The composition of the Organic Fraction of Municipal Solid Waste (OFMSW) strongly depends on the
place and time of collection for a specific municipality or area. Moreover synthetic food waste or organic
waste from cafeterias and restaurants may not be representative of the overall OFMSW received at treatment
facilities for source-separated waste. This work is aimed at evaluating the composition variability of
OFMSW, the potential productions of hydrogen and methane from specific organic waste fractions typically
present in MSW and the effects of waste composition on overall hydrogen and methane yields.
The organic waste fractions considered in the study were: bread–pasta, vegetables, fruits, meat–fish–
cheese and undersieve 20 mm. Composition analyses were conducted on samples of OFMSW that were
source segregated at household level. Batch tests for hydrogen and methane productions were carried
out under mesophilic conditions on selected fractions and OFMSW samples. Results indicated that the
highest production of hydrogen was achieved by the bread–pasta fraction while the lowest productions
were measured for the meat–fish–cheese fraction. The results indicated that the content of these two
fractions in organic waste had a direct influence on the hydrogen production potentials of OFMSW.
The higher the content of bread–pasta fraction, the higher the hydrogen yields were while the contrary
was observed for the meat–fish–cheese fraction. The definition of waste composition therefore represents
fundamental information to be reported in scientific literature to allow data comparison. The variability
of OFMSW and its effects on hydrogen potentials might also represents a problematic issue in the management
of pilot or full-scale plants for the production of hydrogen by dark fermentation.
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