Is Municipal Solid Waste Recycling Economically Efficient?

It has traditionally been argued that recycling municipal solid waste (MSW) is usually not economically viable and that only when externalities, long-term dynamic considerations, and/or the entire product life cycle are taken into account, recycling becomes worthwhile from a social point of view. This article explores the results of a wide study conducted in Israel in the years 2000–2004. Our results reveal that recycling is optimal more often than usually claimed, even when externality considerations are ignored. The study is unique in the tools it uses to explore the efficiency of recycling: a computer-based simulation applied to an extensive database. We developed a simulation for assessing the costs of handling and treating MSW under different waste-management systems and used this simulation to explore possible cost reductions obtained by designating some of the waste (otherwise sent to landfill) to recycling. We ran the simulation on data from 79 municipalities in Israel that produce over 60% of MSW in Israel. For each municipality, we were able to arrive at an optimal method of waste management and compare the costs associated with 100% landfilling to the costs born by the municipality when some of the waste is recycled. Our results indicate that for 51% of the municipalities, it would be efficient to adopt recycling, even without accounting for externality costs. We found that by adopting recycling, municipalities would be able to reduce direct costs by an average of 11%. Through interviews conducted with representatives of municipalities, we were also able to identify obstacles to the utilization of recycling, answering in part the question of why actual recycling levels in Israel are lower than our model predicts they should be.     

类水滑石对污泥焚烧飞灰浸出液中磷的纯化

采用Mg-Fe型类水滑石（LDH）吸附剂提纯污泥焚烧飞灰（ISSA）浸出液中的磷,探究了吸附剂煅烧对磷吸附效果的影响及磷吸附和脱附机理.研究发现,在高浓度磷溶液（>1000mg/L）中,未煅烧的类水滑石（LDHu）磷吸附容量高于煅烧后的类水滑石（LDHc）.LDHu具有典型的层状结构,磷的吸附与脱附主要通过磷和金属离子沉淀-溶解、静电吸附-排斥、配位作用和离子交换实现.而LDHc层状结构消失,形成双金属氧化物,不存在明显的阴离子交换作用.经LDHu或LDHc吸附和NaOH溶液脱附后,ISSA浸出液均具有良好的磷纯化效果,磷相对纯度从36%分别上升至77%和69%,磷回收率分别为84%和57%.纯化后的溶液适合制备高值含磷产物.     

垃圾填埋场渗滤液物化深度处理研究

通过Fenton法和结合聚合硫酸铁的混凝作用，实现垃圾渗滤液氧化塘出水COD的深度处理；并利用水泥水化产物的凝胶物质，强化COD去除率。30％H2O2投加量为0．75mL／L、七水硫酸亚铁投加量为1．5g／L、n（H2O2）：n（Fe^2＋）=1．2：1（摩尔比）时，Fenton法对渗滤液COD的去除率可达52％；水灰比为2：1、搅拌24h的水泥水化物将Fenton法的出水pH值从4调至10，该工艺流程总的COD去除率为73．6％，较普通的Ca（OH）2调节法提高9．3％，出水COD可以从进水的1200mg／L降至315mg／L。     

预浓缩与GC-MS联用分析垃圾填埋场恶臭气体

采用预浓缩与气相色谱-质谱联用,建立了垃圾填埋场几种恶臭气体的分析方法。该法用SUMMA罐采集垃圾填埋场臭气,经预浓缩系统冷凝浓缩后,用GC-MS分析测定。几种臭气的检出限均低于3.0×10-3mg/m3,经6次重复测定,其相对标准偏差低于10%。该法已用于西安市江村沟垃圾填埋场臭气的采样分析。该法的应用增强了西安市对臭气的监测分析能力。     

Landfill site selection using spatial information technologies and AHP: A case study in Beijing,China

