Waste cooking oil as an energy resource: review of Chinese policies

Converting waste cooking oil into biofuel represents a three-win solution, dealing simultaneously with food security, pollution, and energy security. In this paper, we encode the policy documents of waste cooking oil refining biofuel in China based on content analysis, and explore the related policies from the two dimensions as basic policy tools and enterprises supply chain. Research indicates the weak institution coordination of policy issuing entities. Also, the findings show that tools of regulatory control and goal planning are overused. Policies of government procurement, outsourcing and biofuel consumption are relatively scarce. Generally, government focuses more on formulating policies from the strategic, administrative and regulatory aspects, while less on market-oriented initiatives as funding input and financial support.

Recycling of glass cullet as aggregate for clays used to produce roof tiles

Fundação de Amparo à Pesquisa do Estado de São Paulo (FAPESP)

PET containers in Brazil: Opportunities and challenges of a logistics model for post-consumer waste recycling

The use of post-consumer materials is directly related to reducing the cost of production and extraction of natural resources. Non-recyclable materials are randomly disposed in the environment. Brazil is one of the largest consumers of PET (polyethylene terephthalate) bottles. The purpose of this paper is to describe the opportunities and challenges of the logistics model for post-consumer PET bottle recycling in Brazil, while providing knowledge of its practices along the recycling chain. The results describe the need to educate those directly and indirectly involved in the process: to reduce consumption in order to reduce the amount of waste generated: to structure the post-consumer reverse chain and engage industrial sectors and government, through public policies, to support cleaner technologies along the PET bottle production chain. (C) 2010 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.

Alternatives Panels from Waste Plastics Reinforced With Fibers of Pupunha Palm for Use in Civil Construction and Furniture Industry

In order to cooperate in minimizing the problems of the current and growing volume of waste, this work aims at the production of panels made from industrial waste -thermoplastic (Polypropylene - PP; Polyethylene - PE and Acrylonitrile Butadiene Styrene - ABS) reinforced with agro-industrial waste - pupunha palm waste (shells and sheaths). The properties of the panels were evaluated: density, thickness swelling, water absorption and moisture content. It was used the ASTM D1037; EN 317; and ANSI A208.1 standards regarding particle boards. The best results in physical tests were treatments 1 (100% waste plastic), 6 (60% plastic waste and 40% waste of pupunha) and 7 (70% waste plastic and 30% waste of pupunha). The best results in the mechanical tests were treatments 3 (30% de residuos plasticos e 70% de residuos da pupunha), 4 (40% de residuos plasticos c 60% de residuos da pupunha) and 5 (50% de residuos plasticos e 50% de residuos da pupunha). For mechanical tests it was concluded that the results of modulus of rupture and of modulus of elasticity the best treatments were those with more fibers. In the tensile tests perpendicular to the surface, it is clear that using more waste plastics leads to the best results. It was concluded that the waste can be used as raw material for the production of alternative materials mainly in civil construction and furniture industries, and it can be employed in urban or rural environment, given the concept of eco-efficient products.

Developed and studies on technical and economical viability of an environmental efficient urinal

This work introduces an innovative urinal for public convenience, that promotes at the same time water reuse and personal higiene, in a safe and economical way . Furthermore it demonstrates the latest technology and its technical and economical viabillity of utilization in new and already existing buildings facilities. This new model of personal higiene equipment offers as main benefits the improved economy with subsequent decrease in drinkable water consumption, sanitary safety, low cost and easy installation due to its simplicity and to the fact that it can be installed in already existing facilities. The proposal is constituted by a higienic, ecological and smart system for flushing of public urinals. It is a conjugated system of lavatory and urinal that reuses hands higienization water from the lavatory for flushing purpose. The proposed urinal can be operated manually or automatically by means of a presential sensor. The system promotes drinkable water economy by a rational utilization by avoiding the use of waste water from hand washing in place of clean water for flushing. The proposed equipment increases the economy of clean water in a simple and economical way and it can be installed in any type of public lavatory facilitie such as schools, public buildings, hospitals, commercial buildings, bus terminals, airports, stadiums, parking buildings and shopping centers. Additional benefits of the proposed system is the suggestion of hands washing before and after the use of the urinal without contamination risks from focet handling.and render more attractive the installation for a rational use of clean water in commercial and industrial buildings. Pay-back has shown to be very attractive for a number of internal return rates and also very attractive from the point of view of environmental protection.

