Bio-Based Polymers and End-of-Life Vehicles

As new materials, such as bio-based plastics and composites, are introduced in vehicles for their improved environmental performance, it is necessary to understand how to efficiently recover these biodegradable materials. This paper provides an overview of the end-of-life phase for automobiles, focusing on the dismantling and shredding processes, and the recovery of materials. Targeted unit operations, such as dismantling of components from vehicles and pretreatment prior to shredding, along with design-for-environment principles, should enable the efficient recovery of materials at the end-of-life phase compared with popularly conceived all-in-one-approaches because of the diverse arrangement of material components.     

超疏水材料的制备及其去除水中污染物性能的研究进展

综述了金属基超疏水材料和聚合物基超疏水材料的制备及其去除水中污染物性能的研究进展,并从污水处理的角度展望了超疏水材料的发展方向。指出,超疏水材料在污水处理领域中的发展方向主要为：低成本、高效能且环境友好的超疏水材料及其制备工艺的开发;持久（永久）性超疏水净水材料的制备;超疏水材料对水中有毒金属离子的去除及其机理研究;超疏水材料水中抑菌性的深入研究及其应用;超疏水材料对水中药物和个人护理品（PPCPs）以及纳米污染物的去除。     

Biodegradable Soy-Based Plastics: Opportunities and Challenges

Today's plastics are designed with little consideration for their ultimate disposability or the effect of the resources (feedstocks) used in making them. This has resulted in mounting worldwide concerns over the environmental consequences of such materials when they enter the mainstream after their intended uses. This led to the concept of designing and engineering new biodegradable materials–materials that have the performance characteristics of today's materials but that undergo biodegradation along with other organic waste to soil humic materials. Hence, the production of biodegradable materials from annually renewable agricultural feedstocks has attracted attention in recent years. Agricultural materials such as starches and proteins are biodegradable and environmentally friendly. Soybean is a good candidate for manufacturing a large number of chemicals, including biodegradable plastics, as it is abundantly available and cheap. Soy protein concentrate, isolate, or flakes could be compounded with synthetic biodegradable plastics such as polycaprolactone or poly (lactic acid) to make molded products or edible films or shopping bags and make the environment cleaner and greener.     

天然黏土材料附着纳米TiO2对 电解锰渣中锰的吸附固定

采用机械球磨法对膨润土、硅藻土、高岭土3种天然黏土材料进行预处理,通过超声法将纳米TiO_2附着于其上制得复合材料,考察了不同复合材料加入量及养护时间条件下复合材料对电解锰渣中Mn的吸附固定效果。3种天然黏土材料中,硅藻土的平均粒径最小,比表面积和总孔隙度最大,对水中Mn的吸附量也最大。黏土材料附着纳米TiO_2后对电解锰渣中Mn的吸附固定效果较单纯黏土材料有明显改善。在养护时间为12 d、硅藻土附着纳米Ti O_2复合材料加入量为10%(w)的最佳条件下,Mn的TCLP浸出量较原电解锰渣下降了83.04%。     

The treatment of infectious waste arising from home health and medical care services: present situation in Japan

The management of waste materials arising from home health and medical care services (HHMC wastes) in Japan is now receiving greater attention from governmental workers dealing with general household waste materials. In general, HHMC waste materials are collected in a mixed form, transported and disposed of along with municipal solid wastes. As a result, municipal workers are suffering needle stick accidents so that infections associated with HHMC waste materials may occur. The collection and transportation by patients and their families of HHMC waste materials with sharp-edges, such as injection needles, to medical-related facilities can prevent municipal workers from experiencing needle-prick accidents. One of the most important strategies for medical-related facilities is hence the education of patients and their families. Improved rules for handling HHMC waste materials are essential for the safe and effective management.     

