Proceedings of the International Conference on Industrial Engineering and Operations Management Paris, France, July 26-27, 2018 Bio ethanol Production from the Landfill Organic Waste Fraction M. M. Manyuchi BioEnergy and Environmental Technology Center, Faculty of Engineering and the Built Environment, University of Johannesburg, South Africa Department of Chemical and Processing Engineering, Manicaland State University of Applied Sciences, Zimbabwe mercy.manyuchi@gmail.com C. Mbohwa BioEnergy and Environmental Technology Center, Faculty of Engineering and the Built Environment, University of Johannesburg, South Africa cmbohwa@uj.ac.za E. Muzenda BioEnergy and Environmental Technology Center University of Johannesburg, South Africa Department of Chemical, Materials and Metallurgical Engineering, Faculty of Engineering and Technology, Botswana International University of Science and Technology, P Bag 16, Palapye, Botswana emuzenda@uj.ac.za Abstract Landfill organic waste fraction was investigated for the potential to generate bio ethanol, a liquid bio fuel that can be used in place of the conventional liquid fuels. This was achieved through acid treatment enzymatic hydrolysis. The organic fraction waste was first pre-treated with dilute sulphuric acid at 121 °C for 15 minutes. Afterwards it underwent enzymatic hydrolysis at 50 °C for a period of 5 days to allow the release of C6 sugars. The hydrolysate was then fermented at 30 °C for 5 days with yeast inoculated as the bio catalyst to produce bio ethanol. Enzymatic hydrolysis and the prior pre-treatment resulted in a high yield of 60% of the C6 sugars. The bio ethanol produced from the fermentable sugars was 40%. There is potential for utilization of the organic municipal waste fraction for bio fuels production. Keywords: Bio ethanol, fermentation, landfill waste, organic waste fraction 1. Introduction In Southern Africa, huge amounts of organic waste are being generated on a daily basis and these usually find themselves to the landfills facility, possibly shortening the life span of landfills if not properly managed (Manyuchi et al., 2017). In addition, the organic fraction of the municipal waste poses a challenge for green house gases emissions if left to rot, effectively resulting in climate change effects (Matsakas et al., 2014). The organic fraction of the municipal waste is a potential raw material for production of solids and liquid bio fuels such as biomass briquettes, biogas, bio hydrogen, bio diesel and bio ethanol (Saka et al., 2012; Shruti at el., 2016). Figure 1 shows the bio conversion potential of the organic fraction of landfill waste to bio fuels. © IEOM Society International 1