Rev Environ Sci Biotechnol (2010) 9:331344

DOI 10.1007/s11157-010-9199-2

REVIEWS

Composting of waste from palm oil mill: a sustainable waste

management practice
R. P. Singh M. Hakimi Ibrahim Norizan Esa
M. S. Iliyana

Published online: 25 February 2010

Springer Science+Business Media B.V. 2010

Abstract Malaysia is blessed with abundant natural

resources and bears a favorable climate for commercial
cultivation of crops such as oil palm. In Malaysia the
total plantation area of oil palm was 4,487,957 ha in
2008. It has been reported that in 2005 there was a total
of 423 palm oil mills having production capacity of
approximately 89 million tonnes of fresh fruit bunch
(FFB) per year. Waste from the oil palm mill process
include palm oil mill effluent (POME), generated
mainly from oil extraction, washing and cleaning up
processes. POME contains cellulosic material, fat, oil,
and grease. Discharging untreated effluent into water
streams may cause considerable environmental problems. The solid wastes generated are mainly decanter
cake, empty fruit bunches, seed shells and fibre from
the mesocarp. POME as well as the solid wastes may
rapidly deteriorate the surrounding environment if not
dealt with properly. Hence there is an urgent need for a
sustainable waste management system to tackle these
wastes. As these wastes are organic in origin, they are
rich in plant nutrients. Composting of waste generated
from palm oil mills can be good practice as it will be
R. P. Singh
M. H. Ibrahim (&)
M. S. Iliyana
Environmental Technology Division, School of Industrial
Technology, Universiti Sains Malaysia, 11800 Pulau
Pinang, Malaysia
e-mail: mhakimi@usm.my
N. Esa
School of Educational Studies, Universiti Sains Malaysia,
11800 Pulau Pinang, Malaysia

helpful in recycling useful plant nutrients. This review

deals with various aspects of waste management
practices in palm oil mills and the possibility of
composting the wastes.
Keywords POME
Decanter cake

Empty fruit bunch
Fresh fruit bunch

Composting

1 Introduction
The manufacturing industries in Malaysia can be
divided into resource based industries and nonresource based industries. Resource based industries
include rubber products, palm oil products, woodbased products and petrochemicals. Non-resource
based industries include electronic and electrical
products, machinery and engineering products and
textiles. Malaysia is blessed with abundant natural
resources and a climate conducive for commercial
cultivation of crops such as rubber and palm oil.
Malaysia is the largest producer of palm oil, the third
largest for rubber and fourth largest for cocoa. There
were more than 3.79 million hectares of land,
occupying more than one-third of the total cultivated
area and 11% of the total land area, under palm oil
cultivation in Malaysia in the year 2003 (Yusoff and
Hansen 2007).

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Elaeis guineensis Jacq is the most productive oil

palm variety in the world, with one hectare of oil palm
producing 1035 tonnes of fresh fruit bunch (FFB) per
year. Generally FFB can be harvested 3 years after
planting. The largest amount of FFB is harvested about
10 years after planting. The economic life of oil palm
plants is 2025 years of its lifespan of 200 years. Out
of this, the plant spends its initial 1115 months in the
nursery. The first harvest is 3238 months from
planting and peak yield is 510 years after planting.
Normally, oil palm grows in the lowlands of the humid
tropics, 15N15S where there is evenly distributed
rainfall (1,8005,000 mm year-1).
The fleshy mesocarp of the fruit is used to obtain
oil and the yield is about 4556% of fresh fruit bunch
(FFB). Oil yield from the kernel is about 4050%
(Kittikun et al. 2000). Potential yield from both
mesocarp and kernel accounts for about 17 t ha-1
year-1 of oil (Corley 1983). About 1 tonne of crude
palm oil (CPO) is produced from 5.8 tonnes of FFB
(Pleanjai et al. 2004). Fibre, shell, decanter cake and
empty fruit bunch (EFB) accounts for 30, 6, 3 and
28.5% of the FFB respectively (Pleanjai et al. 2004).
It has been estimated that about 26.7 million tonnes
of solid biomass and an average of 30 million tonnes
of POME were generated from 381 palm oil mills in
Malaysia in 2004 (Yacob et al. 2005).
In view of the abundance of oil palm by-products in
the country, sustainable management of these by
products is necessary. If not properly dealt with they
may lead to environmental pollution. As waste from
oil palm is biological in origin, composting as well as
vermicomposting can be a good option for sustainable
management of this waste. There is a growing interest
in composting as well as vermicomposting. These two
processes can add value, and reduce the waste volume
to make its land application easier (Yusri et al. 1995;
Thambirajah et al. 1995; Danmanhuri 1998). Aisueni
and Omoti (1999) reported that the oil palm industry is
one of the best sources of agricultural wastes that
can be used as organic fertilizers. This review deals
with composting of various wastes generated from oil
palm mills.