Recycled Polyethylene Composites Reinforced with Jute Fabric from Sackcloth: Part I-Preparation and Preliminary Assessment

In recent times, environmental safety has been on priority in the development of new materials leading to a recycling and reuse approach to conserve the materials resources. This has resulted in more focus on the application of natural materials such as lignocellulosic fibers. This paper presents the characterization of continuous and aligned jute fabrics obtained from new and used sacks as well as the preparation and characterization of their composites incorporated into recycled polyethylene or as isolated pieces up to 40 wt%. These environmentally friendly composites were subjected to bend test and the fracture surface analyzed by SEM. The fabric from new sacks showed greater damage tolerance than that from the used sacks. The flexural stress increased steadily with increasing used fabric content up to 30 wt%, which is explained using fractographic studies on ruptured specimens. Used jute fabric composites are found to be viable alternative materials for low strength conventional materials based on cost–performance comparison with conventional materials.     

Framework for estimating potential wastes and secondary resources accumulated within an economy – A case study of construction minerals in Japan

Material stocks in economic society are considered to represent a reserve for wastes and secondary resources. From the viewpoints of proper disposal and reutilization of stocked materials, accurate estimation of the amount of materials that will emerge as wastes or secondary resources in the future is important. We defined materials that have a high probability of emerging as wastes or secondary resources as “potential wastes and secondary resources” and estimated that amount for construction minerals in Japan as a case study. The following conclusions were drawn. (1) We classified materials that are input into economic society into four categories: potential wastes and secondary resources, potential dissipated materials, dissipatively used materials, and permanent structures. By clarifying the latter three non-potential wastes and secondary resources, we performed a more accurate assessment of the wastes and secondary resources that will emerge in the future. (2) The share of potential wastes and secondary resources was estimated to be about 30% of all construction minerals that have been input into and accumulated in Japanese economic society. (3) Information related to potential dissipated materials and dissipatively used materials will provide fundamental knowledge to support analyses of the environmental impacts and resource losses which these materials might generate.     

Treatment and recycling of incinerated ash using thermal plasma technology

To treat incinerated ash is an important issue in Taiwan. Incinerated ashes contain a considerable amount of hazardous materials such as dioxins and heavy metals. If these hazardous materials are improperly treated or disposed of, they shall cause detrimental secondary contamination. Thermal plasma vitrification is a robust technology to treat and recycle the ash residues. Under the high temperature plasma environment, incinerated ashes are vitrified into benign slag with large volume reduction and extreme detoxification. Several one-step heat treatment processes are carried out at four temperatures (i.e. 850, 950, 1,050 and 1,150 degrees C) to obtain various "microstructure materials". The major phase to form these materials is a solid solution of gehlenite (Ca2Al2SiO7) and ?kermanite (Ca2MgSi2O7) belonging to the melilite group. The physical and mechanical properties of the microstructure materials are improved by using one-step post-heat treatment process after plasma vitrification. These microstructure materials with good quality have great potential to serve as a viable alternative for construction applications.     

Carbon speciation in ash, residual waste and contaminated soil by thermal and chemical analyses

Carbon in waste can occur as inorganic (IC), organic (OC) and elemental carbon (EC) each having distinct chemical properties and possible environmental effects. In this study, carbon speciation was performed using thermogravimetric analysis (TGA), chemical degradation tests and the standard total organic carbon (TOC) measurement procedures in three types of waste materials (bottom ash, residual waste and contaminated soil). Over 50% of the total carbon (TC) in all studied materials (72% in ash and residual waste, and 59% in soil) was biologically non-reactive or EC as determined by thermogravimetric analyses. The speciation of TOC by chemical degradation also showed a presence of a non-degradable C fraction in all materials (60% of TOC in ash, 30% in residual waste and 13% in soil), though in smaller amounts than those determined by TGA. In principle, chemical degradation method can give an indication of the presence of potentially inert C in various waste materials, while TGA is a more precise technique for C speciation, given that waste-specific method adjustments are made. The standard TOC measurement yields exaggerated estimates of organic carbon and may therefore overestimate the potential environmental impacts (e.g. landfill gas generation) of waste materials in a landfill environment.     

