Analisis prestasi nutrien pengkomposan sisa industri sawit bagi skala industri dalam tempoh tiga tahun

Composting of empty fruit bunches (EFB) and palm oil mill effluent (POME) is a sustainable approach in converting waste into organic fertilizers. Composting is a biological process that requires optimal control in producing compost. The main challenge faced by the composting industry is to maintain final compost high nutrients. The objective of this study was to analyze the long-term performance of the selected composting plants based on the nutrient content of the final compost. Three years performance of four selected composting plants in Malaysia, namely Merotai composting plant, Binuang composting plant, Tanah Merah composting plant and also Elphil composting plant were analyzed. The nutrients content e.g. include nitrogen, potassium, carbon to nitrogen ratio; moisture content as well as compost aggregate, were considered. A total of 1,465 sets of data were analyzed descriptively. Overall, all the composting plants managed to produce composts with the nutrient content that meet the minimum requirements of oil palm plantation. But there are cases where the potassium content in the compost produced was not reaching the minimum requirements of the industry and also the moisture content of the compost produced was high. As conclusion, there is still room for improvement in the current composting process in order to produce compost where the nutrients can be maintained and meet the minimum requirements of the industry.