Covid-19 lockdown and physical distancing policies are elitist: towards an indigenous (Afro-centred) approach to containing the pandemic in sub-urban slums in Nigeria

ABSTRACT

This study explores the experience of the sub-urban slum residents in Okpoko (Anambra State), Ngwa-road Aba (Abia State), Ajegunle (Lagos State) and Gwagwalada (Abuja), to underscore the elitist and western contexts of Covid-19 lockdown and physical distancing policies. The study apprehends these policies as being counter-productive due to Nigeria’s peculiar socio-economic circumstances, and brainstorms on the need and prospects for adaption and institutionalisation of an indigenous Afro-centred approach towards the containment of the Covid-19 pandemic. The use of herbal mixtures or local concoctions such as parboiled garlic cloves, lemon and ginger juice in the treatment and/or prevention of Covid-19 pandemic is a popular home-grown indigenous approach/practice which is generally believed to have inhibitory effects against Covid-19 by majority of the local people. These herbal remedies should be formally investigated, validated and encouraged in Nigeria as an alternative indigenous approach for the prevention and treatment of Covid-19 pandemic.     

Industrial metabolism of PVC in China: A dynamic material flow analysis

In China, the rapid development of the polyvinylchloride (PVC) industry will inevitably lead to various environmental problems. This paper studies the PVC metabolism further by (1) constructing dynamic models based on material flow analysis (MFA), (2) introducing calculation on detailed lifetime distribution of different types of products and recycling, and (3) obtaining the performances of waste emissions and accumulation as a function of raw material input and time. Based on system evolution theory and population development models, the developing trend of the PVC industry is studied, and annual consumptions in future years are predicted. The annual emission and accumulation after metabolism can be calculated by tracking the amount of raw material input, existing form and process flow for a single year (2003), as well as over a longer period (from 1958 to 2048) in China. Analysis indicates that over 0.6 billion tons of PVC waste will have accumulated in the environment by the end of 2050. In this scenario analysis, the effects of product structure, lifetime distribution, mechanical recycling, chemical recycling and incineration on waste output are all taken into consideration. The product metabolism process can be decelerated by changing these factors appropriately. However, mechanical recycling and chemical recycling are the most effective solutions.     

An analysis of future platinum resources,emissions and waste streams using a system dynamic model of its intentional and non-intentional flows and stocks

Platinum is increasingly used intentionally and non-intentionally in several applications. This has raised the concern about its future resources, emissions and losses during its life cycle. On the one hand, increasing platinum emissions might affect human health. On the other hand, the accumulated platinum in mineral waste, soil, landfill sites and construction materials as a result of the emissions, losses and the utilization of secondary materials can be seen as potential resources for platinum. This paper is aimed at (1) analyzing the long term impacts of the use of platinum intentionally and non-intentionally on its future demand and supply, release to the environment and accumulation in mineral waste, soil, landfill sites and construction materials and (2) quantifying the amount of platinum in secondary materials that would be available for platinum future supply. The analysis is carried out on a global level using a system dynamic model of platinum intentional and non-intentional flows and stocks. The analysis is based on four scenarios for the introduction of fuel cell vehicles (FCVs). The results show that platinum demand is increasing overtime in all scenarios at different rates and its identified resources are expected to deplete before the end of the century with or without the introduction of FCVs. The release of platinum to the environment and the accumulation in soil are expected to decrease when conventional ICE vehicles is replaced by FCVs. The amount of platinum accumulated in mineral waste, soil, landfill sites and construction materials by the time platinum is depleted are more than double its identified resources and would be potential resources for platinum that are available in different parts of the world. The methodology presented in this paper can be used in the assessment of other technologies and other metals.     

