A study on legislative and policy tools for promoting the circular economic model for waste management in China

The circular economy has been developing rapidly in recent years in China. A legislative system has been created to provide legal protection for the development of a circular economy, including a series of price and tax measures in the waste management area. These measures form the basic foundation for promoting better waste management under the circular economic model. Many challenges, however, remain. For instance, the legal system needs to incorporate more sophisticated science, and China lacks key waste treatment technology that could support the further development of a circular economy. There is also a need to educate the public about the concept of the circular economy and its benefits. Specific suggestions are made for the development and implementation of the circular economic model.     

Biohydrogen using leachate from an industrial waste landfill as inoculum

Since hydrogen is a renewable energy source, biohydrogen has been researched in recent years. However, data on hydrogen fermentation by a leachate from a waste landfill as inoculum are scarce. We investigated hydrogen production using a leachate from an industrial waste landfill in Kanagawa Prefecture. The results showed no methane gas production, and the leachate was a suitable inoculum for hydrogen fermentation. The maximum H₂ yield was 2.67 mol of H₂ per mol of carbohydrate added, obtained at 30°C and an initial pH of 7. The acetate and butyrate production was significant when the H₂ yield was higher. Oxidation–reduction potential analysis of the culture suggested that hydrogen-producing bacteria in the leachate were facultative anaerobic. Scanning electron microscope observations revealed that the hydrogen-producing bacteria comprised bacilli about 2 μm in length.     

Decomposition of dichloromethane and in situ alkali absorption of resulting halogenated products by a packed-bed non-thermal plasma reactor

For an effective decomposition and removal of organic halogenated compounds, a packed-bed non-thermal plasma reactor with in situ absorption of the resulting halogenated products by alkaline sorbent incorporated was proposed. In the plasma reactor, α-Al₂O₃ particles of 1 and 3 mm (mean particle diameter) were packed as solid dielectric medium to enhance the plasma power density in the reactor. Further, alkaline sorbent of Ca(OH)₂ was doped onto the surface of α-Al₂O₃ particles, in order to remove halogenated products by in situ absorption with Ca(OH)₂. A high-voltage and high-frequency pulsed power of −15 to 15 kV and 1 kHz was applied to the wire electrode of the plasma reactor by means of a DC power source. In the present study, as the sample of an organic halogenated compound that is most popularly used, we selected dichloromethane (CH₂Cl₂), and 500 ppm of the initial concentration of CH₂Cl₂ was fed into the reactor accompanied by air at a fixed flow rate of 500 × 10⁻⁶ m³ min⁻¹ at room temperature. As a result, it was recognized that the amount of CH₂Cl₂ decomposed by non-thermal plasma in an α-Al₂O₃ particle bed increased with an increase in plasma input power. The ratio of decomposition of CH₂Cl₂ was almost 100% at 13 kV of electric power and 1 kHz frequency, and CO₂, CH₃Cl, COCl₂, HCl, and Cl₂ were observed as the major reaction products. On the other hand, when CH₂Cl₂ was introduced into the plasma reactor where α-Al₂O₃ particles doped with Ca(OH)₂ were packed, the ratio of decomposition of CH₂Cl₂ became higher, compared to the case that α-Al₂O₃ particles were not doped with Ca(OH)₂. Moreover, there were no halogenated by-product gases detected in the outlet gas from the reactor. As the solid reaction products, CaClOH and Ca(ClO)₂·4H₂O were detected on Ca(OH)₂ by X-ray diffraction. From these findings, it was recognized that CH₂Cl₂ was decomposed more effectively without producing unwanted harmful halogenated by-products in the proposed non-thermal plasma reactor where α-Al₂O₃ particles doped with Ca(OH)₂ sorbent were packed.     

Waste incineration,PVC, and dioxins

Waste incineration is becoming increasingly necessary to tackle the rapidly rising amounts of municipal solid waste (MSW); in China many large cities are already surrounded by a girdle of landfills. Still, the not-in-my-backyard (nimby) syndrome holds strong. This attitude stems from fear of dioxins. These have been associated with incineration (‘dioxin factories’) and at times also with polyvinylchloride. In this paper this issue is analysed. China should build additional trust in MSW incineration, following promulgation of stricter emission standards, enforced by stringent controls.     

The effect of the addition of fly ash to municipal digested sludge on its electroosmotic dewatering

Effective handling of municipal digested sludge requires that the product cake have low water content. To this end, we investigated the change in sludge dewaterability after the addition of fly ash to municipal digested sludge, dewatering of which is difficult because of its high organic content. The performance of the dewatering is compared with that of electroosmotic dewatering (EDW) and conventional mechanical dewatering (CMD). Fly ash classified by sieving to the size of 25–75 μm and >75 μm is added to the municipal digested sludge by 10, 20, and 50 wt% by wet base. When adding fly ash particles to municipal digested sludge, dewatering efficiency improved with smaller fly ash particle size and with increase in the amount. When sludge was dewatered using an electroosmotic dewatering method, the dewatering efficiency is improved about 40% by adding fly ash of 25–75 μm particle size with 20 wt% when compared with conventional mechanical dewatering method without adding the fly ash. It is concluded that fly ash particles rich in inorganic material are helpful in the dewatering process when added to municipal digested sludge and EDW is more effective than CDW.     