Site selection is an important and necessary issue for waste management in fast-growing regions. Because of the complexity of waste management systems, the selection of the appropriate solid waste landfill site requires consideration of multiple alternative solutions and evaluation criteria. Based on actual conditions of the study area, we considered economic factors, calculated criteria weights using the analytical hierarchy process (AHP), and built a hierarchy model for solving the solid waste landfill site-selection problem in Beijing, China. A geographic information system (GIS) was used to manipulate and present spatial data. All maps are graded from 1 (lowest suitability) to 5 (highest suitability) using spatial information technologies. The candidate sites were determined by aggregation based on the criteria weights. The candidate sites are divided by ‘best’, ‘good’ and ‘unsuitable’ landfill areas. Best landfill areas represent optimal sites; good landfill areas can be used as back-up candidate sites. Our work offers a siting methodology and provides essential support for decision-makers in the assessment of waste management problems in Beijing and other rapidly developing cities in developing countries.     

生活垃圾渗滤液处理工艺探讨

分析了国内生活垃圾（以下简称垃圾）渗滤液的特点,探讨了一种比较科学的垃圾渗滤液处理工艺：沉淀-厌氧处理-MBR-纳滤处理,并且分析了各段工艺的原理、特点以及其作用。     

臭氧氧化法深度处理生活垃圾焚烧厂沥滤液

采用臭氧氧化法对生活垃圾焚烧厂沥滤液经生化处理后的废水(称沥滤液生化处理水)进行深度处理。实验结果表明,COD降解速率随废水pH的提高明显增加,其中pH=10.5时的COD降解速率常数约为pH=4时的5.8倍。在臭氧投量为52.92 mg/min、pH=10.5的条件下反应70 min后,UV254和COD去除率分别达到84.7%和59.3%。向反应体系投加叔丁醇后COD去除率下降了约15%,由羟自由基氧化去除的COD占总COD去除量的26.7%。毒性实验结果表明,沥滤液生化处理水的96 h-EC50为38%,经臭氧氧化进一步处理后出水的96 h-EC50为77%,表明经臭氧深度处理后沥滤液生化处理水的毒性明显降低。     

Performances of mesophilic anaerobic digestion systems treating poultry mortalities

Abstract

A closed‐loop anaerobic digestion system consisting of a leachbed (LB) and an upflow anaerobic sludge blanket (UASB) was tested as an alternative for the disposal of poultry mortalities. This paper compares the performances of three LB‐UASB treatment systems with different initial moisture contents in the LBs. Each LB was loaded with one chicken and 5, 10 or 18 liters of water. The LBs initially carried out the hydrolysis/acidification phase while the UASBs the methanogenesis phase. Due to repeated inoculation by the UASBs, the LBs with 10 and 18 liters of water started producing methane on day 5, while the one with 5 liters of water on day 19. However, methane production rates were low before day 40 for the LB with 10 liters of water and day 60 for the other LBs. Methane production gradually improved as the LBs continued to receive ungranulated sludge from the UASBs. The LBs eventually became balanced methane reactors. Continued balanced fermentation in the LBs resulted in leachates with very low substrate concentrations that could no longer support high‐rate methanogenesis in the UASBs. Consequently, methane production rates from the UASBs decreased quickly while that from the LBs reached peak levels. Cumulative methane production from each LB eventually exceeded that from its connecting UASB. After 118 days of digestion, 414, 437 and 470 liters of methane were produced from the three systems, respectively. Cumulative methane production from the LBs with 5 and 18 liters of water accounted for 63% of the total methane produced from their respective systems. The LB with 10 liters of water produced 75% of the total methane from that system. Methane yields ranged from 0.485 to 0.554 m³ (Kg TS) ¹. About 86% of the initial dry weight was biodegraded. All three systems performed very well with little operational problems. Overall, the system that started with 10 liters of water in the LB performed the best. Strategy for enhancing system performances and implementing farm applications are discussed.     

