Market Outlets for Biodegasified Organic Waste

Summary and conclusions

This project is based on research of the market outlets for organic refuse through biogasification for agricultural purposes. One of the conditions for making this possible is the development of a reliable and low-priced separation technology. At present the separation technology constitutes a bottleneck in optimal utilization of the quantities of organic refuse, which, today, is collected through two-stream separation systems. The interest of the biogas plants in processing organic refuse is reflected in the quality of the product and the price that can be obtained for processing the product. The quality of the product influences the mechanical running of the plant and the market outlets for the product. The biogas plants will decide the processing price based on the products which are otherwise available on the market. The incentive of the biogas plants to receive organic refuse will typically be payment of an amount covering the difference between the smaller gas potential and the cost of using a larger application area. An optimal location of the processing plants in proportion to each other is a significant prerequisite for optimal processing of the refuse in a two-stream separation system. The optimal location is achieved when the separation plant is placed in close connection with an incineration plant, thus enabling the refuse remains to be removed without storing and transportation.

By forecasting up till the year 2010, the expected quantities of farmyard manure and refuse products (excl. categories II and III material, meat refuse which at present is processed into meat-and-bone-meal) indicate that 16% farmland will still be available in Denmark. It should be noted that the areas are not appropriately spread in terms of geography. The situation in 2010 will be a continued pressure on the available farmland, no matter if the organic refuse is disposed of for agricultural purposes or not. By way of comparison it may be mentioned that organic refuse takes up approx. 1% of the area.

The attitude of farmers and the food industry constitutes the greatest barrier to the future use of refuse products within agriculture. Both parties are sceptical towards municipal waste water sludge and less sceptical towards industrial waste. There is a positive attitude to spreading manure with organic refuse, provided that waste water sludge is not added to the biogas plant, and the type of industrial waste added to the biogas plant for biogasification with the manure is controlled. Both parties find it important that the quality of the soil is not deteriorated, and that the quality of the refuse is assured.

The future Danish policy on waste management – including possible requirements on the municipalities‘ two-stream collection systems – will be decisive for the municipalities’ choice of biogas handling of the organic refuse, since this handling is more expensive than ordinary refuse incineration.