Title:
Forecasting End Products in Food Waste Management System for a Circular Future
Author(s):
Birgen, C., Wang, L., Becidan, M.
Document(s):
Paper
Abstract:
Food waste has a large share in household waste with a great potential to contribute to circular bioeconomy. Food waste is mainly found in food waste and residual waste containers; the former is sent to biogas plant while the latter is sent to energy recovery with end/co-products of digestate and ash, respectively, that are the scope of this study. Circularity of the food waste management system is ensured through utilizing digestate as a fertilizer and recovery of metals and minerals from incineration ash. The aim of this study is to quantify the household food waste flows and end products from generation to final treatment for today and future to assess their “circularity potential”. The analysis is done for a large Scandinavian city with forecasting based on historical data. Results show that source-sorted food waste per person, sorting rate and population will increase by 35%, 29% and 14%, respectively from 2022 to 2035. This corresponds to 8852 tons surplus food waste that should be treated. If all surplus is sent to biogas, digestate amount will increase 55%. It is important to evaluate if there is enough market for digestate considering regulations, demand, and quality requirements, and their volatility. Similarly, if all surplus is sent to energy recovery, ash amount will increase by 50% imposing extra ash disposal and minerals recovery costs. Results of this study can aid in planning futures’ food waste management system and estimating the potential for circularity.
Keywords:
municipal solid waste (MSW), waste disposal, impact
Topic:
Sustainable Resources for Decarbonising the Economy
Subtopic:
Municipal and industrial wastes
Event:
33rd European Biomass Conference and Exhibition
Session:
1DV.1.21
Pages:
188 - 192
ISBN:
978-88-89407-25-7
Paper DOI:
10.5071/33rdEUBCE2025-1DV.1.21
Price:
FREE