Transitions of municipal solid waste management. Part II: Hybrid life cycle assessment of Swiss glass-packaging disposal

In policy support of municipal solid waste (MSW) management, life cycle assessment (LCA) can serve to compare the environmental or economic impacts of two or more options for waste processing. The scope of waste management LCAs generally focuses less attention on future developments, e.g., where will recycling take place, and more on the environmental performance of prototypes, e.g., the incineration of all waste compared to recycling. To provide more robust support for Swiss waste glass-packaging disposal, scenarios of Swiss waste glass-packaging are assessed from a life cycle perspective. The scenarios consist in schemes for the disposal of the total amount of Swiss waste glass-packaging, i.e., different combinations of recycling and downcycling in Switzerland or abroad developed in Part I, Meylan et al. (2013). In this article (Part II), the disposal schemes are assessed with respect to eco-efficiency, an indicator that combines total environmental impacts and gross value added in Switzerland. Results show that no policy alternative guarantees environmental impact reductions and gross value added gains under all developments of exogenous constraints. Downcycling to foam glass in Switzerland is not only an environmentally sound disposal option, but it also buffers gross value added losses in case domestic recycling (and thus glass-packaging production in Switzerland) ceases in the future. The substitution of products based on raw materials other than Swiss cullet is the main responsible for change in environmental and economic impacts. Hence, an eco-efficiency maximizing policy should consider the products of disposal schemes. The combination of scenario analysis and eco-efficiency assessment as presented in this paper can be applied to other contexts (i.e., countries, waste fractions).     

Environmental,economic and social costs and benefits of a packaging waste management system: A Portuguese case study

The impact of the management of packaging waste on the environment, economic growth and job creation is analyzed in this paper. This integrated assessment intends to cover a gap in the literature for this type of studies, using the specific case study of the Portuguese packaging waste management system (SIGRE).The net environmental benefits associated with the management of packaging waste, are calculated using the Life Cycle Assessment methodology. The results show that, for the categories studied, the impacts associated to SIGRE's various activities are surpassed by the benefits associated to material and energy recovery, with special focus on recycling. For example, in 2011 SIGRE avoided the emission of 116 kt CO₂ equiv. – the equivalent carbon emission of the electricity consumption of 124.000 households in Portugal.The economic impact of SIGRE is evaluated through Input–Output Analysis. It was found that SIGRE's activities also have a significant economic impact. For example, their added value are ranked amongst the upper third of the economic activities with highest multiplier effect at national level: this means that for each Euro of value added generated within SIGRE, 1.25 additional € are added to the rest of the economy (multiplier effect of 2.25).Regarding the social impacts of SIGRE, the number of direct jobs associated with the system is estimated to be more than two thousand and three hundred workers. Out of these, 83% are connected to the management of municipal waste packaging (selective collection and sorting), 15% are connected to the management of non-municipal packaging waste and only 2% are connected to the Sociedade Ponto Verde (SPV, green dot society in English) – the management entity responsible for SIGRE.In general terms, the results obtained provide quantitative support to the EEA (2011) suggestion that moving up the waste hierarchy – from landfilling to recycling – creates jobs and boosts the economy.     

基于市场机制的农产品生态敏感度识别与政策建议——以云南西双版纳为例

关于生态农业的研究,已经在农学、生物学、地理学等领域积累了丰硕的成果。但是,这些研究大都着眼于生态农业的生产过程,即更多关注供给的角度,而很少从需求的角度来分析。本文从市场机制的角度出发,构建了消费者偏好与生产者策略的"传导模型",依据消费者对农产品生态敏感度的不同对其进行区分。对于"生态不敏感"的农产品,消费者对产品的生态敏感度低,这一偏好通过价格信号传导到生产者,使生产者采取大规模标准化的生产策略,对生态环境造成损耗;对于"生态强敏感"的农产品,消费者对产品的生态敏感度高,这一偏好能够通过价格信号传导到生产者,并使生产者采取生态化生产的策略,是绿色可持续的;对于"生态弱敏感"的农产品,市场存在分层现象,使得上述两种传导机制同时并存。消费者的偏好与愿意支付的溢价,生产者采用生态化生产方式的成本,以及证明产品品质的交易费用,是决定农产品生产能否在市场环境下自发实现绿色可持续的三个关键环节。培育绿色消费观念、提高生态农业的产出、健全产品质量监督体系是促进生态农业发展的三个着力点。     

