© 2007 IWA Publishing. Organic Waste Recycling: Technology and Management. Authored by
Chongrak Polprasert. ISBN: 9781843391210. Published by IWA Publishing, London, UK.
1
Introduction
1.1 PROBLEMS AND NEED FOR WASTE RECYCLING
A significant challenge confronting engineers and scientists in developing countries
is the search for appropriate solutions to the collection, treatment, and disposal or
reuse of domestic waste. Technologies of waste collection and treatment that have
been taught to civil engineering students and practiced by professional engineers
for decades are, respectively, the water-borne sewerage and conventional waste
treatment systems such as activated sludge and trickling filter processes. However,
the above systems do not appear to be applicable or effective in solving the
sanitation and water pollution problems in developing countries. Supporting
evidence for the above statement is the result of a World Health Organization
report (WHO 2000) which showed that in the year 2000 some 1.1 billion people
(about 18% of the world population) did not have access to improved water supply,
and 2.4 billions (about 40% of the world population) were without access to any
sort of improved sanitation facility. For both the water supply and sanitation
services, the vast majority of those without access are in Asia (as shown in Table