Overview of household solid waste recycling policy status and challenges in Malaysia

With the annual increase in waste generation and heavy reliance on landfilling as disposal, method in Malaysia, it is just a matter of time before significant problems of space limitations, health, and environmental issues hit the nation severely. This paper attempts to develop an overview on solid, waste recycling in Malaysia at the most basic level of a community or nation which is the household, unit. Households are the main primary source of municipal solid waste in Malaysia, consisting of, recyclable materials at most 70% to 80% of the total waste composition as found placed in the, landfills. Overview on the existing household solid waste recycling policy and program status in, Malaysia is relevant in enhancing solid waste management measure from recycling perspective. Despite the high potential and opportunities for solid waste recycling, wastes are still simply being, dumped in an open area of ground without any attempt for recovery and recycling. Comparing to, recycling rates of neighboring countries, Malaysia is falling back at merely 5% which proves how, uncommon recycling practice is. The government is committed to significantly improve the national's, solid waste management services especially in waste minimization. Fortunately the emphasis on, recycling as a sustainable waste management strategy has taken a shift in paradigm as wastes, separation and recycling are part of the major changes in the current policy implementation. With, issues and challenges in recycling practice that were highlighted in this context especially from the, aspects of information availability and other loopholes within solid waste management policies and, related recycling program within the community, the question on whether the goals in 2020 can be, met remains unsure of but there is a possibility for a successful implementation of sustainable solid, waste management particularly in recycling.     

Towards the estimation of demand for recycling in Chile: The case of Santiago

In developing countries, the recycling of municipal solid waste (MSW) as an alternative to the traditional MSW management requires an economic sustainability valuation. From this perspective, the estimation of demand for recycling is crucial. In this paper, we study the case of recycling MSW in Santiago, Chile. We estimate the relation between the monthly amount of MSW separated voluntarily from apartments located in Santiago and the monthly price required to participate in a municipal recycling program. We consider the transference of the municipal cost savings to the owners of the apartments due to the amount of MSW separated for recycling, which is not collected and deposited in the current MSW system. For the estimation, we use concepts from environmental economics and psychology, analyzing the operation and municipal costs incurred by current MSW management and designing and applying a survey based on a contingent valuation method (CVM) approach. The results indicate that the percentage of MSW separated for recycling varies between a 27.98% and 33.18%, that only four MSW types are affected by a variation of the monthly price, and that a reduction of monthly collection trips in the current MSW system from 24 to 18 can be obtained. Additionally, we discuss a number of methodological aspects to be considered in a similar study of valuation of recycling in developing countries. Our conclusion is that Santiago has favorable conditions for the implementation of a recycling program as an alternative to the current MSW system.     

Closed loop recycling of plastics containing Flame Retardants

Annually 2.7 million tonnes of plastics containing Flame Retardants (FRs) are globally discarded in Waste Electrical and Electronic Equipment (WEEE). Little is known on the feasibility of closing material loops for FR plastics. Therefore, series of experiments were set up to analyze the feasibility of separating plastics containing FRs from one specific product category, namely End-of-Life (EoL) Liquid Crystal Display (LCD) TVs. The characterization of the housings of this waste stream indicated a concentration of 18 wt% Bromine based (Br) FRs and 31 wt% Phosphor based (P) FRs, the remainder not containing FRs. With practical tests it was demonstrated that, after disassembly and plastic identification, the co-polymer poly-carbonate (PC)/acrylonitrile-butadiene-styrene (ABS) containing PFR can be recycled in a closed loop system. Based on the determined plastic density distributions and separation efficiencies of optical sorters, a purity of 82% was calculated for PFR PC/ABS separated from EoL LCD TVs after size-reduction (shredding). Performed miscibility tests indicated that for this fraction at least a factor 10 dilution with virgin material is required. In addition, higher waste volumes are required for a size-reduction based treatment to become economically viable and technical challenges still need to be faced, whereas closed loop recycling of PFR PC/ABS from the current waste stream of EoL LCD TVs of different brands in a disassembly based treatment is found to be technically feasible and economically viable under European boundary conditions.     

Present situation of wastewater treatment in the Iranian industrial estates: Recycle and reuse as a solution for achieving goals of eco-industrial parks

Iran is located in arid and semi-arid region, which means water resource management is a strategic issue for this country. Water scarcity is one of the most critical concerns of industrial estates in Iran. For this reason, recycling and reusing of treated wastewater is the most practical solution for compensating of water shortage in industrial estates. Currently, only 20% of total treated wastewater is used for irrigation and almost 0.81% is consumed for industrial purpose. This study presents an overview on the wastewater management at the Iranian industrial estates for the purpose of achieving the goal of eco-industrial parks by describing the present situation and discussing the experiences of wastewater reuse systems for irrigation and industrial purposes. The aims of this study was to provide an overview of the wastewater management at the industrial estates in Iran towards achieving eco-industrial parks by describing present states and the outcome of wastewater consumption for irrigation and industrial purposes.     

