MANAGEMENT OF MACROALGAE FROM VENICE LAGOON THROUGH ANAEROBIC CO-DIGESTION AND CO-COMPOSTING WITH MUNICIPAL SOLID-WASTE (MSW)

The paper gives information on the behaviour of a digester operating under semi-dry thermophilic conditions when algae are co-digested together with the organic fraction of municipal solid waste (OFMSW) at different ratios. These results are compared with those obtained digesting OFMSW alone at similar operative conditions. 25-30 % is the contribution that this approach can give to the disposal of harvested algae from the lagoon of Venice. Since after anaerobic digestion a bio-oxidative step is needed for agricultural utilization of digested sludge, this process has been studied and the performance of this step reported using the OFMSW as bulking agent.