Characterization of odorous charge and photochemical reactivity of VOC emissions from a full-scale food waste treatment plant in China

Food waste treatment plants (FWTPs) are usually associated with odorous nuisance and health risks, which are partially caused by volatile organic compound (VOC) emissions. This study investigated the VOC emissions from a selected full-scale FWTP in China. The feedstock used in this plant was mainly collected from local restaurants. For a year, the FWTP was closely monitored on specific days in each season. Four major indoor treatment units of the plant, including the storage room, sorting/crushing room, hydrothermal hydrolysis unit, and aerobic fermentation unit, were chosen as the monitoring locations. The highest mean concentration of total VOC emissions was observed in the aerobic fermentation unit at 21,748.2–31,283.3 μg/m³, followed by the hydrothermal hydrolysis unit at 10,798.1–23,144.4 μg/m³. The detected VOC families included biogenic compounds (oxygenated compounds, hydrocarbons, terpenes, and organosulfur compounds) and abiogenic compounds (aromatic hydrocarbons and halocarbons). Oxygenated compounds, particularly alcohols, were the most abundant compounds in all samples. With the use of odor index analysis and principal components analysis, the hydrothermal hydrolysis and aerobic fermentation units were clearly distinguished from the pre-treatment units, as characterized by their higher contributions to odorous nuisance. Methanthiol was the dominant odorant in the hydrothermal hydrolysis unit, whereas aldehyde was the dominant odorant in the aerobic fermentation unit. Terpenes, specifically limonene, had the highest level of propylene equivalent concentration during the monitoring periods. This concentration can contribute to the increase in the atmospheric reactivity and ozone formation potential in the surrounding air.     

Characterization of odorous charge and photochemical reactivity of VOC emissions from a full-scale food waste treatment plant in China

Food waste treatment plants(FWTPs) are usually associated with odorous nuisance and health risks, which are partially caused by volatile organic compound(VOC) emissions. This study investigated the VOC emissions from a selected full-scale FWTP in China. The feedstock used in this plant was mainly collected from local restaurants. For a year, the FWTP was closely monitored on specific days in each season. Four major indoor treatment units of the plant, including the storage room, sorting/crushing room, hydrothermal hydrolysis unit, and aerobic fermentation unit, were chosen as the monitoring locations.The highest mean concentration of total VOC emissions was observed in the aerobic fermentation unit at 21,748.2–31,283.3 μg/m3, followed by the hydrothermal hydrolysis unit at 10,798.1–23,144.4 μg/m3. The detected VOC families included biogenic compounds(oxygenated compounds, hydrocarbons, terpenes, and organosulfur compounds) and abiogenic compounds(aromatic hydrocarbons and halocarbons). Oxygenated compounds,particularly alcohols, were the most abundant compounds in all samples. With the use of odor index analysis and principal components analysis, the hydrothermal hydrolysis and aerobic fermentation units were clearly distinguished from the pre-treatment units, as characterized by their higher contributions to odorous nuisance. Methanthiol was the dominant odorant in the hydrothermal hydrolysis unit, whereas aldehyde was the dominant odorant in the aerobic fermentation unit. Terpenes, specifically limonene, had the highest level of propylene equivalent concentration during the monitoring periods. This concentration can contribute to the increase in the atmospheric reactivity and ozone formation potential in the surrounding air.     

国内外“食”旅游:“Food Tourism”“美食旅游”“饮食旅游”研究比较

基于文献研究法,对国内外1996—2020年721篇文献进行了梳理、归纳与总结,从年度载文量、来源期刊类型、基金项目资助等入手,比较了国内外“食”旅游:“Food Tourism”“美食旅游”“饮食旅游”的研究现状、热点及进展。结果表明:①国外“食”旅游研究已进入成熟阶段,国内正处拓展阶段。②国内外均采用定性与定量相结合的研究方法,国内以定性分析为主,而定量方法相对简单,国外定量方法趋于多元化、复杂化。③国内学者对“美食旅游”“饮食旅游”分别进行了研究。④文献研究得知,韩国“食”旅游研究对全球“食”旅游研究贡献巨大。     

纸塑铝复合包装废物的回收与再生利用现状

通过对典型的垃圾填埋场和复合包装再生利用企业的调研,分析了我国现有复合包装废物产生与回收再生利用的现状.并针对纸塑铝复合包装材料的结构和特点,对现有复合包装材料的再生利用技术进行研究比较,指出了我国复合包装回收利用过程中亟待解决的问题及未来的研究方向.     

浙江省包装印刷行业挥发性有机物排放特征及排放系数

本文通过2105年浙江省254家包装印刷企业的调查数据,剖析了该行业原辅料组分及挥发性有机物(VOCs)污染治理现状,并筛选出100家典型企业,按印刷工艺划分阐述包装印刷行业VOCs排放特征、核算VOCs排放系数.结果表明,浙江省近2/3包装印刷企业未能有效处理VOCs,且大部分企业仍使用溶剂型原辅料,主要排放污染因子为乙酸乙酯、异丙醇、乙醇、乙酸丙酯、乙酸丁酯等9种物质.全省包装印刷行业VOCs平均排放系数为0.485 kg·kg~(-1),其中凹印工艺排放系数最高,为0.634 kg·kg~(-1).与物料衡算法计算值相比,由排放系数得到的排放量误差控制在15%以内.     

