Solid Waste Sorting Research Articles

Evaluation of sustainable waste management: An analysis of techno-economic and life cycle assessments of municipal solid waste sorting and decontamination

This study evaluates the economic and environmental feasibility of Municipal Solid Waste (MSW) sorting and decontamination technologies across urban, suburban, and rural areas. Using Techno-Economic Analysis (TEA) and Life Cycle Assessment (LCA), the research assesses cost-effectiveness and environmental impacts, with a focus on cost variability analyzed through Monte Carlo simulations. Findings indicate significant cost differences based on population density: rural areas incur high costs up to $764/ton due to low waste volumes and limited infrastructure, whereas suburban and urban areas have more feasible costs ranging from $36.3 to $142.5/ton. Environmental impacts also vary, with greenhouse gas emissions at 171 kg CO2 eq/ton for copy paper and 118.6 kg CO2 eq/ton for plastics. PM2.5 levels are 9.1 g/ton for copy paper and 6.3 g/ton for plastics, with sorting lines being the main contributors. Monte Carlo simulations reveal a 50% probability of costs being below $102.26/ton for copy paper and $115.8/ton for plastics in suburban settings. The study underscores the importance of customized waste management strategies to improve economic viability and sustainability based on local conditions.

Legal analysis of the interaction between the state and citizens in the context of solid household waste regulation in the Republic of Kazakhstan

In the modern world, the problem of waste management is becoming more urgent and requires society to constantly regulate and adopt effective legislative mechanisms. In the article, the authors consider an important aspect in this area — the interaction between the state and citizens in the context of waste management. The interaction of these entities plays a key role in creating an effective solid waste management system aimed at ensuring environmental safety and sustainable development of society through the analysis of regulatory legal acts, statistical data and good practices in this area. The article discusses several key problems related to solid waste management in Kazakhstan, including a lack of information for citizens (for example, it is not enough to publish materials on websites, they must be updated regularly), unavailability of infrastructure (sorting centers are located far from public accommodation, it is not possible to take garbage to specially designated places), low motivation (due to monthly utility bills for garbage collection, many people consider, that the relevant institutions should be engaged in the collection and sorting of solid household waste or do not understand the danger of consequences for the environment), inconsistencies in legislation have been identified (there are no mechanisms for imposing fines for nonsorting garbage, as abroad) and insufficient financing (if we do not have finances, whatever industry we take, we cannot achieve high results). In order to improve the situation in society, the need to develop mass educational programs related to garbage sorting, develop infrastructure related to the sorting of solid household waste, further reform legislation related to environmental and sustainable development, and focus on strategies to attract investors and funds to this industry was justified. In the article, based on the comprehensive directions adopted by the state to support citizens in the collection and sorting of solid household waste, we came to the conclusion of a settlement of the problem associated with waste recycling. A concrete solution to these problems is manifested in the definition of general directions of development in waste management.

INTERACTION EFFECT OF CHEMICAL AND ORGANIC FERTILIZERS ON THE YIELD AND YIELD COMPONENTS OF Gundelia rosea AT DIFFERENT PLANT DENSITIES IN THE FIELD

Field experiments were conducted at two locations, Grdarasha Research Field Station, College of Agricultural Engineering Sciences, Salahaddin University – Erbil and Aquban special farm using randomized complete block design (RCBD) during two seasons 2019-2020 and 2020-2021 to study the effect of different plant densities and compost fertilizer of solid waste management and sorting of Akre district-Duhok province and NPK (20:20:20) fertilizer on growth and edible portion characteristics of Gundelia rosea. The results indicated that the plants of the two years age in the both locations produce the highest value of length, dimeter, fresh and dry weight of edible portion with space increasing between plants and rows. While, total fresh and dry weight increased with decreasing the distance between plants and rows. Compost and compost + NPK fertilizer significantly increasing all edible portion parameters in both locations. The interaction between density and fertilizer resulted that D5 and compost and compost +NPK treatment produce the maximum rate of length, dimeter, fresh and dry weight of edible portion, while D1 and compost and compost + NPK record the highest total fresh and dry weight production.

