Waste Management in Tunisia—What Could the Past Bring to the Future?

Mahjoub, Olfa; Jemai, Amel; Haddaoui, Imen

doi:10.1007/978-3-030-18350-9_3

Cited by 13 publications

(17 citation statements)

References 14 publications

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“…Availability and variety of raw input materials, less of prerequisites, ease of technology, simplicity of concept, the environment and socio-economic benefits create a great opportunity in Tunisia to produce compost from organic waste (Aydi, 2015;Mahjoub et al 2020). However, the opportunity to use the different types of organic waste as compost requires scientific studies that endorse it to guide users concerning the aspects behind the better management of the composting operation.…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

From anaerobic to aerobic treatment: upcycling of digestate as a moisturizing agent for in-vessel composting process

Chaher

Hemidat

Chakchouk

et al. 2020

Bioresour. Bioprocess.

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In Tunisia, there are crucial challenges facing both urban and rural areas, the most prominent of which are the production of organic waste, the need for waste treatment, the demand for water and energy and the need for a circular economy. To this end, the study was designed to develop a technical concept on closed cycle ‘biowaste to bioenergy’ treating, basically food waste (FW) through combined biological processes. In this approach, the generated digestate from FW anaerobic reactors was used successfully as a moisturizing agent for FW in-vessel composting. Four types of digestate were examined to be used as moisturizing agent (MA). The selection of the appropriate MA was achieved based on technical criteria; moisture content (MC), C:N ratio and heavy metals concentrations. The findings showed that the digestate obtained from anaerobic co-digestion of food waste and wheat straw (D1) was the most efficient AD-effluent to be added. In terms of composting process performance, the thermophilic phase of the amended reactor (A1) lasted 16 days and reached higher temperatures of about 72 °C, while the unamended one (A1) was characterized by a thermophilic temperature of around 66 °C indicating that the end products were of a pathogen-free compost. When it comes to the physico-chemical factors examined demonstrating that the biological conditions were sufficiently developed. The findings showed overall decreasing profiles during the composting period for moisture, C:N ratio as well as nitrification index (NI). From the quality-point of view, it was found that heavy metal concentrations had lower limits than those values set by German standards. Moreover, all the compost samples appeared to be stable and classified as class IV and V end product.

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Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

From anaerobic to aerobic treatment: upcycling of digestate as a moisturizing agent for in-vessel composting process

Chaher

Hemidat

Chakchouk

et al. 2020

Bioresour. Bioprocess.

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show abstract

“…Nowadays, Tunisia generates around 6.5 million tons of solid waste (SW) with around 68% that is organic. The latter is collected and mixed with the other fractions, which is then deposited in different standards of landfill without any treatment [5]. Referring to the Ministry of Local Affairs and Environment (MLAE), around 80% of the total collected residues is conveniently disposed of, while about 20% ends up in improperly [35].…”

Section: Current Waste Management System In Tunisiamentioning

confidence: 99%

“…A global snapshot of solid waste management to 2050 illustrates that SWMS issues concerns not only developing countries, but also some developed ones [4]. As a developing country, Tunisia is facing numerous issues including human health, environmental, and sociopolitical threats, thus pushing the decision makers to improve solid waste management (SWM) schemes into more integrated approaches in recent years [5]. Indeed, the major challenges in the case of Tunisia are the lack of operational enforcement, financing, public awareness, trained staff, reliable data, and basic know-how.…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Potential of Sustainable Concept for Handling Organic Waste in Tunisia

