The Assessment of Anaerobic Digestion Performance and Efficiency in Terms of Waste Collection

Przemysław Seruga (), Marta Wilk, Edmund Cibis, Agnieszka Urbanowska and Łukasz Niedźwiecki
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Przemysław Seruga: Department of Bioprocess Engineering, Faculty of Production Engineering, Wroclaw University of Economics and Business, Komandorska 118/120, 53-345 Wroclaw, Poland
Marta Wilk: Department of Bioprocess Engineering, Faculty of Production Engineering, Wroclaw University of Economics and Business, Komandorska 118/120, 53-345 Wroclaw, Poland
Edmund Cibis: Department of Bioprocess Engineering, Faculty of Production Engineering, Wroclaw University of Economics and Business, Komandorska 118/120, 53-345 Wroclaw, Poland
Agnieszka Urbanowska: Department of Water, Wastewater and Waste Technology, Faculty of Environmental Engineering, Wroclaw University of Science and Technology, Wyb. Wyspiańskiego 27, 50-370 Wroclaw, Poland
Łukasz Niedźwiecki: Department of Civil, Environmental and Mechanical Engineering, University of Trento, via Mesiano 77, 38123 Trento, Italy

Energies, 2025, vol. 18, issue 18, 1-19

Abstract: Municipal solid waste (MSW) management is identified as a significant sustainability concern. Source segregation (SS) is the most effective method of managing MSW, and anaerobic digestion (AD) is the most efficient treatment method. The aim of this study was to analyze the impact of waste collection rules on the efficiency and performance of AD. The potential biomethane yields for SS-kitchen waste and SS-biowaste were calculated, determined in laboratory tests, and verified full-scale. The content of the organic fraction in SS-biowaste reached about 81 to 86%; however, regarding SS-kitchen waste, it reached almost 92%. The primary contaminants were plastics. The obtained biogas yield was slightly higher for SS-kitchen waste (136.2 m 3 /ton), compared to SS-biowaste (116.6 m 3 /ton). The pH values, acidity, and alkalinity indicated no risk of exploitation using both feedstocks. However, in the case of SS-kitchen waste, the acetic acid content was about 2.5 times higher than that of SS-biowaste. Furthermore, the acetic acid was noted in the outlet section (about 140–160 mg/kg), indicating no complete organic matter decomposition. Regarding SS-kitchen waste, the calculated methane yield reached 137.1 m 3 CH4 /ton and laboratory tests showed a methanogenic potential of 129.7 m 3 CH4 /ton, while at full-scale, it reached about 82.2 m 3 CH 4 /ton. The research confirmed that the SS of biowaste positively impacts MSW management by improving waste composition and increasing recycling possibilities. AD is an effective biowaste treatment process, allowing energy recovery from waste.

Keywords: biogas; biomethane; energy recovery; food waste; biowaste; municipal waste; sustainability (search for similar items in EconPapers)
JEL-codes: Q Q0 Q4 Q40 Q41 Q42 Q43 Q47 Q48 Q49 (search for similar items in EconPapers)
Date: 2025
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