Integrating eco-efficiency and eco-effectiveness into the design of sustainable industrial systems in China

As an important tool for environment management, eco-efficiency has been widely applied, but eco-effectiveness has only made progress on eco-design and life cycle management in recent years. Few have attempted to integrate eco-efficiency and eco-effectiveness into sustainable industrial systems. In a new framework integrating eco-efficiency and eco-effectiveness, both concepts can find unique roles and complement each other in industrial ecosystems to dissolve conflicts between industry and the environment. This article provides a case study of China in which eco-efficiency indicators (energy, water and waste utilisation intensity) have demonstrated great progress in China, but eco-efficiency cannot stop the increasing release of pollutants and their accumulating impact on ecological life-support systems. China must integrate eco-effectiveness and eco-efficiency into concrete sustainable development strategies, questioning whether limited resources are being used correctly. Both eco-efficiency and eco-effectiveness are identified as important indicators in the development of sustainable industrial systems. In the framework of sustainable industrial systems, eco-effectiveness must begin to play a more important role.     

Assessment of key parameters in municipal solid waste management: a prerequisite for sustainability

Municipal solid waste management was studied for 1 year in a representative urban area of Lahore city for environmental sustainability. The effects of financial status of the household and the seasonal variations on generation rate and compositions of municipal solid waste (MSW) were determined. MSW generation rate and the economic status of the households were positively correlated (p < 0.05). Seasonal variations observed were significant only for organics (p = 0.001), plastics (p = 0.008) and food waste fractions (p = 0.009) in MSW. Response surface regression model developed and analysed by Minitab-15® showed that the interaction of season and different economic zones of the town on the MSW generation rate was non-significant (p = 0.334). Elemental and heating value analyses of the mixed organic fractions in kitchen waste had carbon 47.93%, hydrogen 6.20%, nitrogen 2.24%, sulphur 0.23%, oxygen 39.01%, and C and N ratio 27.78. Findings concluded that food waste was 56% of total MSW with 71.03% moisture content and a modest heating value of 5566 J/g. Existing temporary storage capacity of MSW is 51% of the total MSW generated considering the weighted MSW generation rate of 0.57 kg/person/day calculated in this study. Composting could be a possible final disposal option due to high moisture and organic content and can be studied in future research. Development of a transfer station, introduction of home composting programmes and awareness towards proper segregation and reduction of waste at the household level is suggested to attain sustainability in the MSW management system.     

Sustainability of Nations

SUMMARY

A method is presented to interrelate the development of economy, environment and social quality in communities. Economy and environment, in initial development stages, oppose each other. Social welfare and economy generally develop simultaneously. To assess overall progress in sustainable development, an integrated and quantifiable framework is presented which defines five levels of sustainability. Increasing sustainability is characterized by growing responsibility for the impacts of man's actions in space and time. Through increased eco-efficiency and changed awareness, nations and companies arrive at a synergistic relationship between environment and economy. It is indicated that social security benefits expenditure increases by a factor 3.5 and carbon dioxide emissions per capita decreases by a factor 3 at each higher level of sustainability. Quantified differences in sustainability levels of 24 nations are shown. Priorities for improving and safeguarding sustainability are indicated.     

Toward separation at source: Evolution of Municipal Solid Waste management in China

Municipal Solid Waste (MSW) management in China has been transitioning from a mixed collection and treatment system to a separated collection and treatment system. The continuous rise of MSW treatment capacity and the optimization of technology structure provided basic facility support for China to promote MSW separation at source. China preferred a four-type separation system. Regulated recycling should be enhanced to improve the efficiency and sustainability of recycling industry. As food waste is the main composition of MSW in China, 20%–30% of the food waste diversion and land application could maximize the comprehensive environmental performance. Incineration is to be the pillar technology in MSW separated treatment system in China.     

