Sustainable development principles for the disposal of mining and mineral processing wastes

This paper examines the minerals industry's response to sustainable development in the area of waste disposal and argues that leadership and guidance are still needed to forge collective agreement on norms and standards of practise. To encourage further debate, the paper develops a set of sustainable development principles for the disposal of mining and mineral processing wastes, and discusses the implications for current and future practise. In practise, the principles can guide waste disposal decisions through the consideration of what risk and magnitude, in any given local context, a particular management solution poses to their application. The sustainability challenge in the management of tailings and waste rock is to dispose of material, such that it is inert or, if not, stable and contained, to minimise water and energy inputs and the surface footprint of wastes and to move toward finding alternate uses. Future trends in mining and processing may compound the challenges of waste management, as lower ore grades increase the ratio of waste produced for a given unit of resource, and emphasise the urgency and need for the industry to adopt new approaches. New technologies and innovations, such as thickened tailings, dry stacking and paste backfill, have greatly increased the waste disposal methods available to meet the future challenges to sustainable development.     

The impact of the COVID-19 pandemic on the safety management in Italian Seveso industries

The paper discusses the impact of the COVID-19 pandemic on the Italian chemical and process industries, where Directive 2012/18/EU Seveso III, for the control of Major Accident Hazard (MAH), is enforced. The Safety Management System (SMS) for the control of MAH, which has been mandatory for 20 years in Italian Seveso Establishments, has been highly stressed by the external pressure, related in some way to the COVID-19 pandemic. Fairly, most companies, in particular in oil and gas sectors, have demonstrated an adequate capability to reconcile operation continuity and health requirements. This experience is providing the establishment operators and the regulators with valuable suggestions for the improvements of the SMS-MAH. Within this framework, an innovative organisational resilience model is proposed, aiming at the development of a higher capability to face future new crisis. The current SMS-MAH already includes some basic pillars to enhance resilience, which were valuable during the pandemic crisis, but a full and rationale development is still needed. Starting from the first pandemic phase experience, this paper presents a novel tool to assess the degree of “resilience” of a SMS-MAH. It is based on a questionnaire, featuring 25 questions grouped into eight items, according to the typical SMS-MAH structure. A two level AHP model has been developed in order to define the weights to be assigned to each point. The AHP panel included industrial practitioners, regulators, authorities and researchers. The results are based on the COVID-19 experience and consequently the developed model is tailored to face health emergencies, but the approach may be easily transferred to other external crises.     

新型冠状病毒肺炎疫情对城市建筑内电梯检验检测及设计的影响

新冠疫情是一个需要多学科、多行业、多部门协同配合,才能有效应对的重大公共健康挑战。本文简要介绍了新型冠状病毒(COVID-19)的疫情发展过程,解析了它的传播途径及防护级别分级,并依据国家市场监督管理总局的疫情防控期间电梯安全监管指导思想,重点分析了疫情对电梯检验检测的影响及对策,探索了电梯设计中防疫技术的开发,为当前及未来可能发生的疫情防控中电梯的检验检测及安全健康运行提供技术支撑。     

疫情背景下长江中游地区典型饮用水源中PPCPs分布特征与风险评估

对新冠疫情（COVID-19）背景下长江中游武汉段的18个集中式饮用水源地共26个采样点进行水体样品采集.采用超高效液相色谱三重四极杆串联质谱（UPLC-MS/MS）对样品中的药品与个人护理品（PPCPs）的31种物质进行检测,分析了PPCPs的污染特征和生态与健康风险.结果表明,在26个采样点中,共检出23种PPCPs,其中有5种物质在所有点位均有检出,ΣPPCPs浓度范围介于102.44~745.78 ng·L^-1,平均值为206.87 ng·L^-1.检出污染物浓度最高的物质为水杨酸和强力霉素,浓度范围介于28.24~534.24 ng·L^-1和28.72~416.60 ng·L^-1.从空间分布来看,汉江抗生素类PPCPs浓度整体高于长江,而其他种类PPCPs,则表现为长江较高于汉江.生态风险评价结果表明,汉江的生态风险高于长江,藻类风险水平高于无脊椎动物和鱼类,其中水杨酸、强力霉素、林可霉素和金霉素对藻类风险水平较高.健康风险评价结果表明,饮水途径对成人及儿童产生的风险范围分别介于1.14×10^-4~1.36×10^-1和1.04×10^-4~8.21×10^-1,风险水平总体较低,但儿童健康风险高于成人,需要引起重视.通过与近年来长江和汉江流域PPCPs的检出情况对比,疫情背景下长江武汉段PPCPs的污染水平属于中等水平,汉江武汉段的PPCPs污染水平较高.     

