Waste-based composites—Poverty reducing solutions to environmental problems

This paper highlights an innovative model of waste management combined with poverty reduction, which has been developed by the organisation Waste for Life (wasteforlife.org) - a network of academics, students, practitioners and on the ground cooperative partners in low income communities. The Waste for Life teams work with local cooperatives to create waste-based composites, which may be sold in local markets, thereby creating an income stream. The application of this model to the context of cartoneros (waste picker) cooperatives in Buenos Aires, Argentina, reveals that viable products can be made from paper and plastic waste, with low-impact material preparation that circumvents the need for chemically intensive, polluting and mechanically degrading procedures, preserving recycled fibre integrity. Tests on material samples indicate mechanical properties comparable to products made with more complex processing. The production model is based on the philosophy that not only the waste materials, but also the production equipment should be locally sourced and manufactured and products created to suit local markets. A simple reproducible model has been developed for the local manufacture of composites from waste, which can provide an income source for waste pickers as well as providing an innovative waste management solution.     

Ecological investigations on the zooplankton community of Balsfjorden,northern Norway: Lipids in the euphausiids Thysanoessa raschi and T. inermis during spring

Dry body weights, lipid levels and lipid compositions were measured in I-and II-group Thysanoessa raschi (M. Sars) and T. inermis (Krøyer) collected in April-May, 1980 in Balsfjorden, north Norway. Dry body weights were mininal in late April but had doubled by mid-May for I-group T. raschi and for I- and II-group T. inermis. II-group T. raschi had increased its dry weight by less than 50% by mid-May. Lipid accounted for approximately 10% of the dry body weight throughout the period, with free fatty acids and phospholipids being the dominant classes. An exception occurred for II-group T. inermis in mid-May, when wax esters were present in substantial amounts. Wax esters were present only in small amounts at other times and triacylglycerols were negligible. The free fatty acids in I-group T. raschi and I-group T. inermis in late April were deficient in polyunsaturates; by mid-May the free fatty acids were rich in polyunsaturates. II-group T. raschi and II-group T. inermis had free fatty acids rich in polyunsaturates throughout the period of study. The wax esters present in II-group T. inermis in mid-May consisted mainly of 16:0 and 14:0 alcohols esterified to 18:1 fatty acid. The traces of wax esters present in T. raschi did not contain significant amounts of phytol. Results are discossed with respect to the metabolic activities of the two euphausiids and their trophic positions in terms of different dietary inputs.