Research on low emission MSW gasification and melting system

In order to eliminate secondary pollution caused by municipal solid waste (MSW) incineration, a MSW gasification and melting process is proposed. The process is expected to reduce the emission of pollutants, especially heavy-metals and dioxins. In this paper, the combustible components of MSW and simulated MSW were gasified in a lab-scale fluidized bed at 400°C–700°C when the excess air ratio (ER) was between 0.2 and 0.8. The experimental results indicated that the MSW could be gasified effectively in a fluidized bed at approximately 600°C–700°C when excess air ratio was 0.2–0.4. The melting characteristics of two typical fly ash samples from MSW incinerators were investigated. The results indicated that fly ash of pure MSW incineration could be melted at approximately 1,300°C and that of MSW and coal co-combustion could be melted at approximately 1,400°C. When temperature was over 1,100°C, more than 99.9% of the dioxins could be decomposed and most of the heavy-metals could be solidified in the slag. Based on the above experiments, two feasible MSW gasification and melting processes were proposed for low calorific value MSW: (1) sieved MSW gasification and melting system, which was based on an idea of multi-recycle; (2) gasification and melting scheme of MSW adding coal as assistant fuel.     

21世纪城市生活垃圾生态化处理展望

我国目前由于管理，经济，技术以及公众环境意识的薄弱，城市生活垃圾已成为污染环境的一大公富，大致使大量有用资源浪费，就生态城市建设中垃圾生态化处理的重要性和对策进行了探讨，以期推动我国城市生活垃圾生态化处理和生态城市建设工作的开展。     

硝化渗滤液回灌对填埋垃圾反硝化、产甲烷及稳定化的影响

垃圾填埋场是重要的甲烷释放源,其有效管理是减缓温室效应的重要环节.通过硝化渗滤液回灌模拟垃圾填埋柱,研究硝化渗滤液在新鲜垃圾和老龄垃圾填埋柱中的脱氮及对垃圾稳定化和产甲烷的影响.结果表明,回灌的硝化渗滤液在不同填埋龄垃圾柱中,均可实现总氧化态氮(Total oxidation nitroge,TON)完全还原.当回灌TON负荷分别达到14.19 g t-1(TS)d-1和10.45 g t-1(TS)d-1时,新、老垃圾柱中甲烷产生开始受到抑制.实验后期,回灌TON负荷增至38.78 g t-1(TS)d-1和30.62 g t-1(TS)d-1时,新、老垃圾填埋柱产甲烷相对抑制率分别达54.10%和95.77%.同时,回灌反硝化对新、老垃圾柱中垃圾降解贡献率(Rd)分别达85%和93%,能有效促进垃圾稳定.     

Carbon discharge through municipal solid waste in Haikou,China

With rapid urban development, municipal solid waste (MSW) has become a pressing issue. Estimation of carbon discharge through municipal solid waste provides a way to assess environmental load of solid waste from the viewpoint of the carbon cycle. With few studies on carbon research and provides insights into human impacts on the carbon cycle. Based on a comprehensive fieldwork investigation of a typical Chinese tourist city – Haikou City, Hainan Island – the characteristics of MSW carbon discharge and human activities that influenced it were analysed. The results indicated that, in 2001, the total carbon discharge from 261.9 Gg of MSW was 105.1 GgC per year, and 174.6 kgC per capita per annum. Carbon is discharged in the form of food scraps (24%), plastics (20%), wood (17%), fabrics (14%), paper (13%), and dust and stone (12%). If landfill received all the waste, 4.7% of MSW carbon would be transformed into methane, with a value of 4.9 GgC. Between 1991 and 1999, Haikou's per capita MSW carbon discharge increased by 59.9%, and total MSW carbon discharge increased by 124.9%. MSW carbon discharge in Haikou is significantly affected by the growth of residential expenditure and urbanisation. Local characteristics of tourism also influence Haikou's MSW carbon discharge, not only in terms of its yearly variation, but also its monthly variation. Integrating data on carbon discharge with carbon consumption will provide a systematic view of the carbon metabolism in urban ecosystems, and further insights into the generation of urban environmental pollution.     

Industrial eco-efficiency and its spatial-temporal differentiation in China

The aim of this paper is to study the spatialtemporal differentiation of industrial eco-efficiency in China. Using methods based on the data envelopment analysis (DEA) model and exploratory spatial data analysis (ESDA) and data from 1985, 1995, 2005, and 2008 of 30 provinces in China, the spatial-temporal pattern changes in industrial eco-efficiency are discussed. The results show that: first, the patterns of industrial eco-efficiency are dominated by clustering of relatively low efficiency provinces; second, spatial relationships between the industrial eco-efficiencies of different provinces changed slightly throughout the period and the provinces persistently exhibit spatial concentration of relatively low industrial eco-efficiency; finally, there is an obvious trend in the polarization of industrial eco-efficiency, i.e., the higher level spatial units are concentrated in eastern China, and the lower level spatial units are mainly in western and central China.     

