Dynamic game strategies for construction and demolition waste recycling with learning and reference effects

Construction and demolition waste (C&DW) recycling can effectively reduce the environmental impacts caused by the massive amounts of untreated C&DW, and can promote the sustainable development of the construction industry. This study aims to provide relevant insights for the implementation of C&DW recycling, and can be practically used to guide participants' dynamic strategies in the presence of both the reference price effect and cost learning effect. Based on game theory, a static model is developed as a benchmark, including a construction materials manufacturer and a C&DW recycler under a government subsidy. Then, a dual-period dynamic model combining the learning and reference effects is established to broaden the understanding of C&DW recycling management. On this basis, the decisions and revenues of players are compared and analysed, and managerial insights are obtained through numerical analysis. It is found that both the learning and reference effects affect the manufacturer's decisions and revenues, and that the reference effect has a much greater impact on profit than the learning effect. In addition, only the learning effect has a positive influence on the recycler's recycling efforts and profits, thereby promoting C&DW recycling and reducing environmental impacts. Moreover, government subsidies always benefit the environment and recycler, and as the learning ability becomes stronger, the subsidy becomes more efficient in reducing the environmental impacts and improving the recycler's profit. Comparatively, the impact of subsidy on the manufacturer's profits depends on the learning ability. When the learning ability is relatively high, a higher subsidy is detrimental to the manufacturer in the short term but benefits it in the long term.     

A comprehensive physico-chemical, mineralogical and morphological characterization of Indian mineral wastes

This paper provides a comprehensive characterization of mineral waste such as fly ash, bottom ash, slag and construction demolition (C&D) collected from four different thermal power plants, three steel plants and three C&D waste generation sites in India. To determine utilisation potential and environmental concerns, as received fly ash, bottom ash, slag and C&D waste were analysed for physico-chemical, mineralogical and morphological properties. The physico-chemical properties analysed include pH, moisture content, acid insoluble residue, loss on ignition(LOI), carbon content, fineness, chloride content, sulphate content, reactive silica content, XRF and heavy metal analysis. Morphological and mineralogical characteristics were investigated using scanning electron microscopy–energy dispersive X-ray. Particle size distribution was obtained using particle size analyser. The material analysed has different compositions and were selected with a view to determine their suitability for different applications in cement and concrete industry and for further research studies.     

工业固体废物产生者连带责任辨析及其适用

一直以来,固体废物非法转移和倾倒等环境违法行为是固体废物管理实践中的首要突出问题。究其原因,根本在于法律对于固体废物产生者的义务和责任只局限于自身,在实践中产生者并不关注固体废物转移后的利用处置状况。新修订的《中华人民共和国固体废物污染环境防治法》（以下简称《固废法》）确立了工业固体废物产生者连带责任制度,力图从源头减少或避免固体废物非法转移和倾倒事件,倒逼固体废物产生者采取有效措施治理固体废物污染。笔者从固体废物产生者的双重身份入手,深入辨析其中的权利义务关系,阐释产生者连带责任的法律基础和根本原理。从《固废法》关于连带责任关系的法律规定出发,进一步解析产生者义务和受托者义务,并具体分析了连带责任的法律适用。     

How to effectively guide carbon reduction behavior of building owners under emission trading scheme? An evolutionary game-based study

The building sector accounts for the largest proportion of global carbon emissions. The implementation of a market-based emission trading scheme offers a wider range of strategic choices and greater flexibility for building owners to reduce carbon emissions, but few of them are enthusiastic and actively engaged. To address the problem, this study explores how governments can effectively guide the carbon mitigation actions of building owners under an emission trading scheme (ETS) by continually adjusting and optimizing their regulation strategies. First, an extended evolutionary game model is built, considering the synergistic effect of multiple regulation policies, to theoretically depict the long-term interactive, extensive correlative, and dynamic feedback relationship between the government and building owners. Second, taking advantage of system dynamics as a policy laboratory, a scenario cultivation and simulation analysis is conducted to fully investigate the implementation effects of different regulation strategies based on the behavioral responses of building owners under different scenarios. The city of Shenzhen is a pioneer in covering the building sector in its carbon trading scheme in China, and its hotels above four stars are selected as the realistic setting for the simulation analysis. The results demonstrate that under the emission trading scheme, compared with increasing levels of carbon monitoring and non-financial incentives for building owners, intervention measures, including penalties, subsidies, and public scrutiny, are more efficient and important for the government. These findings provide important theoretical guidance and practical implications for the government to further adjust and optimize its carbon regulation strategies for the building sector.     