Agriculture, pesticides, food security and food safety

Decades ago, agrochemicals were introduced aiming at enhancing crop yields and at protecting crops from pests. Due to adaptation and resistance developed by pests to chemicals, every year higher amounts and new chemical compounds are used to protect crops, causing undesired side effects and raising the costs of food production. Eventually, new techniques, including genetically modified organisms (GMOs) resistant to pests, could halt the massive spread of agrochemicals in agriculture fields. Biological chemical-free agriculture is gaining also more and more support but it is still not able to respond to the need for producing massive amounts of food. The use of agrochemicals, including pesticides, remains a common practice especially in tropical regions and South countries. Cheap compounds, such as DDT, HCH and lindane, that are environmentally persistent, are today banned from agriculture use in developed countries, but remain popular in developing countries. As a consequence, persistent residues of these chemicals contaminate food and disperse in the environment. Coordinated efforts are needed to increase the production of food but with a view to enhanced food quality and safety as well as to controlling residues of persistent pesticides in the environment.     

Environmental impacts of different food waste resource technologies and the effects of energy mix

The environmental impacts of food waste management strategies and the effects of energy mix were evaluated using a life cycle assessment model, EASEWASTE. Three different strategies involving landfill, composting and combined digestion and composting as core technologies were investigated. The results indicate that the landfilling of food waste has an obvious impact on global warming, although the power recovery from landfill gas counteracts some of this. Food waste composting causes serious acidification (68.0 PE) and nutrient enrichment (76.9 PE) because of NH₃ and SO₂ emissions during decomposition. Using compost on farmland, which can marginally reduce global warming (−1.7 PE), acidification (−0.8 PE), and ecotoxicity and human toxicity through fertilizer substitution, also leads to nutrient enrichment as neutralization of emissions from N loss (27.6 PE) and substitution (−12.8 PE). A combined digestion and composting technology lessens the effects of acidification (−12.2 PE), nutrient enrichment (−5.7 PE), and global warming (−7.9 PE) mainly because energy is recovered efficiently, which decreases emissions including SO₂, Hg, NO_x, and fossil CO₂ during normal energy production. The change of energy mix by introducing more clean energy, which has marginal effects on the performance of composting strategy, results in apparently more loading to acidification and nutrient enrichment in the other two strategies. These are mainly because the recovered energy can avoid fewer emissions than before due to the lower background values in power generation. These results provide quantitative evidence for technical selection and pollution control in food waste management.     

A comprehensive waste collection cost model applied to post-consumer plastic packaging waste

Post-consumer plastic packaging waste (PPW) can be collected for recycling via source separation or post-separation. In source separation, households separate plastics from other waste before collection, whereas in post-separation waste is separated at a treatment centre after collection. There are also two collection schemes, either curb side or via drop-off locations. These different schemes have impact on total costs of collection at the municipal level. It can also influence the facility choices and network design. Therefore, a method which can compare costs of various collection schemes is needed.A comprehensive cost model was developed to compare costs of municipal collection schemes of PPW. The ‘municipal waste collection cost model’ is based on variables including fixed and variable costs per vehicle, personnel cost, container or bag costs as well as on emission costs (using imaginary carbon taxes). The model can be used for decision support when strategic changes to the collection scheme of municipalities are considered. The model takes into account the characteristics of municipalities, including urbanization degree and taxation schemes for household waste management.The model was applied to the Dutch case of post-consumer plastic packaging waste. Results showed that that in general post-separation collection has the lowest costs and curb side collection in urban municipalities without residual waste collection taxing schemes the highest. These results were supported by the conducted sensitivity analysis, which showed that higher source separation responses are negatively related to curb side collection costs. Greenhouse gas emission costs are a significant part of the total costs when collecting post-consumer plastic packaging waste due to the low density to weight ratio of the materials collect. These costs can amount to 15% of the total collection costs.     

Recycling for small island tourism developments: Food waste composting at Sandals Emerald Bay,Exuma, Bahamas

The ability for small islands to meet sustainability goals is exacerbated by the costs of transporting goods on, and then, wastes off the islands. At small scales, recycling can be prohibitive and complicated by labor costs; the need to profitably recycle and manage solid waste output from tourism is complicated by scale and available technologies. A multi-year study documents the amount of solid waste generated on Great Exuma (Exuma), The Commonwealth of The Bahamas since 2010 with one year of benchmarking, then limited recycling of food waste generation by an all-inclusive resort, Sandals Emerald Bay (SEB). For the island of Exuma, the rapid increase in the rate of accumulation of solid waste associated with a large destination resort has led to an increase in pests such as rats and flies, along with an increased occurrence of fires associated with unburied solid waste. Solid waste has accumulated faster than the island solid waste management can absorb. SEB kitchen and hotel operations contributes an estimated 36% of all solid waste generated on the island, about 1752 t¹ out of a total of 4841 t generated on the island in 2013 (exclusive of vegetation waste). Based on 4 weeks of benchmarking, 48.5% of all the waste coming out of the SEB resort is compostable, organic waste, but waste composition varies widely over time. Exuma Waste Management (EWM) and Recycle Exuma (RE), both privately-held Bahamian businesses, worked for one year (2012–2013) with SEB resort to implement a benchmarking and pilot recycling project to meet Earth Check green resort certification requirements. This paper outlines the costs and resources required for food waste recycling and some barriers to implementing more effective solid waste management for the tourism industry on small islands.