Science Inventory

Effects of Landfill Food Waste Diversion: a Focus on Microbial Populations and Methane Generation

Citation:

Chickering, G., M. Krause, AND A. Schwarber. Effects of Landfill Food Waste Diversion: a Focus on Microbial Populations and Methane Generation. BIODEGRADATION. Springer, New York, NY, (34):477-488, (2023). https://doi.org/10.1007/s10532-023-10034-5

Impact/Purpose:

The goal of this work was to construct and operate a group of landfill simulator lysimeters to study the effects of food waste diversion on early stages of decomposition, to identify the species present in this phase, and to search for correlations between the measured gas production and leachate quality data and the relative abundance of the identified species. Lysimeters were constructed and operated in the laboratory for approximately 1,000 days while collecting gas production and leachate data. While more food waste content caused some lower methane yields early in the decomposition process, higher total gas yields were obtained from lysimeters with more food waste by the end of the experiment. Metagenomic analysis after the experiment identified over 18,000 individual species and allowed comparison with past studies while also surveying microorganisms present in landfills. Similar populations found in past studies suggested the current experiments successfully replicated landfill conditions. Many species may have been identified in landfill conditions for the first time, as many of these organisms have not been reported in any lab or field-scale study. While food waste diversion had a discernable impact on gas production, it did not show a clear and consistent impact on the microbiomes identified in this study.

Description:

The early stages of municipal solid waste degradation in landfills are complex harmonies of physical, biological, and chemical interactions that all work in concert to degrade trash into smaller and more stable materials. While many approaches have been taken to understand parts of this process, this new work attempted to simulate the early stages of landfills in controlled laboratory environments while observing the impacts of food waste content at different concentrations. This was completed by operating landfill lysimeters in a laboratory for approximately 1,000 days, simulating landfill interior conditions while measuring the gas and liquid byproducts to study the impact of food waste presence in these environments. Metagenomic analysis after the experiment identified over 18,000 individual species and allowed comparison with past studies while also surveying microorganisms present in landfills. Similar populations found in past studies suggested the current experiments successfully replicated landfill conditions. While food waste diversion had a discernable impact on gas production, it did not show a clear and consistent impact on the microbiomes identified in this study.