Full scale anaerobic co-digestion of sludge and OFMSW separately collected

Typical energy requests for wastewater treatment are in the range 20–30 kWh per person equivalent per annum. Anaerobic digestion of excess sludge can only partially cover these requests. As a consequence, the implementation of anaerobic co-digestion of sludge and other organic waste like the organic fraction of municipal solid waste (OFMSW) separately collected can improve the energy production allowing for the energy independence of this sector. In this paper the results of a study regarding the implementation of the co-digestion approach at a territorial level (40,000 inhabitants) are presented. It was demonstrated at full scale the possibility to completely cover the energy request of the wastewater treatment service while treating 5000 tons of organic waste per year.