Technological options for the recovery of biowaste collected in urban areas - An overview of european experiences

Summary

This study presents a European overview of the technological options used to manage bio-waste collected in major cities. The study focuses primarily on the bio-waste recovery stage, although the impact of choices made prior to this stage (collections, local management systems) is taken into account in the analysis.

This overview was based on a literature review and interviews with various technical managers responsible for waste management in these cities: the study of 26 feedback reports provided an overview of the recovery systems implemented in these areas, followed by a more detailed analysis of the technical and economic strategy in 6 cities that are representative of the main options for recovering biowaste in urban environment. Although the lack of economic data made it difficult to assess the profitability and performance of the various systems, the study was able to identify the success factors and bottlenecks in each case study.