Kompostering av köksavfall och användning av kompost i köksträdgård i Chazuta, Peru
jordförbättring och/eller lösning på ett avfallsproblem?
All over the world the waste from human society is causing problems. In developing countries, large cities are polluted through huge amounts of wastes and people are forced to live very close to open deposits. Lima, capital of Peru, is no exception. The countryside in Peru has also a great challenge to face concerning the waste issue. Children and adults suffer from infectious diseases and contamination of the nature occurs as well.
One solution to handle organic waste is to compost, which means a controlled decomposition
of organic waste under aerobic conditions at certain temperatures. Composting at household
level is a cheap method and relatively simple to implement and manage. The end product is a valuable soil conditioner and fertilizer and could easily improve the growth in kitchen
gardens.
The main aim with my thesis is to show that composting is a suitable method to treat organic waste and that the method is able to solve problems related to the handling of human waste in Chazuta, a jungle village sited close to a tributary river of the Amazon River.
The thesis includes one literature study but focus is put on a practical investigation study. The investigation has 4 parts: 1) interviews with villagers; 2) waste inventory; 3) composting of organic waste; and 4) growth test with tomato in different substrates.
During the inventory waste where collected from 16 households during 10 days. The waste
where classified into 6 groups, each group where weighed. Chemical analyses where done on
the fresh material. Four composts were constructed of which two contained wood ash.
Temperature and pH where measured during the process, visual estimations where done as
well. At the end further chemical analyses where made with the end product. The Solvita test where used to check the maturity index at the end of the process. A growth test where done with a local tomato species to check the suitability of the compost substrate as growing media. The substrate where also compared with just soil and soil mixed with guano from the Peruvian coast.
The results showed that the seedlings of tomato grew faster and developed more fruits and
flowers in the substrates with compost material than the other plants. I consider the compost material have most importance as a soil improver.