What is left behind when the lights go off? Comparing the abundance and composition of litter in urban areas with different intensity of nightlife use in Mar del Plata,Argentina

Nightlife activities represents an important source of urban litter; the latter often being left behind or abandoned in public places and streets. Mar del Plata is a very important city on the Atlantic coast of Argentina and is the main tourism destination in the South Atlantic region of South America. However, few studies on urban litter related to nightlife activities have been conducted in the area. Here we assessed (i) the abundance and composition of litter, and (ii) the spatial and temporal variations of its abundance, diversity, richness and evenness in urbanized areas with different intensity of nightlife activities from April 2008 to March 2009. An overall of 13,503 items were counted. Around 92% of the total litter was comprised by cigarette butts, papers and plastics. We found significant spatial differences in the abundance of litter between sampling sites, with the greatest amounts of litter at the Alem site followed by the Hipólito site (both with an intensive nightlife activity) compared with the Chauvin site (a quiet high-income neighborhood). The composition of litter of the Alem and the Hipólito sites was relatively similar and both sites differ with respect to the Chauvin site. Cigarette butts, papers, and plastics were the items that contributed most to the dissimilarity between sampling sites. The diversity of litter was the single community parameter that significantly differed from the other seasons. We discussed the potential effect of nightlife activities on the amounts and quality of urban litter in the city of Mar del Plata.     

Waste on the roadside, 'poi-sute' waste: its distribution and elution potential of pollutants into environment

Waste on the roadside, 'poi-sute' waste, was collected in a typical suburb in Japan (Ueda city, the sampling course: 3.2 km). The distribution, characterization of the 'poi-sute' waste and the loading of pollutants from the waste were studied. The average number of pieces of total waste was 690 pieces a month, and 220 pieces of waste were dumped a month per km. There was a tendency for much waste to be discarded around shops staying open until late at night. Regarding the sorts of the waste, cigarette butts are the most prevalent (the average was 150 cigarette butts/km/mo), and second was plastic materials. As for the weight, cigarette butts, plastics and papers were at a similar level (about 90 g/km/mo). The elution of arsenic (0.041 mg/L) and nicotine (3.8 mg/L) was ascertained by a dissolution test of 'poi-sute' cigarette butts obtained by sampling. Furthermore, the loading of heavy metals, such as lead, copper, chromium and cadmium, and polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons (PAHs) from cigarette butts into the environment was confirmed. The load potentials of heavy metals were 0.020-1.7 mg/km/mo, and that of total-polyaromatic hydrocarbons was 0.032 mg/km/mo. These results indicate that the 'poi-sute' waste has a harmful influence on the environment.     

Seasonal evolution of beach waste and litter during the bathing season on the Catalan coast

Beach waste and litter composition and evolution on popular urban (located in the main nucleus of the municipality) and urbanized (located in residential areas outside the main nucleus) beaches of the Costa Brava (Catalan coast) were assessed during the bathing season. Waste and litter production (amount and composition) were affected by urbanization and varied during the summer. Urban beaches had higher densities of waste deposition and lower percentages of organic, domestic and other miscellaneous waste than urbanized beaches. Litter characteristics were also influenced by type of beach, and varied during the season as a consequence of beach use and cleaning practices, but not environmental factors. Urbanized beaches obtained higher scores for aesthetic quality of sand than urban beaches, and small-sized litter tended to accumulate during the season in the beach of Lloret Centre. The most important problems are management of recyclable materials, litter left by users on the sand, and separation of sand from litter. In addition, current efficiency of mechanical cleaning is low, especially in the withdrawal of cigarette butts. These analyses highlight problems that should be addressed in future management of area beaches.     