Rev Environ Sci Biotechnol (2010) 9:331344

in the area of oil crop cultivation, particularly of

soybean and oil palm (Yacob 2008). Global production of palm oil, the most widely traded edible oil, has
also seen a significant leap in its production as well as
plantation areas. Malaysia and Indonesia together
contributes about 87 % of world palm oil production
(USDA 2007; Yacob 2008) (Fig. 1). Palm oil
production has almost doubled from 1990 to 2001,
with Malaysia and Indonesia contributing to most of
the increased production. In Malaysia, the area under
oil palm crop plantation has increased from 2.03 million hectares to 4.49 million hectares from 1990 to
2009, an increase of 121.2%.
Frenchman Henri Fauconnier and his association
with Hallet, is attributed for the development of the
oil palm industry in Malaysia. Fauconnier visited
Hallets oil palm development in Sumatra in 1911
and purchased some oil palm seeds. These seeds were
planted at his Rantau Panjang Estate in Selangor. He
returned to Sumatra the following year to obtain
seeds which he had selected together with Hallet
from Tanjong Morawa Kiri Estate for further planting. With the seedlings obtained Fauconnier established the first commercial oil palm planting at
Tennamaram Estate, to replace an unsuccessful
planting of coffee bushes (Tate 1996).
Elaeis guineensis Jacq, commonly known as oil
palm, is the most important species of the genus
Elaeis belonging to the family Palmae. The second
species Elaeis oleifera (H.B.K) Cortes, also known as
American oil palm, is found in South and Central
America. Although significantly lower in oil to bunch
content than its African counterpart, E. oleifera
contains higher level of unsaturated fatty acids and
has been used for production of interspecific hybrids

2 Palm oil industry in Malaysia

Global demand for edible oils is increasing in the last
few decades, which resulted in a tremendous increase

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Fig. 1 World palm oil production 2006 (USDA 2007)

Rev Environ Sci Biotechnol (2010) 9:331344

20

15

Paramters

with E. guineensis. The oil palm is an erect monoecious plant producing separate male and female
inflorescences. Oil palm is cross-pollinated and the
key pollinating agent is the weevil, Elaeidobius
kamerunicus Faust. Earlier oil palm was thought to
be wind pollinated and owing to the low level of
natural pollination, assisted pollination is a standard
management practice in plantations. However, this
practice was discontinued after the discovery that oil
palm was insect pollinated and the introduction of
E. kamerunicus from the Cameroons, West Africa in
1982 (Syed et al. 1982). Harvesting commences
about 2430 months after planting and each palm
can produce between eight to 15 fresh fruit bunches
(FFB) per year. The FFB weigh about 1525 kg
each, depending on the planting material and age of
the palm. Each FFB contains about 1,0001,300
fruitlets, each fruitlet consists of a fibrous meoscarp
layer and the endocarp (shell) containing the kernel.
Present day planting materials of oil palm are
capable of producing 39 tonnes of FFB ha-1 and
8.6 tonnes of palm oil. Good commercial plantation
yields about 30 tonnes FFB ha-1 with 5.06.0 tonnes of oil (Henson 1990). The average FFB yield
was 19.14 tonnes while palm oil production was
11.80 million tonnes in year 2001 in Malaysia
(MPOB 2001). The total oil palm planted area in
the country increased by 4.3% to 4.48 million
hectares in 2008 (MPOB 2008a, b) (Fig. 2). Total
plantation area in Malaysia was 4,304,914 ha in
2007, which has reached 4,487,957 ha in 2008
(MPOB 2008a, b) (Fig. 2). Based on statistics
obtained from the Malaysian Palm Oil Board,
Malaysia controls about 45% of total palm oil
production in the world. In 2005 alone, there were
423 mills with a production capacity of approximately 89 million tonnes of fresh fruit bunch (FFB)
year-1 (Borowitzka et al. 2009).
Cultivars of E. guineensis can be differentiated
with the help of their fruit pigmentation and characteristics. The most common cultivars are Dura,
Tenera and Pisifera, which are classified according
to the endocarp or shell thickness and mesocarp
content. Dura palms have between 2 and 8 mm thick
endocarp and medium mesocarp content (3555% of
fruit weight). Tenera palms have 0.5 to 3 mm thick
endocarp and high mesocarp content of 6095%
while the pisifera palms have no endocarp and about
95% mesocarp (Latiff 2000).

