What is the acceptable margin of error for the oxygen uptake method in evaluating the reactivity of organic waste?

•Uncertainty of the DRI method was performed.•Sampling, procedure and apparatus uncertainty were assessed.•DRI apparatus effecting in large extent DRI uncertainty were oxygen mass rate measurement and kgVS.•Uncertainty interval of ±50% for DRI = 1000 have a confidence level of 99%.

The acceptable margin of error for the organic waste reactivity measured by the oxygen uptake method was assessed. Oxygen uptake was determined by the Dynamic Respiration Index (DRI) (mgO2/kgVS h). The composed uncertainty (uC) of the experimental set up used for the DRI test was evaluated and the uncertainty (u) of all the components of the apparatus was evaluated. A procedure for calculating the uC of the apparatus is proposed. The components affecting the uC of the DRI to a more significant extent were the one of the oxygen mass rate and the u of the amount of VS in the sample analyzed. For a confidence level of 99.73%, the extended uC (UC) interval for a DRI = 1024 mgO2/kgVS h was ±440 mgO2/kgVS h, whereas for a DRI = 3489 mgO2/kgVS h, the UC interval was ±1288 mgO2/kgVS h. When oxygen consumption and VS content become lower than 600 mgO2/h and 0.9 kg, respectively, the UC interval is similar to the measured DRI.