RECOVERY AND DISPOSAL OF THE ORGANIC FRACTION OF MUNICIPAL SOLID-WASTE (MSW) BY MEANS OF COMBINED ANAEROBIC AND AEROBIC BIO-TREATMENTS

The paper deals with the semi-dry anaerobic digestion of municipal solid waste followed by composting as finishing treatment of the digested sludge. The integration of the anaerobic and aerobic treatments was studied as approach to close the water balance of the semi-dry anaerobic digestion process and to remove the phytotoxicity of the digested effluent. This study evaluated the response of the anaerobic effluent to the co-composting post-processing step, whether the anaerobic sludge came from mesophilic semi-dry digestion or thermophilic semi-dry methanization. Evaluation of the strategy adopted was carried out in terms of performance of aerobic stabilization and its incidence on the economy of the overall treatment and the water balance of the process. Co-composting gave best results when integrated with thermophilic digestion.