Anaerobic digestion has captured a significant share of the European market for the biological treatment of the organic fraction in municipal solid waste. Almost 4 million ton per year in digestion capacity has been installed through the construction of more than 120 full-scale plants. Not all plants have been equally successful, due to poor planning, design or bad operation. This, besides higher than expected investment and operating costs, may have slowed down the growth of anaerobic digestion of solid waste. However, an evaluation of the development of anaerobic digestion over the last 15 years shows that there is now a greater diversity in application, a wider range in types of systems and suppliers, and a continued increasing rate of implementation throughout most parts of Europe. New alternative treatment techniques have not seen the same level of success as anaerobic digestion. Anaerobic digestion has been established as a viable treatment technology for the organic fraction of municipal solid waste and will most likely play an even more important role in the future.
Skip Nav Destination
Article navigation
Research Article|
April 01 2006
Will anaerobic digestion of solid waste survive in the future? Available to Purchase
L. De Baere
L. De Baere
1Organic Waste Systems NV, Dok Noord 4, 9000 Gent, Belgium
Search for other works by this author on:
Water Sci Technol (2006) 53 (8): 187–194.
Citation
L. De Baere; Will anaerobic digestion of solid waste survive in the future?. Water Sci Technol 1 April 2006; 53 (8): 187–194. doi: https://doi.org/10.2166/wst.2006.249
Download citation file:
Sign in
Don't already have an account? Register
Client Account
You could not be signed in. Please check your email address / username and password and try again.
Could not validate captcha. Please try again.
eBook
Pay-Per-View Access
$38.00