The Role of Mechanical and Biological Treatment in Reducing Methane Emissions from Landfill Disposal of Municipal Solid Waste in the United Kingdom

Abstract

In Europe, the European Union Landfill Directive aims to reduce the negative environmental impacts of landfilling. This is mainly to be achieved by reducing the quantity of organic matter deposited, through measures such as the separate collection and recycling of the organic waste stream or pretreatment of residual wastes before landfilling. Other than incineration or other thermal processes, mechanical biological treatment is playing an increasingly important role. This study was conducted to seek the benefits of municipal solid waste (MSW) pretreatment, as well as the differences in methane production from the landfilling of untreated and mechanically/biologically treated (MBT) MSW using GasSim simulation. Results demonstrated that methane production rates vary significantly among waste fractions. Those that contribute most to methane generation (organic material and potentially reusable or recyclable material) could be targeted and treated before landfilling. The statistic relationship from the first phase of the study indicated that to match the increasingly stringent landfill waste organic content allowance, local councils should prioritize the reduction/sorting of certain targeted fractions, such as paper, card, green waste, and other putrescibles from MSW. Moreover, mechanical treatment alone produces organic-rich waste called mechanically sorted organic residues (MSORs), which can be viewed as an organic content concentration process. Mechanically and biologically pretreated waste, on the other hand, differs significantly from untreated MSW and MSORs. This work demonstrated that if efficient mechanical-biological treatment is used, considerable reductions in biological activity, land-fill gas production, and energy content/total organic carbon could be achieved. Using GasSim, reductions in methane production of >74% have been simulated if a 90% organic content reduction can be achieved during biological treatment on MSORs. A 50–60% organic content reduction by following biological treatment can turn MSOR properties only into normal MSW equivalent though considerably less volume.