Integrated treatment of food waste with wastewater and sewage sludge: Energy and carbon footprint analysis with economic implications

Food waste (FW) is a primary constituent of solid waste and its adequate management is a global challenge. Instead of disposal in landfills, integrated treatment of FW with wastewater (WW) can diminish both environmental and economic burdens. Utilizing steady-state modelling and life cycle assessmen...

Full description

Saved in:
Bibliographic Details
Published in:The Science of the total environment 2022-06, Vol.825, p.154052-154052, Article 154052
Main Authors: Iqbal, Asad, Zan, Feixiang, Siddiqui, Muhammad Ahmar, Nizamuddin, Sabzoi, Chen, Guanghao
Format: Article
Language:English
Subjects:
Anaerobiosis
Bioreactors
Carbon Footprint
Co-digestion
Cost-benefit
Food
Food waste
Food waste disposer
Life cycle assessment
Methane
Refuse Disposal - methods
Sewage
Waste Disposal, Fluid - methods
Waste Water
Wastewater
Citations: Items that this one cites
Items that cite this one
Online Access:Get full text
Tags: Add Tag
No Tags, Be the first to tag this record!
Description
Summary:Food waste (FW) is a primary constituent of solid waste and its adequate management is a global challenge. Instead of disposal in landfills, integrated treatment of FW with wastewater (WW) can diminish both environmental and economic burdens. Utilizing steady-state modelling and life cycle assessment techniques, this study investigated the prospects of FW integration with biological WW treatment in terms of WW treatment performance, net energy and carbon footprint and economics of the process. The explored scenarios include co-disposal and treatment with WW by using FW disposers and anaerobic co-digestion with sewage sludge in Hong Kong. Compared to the existing WW and FW treatment, the integrated scenarios significantly improved the energy balance (~83–126%), net greenhouse gas emissions (~90%), and economics of operation, with permissible impact on WW treatment performance. Therefore, utilizing the surplus capacity of the existing WW treatment facilities, these integrated scenarios are a promising solution for sustainable development. [Display omitted] •Steady-state models were tested for integrated food waste and wastewater treatment.•Food waste disposers are effective for source separation & collection of food waste.•Separate transportation of food waste is cheaper than using food waste disposers.•Surplus capacity of WWTPs can be utilized to divert food waste from landfills.
ISSN:0048-9697
1879-1026
DOI:10.1016/j.scitotenv.2022.154052