绿色化学与环境保护

近年来国际上较普遍提倡和开展的绿色化学与技术的研究,目的是发展环境友好技术、环境无害技术或清洁生产技术,同时强调化学过程的原子经济性,反应的高选择性,不生成或很少生成副产品或废物,实现或接近零排放过程。通过介绍国内外对绿色化学的研究进展,指出国外对绿色化学的研究主要是围绕化学反应、原料、催化剂、溶剂和产品的绿色化展开的。绿色化学的发展能节省资源、减少环境污染,并将成为可持续发展战略的核心内容。     

Hong Kong citizens' attitude towards waste recycling and waste minimization measures

In a street survey conducted in Hong Kong, it was found that Hong Kong people generally support waste recycling and minimization measures. The results showed that statistically there are associations between sex, accommodation type, education levels and age on one hand and people's attitude toward some waste recycling and minimization measures on the other. A significant number of the surveyed subjects would feel uneasy during the generation of waste if they knew that the recyclable materials would not be recycled. However, this feeling of uneasiness will lessen considerably if the materials are being recycled. With the feeling of uneasiness being lessened, a deterring factor on consumption was weakened. Thus it is plausible that when recycling is more widely carried out, the actual volume of consumption will increase if the urgency of waste minimization is not widely understood. It was also discovered that in an economically prosperous Hong Kong, people can be more supportive to slightly more expensive green products than in Western countries in recession.     

A multi-criteria decision analysis of solid waste treatment options in Pakistan: Lahore City—a case in point

Population of the world is increasing day by day, resulting in enormous amount of waste production. In the modern age of great technological advancements, there needs to be a systematic method to keep the environment clean. The waste management activities, i.e., collection, transport and disposal, pose a great challenge to the waste managers as they have to factor in various eclectic factors such as land availability, facilities available, budget, time required and the impact it would have on the environment, while tackling this problem. Lahore, despite being the most developed city of Pakistan, does not have a suitable solid waste management system. An increasing population leads to more waste generation, and in Lahore the situation is no different. Several waste management companies are working in the city, but as of yet they have not been able to make significant inroads to completely eradicate the problem. The aim of this paper is to suggest a suitable way for dealing with the waste. To accomplish this aim, a hierarchy-based model is used, considering six criteria and five alternatives. We used multi-criteria decision analysis to decide among different waste management alternatives. Forecasting has been used to find the population and waste produced over the years. Analytical hierarchy process (AHP) and Technique for Order of Preference by Similarity to Ideal Solution (TOPSIS) are used to rank the feasible alternative. The results show that the population and waste were increasing drastically. Aerobic digestion was ranked as the best alternative for waste management according to AHP and TOPSIS, but there is great variation among the rank of other alternatives.     

Animal Burrowing Attributes Affecting Hazardous Waste Management

/ Animal burrowing is critical to the formation of soils and contributes to the interface between geological materials and organic life. It also influences the management of hazardous materials at nuclear waste facilities and elsewhere. For example, residues and waste products from the production of nuclear weapons are released onto the ground surface and within engineered burial structures. Soil bioturbation has exposed radionuclides and other hazardous materials to wind and rain, thereby risking inhalation and injury to humans and wildlife on and off site. Soil bioturbation can expand soil depths and spatial distributions of the source term of hazardous waste, potentially increasing chronic exposures to wildlife and humans over the long term. Ample evidence indicates that some of the large quantities of hazardous materials around the world have been released from soil repositories, where they have also contaminated and harmed biota. Key burrowing parameters influencing these outcomes include the catalog of resident species, and their abundance, typical burrow volumes (void space created by soil displacement), burrow depth profiles, maximum depth of excavation, constituents and structural qualities of excavated soil mounds, and proportion of the ground covered by excavated soil. Other important parameters include rate of mound construction, depth of den chambers, and volume of burrow backfill. Soil bioturbation compromised the integrity of some hazardous waste management systems using soil, but the environmental impact remains largely unknown. Designers and operators of waste management facilities, as well as risk assessors, need to understand how burrowing animals influence hazardous waste storage.KEY WORDS: Burrowing; Environmental impact; Radioactivity; Risk; Soil bioturbation; Hazardous waste     

