Assessing and improving management practices when planning packaging waste collection systems

Packaging waste collection systems are responsible to collect, within a geographic area, three types of packaging materials (paper, glass and plastic/metal) that are disposed by the final consumer into special bins. Those systems are often characterized by having a network with multiple depots that act as transfer and sorting stations, and where the vehicle fleet is based. However, each depot is often managed independently and not as a part of a unique system. In this work, four current tactical/operational practices that contribute to the independent management of each depot are analysed. The change of such practices is investigated and their impact assessed on the total collection cost. A solution methodology based on mathematical formulations is developed to plan service areas, vehicle routes and vehicle schedules taking into account new alternative solutions in managing the system as a whole. Such methodology is applied to a real case study of a company responsible for the collection of the packaging waste in 7 municipalities in mainland Portugal. New service areas, collection routes and vehicle schedules are defined and significant savings are obtained in terms of the total distance travelled as well as in terms of the number of required vehicles, resulting in a decreasing of the total system cost.     

Design of a European agrochemical plastic packaging waste management scheme—Pilot implementation in Greece

Mismanagement of Agrochemicals Plastic Packaging Waste (APPW) constitutes a major environmental problem, resulting in the pollution of soil, air and water resources and compromising the agricultural products safety, the protection of the environment and the public health. Systems for the management of APPW have been established in some European countries and they are operational for several years now. However, these schemes are incompatible while their operational conditions and technical criteria could be improved. In many countries no schemes exist yet for the management of APPW with serious negative consequences for the environment and public health. In response to these problems the European project AgroChePack has developed an environmental friendly, economically viable European APPW management scheme by transferring know-how from existing schemes, designing a new integrated APPW management scheme and testing it through pilot trials in five countries. This work presents the basic design principles established by AgroChePack by identifying problems and bottlenecks faced by existing schemes in Europe, by developing an integrated APPW scheme and by implementing, evaluating and optimising this scheme through pilot trials in Greece.     

板料成形数值模拟中网格结点编号优化算法研究

提出一种用于板料成形数值模拟的网格结点编号优化算法。该算法用各个结点的相邻单元结点编号总和除以该结点相邻单元数 ,所得的结点商作为重新结点编号的依据 ,对板料成形模拟的四边形单元结点编号进行优化 ,减少了带宽 ,减少有限元的计算贮存量 ,缩短了板料成形数值模拟的计算时间     

Resource users as land-sea links in coastal and marine socioecological systems

Coastal zones, which connect terrestrial and aquatic ecosystems, are among the most resource-rich regions globally and home to nearly 40% of the global human population. Because human land-based activities can alter natural processes in ways that affect adjacent aquatic ecosystems, land-sea interactions are increasingly recognized as critical to coastal conservation planning and governance. However, the complex socioeconomic dynamics inherent in coastal and marine socioecological systems (SESs) have received little consideration. Drawing on knowledge generalized from long-term studies in Caribbean Nicaragua, we devised a conceptual framework that clarifies the multiple ways socioeconomically driven behavior can link the land and sea. In addition to other ecosystem effects, the framework illustrates how feedbacks resulting from changes to aquatic resources can influence terrestrial resource management decisions and land uses. We assessed the framework by applying it to empirical studies from a variety of coastal SESs. The results suggest its broad applicability and highlighted the paucity of research that explicitly investigates the effects of human behavior on coastal SES dynamics. We encourage researchers and policy makers to consider direct, indirect, and bidirectional cross-ecosystem links that move beyond traditionally recognized land-to-sea processes.