In the present and projected context of an increasing worldwide demand for food, the intensification of climate change effects on agriculture, and the depletion and degradation of natural resources, global actions must be taken to assure future food security for all people. Improper practices along the food supply chain, from primary production to consumption, generate huge quantities of food waste. Building a circular bioeconomy that feeds recycled materials back into the economy and minimizes the loss of resources will be an important step in introducing the world’s food system to a sustainable path. The present case study describes an enclosed on-site composting system for food waste, operated in real-life conditions. The composting equipment was installed for a restaurant with specific needs in November 2020, located near a shopping center in Bucharest, the capital city of Romania. The physical, chemical, and biological characteristics of the compost came from a mix of food waste from a retail restaurant and sawdust pellets used as absorbent material, and these were analyzed to monitor compost quality and establish valorization opportunities. Two different monitoring campaigns were developed and the biological parameters were analyzed. The second monitoring campaign indicated that the compost was contaminated with Escherichia coli and Salmonella spp. When handled correctly and according to instructions, the composting process eliminates pathogens that may be present in food waste, such as Escherichia coli, Salmonella spp., etc., resulting in a high-quality compost that can be valorized in agriculture such as fertilizer or soil improver. Our results demonstrated that even when maintaining the same composition of raw materials in the composter, the quality and properties of the compost are greatly influenced by its operating conditions. Quality management procedures must be enforced and procedures must be strictly followed for the compost to be considered compliant. Compost that does not meet the requirements according to the regulation in force is again subjected to composting. If, after repeating the operation, the compost is still noncompliant, it is declared nonrecyclable waste, and must follow the specific procedure for such waste.

The present paper examines the emissions of polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons (PAHs) resulted from the thermal treatment through pyrolysis process of contaminated soil with petroleum products. Specifically, across the experimental work, the process temperature influence on PAHs and Phenanthrene emissions and remediation degree during the thermal treatment were investigated. The pyrolytic treatment of the contaminated soils was performed at different temperatures and time: 400C for 60 min; 600C for 30 min and 800C for 30 min. The obtained results revealed that non-oxidative atmosphere at temperatures between 400C and 800C reduced PAHs and Phenanthrene to below regulatory standards. More than that, it was evidenced that, when the initial concentration of the contaminants in soil is not too high (content of PAHs in soil was 26.811 mg/kgd.w. respect to 25 mg/kgd.w., while for Phenanthrene initial concentration in soil was 19.264 mg/kgd.w. respect to 5 mg/kgd.w. from the regulation in force) even a low-temperature of 400C for the pyrolysis process ensure an efficiency in removing PAHs and Phenanthrene higher than 99%. It was evidenced that, increasing the process temperature with 200C and respectively with 400C, respect to the selected pyrolysis conditions as appropriate (400C for 60 minutes), has no relevance in terms of reducing contaminants from the contaminated soil. This is an important advantage considering that lower temperatures are requiring lower energy costs and soil fertility is not affected as in case of soil incineration or other thermal treatment methods.