Composting as Final Alternative to Solid Waste from Ceasa Curitiba/PR

Solids waste (SW) have been a municipal government concern. Centrais de Abastecimento (CEASA), the wholesale markets, are examples of SW potential generators. The CEASA localized in Curitiba city generates about 25 ton of SW per day corresponding to 20 ton of organic solid waste, consisting mainly of leftover or surplus of products marketed in the unit. The alternatives for this waste class are landfill, incineration, biodigesters and composting. The aim of the present work was to evaluate the composting as an alternative to disposal of waste based on the diagnosis made previously in the Program of Waste Management. It was found the composting is the cheaper solution available, ranging form U$ 6 to U$ 10 for natural method and U$ 20 to U$ 90 per ton for the accelerated method. It has suggested the compost from the composting method should be sold at CEASA with the objective to decrease the value paid by storekeeper to form a cycle: The farmer produces foods to market at CEASA and receive the compost to be applied partial or overall to substitute the chemical additives in his fields and turn to CEASA as foods and son on, encouraging the farmers to use natural nutrients and reduce their dependence on artificial inputs.