Local environmental impact from MSW aerobic biological treatment

The present work indentifies some aspects of the environmental impact of two aerobic biological treatments (bio-drying and composting) applied to fractions of municipal solid waste (MSW) taking into account the odor release into the atmosphere and its concentration at ground level. Some scenarios are presented for the process air treatment and management: bio-filter and regenerative thermal oxidation treatment (RTO), at different heights of release. A Gaussian dispersion model, AERMOD, was used in order to assess the dispersion and odor emissions into the atmosphere. Data refer to a case-study region where both the biological plants could be constructed. A site of potential location for one of the two plants was studied from the odor impact point of view. The case of bio-filter at ground level resulted the most critical, depending on the low dispersion of the pollutants. Technical solutions for the optimization of the impact are also proposed in this paper.