Production of new concrete with leather tannery waste used as partial replacement of the natural sand

Journal of Material Cycles and Waste Management - Leather production is a technology that boosts the economy because of its versatility and durability. However, the wastes generated throughout the...     

Face mask and medical waste generation in the City of Baguio,Philippines: its current management and GHG footprint

Journal of Material Cycles and Waste Management - The daily use of facemask to prevent virus transmission increases the negative effect on the environment because of improper waste disposal. Due to...     

Nutrient pathways and their susceptibility to past and future change in the Eurasian Arctic Ocean

Climate change is altering nutrient cycling within the Arctic Ocean, having knock-on effects to Arctic ecosystems. Primary production in the Arctic is principally nitrogen-limited, particularly in the western Pacific-dominated regions where denitrification exacerbates nitrogen loss. The nutrient status of the eastern Eurasian Arctic remains under debate. In the Barents Sea, primary production has increased by 88% since 1998. To support this rapid increase in productivity, either the standing stock of nutrients has been depleted, or the external nutrient supply has increased. Atlantic water inflow, enhanced mixing, benthic nitrogen cycling, and land–ocean interaction have the potential to alter the nutrient supply through addition, dilution or removal. Here we use new datasets from the Changing Arctic Ocean program alongside historical datasets to assess how nitrate and phosphate concentrations may be changing in response to these processes. We highlight how nutrient dynamics may continue to change, why this is important for regional and international policy-making and suggest relevant research priorities for the future.Supplementary InformationThe online version contains supplementary material available at 10.1007/s13280-021-01673-0.     

Biogeochemical consequences of a changing Arctic shelf seafloor ecosystem

Unprecedented and dramatic transformations are occurring in the Arctic in response to climate change, but academic, public, and political discourse has disproportionately focussed on the most visible and direct aspects of change, including sea ice melt, permafrost thaw, the fate of charismatic megafauna, and the expansion of fisheries. Such narratives disregard the importance of less visible and indirect processes and, in particular, miss the substantive contribution of the shelf seafloor in regulating nutrients and sequestering carbon. Here, we summarise the biogeochemical functioning of the Arctic shelf seafloor before considering how climate change and regional adjustments to human activities may alter its biogeochemical and ecological dynamics, including ecosystem function, carbon burial, or nutrient recycling. We highlight the importance of the Arctic benthic system in mitigating climatic and anthropogenic change and, with a focus on the Barents Sea, offer some observations and our perspectives on future management and policy.     

Carbonization of waste PVC to develop porous carbon material without further activation

Efficient removal of chlorine from PVC achieved by two-stage heat-treatment (280 and 410 degrees C) provided chlorine-free isotropic pitch containing additive. The pitch was stabilized and carbonized into porous carbons with surface areas of approximately 300 m2/g. Resultant porous carbons showed three pore structures of supermicropore, micropore and mesopore. The generation of CO2 from the decomposition of the CaCO3 additive in waste PVC is responsible for the development of porous structures. The surface area of the carbonized product increased after the removal of CaO.     

The effect of sodium chloride on the dissolution of calcium silicate hydrate gels

The use of cement based materials will be widespread in the long-term management of radioactive materials in the United Kingdom. One of the applications could be the Nirex reference vault backfill (NRVB) as an engineered barrier within a deep geological repository. NRVB confers alkaline conditions, which would provide a robust chemical barrier through the control of the solubility of some key radionuclides, enhanced sorption and minimised corrosion of steel containers. An understanding of the dissolution of C-S-H gels in cement under the appropriate conditions (e.g., saline groundwaters) is necessary to demonstrate the expected evolution of the chemistry over time and to provide sufficient cement to buffer the porewater conditions for the required time. A programme of experimental work has been undertaken to investigate C-S-H gel dissolution behaviour in sodium chloride solutions and the effect of calcium/silicon ratio (C/S), temperature and cation type on this behaviour. Reductions in calcium concentration and pH values were observed with samples equilibrated at 45 degrees C compared to those prepared at 25 degrees C. The effect of salt cation type on salt-concentration dependence of the dissolution of C-S-H gels was investigated by the addition of lithium or potassium chloride in place of sodium chloride for gels with a C/S of 1.0 and 1.8. With a C/S of 1.0, similar increases in dissolved calcium concentration with increasing ionic strength were recorded for the different salts. However, at a C/S of 1.8, anomalously high calcium concentrations were observed in the presence of lithium.     

Pilot project of mechanical-biological treatment of waste in Brazil

By mechanical-biological treatment (MBT) of residual municipal solid waste the behaviour of landfills can be significantly improved. After MBT the organic content (COD and BOD5), total organic carbon, and total nitrogen in the leachate, as well as the gas production rate, are reduced to values lower than 90% of the fresh untreated waste. The volume of the stabilized material to be disposed on landfills decreases enormously, by up to 70%. The monitoring effort for a landfill constructed under these conditions is reduced to a minimum and the stabilized material can be used in other ways, as material for reforestation, for cover material or for thermal utilization to produce energy. Environmental conditions are important in MBT, as well as waste characteristics. This paper describes the results of a pilot project of MBT performed in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil. The results have shown that this technology can be used successfully in developing countries, with economy for the society and important results for the environment.     

Influence of dairy manure addition on the biological and thermal kinetics of composting of greenhouse tomato plant residues

A laboratory-scale bioreactor was used to investigate the influence of dairy manure addition (as an inoculum and a carbon source) on the biological and thermal kinetics of the composting process of tomato plant residues-wood shavings mixture. Urea was added (as a nitrogen source) to correct the initial C:N ratio to 30:1 and the initial moisture content was also adjusted to 60%. The result of this study indicated that manure addition to the tomato residues-wood shavings mixture is a good source of macro and micronutrients required for supporting the composting microorganisms. Manure addition increased the rate of temperature increase and the duration of maximum temperature and reduced the lag and the peak time, all of which resulted in a significant reduction in the retention time. However, thermophilic temperature (> or = 40 degrees Celsius) was only achieved with 30%, 40% and 50% manure addition for 3, 7 and 9h. Total carbon reductions were in the range of 9.4-10.8% and TKN reductions were in the range of 3.4-6.0%. Neither the nitrogen nor the moisture content were limiting factors as the C:N ratio remained in the range of 26:1 to 28:1 and the moisture content remained within the optimum range of 58-61%. The maximum temperature of each mixture correlated with the reduction of total carbon, but carbon availability was a limiting factor in these experiments. In order to attain and sustain a thermophilic phase during the composting process, the addition of a readily available carbon source to the tomato should be investigated and carbon type (carbohydrates, proteins and fats) should be taken into account.