Eco-efficient recycling of drinking water treatment sludge and glass waste: development of ceramic bricks

Journal of Material Cycles and Waste Management - Current management for drinking water treatment sludge and glass waste is insufficient, and a new method is needed. We sought to develop a new...     

Compostable cutlery and waste management: an LCA approach

The use of disposable cutlery in fast food restaurants and canteens in the current management scenario generates mixed heterogeneous waste (containing food waste and non-compostable plastic cutlery). The waste is not recyclable and is disposed of in landfills or incinerated with or without energy recovery. Using biodegradable and compostable (B&C) plastic cutlery, an alternative management scenario is possible. The resulting mixed homogeneous waste (containing food waste and compostable plastic cutlery) can be recycled through organic recovery, i.e., composting. This LCA study, whose functional unit is "serving 1000 meals", shows that remarkable improvements can be obtained by shifting from the current scenario to the alternative scenario (based on B&C cutlery and final organic recovery of the total waste). The non-renewable energy consumption changes from 1490 to 128MJ (an overall 10-fold energy savings) and the CO(2) equivalents emission changes from 64 to 22 CO(2) eq. (an overall 3-fold GHG savings).     

发达国家废玻璃回收利用经验及借鉴

介绍了发达国家处理和再利用废玻璃的经验,提出我国应借鉴发达国家经验,从科研、政策、法律等方面加强废玻璃的再利用工作。     

Spatial simulation and LCA evaluation on the plastic waste recycling system in Tianjin

With the rapid economic development in China, the amount of plastic waste (PW) generated has greatly increased and much of the waste is currently not treated. To reduce greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions from recycling of PW, we estimated the PW flow and considered methods to improve the household PW recycling system in Tianjin by adjusting processes during transportation and establishing a PW recycling factory in Zi’ya Industrial Park. The goal of the study was to identify reasonable improvements for the recycling system and clarify the environmental load. Geographic information system (GIS) technology was used to simulate transport processes for comparing GHG emissions from the transport processes between the present case and an improved case. Life cycle assessment (LCA) was used to compare GHG emissions between a projected scenario and a baseline scenario. Estimated GHG emissions during transport processes in the improved case were reduced by about 12,197 t CO₂ eq per year compared to the present case, equivalent to about 65.9 % of the total emissions in the present case. GHG emissions in the projected scenario were about 101,738 t CO₂ eq less per year than the baseline scenario, equivalent to about 75.5 % of the total emissions in the baseline scenario.     

Direction of CRT waste glass processing: electronics recycling industry communication

Cathode Ray Tube, CRT, waste glass recycling has plagued glass manufacturers, electronics recyclers and electronics waste policy makers for decades because the total supply of waste glass exceeds demand, and the formulations of CRT glass are ill suited for most reuse options. The solutions are to separate the undesirable components (e.g. lead oxide) in the waste and create demand for new products. Achieving this is no simple feat, however, as there are many obstacles: limited knowledge of waste glass composition; limited automation in the recycling process; transportation of recycled material; and a weak and underdeveloped market. Thus one of the main goals of this paper is to advise electronic glass recyclers on how to best manage a diverse supply of glass waste and successfully market to end users. Further, this paper offers future directions for academic and industry research. To develop the recommendations offered here, a combination of approaches were used: (1) a thorough study of historic trends in CRT glass chemistry; (2) bulk glass collection and analysis of cullet from a large-scale glass recycler; (3) conversations with industry members and a review of potential applications; and (4) evaluation of the economic viability of specific uses for recycled CRT glass. If academia and industry can solve these problems (for example by creating a database of composition organized by manufacturer and glass source) then the reuse of CRT glass can be increased.     

Approaches to eliminate waste and reduce cost for recycling glass

In recent years, the issue of environmental protection has received considerable attention. This paper adds to the literature by investigating a scheduling problem in the manufacturing of a glass recycling factory in Taiwan. The objective is to minimize the sum of the total holding cost and loss cost. We first represent the problem as an integer programming (IP) model, and then develop two heuristics based on the IP model to find near-optimal solutions for the problem. To validate the proposed heuristics, comparisons between optimal solutions from the IP model and solutions from the current method are conducted. The comparisons involve two problem sizes, small and large, where the small problems range from 15 to 45 jobs, and the large problems from 50 to 100 jobs. Finally, a genetic algorithm is applied to evaluate the proposed heuristics. Computational experiments show that the proposed heuristics can find good solutions in a reasonable time for the considered problem.     

Winery waste recycling through anaerobic co-digestion with waste activated sludge

In this study biogas and high quality digestate were recovered from winery waste (wine lees) through anaerobic co-digestion with waste activated sludge both in mesophilic and thermophilic conditions. The two conditions studied showed similar yields (0.40 m³/kgCOD_fed) but different biological process stability: in fact the mesophilic process was clearly more stable than the thermophilic one in terms of bioprocess parameters.The resulting digestates showed good characteristics for both the tested conditions: heavy metals, dioxins (PCDD/F), and dioxin like bi-phenyls (PCBs) were concentred in the effluent if compared with the influent because of the important reduction of the solid dry matter, but remained at levels acceptable for agricultural reuse. Pathogens in digestate decreased. Best reductions were observed in thermophilic condition, while at 37 °C the concentration of Escherichia coli was at concentrations level as high as 1000 UFC/g. Dewatering properties of digestates were evaluated by means of the capillary suction time (CST) and specific resistance to filtration (SRF) tests and it was found that a good dewatering level was achievable only when high doses of polymer (more than 25 g per kg dry solids) were added to sludge.     

