BMP testingFood and catering waste

Pasta (food waste) — BMP: 2 studies, weighted mean 310 m³ CH₄/t VS

Pasta from catering waste is a starch-rich material that digests quickly and well, but easily acidifies the reactor at a larger dose.

CH₄ ≈ 52 % (estimate)

Published 6 October 2026Updated 29 October 20263 min readFeedstockData Editorial Team

Photo David Adam Kess / Wikimedia Commons, licence CC BY-SA 4.0, source file; changes: cropping

Weighted mean: 310m³ CH₄/t VS
Range: 293–326m³ CH₄/t VS
Records: 2studies
Publications: 2sources
Temperatures: 35 °Cof the test

Methane in biogas

≈51–54% CH₄

Medium methane content · ≈ 5.2 kWh/m³ of biogas

estimate from the substrate type The collected studies contain no measurement. The interval follows from the approximate composition (carbohydrate-dominated (no protein or fat characteristics)) and the yields of compound groups according to FNR.

How we calculate it and what the zones mean

Rating for biogas plants

not rated — editorial rating for biogas plants

Not rated: no dry matter or volatile solids in the data. We calculate the rating when the dry matter and volatile solids of the material are known.

Editorial rating per the methodology

Add to the co-digestion calculator CSV data

BMP curves from 2 studies

Weighted mean Individual records

Dashed lines are a model curve (first-order kinetics, B(t) = B₀·(1 − e^−kt)); the end point comes from the publication. All curves are model curves.

Cumulative methane production over the test [m³ CH₄/t VS]. The thick line is the weighted mean of all records (310); dots mark the end values given in the publications. Point at the chart to read values; click a legend item to hide or show a record.

Records and sources

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Source	BMP m³ CH₄/t VS	Temperature	Sample	Curve
Kouas et al. (2017) DOI	293	35 °C · mesophilic	pasta	end point (model curve)
Labatut et al. (2011) DOI	326	35 °C · mesophilic	Plain pasta	end point (model curve)
Weighted mean	310	arithmetic mean 310, SD 23

Typical composition

Volatile solids (VS): 97 % DM (range 97–97)

Median and range of the determinations reported in the publications behind this substrate's BMP records (read from: MY-D); dry matter: 0 determinations, volatile solids: 1 determination. No DM in the sources – the calculator has to ask for a value.

Sources: Labatut et al. (2011).

The composition of the raw material varies between batches — for plant calculations use an analysis of your own sample. The calculator inserts typical values automatically.

Process properties

easily degradable
carbon-rich
saline
editorial classification

Low confidence: the description is based on general characteristics of the substrate group, not on studies of this material. Treat it as a hint to be verified.

Advantages

Methane potential in the Substraty.pl BMP set: weighted mean 309.6 m³ CH₄/t VS (SD 23.4; 2 records, 2 sources).
A starchy substrate with rapid hydrolysis; improves the C/N of a protein feed (Zhang et al. 2007).

Drawbacks and risks

Rapid acidification at a high dose (Hagos et al. 2017).
The sauce may bring in salt and fat.

Co-digestion — what to combine it with, what to watch out for

combines well
substrates: high alkalinity (buffer) — e.g. Cattle manure, Pig slurry, Cattle slurry, Duck slurry, Rumen and digestive tract content
Slurry supplies N, alkalinity and trace elements.^[1][2]

Dosing

No source threshold.

Introduce gradually, starting with a small dose and monitoring the process (e.g. FOS/TAC, pH, gas composition).

Sources of the process data

The co-digestion calculator will assess a specific mixture containing this substrate.

What it is and where it comes from

Pasta is a product made from wheat flour, which in catering waste occurs as leftover cooked pasta from kitchens, canteens and households. Unused dry pasta is also a waste in shops and production plants. The dataset contains several samples: cooked pasta and pasta without meat, tested under mesophilic conditions. Pasta is usually part of a broader stream of food waste.

Properties relevant to digestion

Pasta consists mainly of starch (gelatinised after cooking and readily available to amylases), as well as wheat protein and small amounts of fat. Readily available carbohydrates cause a rapid rise in volatile acids and, at a high dose, a fall in pH and disturbance of methanogenesis. On the other hand, the material has a low nitrogen-to-carbon ratio, so it combines well with protein-rich substrates or slurry. Pasta in sauce may contain salt, fat, garlic and onion, which in larger amounts affect digestion.

How to read the spread of results

The values are similar, but they come from different studies, so the differences may result from the form of the pasta (fresh, cooked, kitchen waste), additions (sauces, meat), comminution and test conditions. The substrate-to-inoculum ratio, temperature, adaptation of the inoculum to starch and incubation length all have an effect. The small number of records does not define a typical range, and the composition of a particular catering waste may differ considerably from pure pasta.

In biogas plant practice

Pasta is a valuable co-substrate in installations that accept food waste. It should be dosed evenly, in a mixture with buffering materials, and pH and volatile acids should be monitored. Cooked pasta spoils quickly, so storage should be short. If the waste contains components of animal origin (meat, cheese, meat sauces), it is subject to the rules on animal by-products, and kitchen and catering waste requires hygienisation and an approved installation.

For comparison with other food waste, pasta is relatively uniform and predictable, which makes dosing easier. However, an excess should not exceed the buffering capacity of the digester, and a sudden increase in the dose is best preceded by gradual acclimatisation of the system.

Methodology in brief

BMP is the amount of methane obtained from volatile solids (VS) in a batch test, given in m³ CH₄ per tonne of VS (numerically the same as NmL CH₄/g VS in the publications) and converted to normal conditions (0 °C, 101.325 kPa). The weighted mean gives each publication a total weight of 1, split equally between its results for the substrate — a paper testing twenty varieties does not outweigh a paper with a single sample. In inter-laboratory programmes the unit is the laboratory (total weight 1), and within it the weight of a test grows with the number of bottles (replicates). Results after pretreatment (e.g. thermal, chemical, enzymatic) are shown separately and are not included in the mean.

Solid lines are curves measured in the tests. Where a publication gives only the final result, we draw a first-order kinetic model, B(t) = B₀·(1 − e^−kt): only the end point comes from the publication, and the shape of the curve serves purely as visualisation — do not read the production on a particular day from it. For this substrate k = 0.232 d⁻¹ was assumed (median of rate constants k reported in the sources and/or fitted to the mean measured curves).

The statistics describe the spread of published results — a descriptive compilation, not a meta-analysis or a guarantee of plant yield.

Full methodology and correction policy

Bibliography

All sources of the site: bibliography.