Alkali activated materials based on fluid catalytic cracking catalyst residue (FCC): Influence of SiO2/Na2O and H 2O/FCC ratio on mechanical strength and microstructure

Reuse of industrial and agricultural wastes as supplementary cementitious materials (SCMs) in concrete and mortar productions contribute to sustainable development. In this context, fluid catalytic cracking catalyst residue (spent FCC), a byproduct from the petroleum industry and petrol refineries, have been studied as SCM in blended Portland cement in the last years. Nevertheless, another environmental friendly alternative has been conducted in order to produce alternative binders with low CO2 emissions. The use of aluminosilicate materials in the production of alkali-activated materials (AAMs) is an ongoing research topic which can present low CO2 emissions associated. Hence, this paper studies some variables that can influence the production of AAM based on spent FCC. Specifically, the influence of SiO 2/Na2O molar ratio and the H2O/spent FCC mass ratio on the mechanical strength and microstructure are assessed. Some instrumental techniques, such as SEM, XRD, pH and electrical conductivity measurements, and MIP are performed in order to assess the microstructure of formed alkali-activated binder. Alkali activated mortars with compressive strength up to 80 MPa can be formed after curing for 3 days at 65°C. The research demonstrates the potential of spent FCC to produce alkali-activated cements and the importance of SiO2/Na2O molar ratio and the H2O/spent FCC mass ratio in optimising properties and microstructure. © 2013 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.

FT-IR analysis of acid black dye biodegradation using saccharomyces cerevisiae immobilized with treated sugarcane bagasse

Textile industries use large amounts of water in dyeing processes and a wide variety of synthetic dyes. A small concentration of these dyes in the environment can generate highly visible pollution and changes in aquatic ecosystems. Adsorption, biosorption, and biodegradation are the most advantageous dye removal processes. Biodegradation occurs when enzymes produced by certain microorganisms are capable of breaking down the dye molecule. To increase the efficiency of these processes, cell immobilization enables the reuse of the immobilized cells and offers a high degree of mechanical strength, allowing metabolic processes to take place under adverse conditions. The aim of the present study was to investigate the use of Saccharomyces cerevisiae immobilized in activated sugarcane bagasse for the degradation of Acid Black 48 dye in aqueous solutions. For such, sugarcane bagasse was treated with polyethyleneimine (PEI). Concentrations of a 1 % S. cerevisiae suspension were evaluated to determine cell immobilization rates. Once immobilization was established, biodegradation assays for 240 h with free and immobilized yeast in PEI-treated sugarcane bagasse were evaluated by Fourier transform infrared spectrophotometry. The results indicated a probable change in the dye molecule and the possible formation of new metabolites. Thus, S. cerevisiae immobilized in sugarcane bagasse is very attractive for biodegradation processes in the treatment of textile effluents. © 2013 Springer Science+Business Media Dordrecht.

Application of orange peel waste in the production of solid biofuels and biosorbents

Fundação de Amparo à Pesquisa do Estado de São Paulo (FAPESP)

Waste management in Forlì-Cesena province: Life Cycle Assessment (LCA) of Forlì incinerator

