Industrial and Classical Pre-treatment for Enhanced Biomethane Production from Cellulosic Materials in Absorbent Hygiene Products

Marco Torre

National Research Council of Italy, Institute of Atmospheric Pollution Research (CNR-IIA), Monterotondo, Italy

Patrizio Tratzi

National Research Council of Italy, Institute of Atmospheric Pollution Research (CNR-IIA), Monterotondo, Italy

Ting-Wu Ko

Institute of Green Products, Feng Chia University, Taichung, 407102, Taiwan

Maria Luisa Feo

National Research Council of Italy, Institute of Atmospheric Pollution Research (CNR-IIA), Monterotondo, Italy

Laura Tomassetti

National Research Council of Italy, Institute of Atmospheric Pollution Research (CNR-IIA), Monterotondo, Italy

Cristina Riccucci

National Research Council of Italy, Institute of Nanostructured Materials (CNR-ISMN), Monterotondo, Italy

Gabriella di Carlo

National Research Council of Italy, Institute of Nanostructured Materials (CNR-ISMN), Monterotondo, Italy

Monica Carnevale

Consiglio per la Ricerca in Agricoltura e l’Analisi dell’Economia Agraria, CREA-IT Centro di ricerca Ingegneria e Trasformazioni agroalimentari, Monterotondo, Italy

Francesco Gallucci

Consiglio per la Ricerca in Agricoltura e l’Analisi dell’Economia Agraria, CREA-IT Centro di ricerca Ingegneria e Trasformazioni agroalimentari, Monterotondo, Italy

Chen-Yeon Chu

Master’s Program of Green Energy Science and Technology, Feng Chia University, Taichung, Taiwan

Chen-Hua Hsueh

General Education Center, Feng Chia University, Taichung, 407102, Taiwan

Francesco Petracchini

National Research Council of Italy, Institute of Atmospheric Pollution Research (CNR-IIA), Monterotondo, Italy

Valerio Paolini

National Research Council of Italy, Institute of Atmospheric Pollution Research (CNR-IIA), Monterotondo, Italy

DOI: https://doi.org/10.14456/apst.2025.38

Keywords: Alkaline Biogas production Diaper Microcrystalline cellulose Waste management

Abstract

The introduction of absorbent hygiene products (AHPs) has helped improve the quality of life for people, but AHPs also cause environmental problems; diaper manufacturing, distribution, use, and waste management produce 2.7 Mt of greenhouse gases (GHG) per year. This study measures the biochemical methane potential (BMP) of cellulose recycled from AHPs and aims to evaluate the impact of pre-treatments applied to AHP-derived cellulose on biogas production. The cellulose from AHPs has been divided into four categories with different pre-treatment or no pre-treatment: new cellulose (UC), treated post-consumer cellulose (TC), treated unused cellulose (TU), and cellulose soaked in NaOH, using microcrystalline cellulose (MC) as a benchmark. The measure of biogas production shows that TC resulted in the highest biogas production yield (426.9 mL/g volatile solid (VS)), while cellulose treated with NaOH resulted in the highest methane production yield (309.7 mL/g VS). The results of TC were mostly in line with microcrystalline cellulose.

How to Cite

Torre, M., Tratzi, P., Ko, T.-W., Feo, M. L., Tomassetti, L., Riccucci, C., di Carlo, G., Carnevale, M., Gallucci, F., Chu, C.-Y., Hsueh, C.-H., Petracchini, F., & Paolini, V. (2025). Industrial and Classical Pre-treatment for Enhanced Biomethane Production from Cellulosic Materials in Absorbent Hygiene Products. Asia-Pacific Journal of Science and Technology, 30(03), APST–30. https://doi.org/10.14456/apst.2025.38

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