Rapid mineralisation of the Organic Fraction of Municipal Solid Waste

• Rapid mineralisation of OFMSW is an alternative for ecological processes.
• Respirometry analysis allowed to determine rapid and slow phases of mineralisation.
• Rapid mineralisation allows up to 432.9 mg of CO2 g−1 IDM after 50 h.
• Highest CO2 rate constant found (5.28 d−1) is 3.5 times higher than that reported.
• Highest CO2 formation rate (22 CO2 mg g−1 IDM h−1) is 73% higher than that reported.

The effect of pH, C/N ratio, addition of a microbial consortium (MC) and temperature upon mineralisation of Organic Fraction of Municipal Solid Waste (OFMSW) was studied; mineralisation was measured through the CO2 production rate and total CO2 formation. Through this process up to 432.9 mg of CO2 g−1 initial dry matter (IDM) after 2 days of treatment was obtained. It was found that under a slightly acidic pH (5–6) and C/N of 30, the mineralisation process was accelerated. Moreover, temperature (27–50 °C) had no effect on the total CO2 produced. The highest CO2 production rate (5.28 d−1) was observed at 27 °C, C/N ratio of 30 and 8% of microbial consortium; it is at least 3.52 times higher than that reported (1.5 d−1). The highest release of reducing sugars was determined at 50 °C, possibly due to an increase in hydrolytic enzymes. Results suggest the potential use of rapid mineralisation of OFMSW for further friendly environmental processes.

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