A life cycle approach to the management of household food waste - A Swedish full-scale case study

Journal Article · Mon Aug 15 00:00:00 EDT 2011 · Waste Management

DOI:https://doi.org/10.1016/j.wasman.2011.02.026· OSTI ID:21578456

Bernstad, A ^[1]; Cour Jansen, J la ^[1]

---

1. Department of Chemical Engineering, Box 124, Faculty of Engineering (LTH), Lund University, S-221 00 Lund (Sweden)

Research Highlights: > The comparison of three different methods for management of household food waste show that anaerobic digestion provides greater environmental benefits in relation to global warming potential, acidification and ozone depilation compared to incineration and composting of food waste. Use of produced biogas as car fuel provides larger environmental benefits compared to a use of biogas for heat and power production. > The use of produced digestate from the anaerobic digestion as substitution for chemical fertilizer on farmland provides avoidance of environmental burdens in the same ratio as the substitution of fossil fuels with produced biogas. > Sensitivity analyses show that results are highly sensitive to assumptions regarding the environmental burdens connected to heat and energy supposedly substituted by the waste treatment. - Abstract: Environmental impacts from incineration, decentralised composting and centralised anaerobic digestion of solid organic household waste are compared using the EASEWASTE LCA-tool. The comparison is based on a full scale case study in southern Sweden and used input-data related to aspects such as source-separation behaviour, transport distances, etc. are site-specific. Results show that biological treatment methods - both anaerobic and aerobic, result in net avoidance of GHG-emissions, but give a larger contribution both to nutrient enrichment and acidification when compared to incineration. Results are to a high degree dependent on energy substitution and emissions during biological processes. It was seen that if it is assumed that produced biogas substitute electricity based on Danish coal power, this is preferable before use of biogas as car fuel. Use of biogas for Danish electricity substitution was also determined to be more beneficial compared to incineration of organic household waste. This is a result mainly of the use of plastic bags in the incineration alternative (compared to paper bags in the anaerobic) and the use of biofertiliser (digestate) from anaerobic treatment as substitution of chemical fertilisers used in an incineration alternative. Net impact related to GWP from the management chain varies from a contribution of 2.6 kg CO{sub 2}-eq/household and year if incineration is utilised, to an avoidance of 5.6 kg CO{sub 2}-eq/household and year if choosing anaerobic digestion and using produced biogas as car fuel. Impacts are often dependent on processes allocated far from the control of local decision-makers, indicating the importance of a holistic approach and extended collaboration between agents in the waste management chain.

• OSTI ID: 21578456
• Journal Information: Waste Management, Vol. 31, Issue 8; Other Information: DOI: 10.1016/j.wasman.2011.02.026; PII: S0956-053X(11)00111-5; Copyright (c) 2011 Elsevier Science B.V., Amsterdam, The Netherlands, All rights reserved.; ISSN 0956-053X
• Country of Publication: United States
• Language: English

Related Subjects

09 BIOMASS FUELS
ACIDIFICATION
ANAEROBIC DIGESTION
CARBON DIOXIDE
COAL
COMPOSTING
ENERGY SUBSTITUTION
ENVIRONMENTAL IMPACTS
FERTILIZERS
GREENHOUSE EFFECT
HOUSEHOLDS
LIFE CYCLE
METHANE
MUNICIPAL WASTES
NUTRIENTS
OZONE
PLASTICS
POWER GENERATION
SENSITIVITY ANALYSIS
SWEDEN
ALKANES
BIOCONVERSION
CARBON COMPOUNDS
CARBON OXIDES
CARBONACEOUS MATERIALS
CHALCOGENIDES
CLIMATIC CHANGE
DEVELOPED COUNTRIES
DIGESTION
ENERGY SOURCES
EUROPE
FOSSIL FUELS
FUELS
HYDROCARBONS
MANAGEMENT
MATERIALS
ORGANIC COMPOUNDS
ORGANIC POLYMERS
OXIDES
OXYGEN COMPOUNDS
PETROCHEMICALS
PETROLEUM PRODUCTS
POLYMERS
PROCESSING
SCANDINAVIA
SYNTHETIC MATERIALS
WASTE MANAGEMENT
WASTE PROCESSING
WASTES
WESTERN EUROPE