Determination of the energy and environmental burdens associated with the biological treatment of source-separated Municipal Solid Wastes

Colón, Joan; Cadena, Erasmo; Pognani, Michele; Barrena, Raquel; Sánchez, Antoni; Font, Xavier; Artola, Adriana

doi:10.1039/c2ee01085b

Cited by 143 publications

(130 citation statements)

References 39 publications

(82 reference statements)

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“…In addition to this, greenhouse gases (GHG) emission inventories evidence the increase in the amount of these compounds that are emitted from waste treatment facilities. Emission of CO 2 , CH 4 and N 2 O is the main responsible of this increase (Colón et al 2012).…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

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Greenhouse gas emissions from organic waste composting

et al. 2015

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There is actually a common consensus in using biological technologies for the treatment of organic wastes. For instance, composting is used for aerobic biological stabilisation of organic wastes. The amount of materials and the variety of wastes composted are increasing. However, composting is inherently a process generating gaseous emissions. Greenhouse gases (GHG) such as carbon dioxide, methane and nitrous oxide from compost are of special relevance for global warming. Although a part of these gases is inherent to the process, another important part can be abated by low-cost biological technologies such as biofiltration and its variations. This article reviews the emission of GHG from composting gases, from detection and measurement to minimisation and abatement. Special emphasis is given to the measurement of GHG to obtain reliable emission factors for the different composting technologies. These factors will help to compare different waste treatment options based on overall analysis tools such as life cycle assessment. A specific chapter is related to carbon and nitrogen dynamics in the composting matrix, and their consequences on the production of carbon and nitrogen gases. Finally, we present a review of the best available practices to minimise the GHG emissions from composting and the final treatment of composting offgases.

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Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…However, the number of published papers dealing with municipal solid wastes is scarce (Colón et al 2012). The works carried out by Eitzer (1995) and Staley et al (2006) are very important for the characterisation of the emissions generated during the biological treatment of wastes and the identification of specific compounds.…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Greenhouse gas emissions from organic waste composting

et al. 2015

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“…Some general considerations have been made to perform this study: Table 1. Inventory data obtained from the installations considered in this study (AD: anaerobic digestion; CT: in-vessel composting; AWC: aerated windrows composting; TWC: turned windrows composting, HC: home composting) previously published in (Colón et al 2012 n/a n/a n/a n/a n/a MJ electricity 550.08 n/a n/a n/a n/a n/a *Value in brackets is the surplus of energy needed for the implementation of a gas treatment in AWB plants. **Values in brackets are the gas treatment removal efficiency considered in AWB plants.…”

Section: System Boundariesmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…In a previous work (Colón et al 2012), a representative treatment installation of the main treatment technologies used in Catalonia was studied in detail to determine the environmental burdens associated with plant operation, the studied technologies were:…”

Section: System Descriptionmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…Gaseous emissions. An accurate gaseous emissions sampling was undertaken in order to quantify the emissions of ammonia, volatile organic compounds (VOC), methane and nitrous oxide (the methodology can be consulted in Colón et al 2012 andCadena et al 2009). Regarding CO 2 emissions from the biological treatment process, these have not been considered in impacts calculation due to the general consensus (IPPC) that CO 2 from these types of treatments is of biogenic origin and does not add to the overall emissions that contribute to global impacts (Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change, IPPC 2006).…”

Section: Life Cycle Inventorymentioning

confidence: 99%

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Environmental burdens of source-selected biowaste treatments: comparing scenarios to fulfil the European Union landfill directive. The case of Catalonia

Colón

Cadena

Pognani

et al. 2015

Journal of Integrative Environmental Sciences

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The Organic Fraction of Municipal Solid Waste (OFMSW), or biowaste, can be valorized using different treatment technologies, such as anaerobic digestion and composting or the combination of them. The use of the end products (biogas and/or compost) generates benefits over the alternative of sending waste to landfill. The European Union regulations (i.e. Landfill Directive) encourage the diversion of untreated biodegradable waste from landfilling. However, OFMSW treatment installations also produce environmental impacts that must be assessed. This paper presents different future scenarios at regional scale proposed to accomplish the Landfill Directive and their environmental assessment in terms of environmental impact categories. The geographical area under study is Catalonia (Spain). Field data obtained in previous studies undertaken in the same geographical area are used to determine the environmental burdens of the present situation in order to compare them with different future scenarios. A combined scenario to treat 921 Gg of OFMSW source selected including the increase of the quantity of biowaste treated by anaerobic digestion (61.2% of the total biowaste), the modification of composting plants to ensure the treatment of all the gaseous emissions (25.3% and 8.1% of the total biowaste treated in in-vessel composting plants and in enclosed windrows composting plants respectively) and the incorporation of home composting as a waste treatment alternative (5.4% of total biowaste) results in the lowest impact scenario considered in the present study. Energy recovery through anaerobic digestion and benefits of gaseous emissions reduction are the key factors in the impact reduction of biowaste treatment.

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Composting for Food Processing Wastes

Hung

Holloman

2021

Integrated Natural Resources Research

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Determination of the energy and environmental burdens associated with the biological treatment of source-separated Municipal Solid Wastes

Cited by 143 publications

References 39 publications

Greenhouse gas emissions from organic waste composting

Greenhouse gas emissions from organic waste composting

Environmental burdens of source-selected biowaste treatments: comparing scenarios to fulfil the European Union landfill directive. The case of Catalonia

Composting for Food Processing Wastes

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