Green shipping practices in the shipping industry: Conceptualization, adoption, and implications

There have been increasing concerns about the adverse impacts on the environment caused by cargo movement in international trade. Different stakeholders ranging from shippers and carriers to government bodies and international communities have expressed worries about the environmental impacts brought by shipping related activities. The pollution and waste created in the shipping processes have imposed environmental burdens and accelerated resource depletion. The situation is set to worsen in the face of intensifying trade globalization, which has contributed to sustained growth in international shipping activities. To help protect the environment, many shipping firms have taken the initiative to find ways to lessen the environmental damage of their operations while enhancing their performance. The objective of this study is to examine the environmental awareness and the environmental measures taken in the shipping industry. We propose a conceptual framework for evaluating green shipping practices and develop several propositions stating the conditions under which shipping firms would behave in an environmentally responsible manner. We conclude with managerial and policy implications of the conceptual framework to promote green shipping practices in the shipping industry.     

川渝地区钻井作业清洁生产技术措施浅析

针对目前钻井作业存在的环境影响问题,提出合理的清洁生产措施,是当前钻井作业环境管理的重要工作内容。通过对川渝地区钻井作业过程中产生的主要污染物及其影响程度分析,提出钻井作业各阶段的清洁生产技术措施,着重对钻井废水、废弃泥浆提出控制、削减措施以及有效的处置方案,减少对周边环境和生态的不利影响,实现绿色勘探开发。     

碳中和视域下的垃圾精细化治理：日本吸收性卫生用品回收体系的构建经验及启示

通过循环利用，减少吸收性卫生用品产量和废弃量的陡增所带来的碳排放量，将加速碳中和进程。日本提供了吸收性卫生用品回收体系构建的先行经验，即以“政府引导—企业运作—社会团体协作”为顶层架构，明确制度、完备设施、完善渠道、宣传到户等。建议我国取长补短，在夯实法律法规和优化主体协同机制的基础上，重点着眼于突破技术壁垒、推动智慧化监管、深化绿色理念，以点带面推进吸收性卫生用品的回收循环试点，进一步推动垃圾分类精细化治理的进程。     

An introduction to reverse logistics for environmental management: A new system to support sustainability and profitability

The private-sector marketplace has identified the reengineering of the structure and management of the supply chain as a great untapped business opportunity. In traditional supply chains poorly structured operational and financial decision making institutionalized the poor management of material resources. This nonoptimized management process results in the generation of impaired material resources, which leads to solid and hazardous waste, as well as additional operating costs throughout the supply chain. The way in which the marketplace is addressing the issue of impaired material resources is by transferring the ownership and liability of impaired resources from the customer back to the supplier. The marketplace is also implicitly saying that the supplier must redesign its products to eliminate/minimize waste, or if the supplier fails to accomplish this goal, the supplier will be forced to absorb the costs associated with managing impaired material resources. The ramifications of this change are truly of historical proportions. The utility of a material resource to create wealth has throughout the centuries almost always required its ownership. Ownership has also denoted that the owner accept any liabilities created by the material resource. This is now all about to change. To support this change, a vastly expanded infrastructure and new management systems will have to be developed. This article shows how to manage the supply chain and impaired material resources. The new system that will operationally and financially manage these changes as well as create new organizational decision-making drivers is Reverse Logistics Management (RLM).     

Reverse logistics in Malaysia: Investigating the effect of green product design and resource commitment

Reverse logistics and green product design are green supply chain management practices that are being implemented to demonstrate firm's commitment to environmental sustainability. The generation of waste from electrical and electronic equipments prompts the viability of product recovery to salvage invested material and energy. Selection of various reverse logistics product disposition options relies on products’ residual value and the accessibility of reusable content for re-entry in forward supply chain. This study explores the effect of green product design and resource commitment on reverse logistics product disposition by employing empirical analysis on 89 returned mail survey received from ISO14001 certified electrical and electronic manufacturing firms in Malaysia. The results indicated that design for disassembly is necessary to harvest valuable inventories from every product disposition options except of disposal whereas design for environment and commitment of resources have slight influence on repair and disposal activities. As the evidences show that green product design and reverse logistics product disposition are interrelated, firms ought to undertake environmentally proactive approaches to generate benefits from resources that are undeservingly discarded as landfill waste.     

