The input materials of the treatment process includes classified organic waste collected from canteens, food shops and dormitories.

The materials, after being collected, will be treated to create organic fertilizer to serve the planting of vegetables in home gardens and non-chemical agriculture gardens.

The current methods of treating waste, including burying and burning, cannot bring the desired effects. The methods cause pollution to the soil, water and air, while creating favorable conditions for pathogenic microorganisms to develop.

The students, after conducting a survey at traditional markets and vegetable granaries, found that most of the organic waste there is cellulose. The waste at cafeterias and food shops mostly contains protein and starch.

The current methods of treating waste, including burying and burning, cannot bring the desired effects. The methods cause pollution to the soil, water and air, while creating favorable conditions for pathogenic microorganisms to develop.

In the first phase of the project implementation, the students put waste bins in the school’s campus and at canteens. Later, they collected the waste with dry leaves to put the waste into the treatment process to create fertilizer. The fertilizer was provided to grow the plants in the school’s campus.

Following the success in the first phase, the students entered the second phase, when they contacted food processing companies and signed the contracts on waste treatment.

Since then, the students can earn money from the waste treatment. Meanwhile, the finished products gained after the treatment process, have been sold in the market which bring profit.

According to Nguyen Hoang Hau, a member of the research team, the microorganisms for waste treatment are the ones isolated and selected from organic waste sources in restaurants and households. Collected waste is put into grinding machines and then the composting process begins.

All the phases of the organic fertizer production can be implemented with the automatic system of machines. The products collected from the process are bioproducts and organic fertilizer.

The bacterial strains were isolated and mixed by the group in proportion to the composition of the waste. The time from waste to finished products is 30-45 days.

Bacteria are subdivided by the students and mixed with waste in accordance with certain ratios, depending on the component of waste. The time needed for treating waste is 30-45 days, shorter than other treatment processes. The volume of organisms added into the process depends on waste sources, which can bring very high efficiency.

Hau said the project can help reduce pollution at a very reasonable cost, and create profit from waste treatment and the sale of finished products created from the treatment process. 

Kim Chi

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