Decision-Making in the Selection of Food Waste Diversion Systems for Boone, North Carolina: Comparing Composting and Anaerobic Digestion by Life Cycle Assessment and Cost Benefit Analysis

Selecting an optimal food waste diversion system for a specific site is not a simple process and varies depending on local conditions. The purpose of this study is to gain a better understanding of the relative environmental burdens and economic benefits of each alternative food waste diversion system compared to landfilling by conducting a case study in Boone, NC. The results indicate that anaerobic digestion is more environmentally beneficial in Boone due to the avoidance of fossil fuel use for electricity generation, while composting becomes more economically beneficial with 10,000 tons of annual organic waste generation.