The Municipal Solid Waste Management System with Anaerobic Digestion

Abstract

This study investigated the applied methods for the collection and treatment of an organic fraction of municipal solid waste with anaerobic digestion (AD), including the effects of selective waste collection system introduction. As the research area, data from a waste treatment plant, which collects waste from about 260,000 inhabitants, was used as the selected waste management plan. Biowaste stream management was emphasized. Thus, research on energy recovery and the characteristics of digestate (nutrient and heavy metals content) obtained from biowaste AD was performed. The results of the studies and their quantitative data were interpreted. A significant discrepancy between the assumptions and the actual situation was revealed (up to 20% year-on-year regarding biowaste). An underestimation of the amount of waste when planning was noted. AD ensures energy recovery from biowaste, which can cover facility electricity needs and material recovery. The digestate might find agricultural usage and become an ecological product. The content of nitrogen (1.5%dry matter), phosphorus (0.55%dry matter), potassium (1.0%dry matter), and organic carbon (16.0%dry matter) indicate a positive impact on crops. Furthermore, it can improve the economic balance, by replacing costs with sales revenues.

Composted Municipal Green Waste Infused with Biocontrol Agents to Control Plant Parasitic Nematodes—A Review

“…The sustainable and efficient management of MGW should start with the selection, or preferably, with the separate collection of waste materials. Combined with reduced waste generation and recycling [113,114,119,[124][125][126], these steps are designed to allow for circles of the circular economy to be closed, as promoted by the New Circular Economy Plan of the European Commission, CEAP in March 2020, where waste is considered as a starting point for converting a material into a valuable resource for further use [127].…”

“…The production of "green electric power" usually involves MGW, which, as a raw material, is greatly valued for its low sulphur content [132,133]. Biogas production, an anaerobic process to transform MGW, is considered an environmentally friendly method that meets the new EC requirements of circular economy [113,114]. In Hungary, the MGW of households is collected kerbside, separately from other household wastes.…”

“…MGW is defined as a "compostable fraction" of MSW or "organic waste", and the term clearly covers garden waste including leaf litter, grass clippings and pruning waste [111], and according to the level of income of a country, MGW accounts for 28 to 64% of the total waste. Another estimation suggests that MGW can be calculated at a general level of 50% of all municipal waste [114]. However, as the objectives and data sources of papers differ, definitions are different, too, and so the terms "organic fraction" or "organic biodegradable waste" of MSW, although almost identical to the former terms, refer exclusively to food waste of manufacturing, household and catering origin in another paper [113].…”

What Solutions for Waste Management? Issues of Flows and Governance Exemplified by the Łódź Agglomeration (Poland)

“…Beyond that, a great deal of work has been devoted to analysing the waste-management systems of different states, like Portugal [32], South Africa [28] and Uganda [33]. Additionally raised widely is the aspect of waste-processing technologies, not least in the context of environmental impact, costs and social aspects, like LCA [34,35], based on Leontief's input-output theory [36], and strictly referred to the aspects of various technologies [37][38][39], inter alia focused on chosen ones [40].…”

“…While a diversified market characterising recipients allows relatively low prices to be maintained, these should depend more and more on implemented innovation allowing wastes to be used as raw materials. However, biowaste processing is characterised by a high financial threshold for entry on to the market, even as it can supply measurable benefits to all groups of stakeholders [40].…”