Estimation of building-related construction and demolition waste in Shanghai

One methodology is proposed to estimate the quantification and composition of building-related construction and demolition (C&D) waste in a fast developing region like Shanghai, PR China. The varieties of structure types and building waste intensities due to the requirement of progressive building design and structure codes in different decades are considered in this regional C&D waste estimation study. It is concluded that approximately 13.71 million tons of C&D waste was generated in 2012 in Shanghai, of which more than 80% of this C&D waste was concrete, bricks and blocks. Analysis from this study can be applied to facilitate C&D waste governors and researchers the duty of formulating precise policies and specifications. As a matter of fact, at least a half of the enormous amount of C&D waste could be recycled if implementing proper recycling technologies and measures. The appropriate managements would be economically and environmentally beneficial to Shanghai where the per capita per year output of C&D waste has been as high as 842 kg in 2010.     

Preliminary assessment of cement kiln dust in solidification and stabilization of mercury containing waste from a chlor-alkali unit

Journal of Material Cycles and Waste Management - A low-level mercury containing hazardous waste with a mercury concentration of 22.0 ± 5.00 ppm generated at a...     

Food loss rates at the food retail,influencing factors and reasons as a basis for waste prevention measures

This paper quantifies food loss rates for fruit & vegetables, dairy products and bread & pastry as well as donations to social services. In addition potential influencing factors and reasons for food losses are investigated in order to provide a basis for the development of waste prevention measures. Detailed data from 612 retail outlets all over Austria, which covered the period of one year, were analysed and sorting analyses of discarded food were carried out in a small sample of retail outlets. Food loss amounts to 1.3% of the sales of dairy products, 2.8% for bread & pastry and 4.2% for fruit & vegetables. Returned bread amounts to additional 9.7% of the sales of bread & pastry. The food loss rates are similar to the results of previous publications. At present, 7% of the food loss is donated to social services, 38% of retail outlets do not donate any articles at all. Food loss rates are declining with increasing sales areas, increasing numbers of purchases per year and increasing sales of the retail outlet, but explain only 33% or less of the variation of food loss rates. Large differences between retail outlets of comparable structure indicate potential for reduction. More than a quarter of discarded food articles did not show any flaws besides the expiration of the best before or sell-by date. Waste prevention approaches should focus on avoiding returns, transfer of best practices, information and education of employees and customers as well as strengthening the donation to social services.     

Physicochemical and nutritional features of Gleditsia japonica shell biochar under different pyrolysis conditions

Journal of Material Cycles and Waste Management - This study aimed to investigate the effects of pyrolysis temperature (200–700 °C) and duration (2 h, 4 h) on...     

In situ burning of emulsions R&D in Norway

SINTEF Applied Chemistry has been working in the field of in situ burning since 1988, beginning with the first open water testing of the 3M fire proof boom which took place on Spitsbergen. In recent years, the focus of SINTEF's research activities in this area has been on the burning of emulsions. An experimental programme was initiated by NOFO in 1990 to study the in situ burning of water-in-oil (w/o) emulsions, as part of a wider NOFO programme ‘Oil spill contingency in Northern and Arctic waters’ (ONA). The research conducted under this programme has addressed many areas of in situ burning including:

• •• study of processes governing burning emulsions
• •• development of ignition techniques for emulsions
• •• effect of environmental conditions on burning
• •• burning crude oil and emulsions in broken ice
• •• uncontained burning of crude oil and emulsions.

     

Estimating construction and demolition debris generation using a materials flow analysis approach

The magnitude and composition of a region’s construction and demolition (C&D) debris should be understood when developing rules, policies and strategies for managing this segment of the solid waste stream. In the US, several national estimates have been conducted using a weight-per-construction-area approximation; national estimates using alternative procedures such as those used for other segments of the solid waste stream have not been reported for C&D debris. This paper presents an evaluation of a materials flow analysis (MFA) approach for estimating C&D debris generation and composition for a large region (the US). The consumption of construction materials in the US and typical waste factors used for construction materials purchasing were used to estimate the mass of solid waste generated as a result of construction activities. Debris from demolition activities was predicted from various historical construction materials consumption data and estimates of average service lives of the materials. The MFA approach estimated that approximately 610–780 × 10⁶ Mg of C&D debris was generated in 2002. This predicted mass exceeds previous estimates using other C&D debris predictive methodologies and reflects the large waste stream that exists.     