Advanced chemometric methodologies on single shot hyphenated LIBS data for rapid and reliable characterization of plastic classes

BackgroundPlastic Solid Waste (PSW) sorting is a procedure of paramount importance in the mechanical recycling process of plastics waste. The major limitation of the techniques relying on physical properties of plastics is the time taken for analysis and poor accuracy. Spectroscopy has been shown to be a suitable method in plastic sorting due to its atomic and molecular characterization capabilities, and ability to give results in very short time scales. However, for practical applications it is essential to translate this technique into an automatic technology, by combining it with advanced chemometric tools which can give observer independent judgement. ResultsThe indigenously developed bi-model Laser Induced Breakdown Spectroscopy (LIBS)-Raman system with single source and single detector can record the LIBS-Raman spectral signals in single-shot mode in a total time frame of 20 ms. Out of the combinations of Principal Component Analysis (PCA) and Partial Least Squares (PLS) with Logistic Regression (LR), Linear Discriminant Analysis (LDA), Support Vector Machine (SVM), and Partial Least Squares-Discriminant Analysis (PLS-DA) based classifiers, the PLS-DA based model showed the maximum classification accuracy with 95 % based on LIBS data and 100 % based on Raman data. The reliability of the model was assessed using 4-fold cross-validation which showed a sensitivity of 90.28 % and specificity of 98.29 % for predictions based on LIBS data, and 99 % sensitivity and 99.82 % specificity for predictions relying on Raman data. SignificanceThe results show how the combination of multimodal spectroscopy with chemometric analysis enhances the applicability of spectroscopic techniques for plastic sorting. The classification model successfully classified seven types of post-consumer plastic samples based on combined LIBS and Raman data. With the home-built software for automated prediction, the system takes less than a second to predict the plastic type illustrating the potential of the method for translation to regular routine industrial applications.

An Innovative Magnetic Density Separation Process for Sorting Granular Solid Wastes

Solid waste sorting is an important pre-treatment in recycling to improve the efficiency of material recovery and reduce costs. Motivated by the PEACOC project on metal recovery from solid wastes, an innovative magnetic density separation (MDS) process has been developed for solid waste sorting. It has intrinsic advantages over conventional gravity separation technologies and the previously industrialized MDS process. The new MDS process applies an inclined planar magnet and a horizontal basin containing a static magnetic fluid as the separation medium. A particle sliding phenomenon is identified as a feature that could help the separation. Experiments have been carried out to demonstrate the role of the MDS in concentrating valuable metals in shredded PCBAs and reducing metallic contaminants in plastic fractions of shredded wires. A pilot scale facility is introduced to show the design to achieve continuous production and to reduce the consumption of ferrofluid.

Opportunities for improving the use of computer vision in municipal solid waste sorting

This article explores the possibilities of improving the application of optical sorting of municipal solid waste on conveyor belts using computer vision and machine learning technologies in order to replace manual sorting lines. Also the relevance of improving waste sorting is emphasized. This work expands the understanding of the application of computer vision in the field of waste management and offers practical recommendations for its implementation in industrial processes. The paper reviews current approaches to sorting municipal solid waste, analyzes their effectiveness, and explores the potential for improving waste management processes and increasing recycling efficiency based on recent research in this area. The most popular equipment used in sorting and its features are considered. A generalization of the morphological composition of waste is carried out, and the minimum and maximum possible shares of each class of waste in the recycling stream are identified. Based on this data, sufficient proportions of images in each category are selected to train a convolutional neural network for waste classification. Applied research in terms of detection and classification of waste objects on conveyor belts using well-known neural network architectures is considered. The analysis showed that most solutions are based on 2018 architectures, while the reference classification accuracy of more modern architectures, such as OmniVec, is 17 % higher, and detection efficiency is similar orders of magnitude higher. The resulting classification accuracy is significantly affected by image augmentation in the set of images for training the neural network — its presence can increase accuracy by 10 to 15 %. The minimum training data set has been determined, which should be about 2 000 images due to the fact that after a further increase in the number, the accuracy does not change significantly.

