Waste4Change Fun Internship: Studying the Best Compost Fertilizer

Bekasi – Entering the second month, the participants of Magang Asik (Fun Internship) are getting more fun with their work. Idang (Bio Engineering ITB) and Winda (Forestry IPB), the two participants from the Create (recycling) division are interested in examining the quality of compost produced by Waste4Change’s organic waste as their group task.

As we know, the segregated waste that has been transported by the Collect team will be processed again by the Create team of Waste4Change. Inorganic waste will be recycled at the Material Recovery Facility, while organic waste will be processed into compost.

The plants that were the object of their experiment this time were water spinach plants (kangkung) with consideration of the relatively short harvest period so that the results could be observed more quickly. Their experiment began by spreading water spinach seeds on six different soil beds. The first soil bed was left without fertilizer, the second used milled compost, the third used non-milled compost, the fourth used vermicomposting fertilizer, the fifth was spread with manure, and the sixth used chemical fertilizer. Which fertilizer showed the best result?

During the three weeks of observation (October 21 to November 12, 2015), monitoring the height, weight, and diameter of spinach. It turned out that the water spinach in the beds using vermicomposting compost ranks highest with the highest average height, weight and diameter. The best results were followed by milled compost, non-milled compost, manure and chemical fertilizer. Precisely chemical fertilizers are last.

This research proves that organic waste that was treated properly and correctly, is able to transform into an object that can provide benefits: high-quality fertilizer. Great research guys! Keep on the track!

Read the article in the Indonesian version here.