Methanethiol generation potential from anaerobic degradation of municipal solid waste in landfills

Volatile sulfur compounds are the main odorants at landfills. In this study, methanethiol (CH3SH) was chosen as a typical volatile organic sulfur compound, and its generation potential was investigated during the anaerobic degradation of the organic fractions of municipal solid waste (MSW) including rice, flour food, vegetable, fish and pork, paper, cellulose textile, and yard wastes. Among the experimental wastes, gas generation was the highest in the fish and pork waste with a high CH3SH concentration of up to 2.5% (v/v). Sulfur reduction in the solid phase was mostly converted into gaseous sulfur compounds. During the whole experiment, the cumulative CH3SH generation from the fish and pork waste was 0.139 L kgdw−1, which was about 2 and 6 orders of magnitude higher than that from the other experimental wastes. The ratio of CH3SH-S to TS reduction was 31.56% in the fish and pork waste. These results would be helpful to understand the generation of volatile sulfur compounds during the anaerobic degradation of MSW and develop techniques to control odor pollution at landfills.