M81
Evaluating the impact of enzyme cocktail and loading on sugar release from municipal paper and cardboard wastes in California
Monday, April 28, 2014
Exhibit/Poster Hall, lower level (Hilton Clearwater Beach)
May-Ling Lu, Department of Chemical and Environmental Engineering and Center for Environmental Research and Technology (CE-CERT), Bourns College of Engineering, University of California, Riverside, Riverside, CA and Charles E. Wyman, Chemical & Environmental Engineering, Center for Environmental Research and Technology, Bourns College of Engineering, University of California, Riverside, Riverside, CA
In 2012, California disposed almost 30 million tons of municipal solid wastes in which these wastes would either be landfilled or incinerated. According to the California Integrated Waste Management Department report, approximately 40% of these wastes are organics. Thus, at least 12 millions tons of these materials possess potential for conversion to some form of bioenergy or biofuel. With the push for greater diversion of wastes from landfills towards a more sustainable pathway by cities in California, with San Francisco, for example, heading towards zero disposal of wastes by 2020, the utilization of municipal wastes outside of landfill has to be addressed.
This project analyzed the sugar release potential of paper and cardboard that together make up the largest portion of the organic and total wastes disposed in the State, accounting for as much as 17% of the municipal disposal resources in 2008 (latest data available). Using a high-throughput pretreatment and enzymatic hydrolysis system, sugar release from mixed papers and cardboards were studied separately to identify their sugar yield potential with different combinations of enzymes and protein loadings. The project determined an enzyme activity in the cocktail that promised enhanced yields and showed the importance of protein loading in releasing sugars. Further work can validate these results and determine how loadings can be reduced.