Relative Contribution of Various Diesel Vehicle Classes to the Thessaloniki Urban Air Pollution

Within the framework of this paper an attempt is made in order to assess the relative contribution of the main diesel vehicle classes; namely, buses, taxis and heavy goods vehicles (HGVs) to the air pollution of the Thessaloniki (Greece) urban area based on an emission factors approach. Data sets refer to the situation before and after the construction of the city ring road. Findings show the significant contribution of the ring road to the urban air pollution decrease. This reduction could be mainly attributed to the observed significant traffic decrease of HGVs in the city center between 1988 and 1998. Small changes have been observed during the same period for the bus and taxi traffic in the city center. Also, the improvement of the diesel fuel quality and the temporal renewal of the diesel vehicles are considered as important factors for the observed temporal decreasing trend of the air pollutants with diesel oil origin.     

Fluxes and Loading of Heavy Metals, Benzo[a]pyrene and Oil Products in Vilnius City

The concentrations of heavy metals Pb, Cd, Cu, Zn and Hg, benzo[a]pyrene and oil products (C₁₅–C₂₈) in bulk (wet and dry) atmospheric deposition in Vilnius city in 2005–2006 were analysed. The highest flux to the ground surface of the city residential area, reaching 1,680 mg m^?2 year^?1, was determined for oil products, which in atmospheric bulk deposition was estimated to be mainly in the form of solid sediments. Among heavy metals, the highest flux was determined for Zn (113.5 mg m^?2 year^?1), while the lowest flux was determined for Hg (0.06 mg m^?2 year^?1). The flux of investigated pollutants ranges from a few times, or for some pollutants, up to one order of magnitude higher at the urban sampling site in comparison to residential or background sites. Some hundred tons of oil products, approximately 52 tons of zinc and a considerably lower amount of mercury, benzo[a]pyrene and cadmium deposit yearly to the ground and water surface of Vilnius city. Metallic constructions related to transport and buildings, automobile exhausts, spills of fuel and lubricants are suggested to be the factors which result in the accumulation of high amounts of heavy metals, oil products and other pollutants on the ground surface of the city.     

Anthropogenic Calcium Particles Observed in Beijing and Qingdao, China

Analysis of individual particles collected at Beijing in northern China revealed that particles abundant in calcium (Ca) always constituted a large fraction of mineral particles in the urban atmosphere. The particles were characterized by cubic morphologies. The major mineral element in the particles was Ca and few or no other mineral elements were detected. A large number of the particles were in the range of diameter <1 μm, where common natural mineral particles were rarely detected. The contribution of the Ca particles to the volume of total mineral particles greatly exceeded that of other mineral particles during non-dust-storm periods and was comparable to that during dust-storm periods. Reagent film tests showed that particulate sulfate and nitrate formation on the Ca particles was similar to that on common mineral particles. These results indicate that a large portion of Ca in the atmospheric particulate matter in Beijing was from anthropogenic sources rather than from natural sources, and the anthropogenic Ca particles acted as a significant medium for the formation of sulfate and nitrate. Similar particles were also detected at Qingdao, a coastal city in northern China. Data of a dust storm event showed that Ca-abundant particles from East China arrived there and moved out of the continent, similarly to Asian dust storm particles, suggesting possible contributions of anthropogenic Ca even in Asian dust storm samples in the downstream areas. Therefore, Ca may not be a good indicator of Asian dust from natural sources. However, the Ca particles, due to their unique shapes and elemental compositions, may provide an indicator for the atmospheric dispersion of anthropogenic particulate matters in East Asia.     

Marine Debris &; Plastics: Environmental Concerns,Sources, Impacts and Solutions

Marine debris (marine litter) is one of the most pervasive and solvable pollution problems plaguing the world’s oceans and waterways. Nets, food wrappers, cigarette filters, bottles, resin pellets, and other debris items can have serious impacts on wildlife, habitat, and human safety. Successful management of the problem requires a comprehensive understanding of both marine debris and human behavior. Knowledge is key for consumers to make appropriate choices when it comes to using and disposing of waste items. Education and outreach programs, strong laws and policies, and governmental and private enforcement are the building blocks for a successful marine pollution prevention initiative. The plastic industry also has a role to play in educating its employees and customers, and searching for technological mitigation strategies.     

