Industrial Food Waste Screening in Emilia-Romagna and the Conceptual Design of a Novel Process for Biomethane Production

Antonio Conversano (), Samuele Alemanno, Davide Sogni and Daniele Di Bona
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Antonio Conversano: Dipartimento di Energia, Politecnico di Milano, Via Lambruschini 4, 20156 Milano, Italy
Samuele Alemanno: Dipartimento di Energia, Politecnico di Milano, Via Lambruschini 4, 20156 Milano, Italy
Davide Sogni: LEAP s.c.a r.l., Laboratorio Energia e Ambiente Piacenza, Via Nino Bixio 27/C, 29121 Piacenza, Italy
Daniele Di Bona: LEAP s.c.a r.l., Laboratorio Energia e Ambiente Piacenza, Via Nino Bixio 27/C, 29121 Piacenza, Italy

Waste, 2025, vol. 3, issue 4, 1-22

Abstract: The REPowerEU plan is aimed at a target of 35 bcm of biomethane annually by 2030, up from 4 bcm in 2023, requiring about EUR 37 billion in investment. Food waste is identified as a key feedstock, characterized by discrete homogeneity, although its availability may vary seasonally. In Italy, the Emilia-Romagna region generates approximately 450 kt/y of industrial waste from the food and beverage sector, primarily originating from meat processing (NACE 10.1), fruit and vegetable processing (NACE 10.3), and the manufacture of vegetable and animal oils and fats (NACE 10.4). Of this amount, food and beverage processing waste (EWC 02) accounts for about 302 kt from NACE 10 (food, year 2019) and 14 kt from NACE 11 (beverage, year 2019). This study provides a comprehensive screening of waste streams generated by the local food and beverage industry in Emilia-Romagna, evaluating the number of enterprises, their value added, and recorded waste production. The screening led to the identification of suitable streams for further valorization strategies: a total of ~93 kt/y was selected for the preliminary conceptual design of an integrated process combining anaerobic digestion with hydrothermal treatment, aimed at supporting national biomethane production targets while maximizing material recovery through hydrochar production. Preliminary estimations indicate that the proposed process may achieve a biochemical methane potential of approximately 0.23 Nm 3 /kg VS , along with a hydrochar yield of about 130 kg/t waste .

Keywords: biomethane; biochar; anaerobic digestion; circular economy; hydrothermal process (search for similar items in EconPapers)
JEL-codes: Q1 Q16 Q18 Q2 Q20 Q23 Q24 Q25 Q28 Q3 Q31 Q38 Q5 (search for similar items in EconPapers)
Date: 2025
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