333

Area (million ha)

CPO (million ton)
Oil Yield (tha-1 )

10

1950 1960 1970 1980 1990 2000 2010 2020 2030

Years
Fig. 2 Area of oil palm and palm oil production. (MPOB
2008a, b)

3 Palm oil production processes

Figure 3 shows the steps involved in oil palm mill
industry. The oil palm produces two types of oils,
palm oil from the fibrous mesocarp and lauric oil
from the palm kernel. Unit operations involved in oil
production after the fresh fruit bunches (FFB) are
transported to the palm oil mills consist of the
following steps:
1.

2.

3.

Sterilization of the FFB is done batch wise in an

autoclave for about 2 h. The temperature inside
the autoclave is about 120130C. The objectives
of this process are to check further formation of
free fatty acids due to enzyme action, facilitate
stripping and prepare the mesocarp for subsequent processing. The steam condensate coming
out of the sterilizer constitutes one of the major
sources of wastewater (Thani et al. 1999).
Stripping (threshing): After sterilization, the FFB
are fed to a rotary drum-stripper where the fruits
are stripped from fruit bunches. This step generates the empty fruit bunches (EFB). The
detached fruits are passed through the bar screen
of the stripper and are collected below by a
bucket conveyor and discharged into a digester.
Digestion: Separated fresh fruits are put into a
digester, where they are mashed under steamheated conditions by the rotating arms. At this
stage, mashing of the fruits under heating breaks
the mesocarp oil-bearing cells. Twin screw
presses are generally used to press out the oil
from digested mash of fruit under high pressure.

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Rev Environ Sci Biotechnol (2010) 9:331344

Fig. 3 Processes involved

in oil palm industry.
(Source:
http://uwapabriksawit.blogspot.com/
2009/10/schematic-processof-palm-oil-mill.html)

4.

5.

Hot water is added to enhance the flow of the

oils. No residue occurs in this step.
Crude palm oil extraction: Homogenous oil mash
from the digester is passed through a screw press
followed by a vibrating screen, a hydrocyclone
and decanters to remove fine solids and water.
Centrifugal and vacuum driers are used to further
purify the oil before sending it to a storage tank.
The temperature of oil in the storage is maintained around 60C with steam coil heating
before the crude palm oil (CPO) is sold. The
crude oil slurry is then fed to a clarification
system for oil separation and purification. The
fibre and nut (press cake) are conveyed to a
depericarper for separation (Thani et al. 1999).
The crude palm oil (CPO) from the screw presses
consists of a mixture of palm oil (3545%), water
(4555%) and fibrous materials in varying proportions. It is then pumped to a horizontal or
vertical clarification tank for oil separation. In
this unit, the clarified oil is continuously
skimmed from the top of the clarification tank.
It is then passed through a high speed centrifuge
and a vacuum dryer before being sent to storage
tanks. Decanter wastewater and decanter cake are
the major wastes at this step.
Nut/fibre separation: The press cake discharged
from the screw press consists of moisture, oily

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6.

fibre and nuts, and the cakes are conveyed to a

depericarper for nuts and fiber separation. The
fibre and nuts are separated by strong air current
induced by a suction fan. The fibre is usually sent
to the boiler house and is used as boiler fuel.
Meanwhile, the nuts are sent to a rotating drum
where any remaining fibre is removed before
they are sent to a nut cracker.
Nut cracking: Nuts are cracked in a centrifugal
cracker or Hydrocyclone. After the cracking
process, the kernels and shells are separated by
clay suspension (Kaolin). The discharge from
this process constitutes the last source of wastewater stream (Chow and Ho 2000). The separated shells from the kernels are sold to other
mills as fuel. The kernels are sent to the kernel
drying process in a silo dryer to sell (for oil
extraction) to other mills.

4 Waste generation in palm oil mills

Effluents from palm oil mills and natural rubber
processing plants have been identified as the major
cause of the rapid deterioration of the aquatic
environment in the 1960s as well as 1970s. Both
were in fact the largest source of water pollution
during this period (DOE 1991). Palm oil mill effluent

Rev Environ Sci Biotechnol (2010) 9:331344

335

(POME) is generated mainly from oil extraction,

washing and cleaning processes in the mill. These
contain cellulosic material, fat, oil, and grease
(Agamuthu 1995). Discharging untreated effluent
into water streams may cause considerable environmental problems (Davis and Reilly 1980) due to its
high biochemical oxygen demand (25,000 mg L-1),
chemical oxygen demand (53,630 mg L-1), oil and
grease (8,370 mg L-1), total solids (43,635 mg L-1)
and suspended solids (19,020 mg L-1) (Ma 1995,
2000). The palm oil mill industry in Malaysia has
thus been identified as the one discharging the largest
pollution load into rivers throughout the country
(Hwang et al. 1978).
The oil palm industry produces a wide variety of
wastes in large quantities (Fig. 4). Liquid wastes arise
from oil extraction and processing. The solid wastes

