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