Stakeholder participation in health impact assessment: A multicultural approach

The literature on impact assessment (HIA) registers the importance of stakeholder participation in the assessment process, but still lacks a model for engaging stakeholders of diverse ethnic, professional and sectorial backgrounds. This paper suggests that the multicultural approach can contribute to HIA through a revision of the generic 5-step HIA model, and its implementation in a metropolitan plan in Southern Israel. The health issue scoped by the stakeholders in the HIA is related to land uses in the vicinity of the national hazardous industry and hazardous waste site. The stakeholders were representatives of the diverse populations at stake, including rural Bedouins and Jewish city dwellers, as well as representatives from the public sector, private sector, non-governmental organizations and academia. The case study revealed that a multicultural stakeholder participation process helps to uncover health issues known to the community which were not addressed in the original plan, and provides local knowledge regarding health conditions that is especially valuable when scientific data is uncertain or absent. It enables diverse stakeholders to prioritize the health issues that will be assessed. The case study also reveals ways in which the model needs revisions and improvements such as in recruitment of diverse participants. This paper presents a multicultural model of HIA and discusses some of the challenges that are faced when HIA is implemented in the context of current decision-making culture.     

Evaluating public participation in Chinese EIA. An integrated Public Participation Index and its application to the case of the New Beijing Airport

In recent years, China's government authorities have devoted increasing attention to the role of public participation processes in Environmental Impact Assessment (EIA). The capacity of these processes to influence decision-making remains widely debated. This paper aims at appraising the institutional rationale informing the implementation of public participation in China's EIA, benchmarking it against three conceptualisations: (1) Normative, based on objectives of empowerment and democratisation; (2) Substantive, where participation is pursued mainly to improve quality of decisions; (3) Instrumental, seeking participation as an instrument to legitimise decision-making processes. The appraisal is carried out by means of a new integrated index (Public Participation Index, PPI), which is applied to a case study representative of latest advancements in EIA public participation practices in China, namely the “New Beijing Airport Project”. Located 46 km south of downtown Beijing, the project was approved in 2014 and it is currently under construction. Results of the PPI application to this case study indicate that, despite progress made in recent years, the implementation of public participation in Chinese EIA still largely responds to an instrumental rationale, with limited capacity for the public to affect decisions.     

Public participation modes in China's environmental impact assessment process: An analytical framework based on participation extent and conflict level

Environmental impact assessment (EIA) serves as a gatekeeper to prevent environmental pollution, and public participation is a legal requirement in the EIA process that ensures people's awareness of activities that may jeopardize the environment. Recently, with the elevated awareness of environmental protection and increasing environmental sensitivity, EIA has evolved as a means for the public to show their attitudes towards environmental issues. More frequently, public protests against not-in-my-backyard (NIMBY) facilities have become a significant challenge in the government's decision-making process. Government officials and EIA practitioners continue to look for a more effective way of public participation and aim to establish a platform that can involve related stakeholders. However, current research on public participation is limited to individual case studies or lacks a systematic approach to analysing diversified modes of public participation, which may differentiate levels of acceptance by the government in the EIA process and consequently lead to different effects. Therefore, from the perspectives of the participation extent and conflict level, this paper aims to establish an integrated framework to categorize different public participation patterns in EIA practices and to analyse their characteristics, such as preferences and the action logic arising from different stakeholders, including the government and public. The paper concludes that collaborative public participation is a possible way to strengthen the effectiveness of public involvement within the Chinese context.     

A Superiority-Inferiority-Based Inexact Fuzzy Stochastic Programming Approach for Solid Waste Management Under Uncertainty

A superiority–inferiority-based inexact fuzzy stochastic programming (SI-IFSP) model was developed for planning municipal solid waste management systems under uncertainty. The SI-IFSP approach represents a new attempt to tackle multiple uncertainties in objective function coefficients which are beyond the capabilities of existing inexact programming methods. Through introducing the concept of fuzzy random boundary interval, SI-IFSP is capable of reflecting multiple uncertainties (i.e., interval values, fuzzy sets, probability distributions, and their combinations) in both the objective function and constraints, leading to enhanced system robustness. The developed SI-IFSP method was applied to a case study of long-term municipal solid waste management. Useful solutions were generated. A number of decision alternatives could be generated based on projected applicable conditions, reflecting the compromise between system optimality and reliability as well as the tradeoffs between economic and environmental objectives. Moreover, the consequences of system violations could be quantified through introducing a set of economic penalties, reflecting the relationships between system costs and constraint violation risks. The results suggest that the proposed SI-IFSP method can explicitly address complexities in municipal solid waste management systems and is applicable to practical waste management problems.     