are the leaves, trunk, decanter cake, empty fruit

bunches, seed shells and fibre from the mesocarp.
4.1 Liquid effluent
The production of palm oil results in the generation of
large quantities of polluted wastewater commonly
referred to as palm oil mill effluent (POME). One tonne
of crude palm oil production requires 57.5 tonnes of
water, about 50% of which ends up as POME
(Ma 1999a, b). Based on palm oil production in 2005
(14.8 million tonnes), an average of about 53 million m3 POME is being produced per year in Malaysia
(Lorestani 2006). The POME comprises a combination
of wastewater from three main sources i.e., clarification (60%), sterilization (36%) and hydrocyclone
(4%) units (Ma 2000). It contains various suspended

Fresh fruit bunch

(100 %)

Fruits
(70 %)

Empty fruit bunch

(20 %)

Evaporation
(10 %)

Bunch ash
(0.5 %)
Crude oil
(43 %)
Pericarp
(14 %)

Nuts
(13 %)

Pure oil
(21 %)

Solids (Animal
feed / fertilizer
(2 %)

Water
evaporation
(2 %)

Dry fibre
fuel
(12 %)

Water
evaporation
(20%)
Kernel
(6 %)

Shell
(6 %)
Moisture
(1 %)

Fig. 4 Products from oil mill process (Lorestani 2006)

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Rev Environ Sci Biotechnol (2010) 9:331344

components including cell walls, organelles, short

fibres, a variety of carbohydrates ranging from hemicellulose to simple sugars, a range of nitrogenous
compounds from proteins to amino acids, free organic
acids and an assembly of minor organic and mineral
constituents (Ugoji 1997).
From the environmental perspective, fresh POME
is a hot and acidic brownish colloidal suspension,
characterized by high amounts of total solids
(40,500 mg L-1), oil and grease (4,000 mg L-1),
COD (50,000 mg L-1) and BOD (25,000 mg L-1)
(Ma 2000). POME has been identified as one of the
major sources of aquatic pollution in Malaysia. The
characteristic of a typical POME is given in Table 1.
In year 2005, 66.8 million tonnes of POME were
generated (Vairappan and Yen 2008). Current biological treatment technologies for treating POME
consists of conventional oxidation ponds (anaerobic

Table 1 Characteristics of palm oil mill effluent (POME) and

empty fruit bunch (EFB)
Parameter

POMEa
(Averagec)

Empty fruit
bunchb

pH

4.7

6.7 0.2

Oil and grease

4,000

Biochemical oxygen
demand (BOD5)

25,000

Chemical oxygen
demand (COD)

50,000

Total solids

40,500

Suspended solids

18,000

Total volatile solids

34,000

Ammonical nitrogen
(NH3N)

35

Total nitrogen (T.N.)

750

58.9 (%)

Phosphorous (P)

180

0.6 0.1 (%)

Potassium (K)

2,270

2.4 0.4 (%)

Magnesium (Mg)

615

0.6 0.2 (%)

Calcium (Ca)
Boron (B)

439
7.6

0.6 0.3 (%)

Iron (Fe)

46.5

1.0 0.2 (%)

Manganese (Mn)

2.0

230.3 40.8 (mg kg-1)

Copper (Cu)

0.89

13.5 1.6 (mg kg-1)

Zinc (Zn)

2.3

16.6 2.6 (mg kg-1)

Ma 2000

Baharuddin et al. (2009)

All values are in mg L-1 except pH

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and aerobic), open and closed tank digesters with

biogas recovery and land application (Ma 1999a, b;
Kennedy and Hishamuddin 2001). Most of the palm
oil mills in Malaysia have adopted the ponding
system for the treatment of their effluents (Ma and
Ong 1985) consisting of a number of ponds where
initially anaerobic digestion can take place, followed
by facultative ponds where degradation of the effluent
occurs under aerobic conditions. The system is
capable of producing a final discharge with a BOD
of less than 100 mg L-1 (Chan and Chooi 1982;
Chooi 1984).
Ponding system is the most conventional method
for treating POME (Ma and Ong 1985; Khalid and
Wan Mustafa 1992), but other processes such as
aerobic and anaerobic digestions, physicochemical
treatments and membrane filtration may also provide
the palm oil industries with a possible insight into the
improvement of current POME treatment process.
However, the treatment that is based mainly on
biological treatments of anaerobic and aerobic systems is quite inefficient to treat POME, which
unfortunately leads to environmental pollution issues
(Ahmad et al. 2005). This is because the high BOD
loading and low pH of POME, together with the
colloidal nature of the suspended solids, renders
treatments by conventional methods difficult (Olie
and Tjeng 1972; Stanton 1974).
4.2 Solid wastes
The solid waste materials as well as by-products
generated in the palm oil extraction process are given
in Fig. 5. The most common among these byproducts is the empty fruit bunch, palm oil mill
sludge (POMS), palm kernel cake (PKC) and
decanter cake. Palm kernel oil (white palm oil) is
obtained from the seed known as kernel or endosperm. When oil has been extracted from the kernel,
what remains is known as palm kernel cake (PKC).
This is rich in carbohydrate (48%) and protein (19%)
and is used as cattle feed (Onwueme and Sinha 1991).
Palm kernel cake can be processed into animal feed
and chicken feed (Ismail 2004). According to Ismail
(2004) the protein content of PKC can be increased,
improving its marketable value.
As PKC is nitrogen deficient, additional nitrogen
addition is required if it has to be converted into
compost. Kolade et al. (2006) carried out composting

