Solid-state C-13 NMR spectroscopic, chemolytic and biological assessment of pretreated municipal solid waste

In Central Europe, composting and anaerobic digestion of municipal solid wa ste (MSW) is used as pretreatment before landfilling to reduce landfill emi ssions. MSW samples were analyzed before, during, and after pretreatment to assess the stability of the organic matter. Chemolytic, nuclear magnetic r esonance (NMR) spectroscopic, and respiration parameters were correlated to evaluate a substitution of the time-consuming respiration analysis by chem ical parameters, C-13 cross polarization magic angle spinning (CPMAS) NMR s pectroscopy showed a preferential biodegradation of O-alkyl carbon (carbohy drates) and a selective accumulation of plastics during all pretreatments, confirming findings from chemolytic analyses. Principal component analysis exhibited a strong association between the respiration rate, the carbohydra te content, and the O-alkyl C content, corroborating that carbohydrates are the most important compounds of MSW with regard to the emission potential. Rank correlation (Spearman) also showed strong relationships between the r espiration rate and the content of carbohydrates (r = 0.75) and of O-alkyl C (r = 0.72).