Alappuzha Municipality has always evoked curiosity in me with its continuous experiments with decentralized waste management systems. As part of the Knowledge to Action study 📚, I got an opportunity to delve deeper into understanding the system.
I was particularly interested in what happened to the compost generated in the aerobic bins 🗑️—an ambitious end product of the decentralised system, installed in several parts of the Municipality. I also made an attempt to read it together with the demand for high-quality compost coming from the farmers 👨‍🌾🌾, especially for agricultural areas in the periphery of the town.
multiple visits to the municipality’s waste management sites, only to see overflowing aerobic bins, packed with organic waste mixed with plastic and other contaminants. The bins had to be cleared every 4–5 days—far too quickly for proper composting. Instead, they ended up as piles of untreated waste, often dumped in landfills 🗑️⛔—completely defying the idea of decentralized waste management.
But the bigger issue turned out to be the compost itself. Some initial tests revealed inconsistent nutrient levels 📉, high heavy metal content ⚠️, and even harmful pathogens ☣️. It was obvious that farmers couldn’t rely on this. I made up my mind to come up with a solution. There was indeed a need to reinvent the process altogether 🔁.
🔧 The journey began by overhauling the segregation process. Conveyor belts helped separate plastics and other non-biodegradables before shredding and screening the organic matter into a fine, uniform texture. Windrowing helped, but the compost still wasn’t up to standard—its pH, electrical conductivity, and NPK values were all over the place 📊.
That’s when I realized: we needed science on our side 🔬. I reached out to microbiologists, agricultural scientists, and professors 🧑‍🔬👩‍🌾 to design a fortification process for quality enhancement. At each step, we tested the compost at Kerala Agricultural College, Vellanikkara 🧪, adjusting the blend to optimize nutrient content and eliminate contaminants.
📈 Slowly and steadily, the numbers improved.
Finally, after months of trial and error, we developed a compost that met the Fertilizer Control Order (FCO) standards ✅—with balanced NPK levels and no harmful residues.
✨ Today, what was once just municipal waste has become Aerofert—a trusted, branded compost 🌾 sold by Alappuzha Municipality. Farmers now have a sustainable alternative to chemical fertilizers, and the town is becoming cleaner and greener 🌍💚.
we didn’t just make compost—we turned a problem into a solution 🙌.

By Noora S B
Jesna Sathar | aaliya R