Rev Environ Sci Biotechnol (2010) 9:331344

337

Fig. 5 Oil extraction and waste generation process in palm oil mill (Prasertsan and Prasertsan 1996)

of PKC using poultry manure, with goat manure as

supplement. Composting was carried out using combinations of PKC and poultry manure (3:1 ratio) and
PKC and goat/sheep manure (3:1 ratio). In Thailand
about 60 crude palm oil mills produced approximately 1.24 million tonnes of crude palm oil from
6.4 million tonnes of fresh fruit bunches (FFB) in
2007 (Paepatung et al. 2006). Chavalparit et al.
(2006) reported that average values of waste generation rate per ton FFB from palm oil mills in Thailand
were 140 kg of fibre, 60 kg of shells, 240 kg of
empty fruit bunch (EFB) and 42 kg of decanter cake.

The productions of fibre, shells, EFB and decanter

cake were estimated to be 0.894, 0.13, 1.53, and 0.27
million tonnes per year, respectively (Chavalparit
et al. 2006). The fibre produced is mostly used as
solid fuel for boilers in the palm oil mills, while
shells are sold as solid fuel to other industries, e.g.,
cement factories (Paepatung et al. 2006). EFB, with a
high moisture content of 6070%, are difficult to use
as fuel for power boilers. Partial EFB and decanter
cake are currently utilized as fertilizers and soil cover
materials in palm oil plantation areas, whilst the rest
of EFB is dumped in areas adjacent to the mill

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because of the high generation rate along with its

limitations for current utilization (Paepatung et al.
2009). Empty fruit bunch can also be incinerated to
produce potash, which is applied in the plantation as
fertilizer by mulching. The fibre and shell materials
are used as boiler fuel. The palm kernel is usually
sold to palm kernel oil producers for the extraction of
the palm kernel oil (Thani et al. 1999).

5 Oil palm industry and environment

The processing of oil palm fresh fruit bunches (FFB)
primarily for palm oil also results in concomitant
production of wastes in the form of palm oil mill
effluent (POME), empty fruit bunches, mesocarp
fibre and shell. POME is a colloidal suspension
containing 9596% water, 0.60.7% oil and grease
and 45% total solids. It is a thick, brownish liquid
with discharge temperature of between 80 and 90C
and is fairly acidic with a pH value in the range of
4.05.0. Typically POME contains a mean value of
6,000 mg L-1 of oil and grease (Industrial Processes
& The Environment 1999).
When the industry was at its early age in 1960s,
ignorance compelled people to dispose POME into
the waterways or by any other convenient methods.
The problem of pollution resulting from a mere
92,000 tonnes production by only 10 mills was not
apparent in the 1960s (MPOB 1999). The environment could somehow absorb these wastes. This
negligence did not last long. By the 1970s the
industrial growth was exponential, bringing along
with it pollution which the waterways could no longer
handle. The palm oil processing became synonymous
to POME pollution.
The oxygen depleting potential of POME is 100
times that of domestic sewage (Khalid and Wan
Mustafa 1992). The industries begin to face a major
problem of virtually completely lacking any proven
technology for treating POME. POME is discharged
from the milling process to wastewater treatment,
traditionally to anaerobic digestion in open ponds.
Palm oil mill effluent has been successfully
exploited as animal feed, fertilizer as well as a
source of energy (Khalid and Wan Mustafa 1992;
Igwe and Onyegbado 2007). In Malaysia, POME
sludge is usually dried up and then used as fertilizer.
Drying is done in open ponds, but during the rainy

