L. Pena, R. Kumar, V. Srinivasan, L. Pal
North Carolina State University,
United States
Keywords: bioethanol, MSW valorization, LCA, TEA, waste-derived-biofuels, bioeconomy
Summary:
Bioethanol remains the leading renewable liquid fuel in the United States, yet its reliance on food-based crops continues to raise sustainability and land use concerns. Among municipal solid waste (MSW) components, wastepaper, comprising more than 20% of the total mass, offers an abundant, cellulose-rich feedstock with less pretreatment requirements relative to conventional lignocellulosic biomass. Despite this potential, over half of U.S. paper waste is still landfilled, representing a missed environmental and economic opportunity. This work proposes an integrated framework coupling an AI-driven Material Recovery Facility (AI-MRF) with a co-located biochemical conversion process optimized for high-cellulose paper fractions. Composition data from real MSW sorting operations inform the AI-MRF model, while the ethanol facility is simulated using a separate hydrolysis and fermentation (SHF) configuration with enzymatic hydrolysis parameters derived from experimental results. First outcomes from the combined techno-economic and life-cycle assessments reveal synergistic benefits, including reduced landfill dependence, improved resource recovery, and the generation of a low-carbon ethanol intermediate suitable for sustainable aviation fuel production through alcohol-to-jet conversion, advancing circular waste-to-fuel strategies.