Anaerobic co-digestion of the organic fraction of municipal solid waste with FOG waste from a sewage treatment plant: Recovering a wasted methane potential and enhancing the biogas yield

Anaerobic digestion is applied widely to treat the source collected organic fraction of municipal solid
wastes (SC-OFMSW). Lipid-rich wastes are a valuable substrate for anaerobic digestion due to their high
theoretical methane potential. Nevertheless, although fat, oil and grease waste from sewage treatment
plants (STP-FOGW) are commonly disposed of in landfill, European legislation is aimed at encouraging
more effective forms of treatment. Co-digestion of the above wastes may enhance valorisation of STPFOGW
and lead to a higher biogas yield throughout the anaerobic digestion process. In the present study,
STP-FOGW was evaluated as a co-substrate in wet anaerobic digestion of SC-OFMSW under mesophilic
conditions (37 C).