Biogeochemistry at a wetland sediment–alluvial aquifer interface in a landfill leachate plume

The biogeochemistry at the interface between sediments in a seasonally ponded wetland (slough) and an alluvial aquifer contaminated with landfill leachate was investigated to evaluate factors that can effect natural attenuation of landfill leachate contaminants in areas of groundwater/surface-water interaction. The biogeochemistry at the wetland-alluvial aquifer interface differed greatly between dry and wet conditions. During dry conditions (low water table), vertically upward discharge was focused at the center of the slough from the fringe of a landfill-derived ammonium plume in the underlying aquifer, resulting in transport of relatively low concentrations of ammonium to the slough sediments with dilution and dispersion as the primary attenuation mechanism. In contrast, during wet conditions (high water table), leachate-contaminated groundwater discharged upward near the upgradient slough bank, where ammonium concentrations in the aquifer where high. Relatively high concentrations of ammonium and other leachate constituents also were transported laterally through the slough porewater to the downgradient bank in wet conditions. Concentrations of the leachate-associated constituents chloride, ammonium, non-volatile dissolved organic carbon, alkalinity, and ferrous iron more than doubled in the slough porewater on the upgradient bank during wet conditions. Chloride, non-volatile dissolved organic carbon (DOC), and bicarbonate acted conservatively during lateral transport in the aquifer and slough porewater, whereas ammonium and potassium were strongly attenuated. Nitrogen isotope variations in ammonium and the distribution of ammonium compared to other cations indicated that sorption was the primary attenuation mechanism for ammonium during lateral transport in the aquifer and the slough porewater. Ammonium attenuation was less efficient, however, in the slough porewater than in the aquifer and possibly occurred by a different sorption mechanism. A stoichiometrically balanced increase in magnesium concentration with decreasing ammonium and potassium concentrations indicated that cation exchange was the sorption mechanism in the slough porewater. Only a partial mass balance could be determined for cations exchanged for ammonium and potassium in the aquifer, indicating that some irreversible sorption may be occurring.Although wetlands commonly are expected to decrease fluxes of contaminants in riparian environments, enhanced attenuation of the leachate contaminants in the slough sediment porewater compared to the aquifer was not observed in this study. The lack of enhanced attenuation can be attributed to the fact that the anoxic plume, comprised largely of recalcitrant DOC and reduced inorganic constituents, interacted with anoxic slough sediments and porewaters, rather than encountering a change in redox conditions that could cause transformation reactions. Nevertheless, the attenuation processes in the narrow zone of groundwater/surface-water interaction were effective in reducing ammonium concentrations by a factor of about 3 during lateral transport across the slough and by a factor of 2 to 10 before release to the surface water. Slough porewater geochemistry also indicated that the slough could be a source of sulfate in dry conditions, potentially providing a terminal electron acceptor for natural attenuation of organic compounds in the leachate plume.     

An Evaluation of Techniques to Control Problem Bird Species on Landfill Sites

Birds feeding on landfill sites cause problems in terms of nuisance to neighbors, flight safety, a threat to public health, and affecting the day to day site operation. A number of control measures exist to deter problem species; however, research into their effectiveness across sites and for multiple species has been limited. We use a modeling approach in order to assess the effectiveness of nine techniques — pyrotechnics, hand-held distress calls, static distress calls, blank ammunition, a combination of blank and lethal use of ammunition, the use of falcons, the use of hawks, wailers and helium-filled bird-scaring kites — at deterring three commonly recorded species — the Black-headed Gull (Larus ridibundus), the Herring Gull (Larus argentatus) and the Lesser Black-backed Gull (Larus fuscus) — from six landfill sites across the United Kingdom. The use of distress calls, falconry, and combinations of lethal and nonlethal use of ammunition were the most effective techniques for initially deterring birds from these sites. However, when habituation is considered, there is a clear difference between techniques such as falconry, which have a lethal aspect and may act to reinforce the deterrence, and the use of techniques such as distress calls, which do not. However there are problems related to legislation and public perception when lethal techniques are used.