Waste biomass and recycled polypropylene based jute hybrid composites for non-structural applications

Journal of Material Cycles and Waste Management - There is an overwhelming interest in composite materials derived from bio-based waste resources, recycled plastic materials and their combinations....     

废弃印刷线路板中材料的资源化回收利用技术

废弃印刷线路板（WPCBs）既有污染环境的一面,又有可资源化回收利用的一面.通过机械物理法、热解、超临界流体氧化和离子液体溶解等方法对其进行分离和回收金属和非金属材料.初步分选的金属需要进一步提纯以实现高附加值.而非金属材料可以用热解法、微波处理、超临界流体技术、等离子技术等技术进行产气和能量回收,也可以通过制备建筑材料或填料和其它功能村料进行物料回收.总之,对WPCBs进行适当地处理不但可以减轻环境压力,还可以变废为宝,实现资源再生利用.     

进口含锌物料的表征和鉴别

采用X射线荧光光谱(XRF)、X射线衍射光谱(XRD)等分析手段,对4种进口疑似固体废物的含锌物料进行了表征。通过分析含锌物料的主要元素组成、物相组成和常规理化特征,结合外观特征,与含锌矿物、含锌产品及相关文献资料等进行比对,推导出含锌物料的产生来源。然后,参照我国《进口废物管理目录》得出鉴别结论。结果表明:4种含锌物料分别为锌矿、湿法冶炼锌浸出渣、热镀锌灰和固定CO2产物;后3种属于我国目前禁止进口的固体废物。     

Physical and mechanical properties of mortars containing PET and PC waste aggregates

Non-biodegradable plastic aggregates made of polycarbonate (PC) and polyethylene terephthalate (PET) waste are used as partial replacement of natural aggregates in mortar. Various volume fractions of sand 3%, 10%, 20% and 50% are replaced by the same volume of plastic. This paper investigates the physical and mechanical properties of the obtained composites. The main results of this study show the feasibility of the reuse of PC and PET waste aggregates materials as partial volume substitutes for natural aggregates in cementitious materials. Despite of some drawbacks like a decrease in compressive strength, the use of PC and PET waste aggregates presents various advantages. A reduction of the specific weight of the cementitious materials and a significant improvement of their post-peak flexural behaviour are observed. The calculated flexural toughness factors increase significantly with increasing volume fraction of PET and PC-aggregates. Thus, addition of PC and PET plastic aggregates in cementitious materials seems to give good energy absorbing materials which is very interesting for several civil engineering applications like structures subjected to dynamic or impact efforts. The present study has shown quite encouraging results and opened new way for the recycling of PC waste aggregate in cement and concrete composites.     

Leaching behaviour of waste and stabilized waste materials; characterization for environmental assessment purposes

The importance of systematic trends in trace contaminant leaching from waste materials and stabilized waste is stressed. Similarities in leaching behaviour of different waste materials and mechanisms for leaching from stabilized waste forms are identified. The use of diffusion measurements to quantify the mobility of specific chemical species in waste and soil is discussed. Implementation of more fundamental regulatory testing procedures which reflect the behaviour of materials in end use applications, is recommended to allow better control over environmental impact in the wide variety of utilization and disposal practices.     

Nylon recovery from carpet waste through pyrolysis under the presence of zinc oxide and the roll-milling treatment

Recycling of carpet waste is not extensively carried out because of its complex combination of materials. A representative type of carpet consists of three layers: nylon fibers, adhesives, and backing materials made of poly(vinyl chloride), PVC. Thermal treatment of carpet waste, thus, leads to the emission of hazardous chlorinated compounds. In the present work, we have employed the one-directional thermal treatment of the backing materials under the presence of zinc oxide, which promotes the thermal degradation of PVC. Nylon fibers could be effectively recovered by the consequent milling treatment from the brittle backing materials. The influence of process parameters, such as pyrolysis temperature and reaction time, on the separation efficiency is discussed.     

Development and Analysis of Silver Nano Particle Influenced PVA/Natural Particulate Hybrid Composites with Thermo-Mechanical Properties

Journal of Polymers and the Environment - Owing to develop the utilization of biowaste materials and minimize the usage of plastic materials, Orange peel Powder (OPP) biowaste is chosen as filler...     

Life-cycle impacts of the use of industrial by-products in road and earth construction

A two-stage study "Life cycle analysis of road construction and earthworks" was part of a more extensive Finnish research project "Assessment of the applicability of secondary products in earthworks". In the first stage of this work a life-cycle impact assessment procedure for the comparison and evaluation of alternative road and earth constructions was developed. Additionally, a database containing the environmental burdens of the most significant construction materials and unit operations was constructed. In order to evaluate the applicability of the procedure, the use of coal ash, crushed concrete waste and granulated blast-furnace slag in road construction was evaluated in case studies. The use of these secondary products was also compared with the use of natural materials in corresponding applications. The aim of the second stage was to transfer the assembled data for utilisation as a practical model by creating an inventory analysis program to calculate and compare the life cycle impacts of the most common road constructions and foundation engineering methods. The data obtained in the first stage was also augmented to the extent necessary for this purpose. The results of case studies indicate that the production and transport of the materials used in road constructions produce the most significant environmental burdens. Production of the bitumen and cement, crushing of materials and transport of materials are the most energy consuming single life-cycle stages of the construction. A large part of the emissions to atmosphere originates from energy production. In the expert assessment, consumption of natural materials and leaching behaviour were also regarded as being of great significance.     

Characterization and recycling of polymeric components present in cell phones

The cell phone market is developing at a rapid speed. Today there are more than 1.6 billion consumers in the world, and the lifetime of a cell phone is less than 2 years. As a consequence, there is an increase in the waste associated to this product, and many alternatives to the disposal of the cell phones are being studied, such as recycling which shows to be the most important. It is crucial to know what materials constitute the cell phone in order to carry out recycling and determine environmental and economical issues. This work presents an evaluation of the cell phone components, characterizing the raw materials and some properties of the recycled materials.     

Report: treatment of commercial, construction and demolition waste in North Rhine-Westphalia: policy-making and operation options.

This paper summarizes a long-term-investigation of the mechanical treatment of commercial, construction and demolition waste materials in North Rhine-Westphalia in the light of applied operation standards and a disposal ban on untreated waste. It is shown how both the allocation of output materials from mechanical treatment plants and the subsequent treatment channels have changed since enforcement of the ban in 2005. Based on the findings of the investigation, two waste management scenarios offering alternative policies have been defined and are discussed. It is suggested that consistent enforcement of the ban affects both the diversion of waste to incineration and the recovery of materials on a regional scale. On the other hand, potential energy recovery may be fully exploited only insofar as operators of mechanical treatment plants concentrate their business on the production of refuse-derived fuel.     

负载β-环糊精的矿物和生物炭对甲基橙的吸附性能

采用HCl溶液对沸石（F0）、蛭石（ZH0）、秸秆（J0）和棕榈生物炭（Z0）进行活化预处理,以环氧氯丙烷为交联剂,将β-环糊精（β-CD）负载到原始材料上,制备了4种新型吸附材料F2、ZH2、J2和Z2。采用FTIR、元素分析、SEM和TG等技术对吸附材料进行了表征,探讨了其对甲基橙的吸附性能。表征结果显示,β-CD被成功地负载到沸石、蛭石、秸秆生物炭和棕榈生物炭上。吸附实验结果表明：负载β-CD后的4种材料对甲基橙的平衡吸附量大小顺序为J2> F2> ZH2> Z2;溶液pH和吸附温度的提高可有效提升4种材料对甲基橙的吸附能力。吸附动力学和热力学研究表明,4种材料对甲基橙的吸附过程中物理吸附起着主导作用,且更趋向于单分子层吸附。4种材料均具有良好的重复使用性能。