Biological treatment of the dye Reactive Blue 19 by cattails and anaerobic bacterial consortia

This study demonstrates the bioremediation potential of anaerobic sludge and cattail (Typha angustifolia) for the treatment of the dye Reactive Blue 19 (RB19). The anaerobic sludge and cattails used in this study were not previously exposed to dyes or other xenobiotics. Different anaerobic sludge concentrations (30%, 50%, and 70%) were used along fixed dye concentrations at pH 8.0 and 25 °C. Subsequently, 50% sludge was selected to treat RB19 at various concentrations. The discoloration of non-hydrolyzed dye was between 70% and 85% using 50% biomass. For the hydrolyzed form of RB19, the range of decoloration was 70%–90%. Dye treatment efficiencies between 50% and 75% were observed for the two forms of the dye when treated with T. angustifolia. Overall, the anaerobic biomass at pH 8.0 showed better potential than cattails to treat RB19. The observation that non-enriched anaerobic sludge can decolorize RB19 is important because it opens up the prospects of developing anaerobic treatment systems, which can easily decolorize dyes in industrial wastewaters and also possesses potential advantages over systems using defined bacterial cultures.     

Repercussions of COVID-19 pandemic on solid waste generation and management strategies

• Implication of COVID-19 on medical waste and MSW generation is studied. • Challenges and effective strategy of solid waste generation is reviewed. • 2.9 million tons of COVID-19 related medical waste has been generated until Sep. 22. • The pandemic has postponed policies related to the reduction of plastic use. • Blockade resulted in a significant drop in waste generation in some regions. It has been over ten months since the beginning of the 2019 coronavirus disease (COVID-2019), and its impact on solid waste management, especially medical waste, is becoming clearer. This study systematically reviews the potential influences of the COVID-19 pandemic on medical waste, personal protection equipment waste and municipal solid waste (MSW), and discusses the corresponding measures and policies of solid waste management in typical countries. The results show that the generation of medical waste from the pandemic increased significantly, with 18%‒425% growth. It is estimated that the daily output of COVID-19 medical waste increased from 200 t/d on Feb. 22 to over 29000 t/d at the end of September 2020 throughout the world. The use of personal protective equipment will continue to grow in the long-term, while the blockade and isolation measures greatly reduced the volume of commercial waste, especially for tourist cities, and part of this waste was transferred to household waste. Residents’ attitudes and behavior toward food waste have changed due to the COVID-19 pandemic. In response to the pandemic, international organizations and several countries have issued new policies and guidelines and adjusted their management strategies for medical waste and MSW treatment. The pandemic has brought specific challenges to the disposal capacity of medical waste worldwide. It has also brought about the stagnation of policies related to the reduction of plastic products and waste recycling. This study will provide some useful information for managers and governmental officials on effective solid waste management during and after the COVID-19 pandemic.     

Conducting conservation social science surveys online

The coronavirus (COVID-19) pandemic is affecting the environment and conservation research in fundamental ways. Many conservation social scientists are now administering survey questionnaires online, but they must do so while ensuring rigor in data collection. Further, they must address a suite of unique challenges, such as the increasing use of mobile devices by participants and avoiding bots or other survey fraud. We reviewed recent literature on online survey methods to examine the state of the field related to online data collection and dissemination. We illustrate the review with examples of key methodological decisions made during a recent national study of people who feed wild birds, in which survey respondents were recruited through an online panel and a sample generated via a project participant list. Conducting surveys online affords new opportunities for participant recruitment, design, and pilot testing. For instance, online survey panels can provide quick access to large and diverse samples of people. Based on the literature review and our own experiences, we suggest that to ensure high-quality online surveys one should account for potential sampling and nonresponse error, design survey instruments for use on multiple devices, test the instrument, and use multiple protocols to identify data quality problems. We also suggest that research funders, journal editors, and policy makers can all play a role in ensuring high-quality survey data are used to inform effective conservation programs and policies.     

