Mechanical biological treatment of organic fraction of MSW affected dissolved organic matter evolution in simulated landfill

Abstract

The aim of this paper was to study the evolution of DOM during 1 year of observation in simulated landfill, of aerobically treated vs. untreated organic fraction of MSW. Results obtained indicated that aerobic treatment of organic fraction of MSW permitted getting good biological stability so that, successive incubation under anaerobic condition in landfill allowed biological process to continue getting a strong reduction of soluble organic matter (DOM) that showed, also, an aromatic character. Incubation of untreated waste gave similar trend, but in this case DOM decreasing was only apparent as inhibition of biological process in landfill did not allow replacing degraded/leached DOM with new material coming from hydrolysis of fresh OM.

Keywords: Dissolved organic matter; Hydrophilic fraction; Hydrophobic fraction; Landfill; Mechanical biological treatment.