You see what I mean? – A review of visual tools for inclusive public participation in EIA decision-making processes

The literature is prolific on the use of visual tools and their potential to promote inclusive public participation. This is particularly the case with the literature on communication, as well as on environmental planning and management, but significantly less abundant in environmental impact assessment, which is the specific focus of our research. The purpose of this paper is to share research results on the actual capacity of visual tools to promote and enhance inclusive public participation in environmental impact assessment related decision-making processes. Based on the literature reviewed, and characterizing the key benefits and challenges of visual tools according to their technical, cognitive, social and emotional effects/dimensions, this paper will: (i) compare their potential capacity to promote inclusive public participation; (ii) consider whether, when applied, they were fit for purpose – i.e. designed to promote a participatory process in each specific case–, and (iii) to what extent was the public involved in their design. Our results show that the literature largely dwells upon ad hoc evaluations of visual tools employed, that normally they are preset, with predefined choices and not made to fit the reality that they intend to serve. We also conclude that, at least according to the experience shared in the literature, seldom is the public involved in the design and choice of visual tools.     

Ethical implications of democratic theory for U.S. public participation in environmental impact assessment

Traditional mechanisms for public participation in environmental impact assessment under U.S. federal law have been criticized as ineffective and unable to resolve conflict. As these mechanisms are modified and new approaches developed, we argue that participation should be designed and evaluated not only on practical grounds of cost-effectiveness and efficiency, but also on ethical grounds based on democratic ideals. In this paper, we review and synthesize modern democratic theory to develop and justify four ethical principles for public participation: equal opportunity to participate, equal access to information, genuine deliberation, and shared commitment. We then explore several tensions that are inherent in applying these ethical principles to public participation in EIA. We next examine traditional NEPA processes and newer collaborative approaches in light of these principles. Finally, we explore the circumstances that argue for more in-depth participatory processes. While improved EIA participatory processes do not guarantee improved outcomes in environmental management, processes informed by these four ethical principles derived from democratic theory may lead to increased public engagement and satisfaction with government agency decisions.     

Public participation in Strategic Environmental Assessment: A practitioners' perspective

Public participation is considered a distinguished feature of Strategic Environmental Assessment (SEA), and the SEA literature has traditionally identified several benefits attached to it, from more open and transparent decision-making to greater acceptance of plans/programmes' output by the affected population. However, relatively little empirical evidence has been collected so far on the extent and outcomes of public engagement as it is being carried out in current SEA practice. In this article, we present the results of a study on this theme based on a direct survey of 47 SEA practitioners and scholars from different countries. Respondents were asked to report their experience about a number of items including: the frequency of SEA process featuring deep public participation; its overall influence on plan/programmme-making; the identification of the main factors impeding it; the correlation of public involvement with environmental outcomes; and the increase of costs. Results indicate that public engagement in current SEA practice is still relatively limited and with limited influence on decision-making. The main impeding factors seem to be: lack of political willingness by proponents; insufficient information on the SEA process by the public; and weakness of the legal frames. However, respondents also report that when effective public engagement takes place, benefits do arise and identify a positive correlation between the degree of public involvement and the environmental performance of plans and programmes. Overall, findings suggest that public involvement has indeed the potential to positively influence both SEA and decision-making, although this should be supported from the policy side by stronger legal frames, higher requirements and improved technical guidance.     

Municipal solid waste management in Thailand and disposal emission inventory

The increasing municipal solid waste (MSW) generation along with the high fraction of organic waste and a common disposal of open dumping is the current scenario in many areas in Thailand. As a response to this problem, the country’s Pollution Control Department (PCD) aims to reduce the MSW generation rate to less than 1 kg/capita/day, increase the collection efficiency, and improve the recovery of recyclables. For many years, more than 60% of the solid waste disposal system in Thailand has been carried out by open dumping. According to the survey conducted by this study, in 2004 there were 425 disposal sites (95 landfills; 330 open dumps) in Thailand and an estimated methane emission of 115.4 Gg/year was generated based on this practice. It has been estimated that the anticipated methane emission in Thailand will rise from 115.4 Gg/year to 118.5 Gg/year if the largest open dumpsites in provinces with no existing landfill are upgraded to sanitary landfill; and it will increase to 193.5 Gg/year if the existing sanitary landfill is upgraded to integrated waste management facilities. Moreover, Bangkok metropolitan have the highest methane emission (54.83 Gg/year) among all the regions in Thailand. The methane emission forecast of 339 Gg/year by 2020 (based on LandGEM methodology) provides a stimulus to create a comprehensive plan to capture and utilize methane as an energy source.     