Validating a New Model for N Sequestration in Forest Soil Organic Matter

A conceptual model for N sequestration into the terrestrial nitrogen(N) sink is presented. The model uses foliar litter-fall data, limit values for litter decomposition, and calculated N concentration at the limit value (N_limit), giving the N concentration in the hypothesized stable remains. The N_limit values were determined extrapolating a linear relationship between accumulated litter mass loss and the increasing litter N concentration to the limit value. Thesequestration rates for N in boreal forest humus were calculated and validated for a Scots pine (Pinus sylvestris L.) monocultural stand and mixed stands with Scots pine, Norway spruce (Picea abies L.), and silver birch (Betula pendula L.). The calculated stable N fraction was compared to actually measured amounts of N in humus layers that started to accumulate 2984, 2081, 1106, and 120 yr BP. Sequestration rates of N were measured to be 0.255, 0.221, 0.147, and 0.168 g m^-2 yr^-1 and modeled to be 0.204, 0.207, 0.190, and 0.190 g m^-2 yr^-1, respectively, with missing fractions being 11.0, 1.5, 30.8, and 13.3%, respectively. The more N-rich the litter, the larger was the N fraction sequestered. This was found for experimental Scots pine needle litter (n = 6) and for 53 decomposition studies, encompassing seven litter species. The amounts of N sequestered annually ranged from ca. 1–2 kg ha^-1 yr^-1 under nutrient-poor boreal conditions to about 30 kgha^-1 yr^-1 in temperate, more nutrient-rich forests.     

Acid soluble bio-organic substances isolated from urban bio-waste. Chemical composition and properties of products

As previous work proposed commercial expectations for soluble bio-organic substances (SBO) isolated from compost of urban food, gardening and park trimming residues as chemical auxiliaries, nine urban bio-wastes (BW) treated by aerobic and anaerobic digestion for 0-360 days were used to extract SBO and investigate source variability effects on product chemical composition and properties. The bio-wastes were collected over a 13732 km² area populated by 2.9 millions from 565 municipalities. The SBO were characterized by their content of different C types and functional groups and by their distribution coefficient (K_PEGW) between polyethylene glycol and water. A significant linear correlation was found between K_PEGW and the lipophilic/hydrophilic C ratio. The investigated SBO exhibited up to sixfold change of K_PEGW demonstrating that BW available from densely populated urban areas are an interesting exploitable source of a wide variety of potential products for the chemical market.     

The Effects of SO2 Pollutant on Forest Tree Needles at Mountainous Land around Izmir (Turkey)

Around the city of Izmir, Yamanlar – Manisa (north) Karabelen (south) andKemalpasa mountainous areas exist. The forested area in total covers 122,613.5 ha on these mountainous areas. This forested area has 6,146,387 m³ of wood potential. Industrial complex surroundingthe Aliaga, and thermo-electric power plants working with lignitecoal in the Soma region and some other small industrial establishmentsare located around Izmir and Manisa. These establishements have a vital importance in polluting the air. The forest, which suffers especially from SO₂ pollution, consists of Pinus brutia and Pinus nigra. Sulphur contents in 1, 2, 3 yr old needles of the trees were determined to range between 2000–8000 ppm. Microscopic investigation of the tree needles revealed that black blights on the needles indicate destruction of the cells. Annual ring thickness of trees measured showed that there has been a reduction in the forest growth and thisreduction is becoming more serious each year. Reduction in the wood production causes hundreds of billions of Turkish lira of economic loss to the Forestry Administration. It has been concluded at the end of this study that in order to stop theharm that the forests suffer, industrial establishments must pay an `ecological costs' to be added to their product cost items.     

Digital Air Photo Processing for Mapping of Copper Roof Distribution and Estimation of Related Copper Pollution

Emission of metals in the urbanenvironment is a growing concern throughout theworld. In order to identify metal emissionssources in the Stockholm metropolitan region, amethod for detailed mapping of roof coatings andother urban land covers has been developedconducted. High accuracy area calculation ofcopper roof coatings based on scanned aerialphotography was used. The geometric resolution ofthe digital photographs was 0.4 metre. Imagelayers with identified copper roof objects weremerged with a digital elevation model of 1 metregeometric resolution. The slope gradient for eachroof was calculated in order to account for slopein the calculation of roof areas. In total,622,590 m² of copper roofs were accounted,of which 176,845 m² and 447,745 m²represent new and patinated copper respectively.The number of copper roofs larger than 1,000m² was 142. Applying corrosion and runoffrates on these figures, a yearly Cu flux ofapproximately 1,200 kg in Stockholm may bederived from copper coated building.     