et al. 2020

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Nowadays, Tunisia is seeking to implement cost-efficient and sustainable solutions in relation to the treatment of organic waste which, at up to 65%, makes up the largest proportion of total waste generated in the country. Therefore, an efficient tool for decision makers is needed to provide a clear approach about the potential of organic waste as well as the treatment concept, which can be adapted based on technical requirements and local conditions. Results revealed that there is a high variation in terms of the nature of the collected biowaste, which affects the selection of the adopted bioprocess for each geographical zone of the study area. Three main categories of biowaste are produced along the coastline of Tunisia: food waste (FW) (102.543 t/a); green waste (GW) (1.326.930 t/a); and cattle manure (CM) (1.548.350 t/a). Based on the results of similar projects and laboratory-scale research work, anaerobic and aerobic digestion were examined. Regarding aerobic digestion, the monitoring of several physicochemical parameters ascertained that the co-composting of FW and GW at different ratios (GW: FW = 100:0, 75:25, 50:50, and 25:75) allowed the production of a stable and mature compost. A highly qualified end-product was generated from each trial categorized as a finished compost of class V with reference to German Standards of compost. Regarding the anaerobic process, different feedstock mixtures (FW:CM = 0:1, 1:1, 2:1, and 3:1) were prepared to feed semi-continuous anaerobic reactors. However, a significant improvement in the process development was recorded for digesters including a higher fraction of FW, which produced 0.846 LN/kg VSin as the maximum biogas production. Therefore, biological treatments of food waste and different co-substrates seems to be a suitable technique for Tunisia in terms of waste management, environmental, and energy aspects. However, the evaluation of the efficiency of the proposed biological treatments was also verified by a draw-up of a technical and economic feasibility analysis. Although the cost–benefit estimations proved that the profits from both the compost and biogas plants would be very modest, the feasibility of such sustainable projects should not only be evaluated on an economic basis, but also by taking into account socio-environmental considerations including decreasing environmental threats, providing work opportunities, increasing incomes, stimulating public awareness as well as reducing the operating costs linked to landfilling.

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“…Availability and variety of raw input materials, less of prerequisites, ease of technology, simplicity of concept, the environment and socio-economic bene ts create a great opportunity in Tunisia to produce compost from organic waste (Aydi, 2015;Mahjoub et al, 2020). However, the opportunity to use the different types of organic waste as compost requires scienti c studies that endorse it to guide users concerning the aspects behind the better management of the composting operation.…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…Tunisia is a water stressed country with per capita renewable water availability of 486 m 3 -well below the average of 1200 m³/capita for the Middle East and North Africa Region (MENA) regions (I et al, 2013). Indeed, the rapidly increasing population began to use more water than the country could provide (Mahjoub et al, 2020). Therefore, there is an urgent need to seek an alternative to conventional water resources to be used in aerobic composting to ensure the required level of moisture content for an e cient composting process.…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

From Anaerobic to Aerobic Treatment: Upcycling of Digestate as a Moisturizing Agent for in-vessel Composting Process

Chaher

Hemidat

Chakchouk

et al. 2020

Preprint

View full text Add to dashboard Cite

In Tunisia, there are crucial challenges facing both urban and rural areas, the most prominent of which are the production of organic waste, the need for waste treatment, the demand for water and energy and the need for a circular economy. To this end, the study was designed to develop a technical concept on closed cycle ‘biowaste to bioenergy’ treating, basically food waste (FW) through combined biological processes. In this approach, the generated digestate from FW anaerobic reactors was used successfully as a moisturizing agent for FW in vessel-composting. Four types of digestate were examined to be used as moisturizing agent (MA). The selection of the appropriate MA was achieved based on technical criteria ; moisture content (MC), C : N ratio and heavy metals concentrations. The findings showed that the digestate obtained from anaerobic co-digestion of food waste and wheat straw (D1) was the most efficient AD-effluent to be added. In terms of composting process performance, the thermophilic phase of the amended reactor (A1) lasted 16 days and reached higher temperatures of about 72°C, while the unamended one (A1) was characterized by a thermophilic temperature of around 66°C indicating that the end-products were of a pathogen-free compost. When it comes to the physico-chemical factors examined demonstrating that the biological conditions were sufficiently developed. The findings showed overall decreasing profiles during the composting period for moisture, C : N ratio as well as nitrification index (NI). From the quality-point of view, it was found that heavy metal concentrations had lower limits than those values set by German standards. Moreover, all the compost samples appeared to be stable and classified as class IV and V end-product.

show abstract

Waste Management in Tunisia—What Could the Past Bring to the Future?

Cited by 13 publications

References 14 publications

From anaerobic to aerobic treatment: upcycling of digestate as a moisturizing agent for in-vessel composting process

From anaerobic to aerobic treatment: upcycling of digestate as a moisturizing agent for in-vessel composting process

Potential of Sustainable Concept for Handling Organic Waste in Tunisia

From Anaerobic to Aerobic Treatment: Upcycling of Digestate as a Moisturizing Agent for in-vessel Composting Process

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