Large-scale commercial-grade volatile fatty acids production from sewage sludge and food waste: A holistic environmental assessment.

ABSTRACT: The valorization of sewage sludge and food waste to produce energy and fertilizers is a well-stablished strategy within the circular economy. Despite the success of numerous laboratory-scale experiments in converting waste into high-value products such as volatile fatty acids (VFAs), large-scale implementation remains limited due to various technical and environmental challenges. Here, we evaluate the environmental performance of a hypothetical large-scale VFAs biorefinery located in Galicia, Spain, which integrates fermentation and purification processes to obtain commercial-grade VFAs based on primary data from pilot plant operations. We identify potential environmental hotspots, assess the influence of different feedstocks, and perform sensitivity analyses on critical factors like trans

SUBMITTER: Castro-Fernandez A 

PROVIDER: S-EPMC11741900 | biostudies-literature | 2025 Jan

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature