Pomace waste management scenarios in Québec—Impact on greenhouse gas emissions

• Published in: Journal of hazardous materials 2011-09, Vol.192 (3), p.1178-1185
• Main Authors: Gassara, Fatma, Brar, S.K., Pelletier, F., Verma, M., Godbout, S., Tyagi, R.D.
• Format: Article
• Language: English
• Subjects: agricultural wastes; Agriculture - methods; Agriculture, rearing and food industries wastes; Apple pomace; Applied sciences; biochemical oxygen demand; biodegradability; Biological and medical sciences; Biotechnology; carbon dioxide; Carbon Dioxide - chemistry; chemical oxygen demand; Composting; Emission analysis; Environment; Environmental Monitoring - methods; Enzyme; enzymes; Exact sciences and technology; feeds; Fermentation; Fundamental and applied biological sciences. Psychology; Gases; General treatment and storage processes; Greenhouse Effect; greenhouse gas emissions; Greenhouse gases; Incineration; Incineration - methods; Industrial Waste; inventories; juices; landfills; Life cycle assessment; Malus; Management; manufacturing; Mathematical models; Methods. Procedures. Technologies; Other industrial wastes. Sewage sludge; Others; Pollution; Quebec; Refuse Disposal - methods; Soil; solid state fermentation; solid wastes; Strategy; Various methods and equipments; Waste management; Waste Management - methods; Wastes; water content
• ISSN: 0304-3894; 1873-3336
• DOI: 10.1016/j.jhazmat.2011.06.026

► Incineration, landfill, animal feed, enzyme production by fermentation and, composting as apple pomace management strategies. ► Reduction of GHG emissions using solid state fermentation of apple pomace ► Highest GHG emissions during landfill. Fruit processing industries generate tremendous amount of solid wastes which is almost 35–40% dry weight of the total produce used for the manufacturing of juices. These solid wastes, referred to as, “pomace” contain high moisture content (70–75%) and biodegradable organic load (high BOD and COD values) so that their management is an important issue. During the management of these pomace wastes by different strategies comprising incineration, landfill, composting, solid-state fermentation to produce high-value enzymes and animal feed, there is production of greenhouse gases (GHG) which must be taken into account. In this perspective, this study is unique that discusses the GHG emission analysis of agro-industrial waste management strategies, especially apple pomace waste management and repercussions of value-addition of these wastes in terms of their sustainability using life cycle assessment (LCA) model. The results of the analysis indicated that, among all the apple pomace management sub-models for a functional unit, solid-state fermentation to produce enzymes was the most effective method for reducing GHG emissions (906.81 tons CO 2 eq. per year), while apple pomace landfill resulted in higher GHG emissions (1841.00 tons CO 2 eq. per year). The assessment and inventory of GHG emissions during solid-state fermentation gave positive indications of environmental sustainability for the use of this strategy to manage apple pomace and other agricultural wastes, particularly in Quebec and also extended to other countries. The analysis and use of parameters in this study were drawn from various analytical approaches and data sources. There was absence of some data in the literature which led to consideration of some assumptions in order to calculate GHG emissions. Hence, supplementary experimental studies will be very important to calculate the GHG emissions coefficients during agro-industrial waste management.