An evaluation of the social dimensions in public participation in rural domestic waste source-separated collection in Guilin,China

A comprehensive evaluation of public participation in rural domestic waste (RDW) source-separated collection in China was carried out within a social-dimension framework, specifically in terms of public perception, awareness, attitude, and willingness to pay for RDW management. The evaluation was based on a case study conducted in Guilin, Guangxi Zhuang Autonomous Region, China, which is a representative of most inland areas of the country with a GDP around the national average. It was found that unlike urban residents, rural residents maintained a high rate of recycling, but in a spontaneous manner; they paid more attention to issues closely related to their daily lives, but less attention to those at the general level; their awareness of RDW source-separated collection was low and different age groups showed significantly different preferences regarding the sources of knowledge acquirement. Among potential information sources, village committees played a very important role in knowledge dissemination; for the respondents’ pro-environmental attitudes, the influencing factor of “lack of legislation/policy” was considered to be significant; mandatory charges for waste collection and disposal had a high rate of acceptance among rural residents; and high monthly incomes had a positive correlation with both public pro-environmental attitudes and public willingness to pay for extra charges levied by RDW management. These observations imply that, for decision-makers in the short term, implementing mandatory RDW source-separated collection programs with enforced guidelines and economic compensation is more effective, while in the long run, promoting pro-environmental education to rural residents is more important.     

An off-site snapshot methodology for estimating building construction waste composition - a case study of Hong Kong

Waste composition analysis is essential for implementing appropriate management strategies. In Hong Kong, on-site waste quantification is often not practical due to site space limitation at construction sites. In addition, as the construction waste problem urgently needs addressing, reliable waste generation rates need to be derived over a short time. To address these two issues, this study presents an off-site snapshot methodology for estimating construction waste composition. Three construction sites, at the initial stage, mid-stage, and end stage respectively, are selected for illustrating the proposed snapshot methodology. It is found that the composition of inert and non-inert waste varies significantly at different construction stages. Non-inert waste is an important component of building construction waste, of which wood & timber waste contributes the largest proportion. Following wood & timber waste, metal waste is the second largest source of non-inert waste. Results show that the proposed off-site snapshot methodology can sufficiently solve the problem of limited on-site sorting space and derive reliable detailed waste generation information over a certain short time.     

Green chemistry

A grand challenge facing government, industry, and academia in the relationship of our technological society to the environment is reinventing the use of materials. To address this challenge, collaboration from an interdisciplinary group of stakeholders will be necessary. Traditionally, the approach to risk management of materials and chemicals has been through inerventions intended to reduce exposure to materials that are hazardous to health and the environment. In 1990, the Pollution Prevention Act encouraged a new tact-elimination of hazards at the source. An emerging approach to this grand challenge seeks to embed the diverse set of environmental perspectives and interests in the everyday practice of the people most responsible for using and creating new materials—chemists. The approach, which has come to be known as Green Chemistry, intends to eliminate intrinsic hazard itself, rather than focusing on reducing risk by minimizing exposure. This chapter addresses the representation of downstream environmental stakeholder interests in the upstream everyday practice that is reinventing chemistry and its material inputs, products, and waste as described in the “12 Principles of Green Chemistry”.     

Evaluating pollution potential of leachate from landfill site, from the Pune metropolitan city and its impact on shallow basaltic aquifers

Leachate produced by municipal solid waste dumping site near the metropolitan city of Pune, India was examined for its pollution potential and impact on surrounding shallow basaltic aquifers. Twenty-eight physico-chemical parameters during post- and pre-monsoon seasons (Nov 2006 and May 2007) were determined to assess the seasonal variation in the leachate pollution index (LPI) as well as in the groundwater quality. The leachate demonstrated higher LPI value during pre-monsoon, comparable to those at other metropolises outside India. Potentially toxic leachates derived from the dumping site have largely influenced the adjoining basaltic aquifers through two different modes of transport. Despite high contents of heavy metals (Al, Cd, Cr, Cu, Co, Fe, Mn, Ni, Pb and Zn) in the leachate, the aquifers in the close proximity of landfill site are least polluted by metallic contaminants possibly due to redox controls. Various geoenvironmental features governing the dispersal of leachate contaminants in the basaltic aquifers under semi-arid climatic regime have been identified and discussed. Although a few remedial measures have been suggested to mitigate the impact of leachate percolation and dispersion, the present study demands for a proper solid waste management in metropolitan cities.     

