Feasibility and efficiency of microalgae cultivation for nutrient recycling and energy recovery from food waste filtrate
Open accessAbstract
With the continuous growth of economic and population, the generation of food waste has significantly increased in recent years. The disposition of food waste, typically through incineration or landfill, can lead to severe health and environmental problems, accompanied by high additional costs. However, the leachate produced from food waste during collection, transportation and landfill operations predominantly contains high levels of nutrients necessary for microalgae growth. The integration of microalgae cultivation into waste treatment for nutrient recycling presents a potential route for energy recovery from food waste. Therefore, this study was conducted to evaluate the feasibility of microalgae cultivation for food waste filtrate treatment. In addition, the optimal cultivation conditions and nutrient removal efficiency for microalgae in food waste filtrate treatment were investigated. The results indicated that Cyanobacterium aponinum exhibited the highest growth rate (0.530 cells d-1) and maximum cell density (9.6 × 10 6 cells mL-1) among eight potential microalgal species in 10% food waste filtrate treatment under 10,000 lux and 32°C. It was also observed that C. aponinum had significantly higher biomass productivity and nutrient removal efficiency under a 5% CO 2 concentration. The successful cultivation of C. aponinum demonstrated that food waste filtrate could be a promising growth medium, reducing the high cost of cultivation with synthetic medium. However, further efforts should be made to utilize microalgae in food waster filtrate treatment, transitioning from laboratory condition to a pilot scale.
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Photoinhibition can occur during the midday hours, when light intensity can reach up to 4000 μmol E/m2-s. In diatoms, this phenomenon has been observed at a light intensity of about 10,000 lux (180 μmol E/m2-s), and similar results have been reported for cyanobacteria.
“Photoinhibition can occur during the midday hours, when light intensity can reach up to 4000 µ mol E/m 2 -s. In diatoms, this phenomenon has been observed at a light intensity of about 10,000 lux (180 µ mol E/m 2 -s), and similar results have been reported for cyanobacteria [145].”
From Multi-Sensing Monitoring of the Microalgae Biomass Cultivation Systems for Biofuels and Added Value Products Synthesis—Challenges and Opportunities (2025) · cites this paper as [145]
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- Authors
- Chen, Y., Wan, W.-W., Cui, K.-H., Lau, B. P.-Y., Lee, F. W.-F., & Xu, S. J.-L.
- Affiliations
- Ministry of Natural Resources (CN)
- Hong Kong Metropolitan University (HK)
- City University of Hong Kong (HK)
- Corresponding author
- Lee, Fred Wang-Fat
- Xu, Steven Jing-Liang
- Venue
- PLOS ONE
- Publisher
- Public Library of Science (PLoS)
- Published
- 2025-02-05
- Volume
- 20
- Issue
- 2
- Pages
- e0315801
- ISSN
- 1932-6203 (ISSN-L)
- PMC
- PMC11798482
- OpenAlex
- W4407159907
- Cited by
- 6
- References
- 59
- Citations by year
- 2026: 2 · 2025: 4
- FWCI
- 0.83
- Type
- journal article
- Language
- en
- Open access
- gold
- doi.org
- Licence
- Locations
- PLoS ONE (publishedVersion, cc-by)
- PubMed Central (publishedVersion, cc-by)
- PubMed (publishedVersion)
- DOAJ (DOAJ: Directory of Open Access Journals) (submittedVersion, cc-by-sa)
- Funders
- the National Key Research and Development Program of China (2022YFC3102401, 2022YFC2601302)
- Topics
- Physical Sciences › Energy › Renewable Energy, Sustainability and the Environment › Algal biology and biofuel production
- Physical Sciences › Environmental Science › Environmental Chemistry › Aquatic Ecosystems and Phytoplankton Dynamics
- Physical Sciences › Environmental Science › Waste Management and Disposal › Wastewater Treatment and Reuse
- Keywords
- microalgae cultivation, food waste leachate, nutrient cycling, energy recovery, microalgae growth, nutrient removal efficiency, CO2 concentration, biomass productivity, growth conditions, landfill leachate treatment
- MeSH terms
- Nutrients, Food Loss and Waste, Cyanobacteria, Feasibility Studies, Food, Biomass, Microalgae, Recycling
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