Characteristics of Wastewater from Municipal Waste Bio-Drying and Its Impact on Aquatic Environment—Long-Term Research on a Technical Scale

The implementation of appropriate solutions for municipal waste management is still a significant challenge for the operators of technological facilities. Although there are many separate collection procedures and waste neutralisation systems available, it is still necessary to search for new economically and technologically justified solutions. The priority is environmental care and circular economy compliance. An important aspect is recycling and energy recovery from waste as an alternative fuel. Preparation of municipal waste for energy production requires many preliminary unit processes, and one of the most important factors is drying. It should be emphasised that environmental impact assessment is an indispensable aspect of waste management. The aim of long-term research was to determine the effect of bio-drying of municipal waste on the characteristics of technological and precipitation wastewater and its impact on the quality of the aquatic environment. An investigation was carried out between 2015–2021 on a large-scale installation for 200,000 residents. It was proven that during the wastewater treatment plant operation, the concentration of N-NH4 was exceeded. The concentrations of other pollution indicators corresponded to the normative values. The quality of groundwater also deteriorated. A comparative analysis of municipal waste drying methods showed that the bio-drying process has a significantly lower impact on the natural environment than the methods that are lower in the municipal waste management hierarchy.