The Properties of Poly(<Emphasis Type="SmallCaps">l</Emphasis>-Lactide) Prepared by Different Synthesis Procedure

Different synthesis methods were applied to determine optimal conditions for polymerization of (3S)-cis-3,6-dimethyl-1,4-dioxane-2,5-dione (l-lactide), in order to obtain poly(l-lactide) (PLLA). Bulk polymerizations (in vacuum sealed vessel, high pressure reactor and in microwave field) were performed with tin(II) 2-ethylhexanoate as the initiator. Synthesis in the vacuum sealed vessel was carried out at the temperature of 150 °C. To reduce the reaction time second polymerization process was carried out in the high pressure reactor at 100 °C and at the pressure of 138 kPa. The third type of rapid synthesis was done in the microwave reactor at 100 °C, using frequency of 2.45 GHz and power of 150 W at the temperature of 100 °C. The temperature in this method was controlled via infrared system for in-bulk measuring. The solution polymerization (with trifluoromethanesulfonic acid as initiator) was possible even at the temperature of 40 °C, yielding PLLA with narrow molecular weight distribution in a very short period of time (less than 6 h). The obtained polymers had the number-average molecular weights ranging from 43,000 to 178,000 g mol⁻¹ (polydispersity index ranging from 1 to 3) according to the gel permeation chromatography measurements. The polymer structure was characterized by Fourier transform infrared and NMR spectroscopy. Thermal properties of the obtained polymers were investigated using thermogravimetry and differential scanning calorimetry.     

Preparation and Characterization of Clay Nanocomposites of Plasticized Starch and Polypropylene Polymer Blends

Plasticized starch (PLS) is a renewable, degradable, and inexpensive polymer, but it suffers from poor mechanical properties. The mechanical properties can be improved by blending PLS with polyolefins, nonetheless, at high PLS content, the mechanical properties remain poor. Here we show that addition of clay can greatly improve the mechanical properties of PLS/polypropylene blends at high starch content. Unmodified and organically modified montmorillonite clays, MMT and Cloisite 30B respectively, were added to blends of glycerol-plasticized starch and polypropylene, compatibilized using maleated polypropylene. TEM indicates that MMT is well dispersed in the PLS phase of the blends, while Cloisite 30B is located both within the PLS phase as well as at the interface between PLS and PP. At high PLS content, the addition of clay increased the tensile strength and tensile modulus by an order of magnitude, while reducing the ultimate elongation only slightly. Such improvements are attributable to both the addition of clay as a reinforcing component, as well as to the change in the two phase morphology due to addition of clay.     

Kinetic Study of Biopolymer (PHB) Synthesis in <Emphasis Type="Italic">Alcaligenes</Emphasis> sp. in Submerged Fermentation Process Using TEM

Poly-β-hydroxybuyrate (PHB) is a carbon—energy storage material which is accumulated as intracellular granule in variety of microorganism under nutrient starved conditions. Solid PHB is a biodegradable thermoplastic polymer and is utilizable in various ways similar to many conventional plastics. Ralstonia eutropha (Alcaligenes sp.), a gram negative bacteria accumulates PHB as insoluble granules inside the cells when nutrients other than carbon are limited. In this report effort has been made to analyze PHB granule synthesis inside Alcaligenes sp. NCIM 5085 by transmission electron microscopy and qualitative estimation of PHB was carried out by fourier transform infrared spectroscopy which provide better precision compared to other conventional techniques previously applied for PHB determination. Maximum PHB concentration of 2.20 ± 0.40 g/L and cell biomass of 3.42 ± 0.20 g/L was obtained after 48.0 h of fermentation. Leudking-Piret equation deduced mixed growth associated product formation which varies from earlier reports.     

Effect of Ionizing Radiation on the Morphological,Thermal and Mechanical Properties of Polyvinyl Alcohol/Polyethylene Glycol Blends

Blends of water—soluble polymers based on Poly vinyl alcohol (PVA) and Polyethylene glycol (PEG) have been prepared by the solution casting technique. The effect of various doses of γ-radiation on the structural properties of PVA/PEG polymer blends with all its compositions has been investigated. From the visual observation of all the blend compositions, it was found that, the best compatibility of the blend is up to 40% PVA/60%PEG. The structure–Property behavior of all the prepared blends before and after γ-irradiation was investigated by IR Spectroscopy, thermogravimetric analysis (TGA), mechanical properties and Scanning electron microscope (SEM). The gel content and the swelling behavior of the PVA/PEG blends were investigated. It was found that the gel content increases with increasing irradiation dose and PVA concentration in the blend. Swelling percent increased as the composition of PEG increased in the blend. The results obtained by FTIR analysis and SEM confirm the existence of possible interaction between PVA and PEG homopolymers. TGA of PVA/PEG blend, before and after γ-irradiation, showed that the unirradiated and irradiated PVA/PEG blends are more stable against thermal decomposition than pure PVA. Improvement in tensile mechanical properties of PVA/PEG blends was occurred.     

Archaeal Poly (3-hydroxybutyrate) Polymer Production from Glycerol: Optimization by Taguchi Methodology

In this study the possibility of poly (3-hydroxybutyrate) production from glycerol was investigated and optimized by Halorcula sp. IRU1, a novel archaea isolated from Urmia lake, Iran in batch experiments. Using Taguchi methodology, three important independent parameters (glycerol, yeast extract and KH₂PO₄) were evaluated for their individual and interactive effects on poly (3-hydroxybutyrate) production. It was shown that the glycerol concentration was the most significant factor affecting the yield of poly (3-hydroxybutyrate). The optimum factor levels were a glycerol concentration of 8% (v/v), yeast extract 0.8% (w/v) and KH₂PO₄ 0.002% (w/v). The predicted value obtained for poly (3-hydroxybutyrate) production under these conditions was about 81.87%. We can conclude that Haloarcula sp. IRU1 has a high potential for synthesis of poly (3-hydroxybutyrate) from glycerol.