Analysing the impact of food waste disposal through the sink by combining the BSM1 with EASETECH modelling framework for life cycle assessment

The newly revised European Union (EU) Circular Economy Package targets an increasing the overall recycling rate of municipal solid waste to 65% by 2030 (EC, 2019). Meeting this target will require separate collection and recycling of household food waste. Food waste disposer or kitchen grinder (FWD) has been suggested as a practical alternative to separate food waste collection. Thus, FWD has been introduced in many countries such as the US, Canada, the UK, and Sweden.

To guide the decision-making process on FWDs, numerous studies have been conducted, yielding inconsistent and contradictory findings. Most studies have focused on the impact on the sewerage system, highlighting benefits such as improved resource recovery via increased biogas production or increased digestate reused as fertilizer (Kim et al., 2019a). However, those studies neglected the impact on solid waste management (i.e., reduction of food waste disposal and its treatment) and therefore offer limited information for decision making on how to handle food waste.

The overall objective of this study is to examine the effect of food waste disposal on a Wastewater Resource Recovery Facility (WRRF) using benchmark simulation model (BSM2) and evaluate the waste and sewage management systems from an environmental perspective using life cycle assessment (LCA) methodology.