Catalytic activity of carbon based materials developed from compost derived from municipal solid waste

Abstract

In waste processing facilities equipped with mechanical biological treatment (MTB) systems, the municipal solid waste (MSW) is typically separated in organic residues, recyclable waste and rejects. The organic fraction is then treated by anaerobic digestion, obtaining biogas and a compost that can be used in agriculture. However, the current waste management legislation in Europe and the expected developments regarding the coming directives on the application of the “End-of-waste” criteria, are leading to barriers on the use of fertilizers resulting from waste [1]. Within this context, the current work proposes an alternative strategy to the valorisation of compost, through the production of high-added value materials to be used in catalytic processes. To this aim, a compost obtained from a MTB plant for MSW was considered in the formulation of carbonaceous materials prepared from glycerol, a low-cost byproduct obtained in biodiesel production [2]. The composition of the compost used is summarized in Table 1. As can be observed, the content in organic matter is roughly 50%.This work is a result of projects: VALORCOMP, funded by FEDER through Programme INTERREG V A Spain - Portugal (POCTEP) 2014–2020; “AIProcMat@N2020 - Advanced Industrial Processes and Materials for a Sustainable Northern Region of Portugal 2020”, with the reference NORTE-01-0145-FEDER-000006, supported by NORTE 2020, under the Portugal 2020 Partnership Agreement, through FEDER; and POCI-01-0145-FEDER- 006984 – Associate Laboratory LSRE-LCM funded by FEDER through COMPETE2020 - POCI – and by national funds through FCT.info:eu-repo/semantics/publishedVersio