Citation:
Godley A.R., Lewin K., Graham A. and Smith R. (2003). Environment Agency review of methods for determining organic waste biodegradability and municipal waste diversion. In: Proc. 8th European Biosolids and Organic Residuals Conference, Wakefield, UK, 23-26 November 2003. Vol. 2.
Abstract:
The Environment Agency is required to regulate
the landfilling of biodegradable organic wastes
and their diversion from landfilling. Simple, cost
effective, reliable and widely applicable methods
for the measurement of organic waste and its
biodegradability are needed for this activity. A
review of such methods was carried out in order to
select promising methods for an experimental
screening exercise. The review considered both
biological and non-biological methods including
simple methods that may provide a surrogate
measurement of waste biodegradability instead of
the time-consuming biological methods. The
biological methods selected for further evaluation
were the aerobic specific oxygen uptake rate
(SOUR) and dynamic respiration index (DRI)
tests, and the anaerobic biochemical methane
potential (BMP) test.
The non-biological methods selected for further
evaluation were dry matter (DM), loss on ignition
(LOI), total organic carbon (TOC), total nitrogen
(TN), water extractable dissolved organic carbon
(DOC), BOD and COD, the lignin and cellulose
content and the cellulase hydrolysis method.
These tests are being evaluated on a wide variety
of typical organic materials that might be found in
municipal solid waste (MSW) such as newspaper
corrugated paper, compost, kitchen waste
(vegetable and animal), garden wastes (grass and
twigs), nappies, cotton and wool textiles.
