2. Rationale
Thanks to the work of the
IEA Tasks on AD among other national and international networks, the anaerobic
digestion has made its way to become one of the standard technologies in the
treatment of organic waste, at least in Europe. A total of 115 plants have been
identified with a treatment capacity of 1.5 Mio. TPY of organic solid waste.
During the last 5 years capacity was increased in average by 50'000 TPY.
When it comes to industrial waste water treatment, AD has achieved a break
through world wide. Over 1000 high rate digesters have been built world wide.
AD offers the possibility to invest in a sustainable technology while reducing
the organic fraction in landfilling. Which has become compulsory by European law.
However, there is a long way to go: The technology has to be introduced in the
USA and Canada, the Country with the highest waste production per capita. AD
could also offer a viable technology for developing countries which increasingly
suffer from uncontrolled dumping.
