Bioconversions of cheese-making wastes to bioethanol and their link to sustainability

Abstract

Most of the cheese producers in Indonesia still dispose cheese-making wastes directly to the ground and water bodies and tend to cause environmental problems. The utilization of cheese-making wastes on bioconversions into bioethanol aimed to generate social economic and environmental benefits. Bioconversion of cheese-making wastes into bioethanol can be role as an alternative in wastes utilization through waste to product approach. The consideration of the three pillars such as social, economic and environmental benefit holistically and comprehensively can be implemented in solving environmental problems caused by the disposal of cheese-making wastes and in creating sustainability. Cheese-making wastes utilization to bioethanol has been done in KPBS (The Dairy Farmer Cooperatives of South Bandung). The environmental impacts determined by measuring BOD, COD and potential CO2 emission reduction. Questionnaires used to obtained community perception of three pillars plus community knowledge about cheese-making wastes bioconversions are taken to the selected respondents around KPBS by cluster random sampling with the cluster of KPBS Employee, KPBS member and affected communities. Results showed that BOD are decreased to 1920 ppm, the potential emissions of CO2 are reduced to 13.65% (422,219.67 kg CO2eq/year) and utilization of distillery wastes as organic fertilizer could reduce potential CO2 emissions of 62.42% (305,226.0 kgCO2eq/year), that resulting positives community perception towards the environmental, social and economic impacts that lead to sustainability, however lack of knowledge are still need to be improved as complement for the sustainability.