ABSTRACT
Disposal and environment-friendly management of distillery wastes have become a serious global problem. Sludge and spent wash are the most dominating waste discharged from ethanol distilleries, and these materials are often toxic to the biological world because of the presence of several recalcitrant organic and inorganic compounds, as well as the dark color materials blocking sunlight, which causes acute problems in biological communities. Spent wash is a dark brown effluent characterized by a specific obnoxious odor, a high chemical oxygen demand, biochemical oxygen demand, and total dissolved solids and various refractory organic compounds, which behave as endocrine-disrupting chemicals. Due to its high organic and inorganic content, many small- and large-scale distilleries are designed to operate with wastewater recycling and reusing system to improve the quality of the process. Although anaerobic digestion has been considered as the most attractive first step technique for the treatment of spent wash due to its reputation as a low-cost and eco-friendly technique, this conventional biological treatment is ineffective for obtaining the required final effluent quality established by regulatory agencies and thus the application of specific treatments is required. Vermicomposting is getting enormous importance in the amelioration of severe problems associated with the disposal of large quantities of organic wastes discharges from distilleries. It is the most suitable bioconversion method for solid waste disposal and recycling of organic waste. This chapter aims to provide a detailed note on vermitechnologies for recycling and reuse of distillery waste for sustainable development and discusses the identified limitations and challenges of this vermitechnology to be a viable retrofit to industrial waste management.
