Honors College Theses

Publication Date

2024

Major

Civil Engineering (B.S.)

Document Type and Release Option

Thesis (open access)

Faculty Mentor

Dr. L Stetson Rowles

Abstract

Food waste is a major contributor to municipal solid waste, and its disposal at landfills has significant environmental and economic impacts. Opportunities need to be identified for the sustainable management of food waste at large scales. Pulp and paper mills throughout the country commonly use anaerobic digestion to treat their waste sludge; however, this sludge can consist of over 50% lignin, which is slowly or negligibly digested. This research aims to explore the sustainability of co-digestion of food waste and paper mill sludge. Lab-scale studies were used to assess the feasibility of anaerobic digestion by measuring treatment efficiencies and biogas production. Results demonstrate that adding food waste to pulp and paper mill sludge increased methane production by 103% compared to anaerobically digested pulp and paper mill sludge on its own. The results from this work demonstrate how food waste can be diverted from landfills, while potentially providing paper mills with the opportunity to enrich their sludge for better digestion and increased biogas production.

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