KMA --
KSAC --
MI -
MoLG -
MPM -
MSW --
MTU -
NEPA -
NEPM -
NPI -
NRAES --
NSWMA -
NWC --
P&R --
PEU -
RFL --
RRR --
SPM -
STATIN --
UWI -
WPM -
Alternate Daily Cover
Associate Peace Corps Director
Garbage Disposal and Sanitation Systems, Inc.
Gross National Index
Government of Jamaica
l nterarnerican Development Bank
Kingston Industrial Agency
Kingston Metropolitan Area
Kingston and St. Andrew Corporation
Master's l nternational
Ministry of Local Government
Metropolitan Parks and Markets
Mixed Solid Waste
Michigan Technological University
National Environment and Planning Agency
Northeast Parks and Markets
Natural Products Institute
Natural Resource, Agriculture, and Engineering Service
National Solid Waste Management Authority
National Water Commission
Planning and Research Department (NSMWA)
Project Executing Unit
Recycle for Life
Recycling and Resource Recovery
Southern Parks and Markets
Statistical institute of Jamaica
University of the West lndies
Western Parks and Markets
US$1 = J$60
1 tonne = 1.1 ton
1 cc;b meter = 1.27 cub yds
1 kilogram = 2.2 pounds
100 kg I day = 36.5 tons 1 yr
LIST OF FIGURES
Number Name
2.1 Relief map of Jamaica
2.2 Jamaican Flag and Coat of Arms
Page No.
3
4
3.1 Residential waste characterization for Kingston Metropolitan Area (KMA) 10
3.2 Wastesheds of Ja~na~ca 12
3.3 Waste in gullies in Kingston 13
3.4 Dumping waste in gullies in Kingston 14
3.5 Kingston fload Map 16
3.6 Waste generation by source sector at Riverton 17
4.1 Elements of a compost pile
4.2 Microbial populat~ons ir. a compost pile
5.1 Photo of compost pilot area at Riverton
5.2 Placing the water tank in the compost pilot area at Riverton
5.3 Cleansing of Coronation Market
Aerator attachment for a tractor turning a windrow
Windrow turnerlaerator {attachment only) from Brown Bear
JPSCo employs two Asplundh chippers with roving teams in the KMA
Elevation of proposed facility
Plan view of proposed facility
Detail of buck wall deslgn
Bimetal thermometer to measure core temperature
Shape of windrow
Plan view of the operations area
Spray bar watering windrow during turninglaeration