Environmentalists routinely have their hands full digging up innovative solutions for waste disposal.

Toss into the mix hard-to-recycle organic waste, and that’s a whole ’nother can of worms.

In fact, that can at DENSO Manufacturing Mexico (DNMX) in Apodaca is crawling with some 150,000 California Redworms, which daily consume their own weight in garbage – the organic variety.

Food scraps from the cafeteria, sewage sludge, garden waste and sanitary paper – previously designated for a landfill – are converted into a highly rich fertilizer as a result of the worms’ work.

These eisenia foetida, as the worms are scientifically known, collectively polish off about 3 ½ tons of organic trash a week, saving DNMX more than $33,000 in annual disposal costs.

While the global target for DENSO companies is to reduce landfill waste from manufacturing, office and garden operations by 95 percent, DNMX’s target is zero emissions.

“Our goal is to waste nothing,” says Jorge Haros, manager of Safety, Health & Environment at DNMX

For years, communities have recycled items such as plastics, metals, paper and batteries; even printing inks, chemicals and oils can be processed into supplementary fuels.

But organic waste has always been something of a recycling quagmire, because there are few things organic materials can be converted into that offer any real value.

The worm farm, or vermicomposting, as it’s called, changes matters, explains Haros, who studied the organic recycling system in India with S.M. Aggarwal from DENSO Haryana.

Besides producing a useful fertilizer, vermicomposting gives DNMX plenty of wiggle room to meet its stringent zero emissions standards.

Cristabel Meza, who oversees vermicomposting at DNMX, estimates the initial investment in the worm farm at $50,000. That included construction, irrigation and drainage, outside training and the initial purchase of 90,000 worms, which begin reproducing six months after birth.

DNMX’s organic waste recycling program yields 18 tons of fertilizer a year. Associates take some home for garden use, and the remainder goes to local municipalities for tree planting.

According to Meza, the farm also is a chance to promote environmental education and social responsibility. “We want to teach others how to build their own worm farms at home, at school and places of business to help reduce the negative impact waste puts on our world.”

Feeding time
A DENSO Manufacturing Mexico (DNMX) associate “feeds” the 150,000 California Redworms in DNMX’s worm farm. The worms daily consume their own weight in garbage—food refuse, sewage sludge, garden waste and sanitary paper—all waste previously designated for a landfill.

Photography by Fausto Tovar