Packaging glass contained in the heavy residual fraction refused by Portuguese Mechanical and Biological Treatment plants

Mechanical and Biological Treatment (MBT) is an important strategy to manage Municipal Solid Waste (MSW) in Europe. The presence of recyclable materials on MSW depends on different factors such as inefficiencies in the Municipal Solid Waste collecting schemes and to the low level of citizenship environmental education. Among other products, MBT plants produce a residual fraction, named here as heavy residual fraction, that contains a significant amount of packaging glass which in Portugal is currently landfilled. This material is not recycled because it is heavily contaminated with other materials, preventing its processing in Material Recovery Facilities (MRF).In this paper the characterization, including particle size and composition, of the residual fraction of six Portuguese MBT plants is presented. The relevant variables that determine the heavy residual fraction characteristics were identified. It was observed that the MBTr particle size distribution is different and depends mainly on the place on the flowsheet where the MBTr exits the process, which is determined by the type of biological process and by the aperture of the last screen where the product passes through. The content in glass varies from 33 to 83%. These values are mainly related with the upstream glass sorting and with the efficiency of the recovery of the organic fraction which is the glass main contaminant. The second main contaminant is “stones”.The quantity of glass contained in this product in all the plants that will be in operation in Portugal in 2014 was estimated. The work shows that if all the 48,000 of glass could be recovered the Portuguese recycling rate would increase by 4.4%.     

徐州市污水厂内分泌干扰物的去除及生态风险评价

对徐州市3家不同处理工艺污水厂进出水中的17α-乙炔基雌二醇(EE2)、雌三醇(E3)、雌二醇(E2)、雌酮(E1)、双酚A(BPA)等5种雌激素物质进行了分析,采用固相萃取技术对这些物质进行富集分离,使用LC-MS对目标物进行检测。结果表明,3座污水厂的雌激素(除BPA)平均进出水浓度较高,污水厂对EE2和BPA的去除效果较好,分别为84.89%和98.38%;但对E3、E2、E1去除效果不够理想。经对内分泌干扰物的雌激素活性及生态风险进行评价,建议徐州地区应优先控制EE2、E1和E3。     

Techno-economic analysis and environmental impact assessment of energy recovery from Municipal Solid Waste (MSW) in Brazil

Due to the lack of appropriate policies in the last decades, 60% of Brazilian cities still dump their waste in non-regulated landfills (the remaining ones dump their trash in regulated landfills), which represent a serious environmental and social problem. The key objective of this study is to compare, from a techno-economic and environmental point of view, different alternatives to the energy recovery from the Municipal Solid Waste (MSW) generated in Brazilian cities. The environmental analysis was carried out using current data collected in Betim, a 450,000 inhabitants city that currently produces 200 tonnes of MSW/day. Four scenarios were designed, whose environmental behaviour were studied applying the Life Cycle Assessment (LCA) methodology, in accordance with the ISO 14040 and ISO 14044 standards. The results show the landfill systems as the worst waste management option and that a significant environmental savings is achieved when a wasted energy recovery is done. The best option, which presented the best performance based on considered indicators, is the direct combustion of waste as fuel for electricity generation. The study also includes a techno-economical evaluation of the options, using a developed computer simulation tool. The economic indicators of an MSW energy recovery project were calculated. The selected methodology allows to calculate the energy content of the MSW and the CH₄ generated by the landfill, the costs and incomes associated with the energy recovery, the sales of electricity and carbon credits from the Clean Development Mechanism (CDM). The studies were based on urban centres of 100,000, 500,000 and 1,000,000 inhabitants, using the MSW characteristics of the metropolitan region of Belo Horizonte. Two alternatives to recovering waste energy were analyzed: a landfill that used landfill biogas to generate electricity through generator modules and a Waste-to-Energy (WtE) facility also with electricity generation. The results show that power generation projects using landfill biogas in Brazil strongly depend on the existence of a market for emissions reduction credits. The WtE plant projects, due to its high installation, Operation and Maintenance (O&M) costs, are highly dependent on MSW treatment fees. And they still rely on an increase of three times the city taxes to become attractive.     

