The valorization of the organic fraction of municipal solid waste in a bio refinery concept

The pretreatments of the organic fraction of municipal solid waste (OFMSW) for the anaerobic digestion (AD) process are designed to address the limitations of substrate degradation related to the nature and composition of the raw material. In this view, they usually contribute to improve the AD process performances, enhancing the biomass conversion into both energy carriers and digestate. More recently, some studies have pointed out the possible use of OFMSW for the recovery of other bio-based products, which may have a high commercial value in the market, as Volatile Fatty Acid (VFA) or lignin. The main purpose of this research is in the study of the applicability of an organic solvent pretreatment to the OFMSW as a source of potential value-added chemicals. Differently composed organic samples were treated by formic acid under various operating condition. Chemicalphysical characteristics, biodegradability and structural changes of the substrates were investigated to evaluate the pretreatment effects. The preliminary results highlight the effectiveness of the organic solvent pretreatment, which raises as an alternative process for the greatest valorization of organic solid waste.