Degradation of duloxetine: Identification of transformation products by UHPLC-ESI(+)-HRMS/MS, in silico toxicity and wastewater analysis

Duloxetine (DUL), an antidepressant drug, has been detected in surface water and wastewater effluents, however, there is little information on the formation of its transformation products (TPs). In this work, hydrolysis, photodegradation (UV irradiation) and chlorination experiments were performed on spiked distillated water, under controlled experimental conditions to simulate abiotic processes that can occur in the environment and wastewater treatment plants (WWTPs). Eleven TPs, nine from reaction with UV light and two from chlorine contact, were formed and detected by ultra-high performance liquid chromatography coupled to quadrupole time-of-flight mass spectrometry, and nine of them had their chemical structures elucidated upon analyses of their fragmentation patterns in MS/MS spectra. The formation and degradation of the TPs were observed. The parent compound was completely degraded after 30?min in photodegradation and after 24?hr in chlorination. Almost all TPs were completely degraded in the experiments. The ecotoxicity and mutagenicity of the TPs were predicted based on several in silico models and it was found that a few of these products presented more ecotoxicity than DUL itself and six TPs showed positive mutagenicity. Finally, wastewater samples were analyzed and DUL and one TP, possibly formed by chlorination process, were detected in the effluent, which showed that WWTP not only did not remove DUL, but also formed a TP.     

Recycling, reuse and energetic valuation of meat industry wastes in Extremadura (Spain)

The environmental problem caused by the effluents from the four main agrifood industries in Extremadura (W Spain) is evaluated in the present work. In particular, attention is paid to the management of wastes from slaughterhouse operations. Pollution is quantified in terms of equivalent population and biological oxygen demand, for which very high values are reported.Efforts are also focused on the search of viable technical solutions for the treatment of those residues and their energetic valuation. In this sense, anaerobic digestion techniques are proposed, not only because they lead to a drastic decrease in their pollution potential, but also because significant volumes of biogas are obtained. This biogas might be used to produce electricity to be transferred to the electrical network. This way, anaerobic digestion plants would allow depreciation within a relatively short period.In particular, an analysis of the economics of a plant for the codigestion of solid and liquid effluents from meat industry is carried out, and a payback time between 7 and 8 years was achieved.     

Global disposal strategies for waste cathode ray tubes

The collection and management of waste electrical and electronic appliances around the world, and the possible negative environmental consequences have been an issue of current debate. Cathode ray tubes (CRTs) used as display screen for computer monitors and televisions contains large quantities of lead, estimated at between 0.5 and 4 kg, depending on the size of the CRT and has been identified as the most polluting of all electronic waste components. Having failed the tests used in the toxicity characterization of solid wastes, CRTs have been declared ‘hazardous’ and subsequently banned from landfills and incinerators in most developed countries. Presently, large quantities of CRTs are generated globally with only few developed countries having effective take back and sound management program. Meanwhile, large quantities of CRT-containing devices are being moved across frontiers into developing countries in the name of ‘reuse’ and ‘bridging the digital divide’. With near absence of recycling infrastructure for electronic wastes in most developing countries, waste CRTs are disposed of with MSW at open dumps and unsanitary landfills. This paper reviews the current practices in the management of CRTs around the world, with emphasis on the role of regulations, availability of recycling infrastructure, recycling/reuse routes, and export into developing countries. Inappropriate disposal of waste CRTs creates the opportunity for large-scale environmental contamination with heavy metals, especially lead. Appropriate disposal routes are required globally in the management of CRTs in order to mitigate environmental contamination and human exposure to toxins.     

Ergonomics Oriented to Processes Becomes a Tool for Continuous Improvement

Abstract

A holistic view is essential for quality initiatives such as Total Quality Management (TQM), Standard No. ISO 9001:1994 (International Organization for Standardization [ISO], 1994), Concurrent Engineering, Business Reengineering, and Business Process Improvement. The challenge is knowing how to transition from this theoretical concept to implementation. The relationship between quality interest and anergonomics program will be the focus of this discussion. An ergonomics oriented improvement program includes (a) ergonomics or fitting the job to the person; (b) integration of operations management, safety engineering, medical management, and employees as co-owners of the process; (c) the emphasis of ergonomic precepts in the engineering of new processes and improvement of current processes; and (d) the emphasis of employees taking responsibility for their own well being and the improvement of their work environment. The parallel between the continuous improvement process delineated by the quality-system requirements in Standard No. ISO 9001:1994 (ISO, 1994) and the improvement contributions of ergonomics are very revealing (Getty, Abbott, & Getty, 1995). It is the contention of this approach that if the precepts of ergonomics were applied to the work environment, it would support the objective of world class quality and productivity, resulting in improved global competitiveness of businesses.