Evaluating the effect of vehicle impoundment policy on illegal construction and demolition waste dumping: Israel as a case study

Construction and demolition (C&D) waste dumped alongside roads and in open areas is a major source of soil and underground water pollution. Since 2006, Israeli ministry for environmental protection enacted a policy of vehicle impoundment (VI) according to which track drivers caught while dumping C&D waste illegally have their vehicles impounded. The present study attempted to determine whether the VI policy was effective in increasing the waste hauling to authorized landfill sites, thus limiting the number of illegal unloads of C&D waste at unauthorized landfill sites and in open areas. During the study, changes in the ratio between the monthly amount of C&D waste brought to authorized landfills sites and the estimated total amount of C&D waste generated in different administrative districts of Israel were examined, before and after the enactment of the 2006 VI policy. Short questionnaires were also distributed among local track drivers in order to determine the degree of awareness about the policy in question and estimate its deterrence effects. According to the study’s results, in the district of Haifa, in which the VI policy was stringently enacted, the ratio between C&D waste, dumped in authorized landfill sites, and the total amount of generated C&D waste, increased, on the average, from 20% in January 2004 to 35% in October 2009, with the effect attributed to the number of vehicle impoundments being highly statistically significant (t = 2.324; p < 0.05). By contrast, in the Jerusalem and Southern districts, in which the VI policy was less stringently enforced, the effect of VI on the above ratio was found to be insignificant (p > 0.1). The analysis of the questionnaires, distributed among the local truck drivers further indicated that the changes observed in the district of Haifa are not coincident and appeared to be linked to the VI policy’s enactment. In particular, 62% of the truck drivers, participated in the survey, were aware of the policy and 47% of them personally knew a driver whose vehicle was impounded. Furthermore, the drivers estimated the relative risk of being caught for unloading C&D waste in unauthorized sites, on the average, as high as 67%, which is likely to become a deterrent on its own. Our conclusion is that the VI policy appears to have a deterring effect on truck drivers, by encouraging them to haul C&D waste to authorized landfill sites. As we suggest, the research methodology implemented in the study and its results may help policy makers in other regions and countries, which experience similar environment enforcement problem, to analyze policy responses.     

Leaching characteristics of the fine fraction from an excavated landfill: physico-chemical characterization

Journal of Material Cycles and Waste Management - Leaching of fine fraction (&lt;10&nbsp;mm) obtained from landfill mining activities in an Estonian landfill was done. On-site excavation...     

Pyrolysis of lemon peel waste in a fixed-bed reactor and characterization of innovative pyrolytic products

Journal of Material Cycles and Waste Management - Lemon peel waste (LPW) were pyrolysed in a laboratory fixed-bed reactor at final temperature of 300&nbsp;°C, 400&nbsp;°C and...     

Melting characteristics during the vitrification of MSW incinerator fly ash by swirling melting treatment

Journal of Material Cycles and Waste Management - Pilot tests of fly ash were investigated in a 0.2&nbsp;MW swirling melting furnace at 1250–1400&nbsp;°C. The properties of raw...     

Nature and extent of unauthorized waste dump sites in and around Bangalore city

Journal of Material Cycles and Waste Management - Bangalore city generates around 3600 tons/day of solid waste and a major constituent is organic (&gt;70&nbsp;%). The quantum of wastes...     

The use of commercial and industrial waste in energy recovery systems - A UK preliminary study

With 2020 energy targets set out by the EU fast approaching, the UK is trying to source a higher proportion of its energy from renewable resources. Coupled with this, a growing population and increasing trends in consumer demand have resulted in national waste loads increasing. A possible solution to both issues is energy-from-waste (EfW) technologies. Many studies have focused on municipal solid waste (MSW) as a potential feedstock, but appear to overlook the potential benefits of commercial and industrial waste (C&IW). In this study, samples of C&IW were collected from three North West waste management companies and Lancaster University campus. The samples were tested for their gross and net calorific value, moisture content, ash content, volatile matter, and also elemental composition to determine their suitability in EfW systems. Intra-sample analysis showed there to be little variation between samples with the exception two samples, from waste management site 3, which showed extensive variation with regards to net calorific value, ash content, and elemental analysis. Comparisons with known fuel types revealed similarities between the sampled C&IW, MSW, and refuse derived fuel (RDF) thereby justifying its potential for use in EfW systems. Mean net calorific value (NCV) was calculated as 9.47 MJ/kg and concentrations of sulphur, nitrogen, and chlorine were found to be below 2%. Potential electrical output was calculated using the NCV of the sampled C&IW coupled with four differing energy generation technologies. Using a conventional incinerator with steam cycle, total electrical output was calculated as 24.9 GWh, based on a plant operating at 100,000 tpa. This value rose to 27.0 GWh when using an integrated gasification combined cycle. A final aspect of this study was to deduce the potential total national electrical output if all suitable C&IW were to be used in EfW systems. Using incineration coupled with a steam turbine, this was determined to be 6 TWh, 1.9% of the national demand thereby contributing 6.5% towards the UK’s 2020 renewable electricity target.     