An integrated model for structure optimization and technology screening of urban wastewater systems

The conventional approach to wastewater system design and planning considers each component separately and does not provide the optimum performance of the entire system. However, the growing concern for environmental protection, economic efficiency, and sustainability of urban wastewater systems requires an integrated modeling of subsystems and a synthetic evaluation of multiple objectives. In this study, a multi-objective optimization model of an integrated urban wastewater system was developed. The model encompasses subsystems, such as a sewer system, stormwater management, municipal wastewater treatment, and a wastewater reclamation system. The non-dominated sorting genetic algorithm (NSGA-II) was used to generate a range of system design possibilities to optimize conflicting environmental and economic objectives. Information from a knowledge base, which included rules for generating treatment trains as well as the performance characteristics of commonly used water pollution control measures, was utilized. The trade-off relationships between the objectives, total water pollution loads to the environment, and life cycle costs (which consist of investment as well as operation and maintenance costs), can be illustrated using Pareto charts. The developed model can be used to assist decision makers in the preliminary planning of system structure. A benchmark city was constructed to illustrate the methods of multi-objective controls, highlight cost-effective water pollution control measures, and identify the main pressures on urban water environment.     

Effectiveness of aerobic pretreatment of municipal solid waste for accelerating biogas generation during simulated landfilling

Effect of aerobic pretreatment of MSW on landfill gas generation was investigated. Volatile solid (VS) loss of MSW is an effective and comparable indicator. Chinese MSW requires at least a reduction of VS about 27% (w/w) prior to disposal. Aerobic pretreatment of MSW reduced lag phase more than 90% before methanogenesis. Aerobic pretreatment degree influences quantity of gas generation. This study evaluates the effectiveness of aerobic pretreatment of municipal solid waste (MSW) on reducing lag phase and accelerating biogas generation. Aerobic pretreatment degree (APD) was determined on the basis of reduction in volatile solids (VS) on a wet weight basis. In this study, intermittent aeration (IA) was applied to three reactors as a main aeration mode; since a single reactor was operated under continuous aeration mode. However, the purpose of the experiment was to reduce VS content of waste, irrespective of the comparison between aeration modes. Fresh MSW was first pretreated aerobically with different aeration rates (10, 40, 60 and 85 L/min/m³) for the period of 30–50 days, resulting in VS-loss equivalent to 20%, 27%, 38% and 53% on w/w basis for the wastes A1, A2, A3 and A4, respectively. The cumulative biogas production, calculated based on the modified Gompertz model were 384, 195, 353, 215, and 114 L/kg VS for the wastes A0, A1, A2, A3 and A4, respectively. Untreated waste (A0) showed a long lag phase; whereas the lag phases of pretreated MSW were reduced by more than 90%. Aerobically pretreated wastes reached stable methanogenic phase within 41 days compared to 418 days for untreated waste. The waste mass decreased by about 8% to 27% compared to untreated MSW, indicative that even more MSW could be placed in the same landfill. The study confirmed the effectiveness of aerobic pretreatment of MSW prior to landfilling on reducing lag phase and accelerating biogas generation.     

Analysing the incorporation of sustainability themes into the university curricula: a case study of a Spanish public university

From an international view, several papers have analysed how sustainability themes are integrated into the university curricula. In Spain, few studies to date have examined the extent to which universities are incorporating sustainability themes into their curricula. In view of such considerations, this article examines the extent to which sustainability themes are being incorporated into the curricula of a Spanish public university strongly committed to signing sustainability policies and declarations. In addition, this study analyses the main barriers to the incorporation of sustainability themes into the curricula of this university. To accomplish this task, this article uses different methodological instruments over three phases through a case study approach. The findings of this study suggest how the university examined has many difficulties in incorporating, holistically or separately, sustainability themes in its formal courses despite having so many policies, regulations and a commitment to sustainability.     