Applying tqem practices to pollution prevention at AT&T's columbus works plant

In recent years AT&T changed its focus on environmental policies from compliance to pollution prevention. Pollution prevention is an integrated program that includes design for the environment, “green” manufacturing, and a comprehensive program to reduce existing waste in production. The principles of Total Quality Management can be applied to pollution prevention as well as the more traditional manufacturing concepts. The project described in this article is one of several concurrent programs being conducted at AT&T'S Columbus Works to reduce overall waste produced by the facility by applying TQM practices.     

E‐waste in the world today: An overview of problems and a proposal for improvement in Brazil

Environmental issues have been at the center of society's concerns for a long time. Recently, this kind of concern is growing even more due to the damage caused to the environment by electrical and electronic product waste. Based on this same concern, this work aimed to analyze, through a literature review, the production and treatment of electronic waste in today's world, with an emphasis on Brazil and China. The articles reviewed point to an increase in the production of this type of waste, in both Brazil and China, and reveal that the current processes of treatment of electronic waste mostly aim to obtain profit through the recovery of precious metals such as copper. This paper concluded that although Brazil is one of the major producers of e‐waste, more than 90% of its e‐waste has not had a proper final destination. This deficiency in e‐waste treatment in Brazil is mainly due to financial factors and the lack of a robust educational policy focused on the environment. Thus, this work suggests the implementation of an effective educational policy aimed at environmental conservation, as well as investments in research on recycling methods in Brazil, especially on the use of e‐waste as an aggregate in the manufacture of concrete.     

A Paradigm of International Environmental Law: The Case for Controlling the Transboundary Movements of Hazardous Wastes

The production of large quantities of wastes globally has created a commercial activity involving the transfrontier shipments of hazardous wastes, intended to be managed at economically attractive waste-handling facilities located elsewhere. In fact, huge quantities of hazardous wastes apparently travel the world in search of “acceptable” waste management facilities. For instance, within the industrialized countries alone, millions of tonnes of potentially hazardous waste cross national frontiers each year on their way for recycling or to treatment, storage, and disposal facilities (TSDFs) because there is no local disposal capacity for these wastes, or because legal disposal or reuse in a foreign country may be more environmentally sound, or managing the wastes in the foreign country may be less expensive than at home. The cross-boundary traffic in hazardous wastes has lately been under close public scrutiny, however, resulting in the accession of several international agreements and laws to regulate such activities. This paper discusses and analyzes the most significant control measures and major agreements in this new commercial activity involving hazardous wastes. In particular, the discussion recognizes the difficulties with trying to implement the relevant international agreements among countries of vastly different socioeconomic backgrounds. Nonetheless, it is also noted that global environmental agreements will generally be a necessary component of ensuring adequate environmental protection for the world community—and thus a need for the careful implementation of such agreements and regulations.     

绿色水处理技术的应用与发展

采用绿色水处理技术是实现水资源可持续发展、环境保护和生态安全的重要措施。文章列举了膜分离、绿色氧化、绿色絮凝以及超声波、微波、电磁场等环保水处理技术,以及在国内外的研究应用现状探讨了绿色水处理技术的发展趋势。     

Creating successful partnerships with hazardous waste providers

Baxter Healthcare's Cardio Vascular Group (CVG) has formed a partnership with Advanced Environmental Technical Services (AETS, formerly called AETC), an 18-year-old environmental services company based in Flanders, New Jersey. With annual revenues of nearly $100 million, AETS is the largest privately owned environmental service company of its kind. Creating a partnership with providers of hazardous waste services has become necessary for many companies that find themselves downsizing and focusing their limited resources on their core businesses. More than merely waste haulers, hazardous waste management companies are being called on to train employees, develop environmental budgets, and even serve as on-site waste managers. AETS and Baxter Healthcare's CVG have created such a partnership and have successfully reduced Baxter's hazardous waste production by 56 percent since 1992. The lessons learned from this partnership are reported in this article.