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Rev Environ Sci Biotechnol (2010) 9:331344

season, the process creates problems such as sludge

flooding, insects, and bad odour. Some palm oil mills
extract a considerable amount of the solids from
POME with a decanter prior to treatment producing
decanter cakes. Decanter cakes from palm oil mills
can be used in several different ways (Chavalparit
et al. 2006). The decanter cake can be mixed with
inorganic fertilizers. Dry decanter product can be
converted into commercial grade pellet animal feed.
In order to be able to sell the wet decanter cake to a
feed mill, this by-product has to be dried (Chavalparit
et al. 2006). This can be done through the use of low
pressure steam from the boiler with a temperature of
210C as a heating medium to dry the decanter sludge
into a cake with moisture content below 10%
(Chavalparit et al. 2006). An indirect, horizontal
dryer can also be used to dry the decanter solids to
low moisture content (90% TS). The temperature of
the dryer exhaust gases is about 100C (Chavalparit
et al. 2006). The dry decanter product can be
converted into commercial grade animal feed pellets
(Chavalparit et al. 2006; Schmidt 2007). However,
the use of this technology is not a common practice
(Schmidt 2007).

6 Environmental regulations of effluent

discharge in the palm oil industry
The environmental restrictions in palm oil industry
were decided to be a necessary licensed approach that
would permit close control of individual factories. On
the basis of prevailing environmental circumstances,
environmental restrictions also provide a mechanism
for permitting variable effluent standards. The environmental quality regulations for the crude palm oil
industry were the first set of regulations promulgated
under the Environmental Quality Act (EQA), 1977
for control of industrial pollution source (Thani et al.
1999). The Environmental Quality (prescribed Premises) (Crude Palm Oil) Regulations 1977, promulgated under the enabling powers of Section 51 of the
EQA, are the governing regulations and contain the
effluent discharge standards. Other regulatory
requirements are to be imposed on individual palm
oil mills through conditions of license under Environmental Quality Act 1974 (Act of 127). The
effluent discharge standards ordinarily applicable to
crude palm oil mills are given in Table 2.

Rev Environ Sci Biotechnol (2010) 9:331344

Table 2 Effluent discharge
standards for crude palm oil
mills (Environmental
Quality Act 1974, 2005)

* No discharge standard
after 1984

339

Parameter

Unit

Parameter limits
(second schedule)

pH

59

Oil and grease

mg L-1

50

Biochemical oxygen demand

(BOD; 3 days, 30C)

mg L

-1

1,000

Chemical oxygen demand (COD)

mg L-1

Total solids

mg L-1

-1

400

150

Value of filtered sample

200

Value of filtered sample

Suspended solids

mg L

Total volatile solids

mg L-1

Ammonical nitrogen (NH3N)

mg L-1

Total nitrogen (T.N.)

7 Composting of waste generated

from palm oil mills
The improper disposal of large quantities of agrobased industrial waste causes energy, economic, and
environmental problems. Since these wastes have a
high content of organic matter and mineral elements,
they can potentially be used to restore soil fertility
(Khan et al. 2009). The recycling of organic residues
in soil can mitigate environmental hazards resulting
from intensive agriculture (Ordonez et al. 2006).
Composting is a microbial technology that is frequently used to stabilize various types of industrial
wastes such as sludge from pulp and paper mill,
sugar, oleochemical, pig rearing, olive milling etc.
Composting is attractive since it can reduce the
volume/weight of sludge (Abd-Rahman et al. 2003).
Composting can reduce the mixture volume by 40
50%, effectively destroying the pathogens by the
metabolic heat generated in the thermophilic phase,
degrade a big number of hazardous organic pollutants
and provide a final product that can be used as a soil
amendment or fertilizer (Epstein 1997). Moreover the
composted waste is easy to handle and can be used as
soil conditioner, thus providing additional income
(Abd-Rahman et al. 2003). Composting is useful for
waste recycling and produces a chemically stable
material that can be used as a source of nutrients and
for improving soil structure (Castaldi et al. 2005).
The composting process involves the conversion
of organic residues of plant and animal origin into
manure. It is principally a microbiological process
based on the activities of several bacteria, actinomycetes, and fungi (Bharadwaj 1995). The end product

