Resource recovery and circular economy approach in organic waste management using hydrothermal carbonization

Some of the inferior properties, including high heterogeneity and high moisture content, limit the resource recovery option from the organic fraction of municipal solid waste (MSW). Most of the thermochemical processes are only able to process dry waste and therefore are seldom successful in treating organic-rich wet MSW, which is pertinent to most of the developing nations. Hydrothermal carbonization (HTC), which treats waste in the presence of subcritical water, can easily handle organic-rich wet MSW. Hydrochar, due to its wide potential application in agriculture, water treatment, and as an energy carrier, has a possible market value. It can be integrated with other treatment processes either upstream or downstream to minimize waste generation; it is due to this flexibility that HTC is been seen as a futuristic treatment technology that greatly advocates the concept of circular economy in the waste management sector. Successful implementation of HTC for recovering value-added product from organic waste provides an opportunity to handle high moisture content waste while assuring entrepreneurial and socioeconomic benefits. Available literature suggests that before any large industrial-scale deployment of HTC more vigorous study on technoeconomic and life cycle should be conducted.