Life cycle assessment of biodiesel fuel production from waste cooking oil in Okayama City

A life cycle assessment (LCA) is performed to make clear of the actual environment impacts from conversation of waste cooking oil (WCO) to biodiesel fuel (BDF) in Okayama. A scenario analysis is carried out based on different participation rate of residents who separate WCO from general waste, corresponding to different BDF utilisation rate in transportation system. Sub scenarios complying with different gas emission standards regarding vehicles are designed as well. Afterwards, life cycle impact assessment is conducted to focus on global warming, acidification, and urban air pollution. Overall improvement of almost all kinds of life cycle inventories is significant when diesel is replaced with BDF, demonstrating that a shift from WCO-to-incineration to WCO-to-BDF is more beneficial. Under carbon neutral, compared to base scenario (S0), about 746.05 ton CO₂ emission will be reduced annually in the scenario with 100 % BDF utilisation in vehicles (S4). Meanwhile, total external cost in three environmental impacts (EI) sharply reduces by 51.90 %, showing much economic sustainability in S4. Moreover, the manufacturing cost for producing one litter WCO-to-BDF is 97.32 Yen. Sensitivity analysis shows that the gas emission standard regarding vehicles had much bigger effect on EI than BDF manufacturing process in this research.     

Total Lead and Stable Lead Isotopes in Stockholm Sediments

Lead (Pb) in the environment is derived from both naturaland anthropogenic sources. The aim of this study is to estimate the isotopic signature of anthropogenic Pb in sediments from a highly contaminated area (Stockholm), to discuss the influence of different sources on this signature, and to suggest natural Pb background concentrations. Also distribution patterns and differences between different water areas in Stockholm have been studied, both by total Pb and stable Pb isotopes. In 1993, sediment samples were collected at 24 stations in the Stockholm area and analysed for total Pb, zirconium (Zr), scandium (Sc) and stable Pb isotopes (^{204, 206-208}Pb). Total Pb data show that the Stockholm sediments are severely contaminated by Pb. The contamination seems to be rather local since the small lakes surrounding the central parts of Stockholm are much less effected than the central parts. Stockholm is clearly influenced by anthropogenic and natural sources, but in some of the small lakes also by Pb in zircons from the geological basement. The anthropogenic Pb in Stockholm has typical ²⁰⁷Pb/²⁰⁶Pb ratios of 0.85–0.89 and ²⁰⁸Pb/²⁰⁴Pb ratios of 36–38, which are distinct from natural sources. Pb/Sc ratios suggest that the natural background Pb concentration is 10–20 mg kg^-1 d.w.     

Atmospheric Budget of Non-Seasalt Chlorine in the Kanto District,Japan

To evaluate the influence of anthropogenic emission of HCl on the air quality in the Kanto district of Japan, the atmospheric budgetof non-seasalt Cl (nssCl) was analyzed. The Kanto district, which consists of the Tokyo metropolis and the six surrounding prefectures, is the most densely populated region in Japan. The emission intensity of HCl is extremely high compared with those in other regions and most western countries. In this study, the annual wet and dry depositions of nssClwere estimated on a 0.25 × 0.25° grid over the Kanto district based on the concentration monitoring resultsand meteorological data. The budget analysis was conducted by comparing the estimated deposition with the emission of HCl. As a result, the annual total (wet + dry) deposition of nssCl was estimated to be 32 kt yr^-1, which closely agreed with HCl emission (36 kt yr^-1) from waste incineration in this area. The result suggested that the anthropogenic emission of HCl had a significant influence on the air quality and the deposition of acidity in this area.     