Intelligent Systems for Managing and Monitoring the Collection, Sorting, and Transportation of Solid Waste for Processing

Intelligent Systems for Managing and Monitoring the Collection, Sorting, and Transportation of Solid Waste for Processing

Forecasting the Mitigation Potential of Greenhouse Gas Emissions in Shenzhen through Municipal Solid Waste Treatment: A Combined Weight Forecasting Model

As a significant source of anthropogenic greenhouse gas emissions, the municipal solid waste sector’s greenhouse gas emission mode remains unknown, hampering effective decision-making on possible greenhouse gas emission reductions. Rapid urbanization and economic growth have resulted in massive volumes of municipal solid trash. As a result, identifying emission reduction routes for municipal solid waste treatment is critical. In this research, we investigate the potential of municipal solid waste treatment methods in lowering greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions in Shenzhen, a typical Chinese major city. The results showed that the combined treatment of 58% incineration, 2% landfill, and 40% anaerobic digestion (AD) had the lowest greenhouse gas emissions of about 5.91 million tons under all scenarios. The implementation of waste sorting and anaerobic digestion treatment of organic municipal solid waste after separate collection can reduce greenhouse gas emissions by simply increasing the incineration ratio.

Bioaerosol Exposure during Sorting of Municipal Solid, Commercial and Industrial Waste: Concentration Levels, Size Distribution, and Biodiversity of Airborne Fungal

A study was carried out in a waste sorting plant (WSP) located in France, treating dry recyclable household waste (DRHW) as well as dry recyclable commercial and industrial waste (DRCIW). Stationary and personal inhalable samples were collected in the WSP in order to investigate bioaerosols (sampling on a filter; 2 L/min and 10 L/min) and airborne dust (CIP; 10 L/min). The aim of the study was to assess the extent to which the measurement of concentration, species composition, and particle size distribution contributes to a better assessment of the biological risks associated with exposure. The results confirmed that waste and waste sorting activities are sources of airborne fungi. Indeed, ambient concentrations ranged from 7.3 × 103 to 8.5 × 105 colony-forming units (CFU)/m3 for culturable fungi and up to 4 mg/m3 for dust. Personal exposure to inhalable dust was found up to 3 mg/m3 for dust and ranged from 8.6 × 103 to 1.5 × 106 CFU/m3 for fungi. Airborne fungal communities were found to be dominated by the Penicillium genera in both bioaerosols and settled dust samples, followed by the Aspergillus, Cladosporium, Wallemia, Mucor, and Rhizopus genera. Fungi were carried by particles of aerodynamic diameters, mainly between around 2.0 and 10.0 µm. The findings dealing with size distribution and biodiversity of bioaerosols suggest that employees are exposed to complex bioaerosols during their work and help to make a finer diagnosis of the risks involved, which is often difficult in the absence of any occupational exposure limit (OEL) value for bioaerosols in general.

Intelligent system for solid waste classification using combination of image processing and machine learning models

ABSTRACT Solid waste is a major issue in all cities around the world. Classification and segregation of solid waste prior to reuse, recycle or recover is an important step towards sustainable waste management. Traditional manual sorting of solid waste is a labour-intensive process that may pose health risks to the workers. Currently, automated classification of solid waste using machine learning techniques is widely applied. This study aims to develop an automated waste classification model by testing traditional and deep machine learning models. To achieve that, both open and generated datasets were used in the model training and testing. The study results showed relatively low prediction capability of the traditional machine learning models like Random Forest (RF) and Support Vector Machine (SVM) as compared to the deep machine learning Convolutional Neural Network (CNN). The testing of the three models on a combined data set of Trashnet with local garbage data set resulted in accuracy of 62.5% for SVM, 72.0% for RF and 92.7% for CNN. JONET deep learning model has been developed using a combination of pre-trained base model (DenseNet 201) with a new architicture that contains a fully connected layer in the classification stage with 1024 neurons. The model is capable to identify six classes of solid waste items with various accuracies. When tested on the Trashnet dataset, the accuracy was 96.06%, while testing on the local garbage dataset gave an accuracy of 94.40%. JONET has been tested also on multi object images which gave an acceptable prediction accuracy.