Combining Power Analysis and Population Viability Analysis to Compare Traditional and Precautionary Approaches to Conservation of Coastal Cetaceans

Abstract: Traditionally, marine resources have been managed such that controls on new developments are implemented only when harmful effects on other environmental or economic interests can be demonstrated. This approach poses particular problems for the conservation of coastal cetaceans because potential threats to their populations are diverse and likely to interact, individual threats may result from multiple sources, and the problems inherent in studying cetaceans result in considerable scientific uncertainty and low statistical power to detect any effects. Consequently, many countries are adopting integrated coastal management programs and precautionary management principles. In practice, however, issues continue to be dealt with within traditional frameworks that require demonstration of harm. Because cetaceans are long-lived, they demand long-term studies, and populations could decline to dangerously low levels before management action is taken. We illustrate these problems using a case study from the Moray Firth, Scotland. This inshore area will soon be designated and managed as a "special area of conservation" to protect bottlenose dolphins (   Tursiops truncatus ) under the European Community's Habitats Directive. The population is small and isolated, and it faces a wide range of potential threats, but there remains considerable uncertainty over the magnitude of each threat. We combined power analysis and population viability analysis to explore the relative consequences of adopting either traditional or precautionary approaches to management. In this case, our results reaffirm the need for precautionary management. More generally, we illustrate how this approach can be used to provide a more scientific basis for determining the level of precaution required to address particular management issues in this and other marine systems.     

人口经济与环境整体优化模型初步研究

一个城市在发展中做到人口经济与环境的整体优化，传统的思路是控制人口经济发展。８０年代以来持续发展理论的提出，以产业技术结构的演进，二、三产业的融合来促使人口经济环境由低级向高级发展，取得人口经济与环境的整体优化，这就要求提供实用的研究方法。本文提出人口经济与环境整体优化模型的思路，给出了具体模型的建立方法，讨论各项参数的获取，从而可为城市人口经济与环境整体优化研究奠定基础。     

Water — and nutrient and energy — systems in urbanizing watersheds

Driven by considerations of sustainability, it has become increasingly difficult over the past 15?C20 years ?? at least intellectually ?? to separate out the water infrastructure and water metabolism of cities from their intimately inter-related nutrient and energy metabolisms. Much of the focus of this difficulty settles on the wastewater component of the city??s water infrastructure and its associated fluxes of nutrients (N, P, C, and so on). Indeed, notwithstanding the massive volumes of these materials flowing into and out of the city, the notion of an urban nutrient infrastructure is conspicuous by its absence. Likewise, we do not tend to discuss, or conduct research into, ??soilshed?? agencies, or soilshed management, or Integrated Nutrient Resources Management (as opposed to its most familiar companion, Integrated Water Resources Management, or IWRM). The paper summarizes some of the benefits (and challenges) deriving from adopting this broader, multi-sectoral ??systems?? perspective on addressing water-nutrient-energy systems in city-watershed settings. Such a perspective resonates with the growing interest in broader policy circles in what is called the ??water-food-energy security nexus??. The benefits and challenges of our Multi-sectoral Systems Analysis (MSA) are illustrated through computational results from two primary case studies: Atlanta, Georgia, USA; and London, UK. Since our work is part of the International Network on Cities as Forces for Good in the Environment (CFG; see www.cfgnet.org), in which other case studies are currently being initiated ?? for example, on Kathmandu, Nepal ?? we close by reflecting upon these issues of water-nutrient-energy systems in three urban settings with quite different styles and speeds of development.     

Mainstreaming biodiversity conservation: a Peninsular Malaysian case

SUMMARY

The contention is examined that forests can contribute to biodiversity conservation either as protected areas or as production forests, especially where the latter are managed for timber extraction. This notion is explored for the Peninsular Malaysian forests, and it is shown that biodiversity conservation would be optimized if the system of protected areas is located within a broader matrix of carefully managed production forests. A model is developed to illustrate how the biodiversity value of protected areas would be enhanced through interaction with production forests. In no way is the suggestion being made here that production forests could serve as critical centres for the conservation of biotic diversity, but then neither should they be dismissed as areas completely devoid of any contribution to the biodiversity cause. These findings are especially significant in Peninsular Malaysia where two-thirds of the forests legally set aside as Permanent Forest Estate is to be managed as production forests. If the incremental biodiversity value of these forests can be captured through improved management practices, then the overall biodiversity status of the country, and the globe, could be greatly increased. The extent to which any country is willing to set aside forests as protected areas, strictly for biodiversity conservation, is limited, hence the integrated approach to the management of protected and production forests advocated here could prove an attractive and feasible strategy. Where funding is limited, as in the case of the Global Environment Facility, it may be worthwhile to provide incentives for improved management of production forests as a means of conserving biodiversity.     