Application of ANP and DEMATEL to evaluate the decision-making of municipal solid waste management in Metro Manila

A municipal solid waste management (MSW) expert group was consulted in order to mirror how government officials might reach an effective solution regarding municipal solid waste management in Metro Manila. A critical issue regarding this is how the expert group can better evaluate and select a favorable MSW management solution using a series of criteria. MSW management solution selection is a multiple criteria decision-making (MCDM) problem, which requires the consideration of a large number of complex criteria. A robust MCDM method should consider the interactions among these criteria. The analytic network process (ANP) is a relatively new MCDM method which can deal with all kinds of interactions systematically. The Decision Making Trial and Evaluation Laboratory (DEMATEL) not only can convert the relations between cause and effect of criteria into a structural model, but also can be used as a way to handle the inner dependences within a set of criteria. Hence, this paper applies an effective solution based on a combined ANP and DEMATEL method to assist the expert group evaluating different MSW management solutions. According to the results, the best solution is for each city to have its own type of thermal process technology and resource recovery facility before landfill rather than entering a joint venture with enterprises or going into build-operate-transfer projects in order to be able to construct thermal process technologies and resource recovery facilities.     

Quantitative health impact assessment methodology for societal initiatives: A scoping review

Health initiatives are increasingly situated outside the institutionalised public health sector. The intersectoral character of societal initiatives, along with indirect relationships between initiatives and health, makes making projections of reach, impact and goal achievement complex. This scoping review of the peer-reviewed literature searches for appropriate methods to conduct quantitative health impact assessment for such initiatives. Database searches were done in PubMed and Web of Science, as well as a reference list search. Studies were then selected in a systematic manner. The review includes 64 studies. Most studies made estimates using simulation methods, notably with Monte Carlo, Markov and system dynamics modelling. Inputs for the models such as transition probabilities and price elasticities were taken from census, register and survey data, evidence from previous (scientific) studies and sometimes outcomes from stakeholder participation. Of different health outcome measures, the number of deaths was most frequently used, followed by QALYs and DALYs and life years. Health effect distribution is frequently mentioned, but not often estimated. Scientific methodological publications on HIAs focusing on civil society initiatives are relatively sparse, indicating possibilities for further methodological advancement. Estimating health effect distributions and incorporating stakeholder participation could make meaningful additions to standard practice.     

Environmental impact assessment (EIA) as collaborative learning process

A collaborative problem-solving approach was applied to environmental impact assessment of regional waste management strategy in Pirkanmaa, Finland. Various actors—interest groups, authorities, and experts—were invited to engage in joint fact finding and to exchange their views on the goals of alternative waste management strategies. The experiences of these encounters suggest that collaborative EIA can serve as a learning and civic discovery process where people can act together and find new solutions. During the process, the participants were able to reflect on their preferences and factual beliefs and to create a previously unconsidered waste management strategy that most parties found acceptable. The potential for learning and finding mutually acceptable solutions depended, however, on the legitimacy and institutional settings of the process: to what extent different perspectives were considered in the process, not only included, and how EIA was connected to a political decision-making process.     

Assessment of water pollution in different bleaching based paper manufacturing and textile dyeing industries in India

Paper industries using different raw materials such as hard wood, bamboo, baggase, rice-straw and waste papers and bleaching chemicals like chlorine, hypochlorite, chlorine dioxide, hydrogen peroxide, sulphite and oxygen were studied to estimate organic pollution load and Adsorbable Organic Halides (AOX) per ton of production. The hard wood based paper industries generate higher Chemical Oxygen Demand (COD) loads (105–182 kg t⁻¹) and Biochemical Oxygen Demand (BOD) loads (32.0–72 kg t⁻¹) compared to the agro and waste paper based industrial effluents. The bleaching sequences such as C–EP–H–H, C–E–H–H, C–E–Do–D1 and O–Do–EOP–D1 are adopted in the paper industries and the molecular elemental chlorine free bleaching sequence discharges low AOX in the effluent. The range of AOX concentration in the final effluent from the paper industries was 0.08–0.99 kg t⁻¹ of production. Water consumption was in the range of 100–130 m³ t⁻¹ of paper production for wood based industries and 30–50 m³ for the waste paper based industries. Paper machine effluents are partially recycled after treatment and pulp mill black liquor are subject to chemical recovery after evaporation to reduce the water consumption and the total pollution loads. Hypochlorite bleaching units of textile bleaching processes generate more AOX (17.2–18.3 mg l⁻¹) and are consuming more water (45–80 l kg⁻¹) whereas alkali peroxide bleaching hardly generates the AOX in the effluents and water consumption was also comparatively less (40 l kg⁻¹ of yarn/cloth).