Anaerobic digestion technology is regarded as the most ideal technology for the treatment of a distiller in terms of environmental protection, resource utilization, and cost. However, there are some limitations to this process, the most prominent of which is microbial activity. The purpose of this paper is to provide a critical review of the microorganisms involved in the anaerobic digestion process of a distiller, with emphasis on the archaea community. The effects of operating parameters on microbial activity and process, such as pH, temperature, TAN, etc., are discussed. By understanding the activity of microorganisms, the anaerobic treatment technology of a distiller can be more mature. Aiming at the problem that anaerobic treatment of a distiller alone is not effective, the synergistic effect of different substrates is briefly discussed. In addition, the recent literature on the use of microorganisms to purify a distiller was collected in order to better purify the distiller and reduce harm. In the future, more studies are needed to elucidate the interactions between microorganisms and establish the mechanisms of microbial interactions in different environments.

The reuse of biomass waste is conducive to the recovery of resources and can solve the pollution problem caused by incineration and landfill. For this reason, the thermogravimetric analyzer (TGA) was used to study the pyrolysis of the mushroom sticks (MS) and discarded meal boxes at different heating rates (10 °C·min⁻¹, 20 °C·min⁻¹, 30 °C·min⁻¹). The statistical analysis showed that the factors of pyrolysis temperature and particle size had a greater effect, while the heating rate was significant. The TGA revealed that the maximum weight loss rate of the co-pyrolysis of MS and discarded meal boxes increased with the rise of the heating rate, the temperature at which the pyrolysis started and ended increased, and the thermal weight loss displayed a hysteresis phenomenon. By comparing the theoretical heat weight loss curves with the experimental curves, a synergistic effect of the co-pyrolysis process between MS and discarded meal boxes was demonstrated, and the co-pyrolysis process resulted in a reduction in the solid residue content of the products. The Coats-Redfern method was used to fit the pyrolysis process of MS and discarded meal boxes, which applied the first-order kinetic model to describe the main process of pyrolysis and obtained the reaction activation energy between 43 and 45 kJ·mol⁻¹. The results indicated that co-pyrolysis of MS and discarded meal boxes could decrease the activation energy of the reaction, make the reaction easier, promote the degree of pyrolysis reaction, reduce the generation of pollutants, and provide a theoretical basis for the recycling and energy utilization of MS and discarded meal boxes.