Remarks

is rich in humus and plant nutrients and the byproducts of composting process are carbon dioxide,
water and heat (Abbasi and Ramasamy 1999).
In the composting process, aerobic microorganisms use organic matter as a substrate. The microorganisms decompose the substrate, breaking it down
from complex to intermediate and then to simpler
products (Epstein 1997; Ipek et al. 2002). During
composting, compounds containing carbon and nitrogen are transformed through successive activities of
different microbes to more stable organic matter,
which chemically and biologically resembles humic
substances (Pare et al. 1999). The rate and extent of
these transformations depend on available substrates
and the process variables used to control composting
(Marche et al. 2003).
Naturally, composting takes place when fallen
leaves pile up and starts decaying. Eventually the
decayed leaves are returned to the soil, where living
roots reclaim the nutrients from the remains of the
leaves. Ancient people dumped foodstuff in piles near
their camps, and found the wastes rotted and formed
habitat for the seeds of many food plants that sprouted
there. Possibly this may have led to the realization that
dump heaps were good places for food crops to grow,
and humans began to put seeds there intentionally.
Apparently, recycling of organic residues through
composting seems to be an ancient practice. It has
acquired ever greater significance, and in the present
times the use of composting to turn organic wastes
into resource should be practiced with a sense of
urgency as landfill space becomes increasingly more
scarce and expensive (He et al. 1995). During
composting, most of the biodegradable organic

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compounds are broken down and a portion of the

remaining organic material is converted into humic
acid like substances, with the production of chemically stabilized composted materials. Agricultural
application of partially decomposed or unstable
compost results in nitrogen immobilization and
decreases the oxygen concentration around root
systems due to the rapid activation of microbes.
Additionally, chemically unstable compost is phytotoxic due to the production of ammonia, ethylene
oxide, and organic acids (Mathur et al. 1993; Tam
and Tiquia 1994). Therefore, evaluation of compost
stability prior to its use is essential for the recycling
of organic waste in agricultural soils (Khan et al.
2009).
With the aim to boost the composting process,
increasing the degradation rate and quality of the final
compost, several modifications have been made in the
process, such as the addition of biodegradable wastes
to reach the optimum C/N ratio of about 30 (Costa
et al. 1992; Haug 1993), that is co-composting, and
the addition of chemicals to increase the reaction
rates and the composition of the compost (Bangar
et al. 1988; Brown et al. 1998). In order to reach the
optimum C/N in the composting piles, co-composting
is widely used.
Composting is widely used to produce organic
fertilizer from empty fruit bunches. Composting this
by-product resulted in 50% reduction in both the
volume as well as the transportation cost of empty fruit
bunches (Chavalparit et al. 2006). Unapumnuk (1999)
carried out the composting process for a mixture of
EFB, decanter sludge and urea (as N source). Batch
process composting was carried out in heaps, which
were piled up into a size of 2 m 9 2 m 9 1 m and
covered with plastic. The composting piles were turned
regularly to maintain aerobic condition. Spraying of
water was also done on piles to maintain the moisture
content around 5060% in the composting process. The
composting piles having initial C:N ratio of 39:1
showed a rapid degradation rate and maturated in
80 days (Unapumnuk 1999). The mature compost
contained N, P2O5 and K2O equal to 2.26, 3.3 and
2.25% of the total matter, respectively. Compost finally
obtained would replace chemical fertilizers equivalent
to about 13.5 Baht ton-1 (Unapumnuk 1999). Average
nutrient content of EFB has been reported as 0.8% N,
0.1% P, 2.5% K and 0.2% Mg approximately on a dry
weight basis (Gurmit et al. 1981).

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Baharuddin et al. (2009) carried out a study with

the objective of investigating the physicochemical
changes during co-composting Empty Fruit Bunch
(EFB) with partially treated palm oil mill effluent
(POME) on a pilot scale. The partially treated POME
from anaerobic pond was sprayed onto the shredded
EFB throughout the treatment. For proper aeration
the composting piles were turned over 13 times per
week. Temperature as well as oxygen content was
monitored at different depths of the composting piles.
The temperature was reported to increase and reached
up to 58.5C on the third day of treatment. After that
the temperature fluctuated between 50 and 62C and
then it decreased in the latter stage of the process
(Baharuddin et al. 2009). The pH of the system
(7.758.10) did not vary significantly throughout the
treatment period while moisture content reduced
from 6575% to about 60% at the end of the
treatment. The initial C/N ratio of 45 was significantly reduced upto 12 after 60 days of composting.
The final compost contained a considerable amount
of nutrients (carbon, nitrogen, phosphorus, potassium,
calcium, magnesium, sulfur and iron) and trace
amounts of manganese, zinc, copper (Baharuddin
et al. 2009). Additionally very low levels of heavy
metals were also detected in the compost. The
bacterial count involved in the composting process
was found to decrease at the end of the composting
period. Baharuddin et al. (2009) also reported that
pilot scale co-composting EFB with partially treated
POME gave acceptable quality of compost and ease
in operation. The compost product finally obtained
can be used in palm oil plantations as fertilizer and
for soil amendment (Baharuddin et al. 2009).
Zahrim et al. (2007) carried out in-vessel composting study of palm oil mill sludge (POMS) with sawdust
as an alternative waste management option. Sludge
was collected from Sri Ulu Langat Palm Oil Mill,
Dengkil, Selangor, Malaysia, and sawdust was collected from various furniture factories around Bangi,
Selangor. A mixture of POMSsawdust (52 kg sludge
and 28 kg sawdust) which was mixed manually was
put in a 0.3 m3 bioreactor. Temperature is one of
the important indicators for a composting process
(Nogueira et al. 1999). Zahrim et al. (2007) reported
that maximum temperature for the reactor was about
40C. Composting of most substrates is characterized
by an initial period of rapid degradation followed by a
longer period of slow degradation (Diaz et al. 2002).

