ABSTRACT
Excess sludge as the main by-product generated from wastewater treatment plants is a hotspot of various toxic substances such as heavy metals, pathogens, and antibiotic resistance genes. The recycling and disposing of excess sludge is a challenging and complex problem; therefore, eco-friendly treatment and recycling methods are important. The suitable way to ensure that excess sludge could be reused in land application is by conditioning and stabilizing excess sludge via earthworm technology. Vermicomposting or earthworm technology serves as an alternative for the stabilization of various organic wastes and produces a matured vermicompost. This chapter describes recent literature related to the potential merits of vermitechnology for recycling excess sludge from the viewpoint of the changes of nutrients, greenhouse gas emissions, pathogens, heavy metal, and antibiotic resistance genes to efficiently manage excess sludge.