LCA comparison of container systems in municipal solid waste management

The planning and design of integrated municipal solid waste management (MSWM) systems requires accurate environmental impact evaluation of the systems and their components. This research assessed, quantified and compared the environmental impact of the first stage of the most used MSW container systems. The comparison was based on factors such as the volume of the containers, from small bins of 60–80 l to containers of 2400 l, and on the manufactured materials, steel and high-density polyethylene (HDPE). Also, some parameters such as frequency of collections, waste generation, filling percentage and waste container contents, were established to obtain comparable systems. The methodological framework of the analysis was the life cycle assessment (LCA), and the impact assessment method was based on CML 2 baseline 2000. Results indicated that, for the same volume, the collection systems that use HDPE waste containers had more of an impact than those using steel waste containers, in terms of abiotic depletion, global warming, ozone layer depletion, acidification, eutrophication, photochemical oxidation, human toxicity and terrestrial ecotoxicity. Besides, the collection systems using small HDPE bins (60 l or 80 l) had most impact while systems using big steel containers (2400 l) had less impact. Subsequent sensitivity analysis about the parameters established demonstrated that they could change the ultimate environmental impact of each waste container collection system, but that the comparative relationship between systems was similar.     

LCA for household waste management when planning a new urban settlement

When planning for a new urban settlement, industrial ecology tools like scenario building and life cycle assessment can be used to assess the environmental quality of different infrastructure solutions. In Trondheim, a new greenfield settlement with carbon-neutral ambitions is being planned and five different scenarios for the waste management system of the new settlement have been compared. The results show small differences among the scenarios, however, some benefits from increased source separation of paper and metal could be found. The settlement should connect to the existing waste management system of the city, and not resort to decentralised waste treatment or recovery methods. However, as this is an urban development project with ambitious goals for lifestyle changes, effort should be put into research and initiatives for proactive waste prevention and reuse issues.     

Recent trends in recycling activities and waste management in Japan

Japan's basic approach to municipal solid waste (MSW) is (1) waste reduction, (2) promotion of recycling, (3) volume reduction by intermediate treatment, and (4) environmentally sound final disposal. A brief history of legislative trends in waste management is given as background for current waste management and recycling activities. The material recovery rate for MSW collected by local municipalities was only 5.6% in 1996. More than half of MSW, on a volume basis, consists of containers and packages, while great amounts of landfill space are also taken up by bulky wastes such as electric appliances. Therefore, in order to promote recycling and decrease landfill waste, Japan is targeting containers, packages, and electric appliances. A law promoting separate collection and recycling of containers and packages (Packaging Waste Recycling Law) and a law requiring the recycling of specific home electric appliances into new products (Home Electric Appliance Recycling Law) were introduced in June 1995 and June 1998, respectively. These laws are in line with the OECD policy Extended Producer Responsibility (EPR). Received: September 16, 1998 / Accepted: March 10, 1999     

中国废纸回收利用行业发展路径及政策探讨

2012和2013年的废纸市场让很多企业一筹莫展,全球经济不振,国内需求不足,产能过剩,直接影响了造纸行业的生产和销售,作为原料供应商的废纸回收利用行业,必然受到连带影响,整个产业进入低迷阶段.除了外部经济环境的影响,行业内部应该如何调整,产业政策又该怎样引导行业健康发展,将是未来需要持续探讨的课题.     

生活垃圾分类背景下对广州市废玻璃回收利用的思考

废玻璃是一种载能节能、低碳环保、可重复利用和再生利用的再生资源,广州市通过补贴政策、两网融合等手段,促进废玻璃回收利用,随着生活垃圾分类纵深推进,为了进一步提高废玻璃回收利用,从废玻璃回收利用现状入手,对比了北京、上海生活垃圾中废弃玻璃的占比情况,针对目前存在问题,提出废玻璃回收利用分析与建议.     

我国冶金渣开发利用产业慨况及发展前景

全面分析了我国冶金渣开发利用产业的发展状况和存在问题,提出行业未来的发展战略,指出我国冶金渣开发利用处于起步阶段,与发达国家相比还有很大差距,具有巨大的发展潜力和良好的投资环境。     

北京废旧资源回收利用产业发展实践研究

废旧资源回收利用具有显著的资源节约和环境友好特性,发展废旧资源回收利用产业已成为实践循环经济,促进节能减排的重要举措.通过多种途径调研了北京市废旧资源回收利用产业若干重点企业,凝练了近年来北京市废旧资源回收利用产业在产业发展规模、科技支撑水平、政府支持强度以及节能减排效益等多方面取得的发展成效,结合首都北京自身特点和发展要求,分析了发展中存在的若干不足,提出需要在提高产业集聚、完善回收体系以及加强系统激励等方面有针对性地采取相应对策,以促进其可持续发展.     

基于循环经济的产品可持续发展研究

高新技术的迅速发展和市场环境的不断变化导致了产品更新换代速度的加快,加剧了资源消耗和环境污染。而基于循环经济的特征,开展产品可持续发展理论研究,可以指导产品自身的可持续协调发展,使产品由生产后的静态使用发展到性能或功能的可持续生长,可持续满足市场的全维需求。初步探讨了产品可持续发展的相关内涵、现状及其哲学意义,并分析了产品可持续发展的主要研究内容,对基于循环经济特点的产品可持续发展模式提出了初步讨论。     

Plastic waste management in Jakarta,Indonesia: evaluation of material flow and recycling scheme

Journal of Material Cycles and Waste Management - In Jakarta, Indonesia, municipalities collect plastic mixed with other waste, scavengers recover plastic waste by picking through waste, and some...     

废弃电器电子产品回收处理行业管理政策探讨

围绕新近出台的《废弃电器电子产品回收处理管理条例》,借鉴欧盟等国家对废旧物资的管理理念和具体措施,探讨了我国废旧电器电子产品的界定及管理制度建设,提出建设社区试点网络管理体系、建立由市场主导的生产者责任延伸体系等建议。