Air Quality Management in Izmir Region of Turkey as Required by Clean Air Plans

As a first step to work out an abatement plan against air pollution, a local emission inventory with 1 hr temporal and 1 km spatial resolution in the city of Izmir and its surroundings was prepared. The study area consisted of a 200 × 170 km² rectangle having the city of Izmir at the centre. The studied pollutants were total particulate matter (PM), sulfur oxides (SO_x), nitrogen oxides (NO_x), volatile organic compounds (VOC) and carbon monoxide (CO). Emissions of these pollutants were determined by estimation methods making use of suitable emission factors. Emission sources were evaluated in three categories; point, area and line sources. For year 2000 total emissions in the study area on an average day were estimated as 173 tons PM, 299 tons SOx, 136 tons NOx, 68 tons VOC and 320 tons CO. At the second part of the study, calculated emissions were transformed into air quality predictions in the area by using the Industrial Source Complex – Short Term (ISCST3) dispersion model. Model results were tested with monitoring data from urban air quality stations obtained during the year 2000. Results of the past, present and future air quality estimates in the region were discussed. In order to do so, future scenarios including various control technology applications were formulated and tested to see their effect on the future air quality.     

Pneumatic vs. door-to-door waste collection systems in existing urban areas: a comparison of economic performance

Pneumatic waste collection systems are becoming increasingly popular in new urban residential areas, and an attractive alternative to conventional vehicle-operated municipal solid waste (MSW) collection also in ready-built urban areas. How well pneumatic systems perform in ready-built areas is, however, an unexplored topic. In this paper, we analyze how a hypothetical stationary pneumatic waste collection system compares economically to a traditional vehicle-operated door-to-door collection system in an existing, densely populated urban area. Both pneumatic and door-to-door collection systems face disadvantages in such areas. While buildings and fixed city infrastructure increase the installation costs of a pneumatic system in existing residential areas, the limited space for waste transportation vehicles and containers cause problems for vehicle-operated waste collection systems. The method used for analyzing the cost effects of the compared waste collection systems in our case study takes into account also monetized environmental effects of both waste collection systems. As a result, we find that the door-to-door collection system is economically almost six times more superior. The dominant cost factor in the analysis is the large investment cost of the pneumatic system. The economic value of land is an important variable, as it is able to reverse the results, if the value of land saved with a pneumatic system is sufficiently high.     

Measurements of Traffic-Induced Turbulence within a Street Canyon during the Nantes'99 Experiment

A full scale experiment has been performed in a streetcanyon, the Rue de Strasbourg in Nantes (France). Thiscampaign, the Nantes'99 experiment, provided a detaileddata base documenting, amongst others, the production ofturbulent kinetic energy (TKE) by vehicles within thestreet. Airflow and CO concentration measurements have beenanalysed during days with low wind perpendicular to thestreet axis, i.e. for conditions expected to greatly favourthe enhancement of the turbulence produced by traffic onflow and dispersion within the street canyon. It is shownthat traffic is associated with an increase in turbulentkinetic energy at the lowest levels of the street,especially at the leeward side of the street. It issuggested that turbulent kinetic energy increases with thenumber of vehicles up to a threshold value and thendecreases when vehicles form a `block' shape that limitsthe additional production of turbulence. Moreover, it issuggested that traffic-produced turbulence affectspollutant dispersion reducing CO concentration at the lowerlevels of the leeward side of the street from a thresholdvalue of TKE equal to about 0.15 m² s^-2. On the other hand, high traffic density generates less turbulencewhich in turn leads to a lower pollutant dispersion.     

