Despite the organic fraction representing 68% of the total waste gene- rated (2.8 million tons produced in 2017), only 1-2% of municipal waste is currently biologically treated in Tunisia.

The organic fraction of municipal solid waste (OFMSW) reached currently 68% of the total waste generated in Tunisia. Thus, a biological treatment is needed. Composting is considered as an effective and sustainable technology from the perspectives of volume reduction, stabilization and releasing the pressure on landfills as well as making a valuable end-product.

The EU Commission is currently working on implementing legislation on labels and markings for biodegradable and compostable plastic carrier bags. The new measure stipulates that plastic shopping bags and carrier bags would have to be labelled throughout the EU according to their suitability for both industrial and home composting. This joint statement sets out the position of the German waste and bio-waste management associations, who are using this process as an opportunity to express their fundamental disagreement with the practice of composting biodegradable plastics. The position taken in this joint statement covers all products made of biodegradable plastics such as, amongst others, packaging, disposable tableware and coffee capsules. It also takes issue with the assignment of these products to certain types of waste treatment. Bio-based and certified biodegradable plastic bags, some of which are used as caddy liners in the separate collection of household organic kitchen waste, are not part of the scope of this position. With respect to bio-based and biodegradable bags, the co-signatories of this position paper are in line with the position of the German Federal Environmental Agency (UBA). UBA states that certified biodegradable bags can only be used if they are listed in Annex 1 of Germany’s regulation on bio-waste. They also need to be approved by the relevant local public authorities for waste management and in close co-operation with bio-waste treatment companies.

This study presented a new model (named MAGSY) for the simulation of advanced small-scale gasification systems. These novel designs can be complex and may combine several features that are not typical for conventional systems. MAGSY is a vis-à-vis and process-based model that has been able to account for the excess air in the combustion sub-process (zone) which is conveyed to the pyrolysis zone creating practically a coupled system of sub-stoichiometric combustions. Onsite monitoring results from a rising co-current gasifier are used for the validation of the model. Simulations have been performed for excess air regimes between 11% and 20% and the produced gases from the “oxidation reactions” system were reformed by the “char-gas reactions” system. The model calculated a hydrogen molar fraction of 19.53% and carbon monoxide molar fraction of carbon monoxide 24.45% while the case study values were 19.19% and 24.02% respectively. Both gases were shown to have inverted correlation with equivalent air ratios at values bigger than 99.3%, which is a notable point. For equivalent ratios of 0.l7–0.25 the model returned char yields of 1.2–1.7% and the measurement from the case study showed that the char yield was 1.5%. Finally, a detailed exergy analysis of the gasifier is presented and validated with the values that were retrieved from the monitoring. MAGSY is able to adjust and model reactors with different levels of complexity.

Spent coffee grounds are the moist solid residues of coffee brewing and in most cases, the disposal is done without any intermediate valorization actions for materials and energy recovery. State-of-the-art applications include extraction of the liquids and application of high-temperature pyrolysis. Both strategies have significant potential but have also some disadvantages (extensive pre-treatment, high costs) when applied on a large scale. This study highlights the lack of mild pyrolysis valorization strategies and presents the idea of the “COFFEE BIN.”

This paper deals with estimation of methane emissions from the Mirash municipal solid waste sanitary landfill. Methane emission was calculated according to two different methodologies, namely, IPCC 2006 and LandGEM.

A novel biomass gasification-based combined cooling, heat and power (CCHP) system, which is composed of a gas-fueled internal combustion engine, variable-effect LiBr-H2O absorption cooling, and dehumidification air-conditioning with desiccant coated heat exchangers, was introduced. This work enables to contribute valuable data to the practical application of the biomass gasification-based CCHP system in Singapore's building sector.

One of the major concerns of biogas plants can’t be operated economical and environmental sustainable manner. In order to produce biogas in rural areas, using anaerobic systems with high organic content of farm wastes can be able to remove these concerns.

As a completion of the intensive cooperation of the export initiative Environmental Technologies "Sustainable Waste and Recycling Management in Croatia", a high-ranking 30-member delegation from Croatia visited Bavaria.

Dr. Sunil Kumar, Principal Scientist and Head, Head of WtERT India had a meeting with Dipl.-Ing. Werner Bauer and Dipl.-Ing. Hedwig Vielreicher in Munich, Bavaria.

Electrochemical characterization of a stack consisting of two identical membrane-less microbial fuel cells units, was investigated when operated in series and in parallel electrical configurations. Food Residue Biomass (FORBI) (FORBI; 0.8 g COD/L) was used as the electrode donor in the anode chamber. Linear Sweep Voltammetry (LSV) was carried out for the construction of polarization curves which revealed that the highest power output (3.88 mW) was obtained under parallel connection as in series connection was found lower due to voltage drop phenomena. Electrochemical Impedance Spectroscopy measurements (EIS) gave an insight in the electrochemical processes occurring within the stack under both electrical connections. The contribution of the individual resistances to the overall internal resistance was defined, designating the significant role of the solution resistance (Rs) and the charge transfer resistance (RCT) under closed circuit conditions.

Iran is the fourth biggest producer of crude oil and natural gas in the world. Meanwhile, this country is the largest CO2 emitter among the Middle East countries and 99% of energy in this country is produced from nonrenewable-based resources.

Although anaerobic digestion is a well‐established technology, the treatment and disposal of the digestate still presents a challenge due to lack of viable methods for processing. The residual organic matter in digestates also creates a significant residual biogas potential. This fact indicates that the digestates need further processing not only to reduce their organic content for disposal, but also to capture the biogas associated with this residual organic content.