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Achieving high efficiency of biological waste treatment in mechanical–biological treatment (MBT) plants requires reliable methods for measuring the degree of biodegradation of organic substances. For this purpose, several physical, chemical, and biological indices are used. This paper presents respirometric activity (AT4), biogas potential (GB21), total and dissolved organic carbon (TOC and DOC, respectively), and loss on ignition (LOI) values, as well as the correlations between the indices selected for stabilized waste produced in 18 MBT plants in Poland, which use various technologies for biological processing of the organic fraction of municipal solid waste. The study confirms that there is a linear relationship between AT4 and GB21 for stabilized waste produced in MBT plants, regardless of the waste treatment technology used. It has also been found that there is a linear relationship between AT4 and the concentration of dissolved carbon in water extract from stabilized waste. This indicates that DOC can be used for monitoring the organic matter stabilization process in mechanical–biological waste treatment plants. Its advantage is a shorter time needed for measurements in comparison to AT4 and GB21 tests.

Abstract. The number and capacity of mechanical-biological treatment (MBT) plants in Europe increased significantly in the past two decades as a response to the legal obligation to limit the landfilling of biodegradable waste in landfills and to increase recycling and energy recovery from waste. The aim of these plants is to prepare residual municipal waste for recovery and disposal operations, including especially separation and stabilization of the easily biodegradable fraction (the biofraction). The final products of MBP technology are recyclables, stabilate, high calorific fraction which is used for the production of refuse derived fuel (RDF) and the remaining residual fraction. The shares of the output fractions, especially of the recyclables and RDF determine the overall efficiency of MBT technology in diverting waste from landfills. In this paper results of an assessment of one exemplary MBT plant are provided. The analysis was performed within a comparative study in which 20 selected MBT plants in Poland were subject to a detailed analysis, focusing, both at the design parameters as well as operational ones. The selected plant showed relatively higher overall materials recovery efficiency. With the view to circular economy targets, increased automation of the mechanical waste treatment will be required to support achieving high level diversion from landfills. The study reviled that stabilisation of biofraction should be improved by a better control of process conditions, especially moisture content.