Alkaline post-treatment was tested in order to improve sludge anaerobic digestion. Between the 8th and the 12th hour of a 24-h digestion cycle, 5% of sludge was extracted from a semi-continuous digester with a sludge retention time of 20 days. The sludge was then disintegrated with 0.1 mol/L NaOH and returned to the digester after neutralization. The results showed that alkaline post-treatment increased the level of soluble organic substances in the extracted sludge, particularly of volatile fatty acids and polysaccharides. This process resulted in a 33% enhancement of biogas production in comparison with the control. When the ratio of the recycled sludge was further increased to 10% or 15%, the increment of biogas yield was reduced, due to excessive inactivation of anaerobic bacteria in the digester. Alkaline post-treatment had a minimal impact on the dewaterability of digested sludge. (c) 2013 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.