This work assesses the environmental impact of a municipal solid waste incinerator with energy recovery in Forlì-Cesena province (Emilia-Romagna region, Italy). The methodology used is Life Cycle Assessment (LCA). As the plant already applies the best technologies available in waste treatment, this study focuses on the fate of the residues (bottom and fly ash) produced during combustion. Nine scenarios are made, based on different ash treatment disposing/recycling techniques. The functional unit is the amount of waste incinerated in 2011. Boundaries are set from waste arrival in the plant to the disposal/recovery of the residues produced, with energy recovery. Only the operative period is considered. Software used is GaBi 4 and the LCIA method used is CML2001. The impact categories analyzed are: abiotic depletion, acidification, eutrophication, freshwater aquatic ecotoxicity, global warming, human toxicity, ozone layer depletion, photochemical oxidant formation, terrestrial ecotoxicity and primary energy demand. Most of the data are taken from Herambiente. When primary data are not available, data from Ecoinvent and GaBi databases or literature data are used. The whole incineration process is sustainable, due to the relevant avoided impact given by co-generator. As far as regards bottom ash treatment, the most influential process is the impact savings from iron recovery. Bottom ash recycling in road construction or as building material are both valid alternatives, even if the first option faces legislative limits in Italy. Regarding fly ash inertization, the adding of cement and Ferrox treatment results the most feasible alternatives. However, this inertized fly ash can maintain its hazardous nature. The only method to ensure the stability of an inertized fly ash is to couple two different stabilization treatments. Ash stabilization technologies shall improve with the same rate of the flexibility of the national legislation about incineration residues recycling.

Valorisation of organic waste: new developments from proton nuclear magnetic resonance characterization

The last half-century has seen a continuing population and consumption growth, increasing the competition for land, water and energy. The solution can be found in the new sustainability theories, such as the industrial symbiosis and the zero waste objective. Reducing, reusing and recycling are challenges that the whole world have to consider. This is especially important for organic waste, whose reusing gives interesting results in terms of energy release. Before reusing, organic waste needs a deeper characterization. The non-destructive and non-invasive features of both Nuclear Magnetic Resonance (NMR) relaxometry and imaging (MRI) make them optimal candidates to reach such characterization. In this research, NMR techniques demonstrated to be innovative technologies, but an important work on the hardware and software of the NMR LAGIRN laboratory was initially done, creating new experimental procedures to analyse organic waste samples. The first results came from soil-organic matter interactions. Remediated soils properties were described in function of the organic carbon content, proving the importance of limiting the addition of further organic matter to not inhibit soil processes as nutrients transport. Moreover NMR relaxation times and the signal amplitude of a compost sample, over time, showed that the organic matter degradation of compost is a complex process that involves a number of degradation kinetics, as a function of the mix of waste. Local degradation processes were studied with enhanced quantitative relaxation technique that combines NMR and MRI. The development of this research has finally led to the study of waste before it becomes waste. Since a lot of food is lost when it is still edible, new NMR experiments studied the efficiency of conservation and valorisation processes: apple dehydration, meat preservation and bio-oils production. All these results proved the readiness of NMR for quality controls on a huge kind of organic residues and waste.

The Costs of Municipal Curbside Recycling and Waste Collection

This paper estimates cost functions for both municipal solid waste collection and disposal services and curbside recycling programs. Cost data are obtained from a national survey of randomly selected municipalities. Results suggest, perhaps unsurprisingly, that both marginal and average costs of recycling systems exceed those of waste collection and disposal systems. Economies of scale are estimated for all observed quantities of waste collection and disposal. Economies of scale for recycling disappear at high levels of recycling - marginal and average cost curves for recycling take on the usual U-shape. Waste and recycling costs are also estimated as functions of factor costs and program attributes.

Effectiveness of healthcare waste management interventions in developing countries

Inefficiencies during the management of healthcare waste can give rise to undesirable health effects such as transmission of infections and environmental pollution within and beyond the health facilities generating these wastes. Factors such as prevalence of diseases, conflicts, and the efflux of intellectual capacity make low income countries more susceptible to these adverse health effects. The purpose of this systematic review was to describe the effectiveness of interventions geared towards better managing the generation, collection, transport, treatment and disposal of medical waste, as they have been applied in lower and middle income countries.^ Using a systematic search strategy and evaluation of study quality, this study reviewed the literature for published studies on healthcare waste management interventions carried out in developing countries, specifically the low and lower middle income countries from year 2000 to the current year. From an initially identified set of 829 studies, only three studies ultimately met all inclusion, exclusion and high quality criteria. A multi component intervention in Syrian Arab Republic, conducted in 2007 was aimed at improving waste segregation practice in a hospital setting. There was an increased use of segregation boxes and reduced rates of sharps injury among staff as a result of the intervention. Another study, conducted in 2008, trained medical students as monitors of waste segregation practice in an Indian teaching hospital. There was improved practice in wards and laboratories but not in the intensive care units. The third study, performed in 2008 in China, consisted of modification of the components of a medical waste incinerator to improve efficiency and reduce stack emissions. Gaseous pollutants emitted, except polychlorodibenzofurans (PCDF) were below US EPA permissible exposure limits. Heavy metal residues in the fly ash remained unchanged.^ Due to the paucity of well-designed studies, there is insufficient evidence in literature to conclude on the effectiveness of interventions in low income settings. There is suggestive but insufficient evident that multi-component interventions aimed at improving waste segregation through behavior modification, provision of segregation tools and training of monitors are effective in low income settings.^

