Piloting Enclosed Long-Term Composting in an Indian Village

The pilot project in Mohaddipur, Bihar, introduced enclosed long-term composting (ELTC) technology to provide a community sanitation complex and produce 'humanure' fertilizer. The system was adapted for the Indian context by incorporating anal-cleansing water and replacing peat with coconut fibre. While the facility is widely used by the 21 local households and has attracted government interest for replication in Bihar Sharif, challenges remain regarding long-term funding for maintenance and community ownership.

• The project introduced enclosed long-term composting (ELTC) to India for the first time, adapting a system from northern Europe and North America to facilitate the safe reuse of human excreta as agricultural fertilizer.
• To adapt the CompostEra ELTC design for the Indian setting, the project directed water from anal cleansing into the processing chamber and substituted peat in the starter/processing bed with coconut fibre.
• The ELTC system produces a liquid fertilizer called 'fertila' through bacterial oxidation of urine and washing water, while solids decompose via composting worms in a chamber designed to last over 30 years without emptying.
• The pilot achieved high adoption among the 21 households in Mohaddipur, though establishing a sustainable funding model for cleaning and maintenance remains an unresolved challenge.
• The project's success led to interest from government officials, resulting in the replication of the ELTC system using state funds in a slum area in Bihar Sharif.

APA

Stockholm Environment Institute (2014). Piloting Enclosed Long-Term Composting in an Indian Village. https://www.sei.org/mediamanager/documents/Publications/sei-fs-2014-biharecosan-mohaddipur.pdf

Chicago

Stockholm Environment Institute. Piloting Enclosed Long-Term Composting in an Indian Village. 2014. https://www.sei.org/mediamanager/documents/Publications/sei-fs-2014-biharecosan-mohaddipur.pdf.

Wikipedia

{{cite report |author=Stockholm Environment Institute |title=Piloting Enclosed Long-Term Composting in an Indian Village |date=2014 |url=https://www.sei.org/mediamanager/documents/Publications/sei-fs-2014-biharecosan-mohaddipur.pdf |access-date=17 August 2026 |via=Climate Insights Directory}}

BibTeX

@techreport{stockholmenvironmentinstitute2014piloting, author = {{Stockholm Environment Institute}}, title = {{Piloting Enclosed Long-Term Composting in an Indian Village}}, institution = {Stockholm Environment Institute}, year = {2014}, url = {https://www.sei.org/mediamanager/documents/Publications/sei-fs-2014-biharecosan-mohaddipur.pdf}, urldate = {2026-08-17}, note = {Indexed by Climate Insights Directory} }