Environmental impact of two aerobic composting technologies using life cycle assessment
Cadena, Erasmo (Universitat Autònoma de Barcelona. Departament d'Enginyeria Química, Biològica i Ambiental)
Colón Jordà, Joan (Universitat Autònoma de Barcelona. Departament d'Enginyeria Química, Biològica i Ambiental)
Artola Casacuberta, Adriana (Universitat Autònoma de Barcelona. Departament d'Enginyeria Química, Biològica i Ambiental)
Sanchez, Antoni (Universitat Autònoma de Barcelona. Departament d'Enginyeria Química, Biològica i Ambiental)
Font i Segura, Xavier (Universitat Autònoma de Barcelona. Departament d'Enginyeria Química, Biològica i Ambiental)

Fecha:	2009
Resumen:	Background, aim, and scope: composting is a viable technology to treat the organic fraction of municipal solid waste (OFMSW) because it stabilizes biodegradable organic matter and contributes to reduce the quantity of municipal solid waste to be incinerated or land-filled. However, the composting process generates environmental impacts such as atmospheric emissions and resources consumption that should be studied. This work presents the inventory data and the study of the environmental impact of two real composting plants using different technologies, tunnels (CT) and confined windrows (CCW). - Materials and methods: inventory data of the two composting facilities studied were obtained from field measurements and from plant managers. Next, life cycle assessment (LCA) methodology was used to calculate the environmental impacts. Composting facilities were located in Catalonia (Spain) and were evaluated during 2007. Both studied plants treat source separated organic fraction of municipal solid waste. In both installations the analysis includes environmental impact from fuel, water, and electricity consumption and the main gaseous emissions from the composting process itself (ammonia and volatile organic compounds). - Results and discussion: inventory analysis permitted the calculation of different ratios corresponding to resources consumption or plant performance and process yield with respect to 1 t of OFMSW. Among them, it can be highlighted that in both studied plants total energy consumption necessary to treat the OFMSW and transform it into compost was between 130 and 160 kWh/t OFMSW. Environmental impact was evaluated in terms of global warming potential (around 60 kg CO₂/t OFMSW for both plants), acidification potential (7. 13 and 3. 69 kg SO₂ eq/t OFMSW for CT and CCW plant respectively), photochemical oxidation potential (0. 1 and 3. 11 kg C₂H₄ eq/t OFMSW for CT and CCW plant, respectively), eutrophication (1. 51 and 0. 77 kg PO3−4/t OFMSW for CT and CCW plant, respectively), human toxicity (around 15 kg 1,4-DB eq/t OFMSW for both plants) and ozone layer depletion (1. 66 × 10⁻⁵ and 2. 77 × 10⁻⁵ kg CFC−11 eq/t OFMSW for CT and CCW plant, respectively). - Conclusions: this work reflects that the life cycle perspective is a useful tool to analyze a composting process since it permits the comparison among different technologies. According to our results total energy consumption required for composting OFMSW is dependent on the technology used (ranging from 130 to 160 kWh/t OFMSW) as water consumption is (from 0. 02 to 0. 33 m3 of water/t OFMSW). Gaseous emissions from the composting process represent the main contribution to eutrophication, acidification and photochemical oxidation potentials, while those contributions related to energy consumption are the principal responsible for global warming. Recommendations and perspectives: this work provides the evaluation of environmental impacts of two composting technologies that can be useful for its application to composting plants with similar characteristics. In addition, this study can also be part of future works to compare composting with other OFMSW treatments from a LCA perspective. Likewise, the results can be used for the elaboration of a greenhouse gasses emissions inventory in Catalonia and Spain.
Ayudas:	Ministerio de Educación y Ciencia CTM2006-00315/TECNO
Derechos:	Tots els drets reservats.
Lengua:	Anglès
Documento:	Article ; recerca ; Versió acceptada per publicar
Materia:	Composting ; Environmental impact ; Forced-aerated windrow ; Greenhouse gases emissions (GHG) ; In-vessel composting ; Life cycle assessment (LCA) ; Organic fraction of municipal solid waste (OFMSW) ; Turned windrow
Publicado en:	The international journal of life cycle assessment, Vol. 14, issue 5 (July 2009) , p. 401-410, ISSN 1614-7502

DOI: 10.1007/s11367-009-0107-3

Post-print 12 p, 1.1 MB

El registro aparece en las colecciones:
Documentos de investigación > Documentos de los grupos de investigación de la UAB > Centros y grupos de investigación (producción científica) > Ingeniería > Grupo de Investigación en Compostaje (GICOM)
Artículos > Artículos de investigación
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