Impact of different management options for organic waste: a life cycle analysis

Different management options of the organic fraction (OF) generated in a given urban area were analyzed by a life cycle assessment (LCA) approach for different source segregation (SS) intensities ranging from 0% up to 52%. Best management options for the different SS values were represented by the presence of incineration for processing the amount of OF remaining in the residual waste (ROF). The introduction of aerobic treatment and/or of anaerobic digestion (AD) for processing the SSOF leads to relevant environmental impact reduction even if the difference between the two options results quite negligible. A noticeable role is played by the amount of renewable energy recoverable from AD. An increase of about 50% of the biogas generated from the AD in the scenario with SS=52% with incineration of ROF leads to a global environmental gain.