Avaliação do ciclo de vida do processo de metanização de resíduos orgânicos de grandes geradores do Caju, Rio de Janeiro

Abstract

The correct management of the organic fraction of urban solid waste (FORSU) is one of the biggest challenges faced in Brazilian municipalities. Currently, final disposal in landfills is the most used and widespread alternative. Therefore, it is important that studies on alternative organic waste management scenarios are carried out, using methods that assess their impacts on the environment. In this sense, the present work aims to preliminarily evaluate the methanization process of the organic fraction of waste from large generators in the city of Rio de Janeiro, using the Life Cycle Assessment (LCA) methodology. The LCA was carried out using the OpenLCA software, using the Ecoinvent database for inventory analysis. The ReCiPe 2016, midpoint (H) methodology was applied to evaluate environmental impacts, based on the impact categories of climate change, terrestrial ecotoxicity, formation of particulate matter and terrestrial acidification. It was possible to identify and quantify the processes and flows that most contributed to the generation of environmental impacts. Fluxes of sulfur dioxide (SO2) and ammonia (NH3) contributed to the formation of particulate matter and terrestrial acidification, as did nitrous oxide (NOx) to climate change. The energy cogeneration process was the one that demonstrated the greatest contribution among the impact categories studied. This work can serve as a start for other studies on adhering to the methanization process to treat FORSU as an alternative to sending this waste directly to the landfill.