Charakterisierung von Abfällen aus dem Handelskettenbereich

In Austria, commercial and industrial waste are collected and treated either along with household waste or separately, according to the legal framework in each state. However, there is a lack of detailed information about the composition of residual and organic waste streams from different industrial sectors. In order to fill this gap, the residual and organic waste bins from several supermarkets in the city of Vienna and its nearby suburbs have been sorted and analysed twice to quantify the potential of compostable materials. As a result, it is found that more than the half of the sorted residual waste contained indeed compostable material. In the sorted organic waste, the “only organic matter” fraction accounts for approximately 70 % and that of the “wrapped organic matter” for approximately 23 %. The remaining portion consists of “dry resources” and “sorting residue”. Laboratory analyses show that the objective waste has a high moisture and low energy content. Additionally, sorting analyses show that the residual and organic residues from supermarkets have different composition from those originated in private households. Finally, a rough balance study of climate change potentials comparing aerobic, anaerobic and thermal treatment of the subject waste from the supermarkets is carried out.