MSWNet: A visual deep machine learning method adopting transfer learning based upon ResNet 50 for municipal solid waste sorting

● MSWNet was proposed to classify municipal solid waste. ● Transfer learning could promote the performance of MSWNet. ● Cyclical learning rate was adopted to quickly tune hyperparameters. An intelligent and efficient methodology is needed owning to the continuous increase of global municipal solid waste (MSW). This is because the common methods of manual and semi-mechanical screenings not only consume large amount of manpower and material resources but also accelerate virus community transmission. As the categories of MSW are diverse considering their compositions, chemical reactions, and processing procedures, etc., resulting in low efficiencies in MSW sorting using the traditional methods. Deep machine learning can help MSW sorting becoming into a smarter and more efficient mode. This study for the first time applied MSWNet in MSW sorting, a ResNet-50 with transfer learning. The method of cyclical learning rate was taken to avoid blind finding, and tests were repeated until accidentally encountering a good value. Measures of visualization were also considered to make the MSWNet model more transparent and accountable. Results showed transfer learning enhanced the efficiency of training time (from 741 s to 598.5 s), and improved the accuracy of recognition performance (from 88.50% to 93.50%); MSWNet showed a better performance in MSW classsification in terms of sensitivity (93.50%), precision (93.40%), F1-score (93.40%), accuracy (93.50%) and AUC (92.00%). The findings of this study can be taken as a reference for building the model MSW classification by deep learning, quantifying a suitable learning rate, and changing the data from high dimensions to two dimensions.     

产业园生态效率评价——以九发生态产业园为例

生态产业园区的发展和评价已成为包括我国在内的全球产业可持续发展研究的热点领域。生态效率指标强调以较少资源投入和较低污染排放生产更多较高质量的产品,能同时评价经济效益和环境效益,符合人类可持续发展目标,现已是指导和评价生态工业园可持续发展建设的有效工具。本文应用生态效率理论和方法,对2004年九发生态产业园的运行情况进行了效率评价和生态功能探讨,并与同年全国平均生态效率指标进行了对比,发现九发生态产业园虽然产业链网较完善,但系统实际运行的生态效率高低不一。其中,单位原材料产出率和单位废水排放产出率指标明显低于全国平均水平,表明系统的生态功能发挥不足。因此,需进一步提高九发生态产业园的资源利用效率和能源使用效率,从而增加其经济效益和环境效益、促进其可持续发展。     

Optimisation of adjusted barrier management to improve glass eel migration at an estuarine barrier

Estuarine barriers may significantly reduce the upstream migration of diadromous fish species like the European eel (Anguilla anguilla L.). Previous research showed that limited barrier opening during tidal rise was a cost-efficient and effective mitigation option to improve upstream glass eel migration, without significant intrusion of sea water. This paper aims to optimise this adjusted barrier management to improve eel passage at a tidal barrier complex at the mouth of the River Yser, Flanders, Belgium, one of the most important migration routes for glass eel in Flanders. Specifically, three hypotheses were tested. The first hypothesis analysed the impact of the number of barriers opened on the upstream glass eel migration. The second hypothesis evaluated the relation between the size of the barrier opening and glass eel migration. Finally, we tested whether the suggested adjusted barrier management may lead to a significant increase in conductivity in the River Yser. Increased opening of one barrier appeared more efficient than opening several barriers slightly. Conductivity increased during periods of extreme drought and at base flow, but decreased within 24 h after the first peak flow. This indicates that adjusted barrier management does not entail salt intrusion in the Yser basin, as long as this management is not applied in extremely dry periods. Since the adjusted barrier management is easily implemented and could be applied on numerous tidal barriers, the presented results may contribute to restoration of eel populations worldwide and be of interest to a wide range of river managers and stakeholders.     

循环经济和工业生态效率指标体系

首先介绍了在OECD国家应用较多的生态效率的概念，并提出目前大力推行的循环经济的本质就是提高生态效率。为了衡量和评价循环经济的发展，有必要研究探索循环经济评价指标体系，本文借鉴生态效率指标体系的内容，对循环经济的评价指标体系进行了初步研究和设计。