A grey-relation-based method (GRM) for thermogravimetric (TG) data analysis

Journal of Material Cycles and Waste Management - Thermogravimetric analyzer was applied to analyze 22 solid materials and their mixtures at a heating rate of 10&nbsp;K&nbsp;min−1...     

Impact of Construction Waste Disposal Charging Scheme on work practices at construction sites in Hong Kong

Waste management in the building industry in Hong Kong has become an important environmental issue. Particularly, an increasing amount of construction and demolition (C&D) waste is being disposed at landfill sites. In order to reduce waste generation and encourage reuse and recycling, the Hong Kong Government has implemented the Construction Waste Disposal Charging Scheme (CWDCS) to levy charges on C&D waste disposal to landfills. In order to provide information on the changes in reducing waste generation practice among construction participants in various work trades, a study was conducted after 3 years of implementation of the CWDCS via a structured questionnaire survey in the building industry in Hong Kong. The study result has revealed changes with work flows of the major trades as well as differentiating the levels of waste reduced. Three building projects in the public and private sectors were selected as case studies to demonstrate the changes in work flows and the reduction of waste achieved. The research findings reveal that a significant reduction of construction waste was achieved at the first 3 years (2006–2008) of CWDCS implementation. However, the reduction cannot be sustained. The major trades have been influenced to a certain extent by the implementation of the CWDCS. Slight improvement in waste management practices was observed, but reduction of construction waste in the wet-finishing and dry-finishing trades has undergone little improvement. Implementation of the CWDCS has not yet motivated subcontractors to change their methods of construction so as to reduce C&D waste.     

Thermal decomposition of cement–asbestos at 1100 °C: how much “safe” is “safe”?

Journal of Material Cycles and Waste Management - The products of cement–asbestos treated in air at 1100&nbsp;°C were characterized by a multi-methodological approach to determine:...     

Moisture Sorption Characteristics of Chitosan/Polyethylene Oxide Blended Films

Studies on the moisture sorption characteristics of chitosan/polyethylene oxide (PEO) blended films have been carried out at 27 °C for water activity (a _w) from 0.1 to 0.9. The sorption data at different a _w were used to fit 12 different sorption isotherm models proposed in the literature. The model constants were determined by linear fitting of the sorption equations. The ranges of applicability of water activity for the isotherms reported in the article lie between 0.11 to 0.44 (monomolecular layer) for the BET model and between 0.11 to 0.86 (monolayer & multilayer’s) for Smith, Caurie, Bradley and Oswin. The water activity for Halsey and Chung & Pfost models lies between 0.44 to 0.86 (multilayer) and 0.33 to 0.86 for Henderson and Freundlich models and 0.11 to 0.65 for Kuhn, Linear and Iglesias & Chirife models. The high coefficient of determination R ² (ranges from 0.82 to 1) confirms the applicability of the equations employed. The study on the application of such water activity data of chitosan/PEO blended films on different model equations will be helpful in prediction of durability and functional behavior of moisture sensitive biopolymeric films     

A study on consumer consciousness and behavior to the plastic bag ban in Kenya

Journal of Material Cycles and Waste Management - Single use plastics pose environmental and socioeconomic problems in our life and ecosystems. After a 14&nbsp;year attempt, Kenya successfully...     

Multi criteria decision analysis to develop an optimized municipal solid waste management scenario: a case study in Ulaanbaatar,Mongolia

Journal of Material Cycles and Waste Management - Since to 1990,&nbsp;Urbanization has occurred due to an increase in the number of unpredicted citizens and migration from the countryside to...     

Pulverization of fibrous mineral wool waste

Journal of Material Cycles and Waste Management - The total annual volume of mineral wool waste in the 27 European Union countries is expected to increase to 2.5&nbsp;million tons per year by...     

A Novel Green Process for Synthesis of 3-Hydroxyalkanoate Methyl Ester Using Lipase and Novel mcl-co-lcl PHA as Catalyst and Substrate

Journal of Polymers and the Environment - A new type of medium-chain-length-co-long-chain-length polyhydroxyalkanoate (mcl-co-lcl PHA) containing 39.25&nbsp;mol% 3-hydroxyhexadecanoic (3HHD)...