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Comparative Analysis of Pyrolysis and Anaerobic Digestion as End-of-Life Options for Used Cork Stoppers
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Resumo(s)
ABSTRACT: The cork industry generates valuable by-products and residues with significant potential within a circular bioeconomy framework. This study evaluated the energy-driven valorization of two post-consumer cork residues—natural cork stoppers (NCS) and technical cork stoppers (TCS)—through anaerobic digestion and pyrolysis. Both NCS and TCS exhibited low moisture and ash content, a high heating value of 25.14 and 29.88 MJ/kg, respectively, a carbon content exceeding 58 wt% and low nitrogen, sulfur and chlorine concentrations. These characteristics highlight the suitability of NCS and TCS for energy recovery applications. Anaerobic digestion produced biogas containing 68.5 vol% of methane after alkaline pretreatment of TCS. However, the maximum biochemical methane potential was low, reaching only 19.5 L CH4/kg VS. The resulting digestates contained nitrogen, phosphorus and potassium at levels compatible with agricultural use. Slow pyrolysis of the cork residues resulted in high biochar yields, with NCS achieving an average yield of 64.8 wt%. Combined with carbon contents of up to 66.3 wt%, the biochars produced from NCS and TCS show strong potential for valorization as solid energy carriers, as well as for applications such as activated carbon production and soil amendment. Overall, thermochemical conversion via pyrolysis proved to be the most effective pathway for energy valorization of the tested cork residues, whereas the performance of anaerobic digestion remained limited unless more intensive pretreatment strategies were applied.
Descrição
Palavras-chave
Cork residues Anaerobic digestion Thermochemical conversion Biochemical conversion Waste valorization Methane Circular bioeconomy
Contexto Educativo
Citação
Moura, P., Jesus, J., Eusébio, A., Costa, P., Marques, S., Oliveira, A. C., Abreu, M., França, B., & Maganinho, C. (2026). Comparative Analysis of Pyrolysis and Anaerobic Digestion as End-of-Life Options for Used Cork Stoppers. In: Biomass, 2026, vol. 6 (5), article 86. https://doi.org/10.3390/biomass6050086
Editora
MDPI