An examination of governance within extended producer responsibility policy regimes in North America

Extended producer responsibility seeks to integrate environmental impacts into the product lifecycle and achieve greater economic efficiencies in the management of products at end of life. For such integration to be actualized, however, producers may need to be accorded greater programmatic authority and flexibility than is often in some EPR policies that stipulate defined roles for other entities along the product chain. The proper allocation of responsibility among the parties and, in particular, the roles of the producers and local authorities remains a principal component of EPR policy construction. The analysis outlines four broad categories of financial and programmatic responsibility that currently reside within EPR programs in North America. The article concludes with recommendations for a research agenda to further define the governance characteristics that result in effective and efficient EPR programs.     

A comprehensive waste collection cost model applied to post-consumer plastic packaging waste

Post-consumer plastic packaging waste (PPW) can be collected for recycling via source separation or post-separation. In source separation, households separate plastics from other waste before collection, whereas in post-separation waste is separated at a treatment centre after collection. There are also two collection schemes, either curb side or via drop-off locations. These different schemes have impact on total costs of collection at the municipal level. It can also influence the facility choices and network design. Therefore, a method which can compare costs of various collection schemes is needed.A comprehensive cost model was developed to compare costs of municipal collection schemes of PPW. The ‘municipal waste collection cost model’ is based on variables including fixed and variable costs per vehicle, personnel cost, container or bag costs as well as on emission costs (using imaginary carbon taxes). The model can be used for decision support when strategic changes to the collection scheme of municipalities are considered. The model takes into account the characteristics of municipalities, including urbanization degree and taxation schemes for household waste management.The model was applied to the Dutch case of post-consumer plastic packaging waste. Results showed that that in general post-separation collection has the lowest costs and curb side collection in urban municipalities without residual waste collection taxing schemes the highest. These results were supported by the conducted sensitivity analysis, which showed that higher source separation responses are negatively related to curb side collection costs. Greenhouse gas emission costs are a significant part of the total costs when collecting post-consumer plastic packaging waste due to the low density to weight ratio of the materials collect. These costs can amount to 15% of the total collection costs.     

环境监测转型期二级站质量管理工作的思考

分析了目前二级站质量管理工作存在的问题,指出质量管理人员综合业务素质有待提高,缺乏切实有效的环保系统内质量管理体系运行、监督、考核和责任追究制度,环境监测内部管理工作不适应现代环境监测需求,质量保证/质量控制和标准物质种类存在短板,不确定度应用未发挥真正实际作用等问题。提出应建立省级质量管理技术中心,构建适应新形式的质量管理工作体系,完善质量管理体系等对策建议。     

Environmental evaluation of plastic waste management scenarios

The management of the plastic fraction is one of the most debated issues in the discussion on integrated municipal solid waste systems. Both material and energy recovery can be performed on such a waste stream, and different separate collection schemes can be implemented. The aim of the paper is to contribute to the debate, based on the analysis of different plastic waste recovery routes. Five scenarios were defined and modelled with a life cycle assessment approach using the EASEWASTE model. In the baseline scenario (P0) the plastic is treated as residual waste and routed partly to incineration with energy recovery and partly to mechanical biological treatment. A range of potential improvements in plastic management is introduced in the other four scenarios (P1–P4). P1 includes a source separation of clean plastic fractions for material recycling, whereas P2 a source separation of mixed plastic fraction for mechanical upgrading and separation into specific polymer types, with the residual plastic fraction being down-cycled and used for “wood items”. In P3 a mixed plastic fraction is source separated together with metals in a “dry bin”. In P4 plastic is mechanically separated from residual waste prior to incineration.A sensitivity analysis on the marginal energy was carried out. Scenarios were modelled as a first step assuming that marginal electricity and heat were based on coal and on a mix of fuels and then, in the sensitivity analysis, the marginal energy was based on natural gas.The study confirmed the difficulty to clearly identify an optimal strategy for plastic waste management. In fact none of the examined scenarios emerged univocally as the best option for all impact categories. When moving from the P0 treatment strategy to the other scenarios, substantial improvements can be obtained for “Global Warming”. For the other impact categories, results are affected by the assumption about the substituted marginal energy. Nevertheless, irrespective of the assumptions on marginal energy, scenario P4, which implies the highest quantities of specific polymer types sent to recycling, resulted the best option in most impact categories.