Sustainable sanitary landfills for neglected small cities in developing countries: The semi-mechanized trench method from Villanueva,Honduras

Open dumping is the most common practice for the disposal of urban solid wastes in the least developed regions of Africa, Asia and Latin America. Sanitary landfill design and operation has traditionally focused on large cities, but cities with fewer than 50,000 in population can comprise from 6% to 45% of a given country’s total population. These thousands of small cities cannot afford to operate a sanitary landfill in the way it is proposed for large cities, where heavy equipment is used to spread and compact the waste in daily cells, and then to excavate, transport and apply daily cover, and leachate is managed with collection and treatment systems. This paper presents an alternative approach for small cities, known as the semi-mechanized trench method, which was developed in Villanueva, Honduras. In the semi-mechanized trench method a hydraulic excavator is used for 1–3 days to dig a trench that will last at least a month before it is filled with waste. Trucks can easily unload their wastes into the trench, and the wastes compact naturally due to semi-aerobic biodegradation, after which the trenches are refilled and covered. The exposed surface area is minimal since only the top surface of the wastes is exposed, the remainder being covered by the sides and bottom of the trench. The surplus material from trench excavation can be valorized for use as engineering fill onsite or off. The landfill in Villanueva has operated for 15 years, using a total land area of approximately 11 ha for a population that grew from 23,000 to 48,000, with a land requirement of 0.2 m²/person year, a cover to waste ratio of 0.2, and an estimated soil surplus of 298,000 m³ that is valorized and used onsite. The landfill has been operated solely by the municipality with an operational cost in 2010 estimated at US$4.60 per ton. A modified water balance analysis at Villanueva shows negligible leachate generation from covered trenches and 700 m³/yr (60 m³/ha yr) from the two open trenches required for daily operation. If the site were an open dump, however, leachate generation is estimated to be 3900 m³/ha yr and contaminated runoff 5000 m³/ha yr. A simple model used to estimate dilution of generated leachate based on groundwater flow data and aquifer stratigraphy suggests that the leachate will be diluted by a factor of 0.01 in the aquifer. Leachate contaminants will not accumulate because the aquifer discharges to the Ulua River 2 km south of the landfill. While not suitable for all sites, the Villanueva method nevertheless serves as an excellent example of how a small city landfill with natural compaction of waste and attenuation of leachate can be sustainably operated.     

Solid waste recycling in Rajshahi city of Bangladesh

Efficient recycling of solid wastes is now a global concern for a sustainable and environmentally sound management. In this study, traditional recycling pattern of solid waste was investigated in Rajshahi municipality which is the fourth largest city of Bangladesh. A questionnaire survey had been carried out in various recycle shops during April 2010 to January 2011. There were 140 recycle shops and most of them were located in the vicinity of Stadium market in Rajshahi. About 1906 people were found to be involved in recycling activities of the city. The major fraction of recycled wastes were sent to capital city Dhaka for further manufacture of different new products. Only a small amount of wastes, specially plastics, were processed in local recycle factories to produce small washing pots and bottle caps. Everyday, an estimated 28.13 tons of recycled solid wastes were handled in Rajshahi city area. This recycled portion accounted for 8.25% of the daily total generated wastes (341 ton d^?1), 54.6% of total recyclable wastes (51.49 ton d^?1) and 68.29% of readily recyclable wastes (41.19 ton d^?1). Major recycled materials were found to be iron, glass, plastic, and papers. Only five factories were involved in preliminary processing of recyclable wastes. Collecting and processing secondary materials, manufacturing recycled-content products, and then buying recycled products created a circle or loop that ensured the overall success of recycling and generated a host of financial, environmental, and social returns.     

Modeling Afforestation and the Underlying Uncertainties

A dynamic model of the carbon budget of an oak forest ecosystem that takes into account forest stand age was developed. A numerical experiment was designed to simulate the afforestation process, and a Monte Carlo simulation was performed to determine how parameter uncertainties and environmental variability influence the result. It was found that while the total amount of carbon stored in the ecosystem increases from 1.9 kg C/m² to 4.4 kg C/m² over the following 20 years, the relative standard deviation increases from 9 to 21%. The contribution of varying climate and carbon dioxide parameters to total uncertainty is substantial; for example, the standard deviation at the 10th modeling year for phytomass doubles and the uncertainties of the soil pool and total accumulated carbon increase by a factor of nearly 1.4, while the uncertainty of the litter pool stays almost at the same level.