Passengers waste production during flights

We assume that during flights the amount of waste that is produced is limited. However, daily, approximately 8000 commercial airplanes fly above Europe’s airspace while at the same time, more than 17,000 commercial flights exist in the entire world. Using primary data from airlines, which use the Larnaca’s International Airport (LIA) in Cyprus, we have tried to understand why wastes are produced during a typical flight such as food waste, paper, and plastics, as well as how passengers affect the production of those wastes. The compositional analysis took place on 27 flights of 4 different airlines which used LIA as final destination. The evaluation indicated that the passenger’s habits and ethics, and the policy of each airline produced different kinds of waste during the flights and especially food waste (FW). Furthermore, it was observed that the only waste management strategy that exists in place in the airport is the collection and the transportation of all those wastes from aircrafts and from the airport in the central unit for further treatment. Hence, this research indicated extremely difficulties to implement any specific waste minimization, or prevention practice or other sorting methods during the flights due to the limited time of the most flights (less than 3 h), the limited available space within the aircrafts, and the strictly safety roles that exist during the flights.     

Solidification/stabilization of ash from medical waste incineration into geopolymers

In the present work, bottom and fly ash, generated from incinerated medical waste, was used as a raw material for the production of geopolymers. The stabilization (S/S) process studied in this paper has been evaluated by means of the leaching and mechanical properties of the S/S solids obtained. Hospital waste ash, sodium hydroxide, sodium silicate solution and metakaolin were mixed. Geopolymers were cured at 50 °C for 24 h. After a certain aging time of 7 and 28 days, the strength of the geopolymer specimens, the leachability of heavy metals and the mineralogical phase of the produced geopolymers were studied. The effects of the additions of fly ash and calcium compounds were also investigated. The results showed that hospital waste ash can be utilized as source material for the production of geopolymers. The addition of fly ash and calcium compounds considerably improves the strength of the geopolymer specimens (2–8 MPa). Finally, the solidified matrices indicated that geopolymerization process is able to reduce the amount of the heavy metals found in the leachate of the hospital waste ash.     

Incorporating human factors into a simplified “bow-tie” approach for workplace risk assessment

The aim of this paper is to provide a simple methodological tool for the incorporation of human factors in the process of risk assessment. This attempt takes place through a simplified quantification scheme including various affecting factors for intentional and unintentional human behavior in risky situations. This scheme is simple and autonomous and it can be applied in a “bow-tie” analysis. It produces numerical coefficients to adjust “nominal” estimated probabilities in order to take the impact of human factors into account. Although the whole approach lacks theoretical accuracy, it remains simple and proper for risk assessment in small scale workplaces. A simple example for the application of this tool is also presented.     

Mortality of the scleractinian coral <Emphasis Type="Italic">Cladocora caespitosa</Emphasis> during a warming event in the Levantine Sea (Cyprus)

A mortality event of Cladocora caespitosa corals and the extent of bleaching, necrosis and pigmented areas in the colonies were studied at the southeastern coast of Cyprus during a prolonged period of higher than average sea temperature anomalies (summer/autumn 2012). With the use of scuba diving and image analysis software, we monitored the extent of mortality of 29 colonies of C. caespitosa by measuring and comparing the area percentage of healthy tissue, affected tissue (bleached, necrotic) and older mortality events (encrusted skeleton). In September 2012, on average, 24 % of the colonies surface area was affected (bleaching and/or necrosis). In October 2012, C. caespitosa showed on average 26.3 % of the colony surface area affected, evidence of continuing deterioration. At the same time, 10 % (3 of 29) of the colonies showed an increase in the pigmentation of previously bleached polyps in small and marginal areas (6–8 %). Irrespective of the amount, the regaining of pigments recorded is considered an important find. Corals and marine organisms in general in the Levantine Sea are affected greatly by warming events, to the extent where a very small percentage of polyps/colonies show resilience under thermal stress. Natural bleaching of C. caespitosa, even though limited to a few colonies and very small portions of tissue/polyps, was documented for the first time in the Levantine Sea. We conclude that temperature anomalies are associated with the mortality event. Whether prolonged higher temperature is the direct cause, or whether it acts synergistically with other factors should be the subject of further investigations.     

Correction to: Assessing environmental impacts through innovative solutions

Environmental Science and Pollution Research -     

Assessing environmental impacts through innovative solutions

Environmental Science and Pollution Research -