No.

Earthworms are known as "ecosystem engineers" because of their ability to influence many of the processes that determine soil fertility. It affects the biological, chemical and physical processes of the ecosystem by forming numerous reaction circles inside and outside its body through feeding, digestion, defecation and burrowing. Earthworm ecosystems are both consumers, decomposers, and regulators, and its function in the ecosystem is specifically manifested in:

1, the decomposition of organic matter in the soil and nutrient cycling and other key processes;

2, the impact on the physical and chemical properties of the soil;

3, and plants, microorganisms, and other animal interactions.

Earthworms become Shanghai's little waste-disposal masters

The vermiculture base, located a dozen kilometers west of the market, consumes about 200 tons of wet garbage a day. In the greenhouse opposite the fermentation tank, the base responsible person with a rake gently a layer of soil, only to see a large number of amaranth-red earthworms wriggling. "This kind of earthworm is called Daping 2, compared with other varieties of earthworms, good appetite, not picky about food, even high oil and high salt kitchen waste into the humus also dare to eat."

The person in charge said that even if the wet garbage collected at the source is not classified finely enough and mixed with a large amount of dry garbage, it doesn't prevent the earthworms from eating. "They are like an automatic garbage sorting machine, which will avoid dry garbage and eat only humus while feeding, and eventually the dry garbage in the earthworm field is clear at a glance, which can be easily sifted out and sent to a specialized unit for disposal."

Data shows that as of the end of 2018, Shanghai's average daily sorting out of wet garbage is more than 4,800 tons, but the actual resource utilization capacity is still only more than 3,000 tons, there is a big gap. If the earthworm disposal model can be promoted on a large scale, it will be a powerful supplement to Shanghai's wet waste resource utilization capacity, the source pointed out.

"Earthworms can break through the bottleneck of the low value of wet waste resource utilization." The source said that both live earthworms and feces have high market value. At present, the market price of each ton of live earthworms is about 10,000 to 15,000 yuan, and the price of each ton of organic fertilizer is about 800 to 1,000 yuan. Every 20 tons of kitchen waste can be converted into about 1 ton of live earthworms and 3~5 tons of organic fertilizer (vermicompost).

Assuming that 500 tons of wet waste will be used to feed earthworms every day in Shanghai in the future, the value of the products created by resource utilization will be more than 300,000 yuan per day. What's more, compared with landfills and incineration, the same unit of wet waste disposed of with earthworms requires less investment and has fewer side effects on the environment.

Baidu Encyclopedia - Earthworms

People's Daily Online - Earthworms Become Shanghai's Waste Disposal Masters