COVID-19疫情期间成都市地面臭氧污染特征及气象成因分析

受COVID-19疫情影响,我国各地采取了一系列封锁管控措施,由此导致大气污染物排放强度降低.本文以成都市为例,分析了2020年上半年的气象条件和大气污染浓度特征,并重点对臭氧浓度变化及同期对比结果进行了细致分析.结果表明：①与2019年同期相比,除O₃外的5种污染物（NO₂、CO、SO₂、PM₁₀、PM_2.5）浓度均降低,降幅分别为13.60%、8.96%、6.30%、4.56%、1.80%,而O₃浓度却异常升高,升幅最大值分别出现在2月（35.1%）和5月（36.1%）.②2020年上半年,O₃浓度高值出现时间较2015—2019年提前,气象条件较有利于臭氧的生成.100 hPa和500 hPa位势高度为正距平,气温、日照时数较往年升高,相对湿度和降水量下降,以静小风为主.③2020年4月25日—5月6日臭氧污染持续时间长,主要是由于复工复产导致臭氧前体物排放增加,以及稳定的天气形势,使成都长时间处于高温（>30℃）、低湿（40%~60%）、静小风（1.3 m·s^-1）等不利扩散的气象条件下.气团后向轨迹和污染潜在源区表明研究区受到来自成都偏东一带及川南地区高污染气团短距离输送的影响.     

基于WRF-Chem和EMI指数的新冠肺炎疫情期间沈阳市大气污染物浓度变化原因分析

利用2015—2020年沈阳市空气质量监测数据、地面气象观测资料、环境气象评估指数（EMI）产品、NCEP再分析资料及WRF-Chem数值模式,分析新冠肺炎疫情防控期间沈阳市主要大气污染物和气象要素的变化情况,研究空气质量对污染物减排和气象要素变化的响应.结果表明：疫情防控导致沈阳市PM_2.5、PM₁₀和NO₂质量浓度下降,但O₃质量浓度小幅增加;PM_2.5和NO₂对人为减排的响应更敏感;防控期内沈阳市气象条件有利于污染物的清除,气象条件使PM_2.5质量浓度下降16.37%,防控减排措施导致PM_2.5质量浓度下降22.96%;在疫情防控的背景下,不利的气象条件和污染物排放的突然增加共同造成重污染天气发生,其中不利气象条件的贡献大于排放增加的贡献;减排措施对防控期间重污染天气过程污染物峰值浓度有明显的削弱作用.     

厦门湾空气质量对新冠疫情管控的响应

通过对厦门湾城市群在COVID-19封锁前后6周内（2020-01-11~2020-02-21）的空气污染物浓度变化进行分析,以确定影响本区域空气质量的主要人为污染源.在春节假期与封锁叠加期间,SO₂、NO₂、CO、PM₁₀和PM_2.5浓度相比于节前1周的下降幅度分别为6%~22%、53%~70%、34%~48%、47%~64%和53%~60%,而O₃浓度变化没有一致的规律性;与2018~2019年历史同期相比,PM_2.5、PM₁₀、CO和NO₂的下降幅度更大,但SO₂的下降幅度相当;在复工复产后,NO₂的反弹幅度最大（38%~138%）,远高于SO₂（2%~42%）,显示交通源相对于固定源更易受到疫情管控的影响;春节后风速增大和降水增多也为SO₂、NO₂和PM的下降提供了正向影响.利用反距离插值权重法,得到管控前后厦门湾城市群不同污染物的空间分布变化特征,显示NO₂浓度高值区的变化与交通源高度相关,CO和SO₂空间分布特征保持稳定,复工后PM_2.5和PM₁₀在人口与路网密集区变化不明显,而在工地相对集中区域有明显上升,O₃空间分布的低值区与NO₂的高值区具有较好的空间匹配性,显示NO₂对O₃滴定作用明显,可为进一步O₃污染减排措施的制定提供参考.