Anaerobic Digestion for Organic Waste Management

The series of biennial meetings of Latin American and other specialists on anaerobic digestion goes from strength to strength, with a clear regional and global impact in the academic and technological spheres and beyond: the increasing acceptance in the region of anaerobic treatment of organic liquid and solid wastes has been greatly aided by the diffusion and exchange through these events.At the seventh meeting (now designated a symposium instead of a seminar owing to increasing attendance and wider subject coverage) the 81 oral papers and 85 posters demonstrated the quality and dynamism of the work of the individuals and groups in the region, accompanied by colleagues from other continents. They are also evidence of Latin American commitment to the anaerobic route as a basic element in sustainable sanitation and organic wastes management. In this issue of Water Science and Technology, following a thorough review by the Scientific Committee, 41 papers have been selected. They are organized according to the 7 main topics of the symposium: Microbiology, Biochemistry and Granulation; Molecular Biology Applied to Anaerobic Digestion; Modelling and Control; Industrial Wastewater and Recalcitrant Compounds; Municipal Wastewater; Sludge and Solid Wastes; and Pre and Post-treatment for Anaerobic Digesters - Integrated Systems. The AD movement keeps growing and developing and these proceedings make a timely and significant contribution to spreading knowledge of this subject: they will be highly valued by scientists researching the fundamental processes of anaerobic digestion and by engineers and plant designers applying this increasingly popular technology around the world.