Composting is one of the cheap and best methods  for disposal of organic waste and its conversion into valuable products. Reduction in volatile solids is an indicator of loss of carbon content in waste and the rate of degradation. It depends on the characteristics of organic constituents. The main objective of the present study is to find out the degradation aspects of food and vegetable waste. The study was conducted in two phases: (1) to find out the degradation rate in terms of change in volatile solids during the composting process; and (2) to study the leachate characteristics of food and vegetable waste. The results showed that around 55-58% of volatile solids reductions was possible within four months of composting of food and vegetable waste. Odor is the one of the major problems during the initial stage of composting of food and vegetable waste. Leachate production was more in vegetable waste compared to food waste.

Composting of source-separated organic household wastes is becoming a more common practice in several countries (Eklind and Kirchmann, 2000). Composting is one of the few natural processes in which, microbial decomposition of organic matter occurs in aerobic conditions (Barrington et al., 2002). Composting generates considerable heat, CO₂ and water vapour into the air while minerals and organic matter are converted into a potentially reusable soil amendment (Haug, 1980; Biddlestone and Gray, 1985; Pace et al., 1995; and Renkow and Rubin, 1996). Composting also reduces volume and mass of solid waste, thereby increasing its value and transforming it into a safe soil amendment (Cassarino, 1986).

Vegetable waste is considered as a good input material as it is pure organic material. It is relatively easy to decompose vegetable waste when compared to garden waste which is usually high in lignin due to the wood waste included in it (Kokkora and Harm, 2008). Vegetable waste is differentiated from green waste, which includes biodegradable waste from gardens and municipal parks (Hogg et al., 2002). Composting of vegetable waste produced in horticulture may reduce the environmental impact on climate change at a rate of about 40% to 70%, compared to landfilling and incineration (Anton et al., 2005). Amongst the many available alternatives for reusing of food waste, composting is envisaged as the best way of disposing food waste and using it as an organic fertilizer (Pokhrel and Viraraghavan, 2005). Composting of food waste not only reduces the waste mass and volume transported to the landfill, but also increases its life (Pokhrel and Viraraghavan, 2005).

Environmental Sciences Journal, Stormwater Runoff, Organic Compounds, Water Quality Management, Vegetable Waste, Biochemical Oxygen Demand, Total Suspended Solids, Biological Treatment, Maturation Process, Organic Degradation, Microbial Composting, Leachate Production.