Assessing construction and demolition waste on masonry works to avoid future generation

The difficulty of dealing with construction and demolition waste (CDW) on construction sites is not new and continues to be a significant environmental problem. Currently the CDW collection system in Spain is done in a decentralized manner by each sub-contracted company, being necessary to implement effective waste management measures ensuring a correct management and minimization. During the last years several measures have been launched in order to improve and encourage the reuse and recycling of CDW. A widespread solution for CDW recovery is using them as a landscaping aggregate or for road bases and sub-bases. However, measures encouraging onsite prevention still need to be enhanced. This paper studies the major work stage generating CDW and analyses the categories of CDW produced during its execution. For this, several real building sites have been analysed in order to quantify the estimation of CDW generated. Results of this study show that a significant contributor to the CDW generation on building construction sites in Spain are the masonry works. Finally, a Best Practices Manual (BPM) is proposed containing several strategies on masonry works aimed not only at CDW prevention, but also at improving their management and minimization. The use of this BPM together with the Study and Plan of CDW management --required by law--, promotes the environmental management of the company, favouring the cohesion of the construction process organization at all stages giving rise to establishing responsibilities in the field of waste and providing a greater control over the process. Keywords: construction and demolition waste, management, masonry works, good practice measures, prevention.

Workflow reuse in practice: a study of neuroimaging pipeline users

Workflow reuse is a major benefit of workflow systems and shared workflow repositories, but there are barely any studies that quantify the degree of reuse of workflows or the practical barriers that may stand in the way of successful reuse. In our own work, we hypothesize that defining workflow fragments improves reuse, since end-to-end workflows may be very specific and only partially reusable by others. This paper reports on a study of the current use of workflows and workflow fragments in labs that use the LONI Pipeline, a popular workflow system used mainly for neuroimaging research that enables users to define and reuse workflow fragments. We present an overview of the benefits of workflows and workflow fragments reported by users in informal discussions. We also report on a survey of researchers in a lab that has the LONI Pipeline installed, asking them about their experiences with reuse of workflow fragments and the actual benefits they perceive. This leads to quantifiable indicators of the reuse of workflows and workflow fragments in practice. Finally, we discuss barriers to further adoption of workflow fragments and workflow reuse that motivate further work.

Effects of biochar prepared from organic waste on soil properties

Biochar is a carbon-rich solid obtained by the thermal decomposition of organic matter under a limited supply of oxygen and at relatively low temperatures. Biochar can be prepared from the pyrolysis of different organic feed- stocks, such as wood and biomass crops, agricultural by-products, different types of waste or paper industry waste materials . The pyrolysis procedure of waste, i.e. sewage sludge, has mainly two advantages, firstly, it removes pathogens from waste and, secondly, biochar can reduce the leaching of heavy metals present in raw sewage sludge. This trend of the use of waste material as feedstocks to the preparation of biochar is increasing in the last years due to industrial development and economic growth imply an increase in waste generation. The application of biochar may have positive effects on soil physical properties as water holding capacity and structure or on soil biological activity and soil quality. Also, biochar can be used to remove water pollutants and can be used in multiple ways in soil remediation due to its adsorption of pesticides or metals. Also, biochar contribute to carbon sequestration due to carbon stability of biochar materials. The objective of this presentation is to review the positive effects of the biochar prepared from organic waste on soil properties.