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A LABORATORY STUDY TO INVESTIGATE GASEOUS EMISSIONS AND SOLIDS DECOMPOSITION DURING COMPOSTING OF MUNICIPAL SOLID WASTE
Citation:
Ham, R. AND D. Komilis. A LABORATORY STUDY TO INVESTIGATE GASEOUS EMISSIONS AND SOLIDS DECOMPOSITION DURING COMPOSTING OF MUNICIPAL SOLID WASTE. U.S. Environmental Protection Agency, Washington, DC, EPA-600/R-03/004, 2003.
Impact/Purpose:
Information
Description:
The report gives results of a materials flow analysis performed for composting municipal solid waste (MSW) and specific biodegradable organic components of MSW. (NOTE: This work is part of an overall U.S. EPA project providing cost, energy, and materials flow information on different methods to reduce, recycle, treat, or dispose of MSW.) The results indicate that MSW (at 25% inorganics) and the three largest decomposable components of MSW (i.e., food wastes, mixed paper, and yard wastes) will lose 47, 66, 35, and 48%, respectively, of their dry weight upon complete composting. This will produce 730, 1340, 560, and 800 kg of carbon dioxide per dry U.S. ton of MSW, food wastes, mixed paper, and yard wastes, respectively. Corresponding ammonia releases are 0.42, 49, 2.4, and 5.4 kg per dry ton. Volatile organic compound (VOC) releases were quantified for 12 targeted VOCS, and additional combinations of MSW components (or MSW of various compositions).