A novel high-rate vermicomposting machine for downstream processing of biorefinery waste and other forms of organic solid waste

A novel machine, with the acronym HEVSTOW (high-efficiency vertically stacked vermicomposting system for treating organic waste), of which a patent has recently been granted, is described. It is capable of rapid, inexpensive, and emission-free processing of biorefinery waste and other forms of organic solid waste. The machine is based on the paradigm of high-rate vermicomposting earlier developed by the authors. It makes it possible to rapidly process biorefinery waste of plant origin, as also paper, which the conventional vermireactors are not able to handle without elaborate pre-treatment and/or augmentation of animal manure. The machine also makes it possible to simultaneously vermicompost different forms of biowaste as also use different species of earthworms in such a manner that each batch operates independently without one batch interfering with the other. The applicability of the machine has been demonstrated by its application in simultaneous yet independent processing of a biorefinery waste, and paper waste, each with two epigeic species of earthworms Eisenia andrei and Lumbricus rubellus.