Rev Environ Sci Biotechnol (2010) 9:331344

The organic matter (OM) degradation profile

during composting process, determined by the OM
loss, followed a first order kinetic equation with a
degradation rate (k) of 0.014 day-1 and 51% maximum OM loss (Zahrim et al. 2007). Nutrient content
in POMS compost is comparable with other industrial
sludge compost. Compost of palm oil millsawdust
mixed with sand was found to improve the growth of
C. citrates (Zahrim et al. 2007). Therefore composting can be a suitable method for converting palm oil
mill sludge into compost that can be used as a pot or
container growing medium.
Empty fruit bunch is a suitable raw material for
recycling as it is produced in large quantities as waste
product from palm oil mill. It is often used as fuel to
generate steam in the mills (Ma et al. 1993). The
bunch ash produced as a result of burning (about
6.5% by weight of the EFB) contains about 3040%
K2O. The ash is used as a fertilizer for the potassium,
K (Lim 2000) and has been found to improve the
yield of oil palm grown on acid coastal soils in
Malaysia (Hew and Poon 1973; Toh et al. 1981).
To prevent air pollution, the process of incineration was restricted by the Department of Environment
(DOE) through the Environmental Quality Clean Air
Regulation Act, 1978. The EFB is now used mainly
as mulch (Hamdan et al. 1998). The EFB helps in
controlling weeds, prevent erosion and maintain soil
moisture, when placed around young palms. The
transportation and distribution of EFB in the field is
getting more expensive due to the labor cost. Now
there is a growing interest in composting EFB, in
order to add value, and also to reduce the volume to
make its application easier (Yusri et al. 1995;
Thambirajah et al. 1995; Damanhuri 1998).
An average oil palm mill can handle about
100 metric tonnes of fresh fruit bunches daily. At
the mills where oil extraction takes place, solid
residues and liquid wastes are generated. The solid
residues, mainly EFB, are more than 20% of the fresh
fruit weight (Ma et al. 1993; Kamarudin et al. 1997).
EFB is a common raw material used in composting.
Other materials are often added, particularly chicken
manure and POME. POME contains very high
nutrient content (Zakaria et al. 1994), and direct
utilization of POME as fertilizer has been preferred
by large oil palm plantations. The sediments left after
POME treatment, which is also known as palm oil

341

mill sludge (POMS) have a higher nutrient value than

the slurry (Zakaria et al. 1994) and are either recycled
to the field or sold to the public.
Hamdan et al. (1998) carried out the decomposition study of EFB in oil palm plantations. The EFB
was spread in the field as mulch on top of nylon net at
a rate of 30, 60 and 90 mt/ha/year. Spots were
selected for N supplementation to meet a required
C/N ratio of 15, 30 and 60 (control) at each EFB
application rate. Decomposition was estimated by the
weight of EFB remaining in the nylon net (Hamdan
et al. 1998). After 10 months of application the EFB
was found to be completely decomposed (Hamdan
et al. 1998).
Different organic N rich sources, such as goats,
cattle and chickens manure, have also been evaluated
as N additives for the composting of EFB (Thambirajah et al. 1995). EFB compost with goat manure,
cattle manure and chicken manure had a C/N ratio of
14:1, 18:1 and 12:1, respectively, after 60 days of
composting, while the control without manure had a
C/N ratio of 24:1.

8 Conclusion
Crude palm oil mills generate various by-products
and large quantities of wastewater, which may have a
significant impact on the environment if not managed
properly. As waste produced from palm oil mills are
biological in nature and have high organic content,
composting as well as co-composting can be a good
option. These wastes may create environmental
problems with time due to high organic content.
Improper disposal in open area may result in
contamination of ground water via leaching or nearby
waterbody through runoff water. The improper waste
management practice may also result in aesthetic
problem, air borne diseases and also may be causal of
several vector borne diseases. Therefore, environmental management should place the greatest emphasis in waste minimization at source or recycling.
Composting provides a viable alternative method for
managing organic wastes.
Acknowledgments The study was funded through Universiti
Sains Malaysia (USM) short-term grant number 304/
PTEKIND/ 6310003. The authors acknowledge USM for
providing research facilities.

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