Effect of Inoculation with Effective Microorganisms and Leachate Recycle on Degradation of Municipal Refuse

Biodegradation of waste in landfill is a slow process requiring decades for completion. Accelerated degradation of municipal refuse in modulated landfill environments may alleviate or eliminate pollution to the land, water and air. In this work, nineteen effective microorganisms (EMs) were isolated from old landfill refuse by enrichment culturing techniques and used for the inoculum of municipal refuse. The preliminary experiments demonstrate that a combination of EMs inoculation in landfill with leachate recycle resulted in increased rates of decomposition and faster process stability. The concentrations of COD, VFA and SO4^2- in digester with EMs inoculation and leachate recycle decreased more rapidly than others. Gas production from digester with EMs inoculation and leachate recycle commenced around 32 days, which is a week shorter than with leachate recycle only. And peak cumulative gas production was obtained much earlier in digester with EMs inoculation and leachate recycle (150 days) compared to 180 days with leachate recycle only. Moreover, in the first two months, the rate of settlement in digester with EMs inoculation and leachate recycle was more rapid than others.