Household solid waste management systems in Ukraine taking into account European experience

The article defines that the solid household waste management system is a complex of organizational, technical, economic and social measures aimed at effective collection, sorting, transportation, utilization and processing of solid household waste. An effective solid waste management system helps to ensure sustainable development, reduce the negative impact on the environment and promotes the use of waste as a resource for new products or energy. The article presents the experience of Germany, Sweden and Poland in the field of solid waste management. The peculiarities of such management are described for each of the countries. It has been established that the organization of the solid household waste management system in European countries differs in a number of features, which are determined by environmental standards, social values and strategies of sustainable development, which are aimed at solving problems related to the generation, storage, processing and utilization of waste. We propose directions for improving the solid waste management system in Ukraine, namely: development and implementation of sorting systems in households (will allow more efficient use of resources and ensure their further processing); introduction of extended producer responsibility; increasing the number and development of modern facilities for the processing and secondary processing of solid household waste; attraction of investments for the introduction of the latest technologies in the processing of solid household waste; implementation of effective incentive systems for enterprises engaged in secondary processing of solid household waste; implementation of modern technologies for tracking the volume of solid household waste, its composition and transportation routes; creation of digital platforms for information exchange between waste management, enterprises and citizens; development of programs and educational activities to increase environmental awareness of the community and their active participation in the solid waste management system; revision and improvement of legislation to meet modern environmental requirements; introduction of effective fines and incentives for enterprises and citizens that comply with or violate solid waste management requirements. Improving the solid waste management system in Ukraine can be achieved with the participation of state bodies, the business sector and the public, relying on the best experience of the European Union and other countries.

Gambaran pengelolaan sampah padat pada pedagang di pasar Karuwisi kota Makassar

Waste is an object, whether solid or liquid, that is no longer used and is simply thrown away by the owner. According to the World Health Organization (WHO), waste is something that is no longer wanted, not used, not liked or something that is thrown away that comes from human activities and does not occur by itself. The volume of waste generation in Indonesia in 2022 will reach 19.45 million tons. This figure decreased by 37.52% from 2021 to 31.13 million tons. Aim to determine the sorting, collection, and transportation of solid waste by traders. The type of research is descriptive research. The population and research sample were all 79 traders in the Karuwisi market. Sampling used a total sampling technique with a sample size of 79 traders. Data was collected using interview and observation methods using questionnaires and observation sheets. More people did not meet the requirements for waste sorting, namely 40 people (50.6%) than those who met the requirements. There were more people collecting waste who did not meet the requirements, namely 47 people (59.5%) than those who did, while all waste transporters met the requirements, namely 79 people (100%). The management of solid waste among traders in the Karuwisi market in Makassar City still does not meet the requirements, most traders do not sort waste, most traders also do not collect waste, and the transportation of waste at the Karuwisi market is very good, the tools used to collect it trash like dump trucks. It is recommended that traders at the Karuwisi market sort waste and collect waste according to its type.

Analisis Pengelolaan Limbah Medis Padat di Rumah Sakit Umum Daerah Haji Abdoel Madjid Batoe (RSUD HAMBA) Kabupaten Batanghari

Regional General Hospital Haji Abdoel Madjid Batoe (RSUD HAMBA) Batanghari Regency is included in the ten hospitals that produce the most solid medical waste in 2021. In 2022, 115,781 kg of waste is generated, consisting of 14,425 kg of infectious solid waste and 14,425 kg of non-infectious waste 101.356 kgs. If the increase in medical waste is not addressed and managed seriously, it will cause massive environmental degradation. The purpose of this research is to analyze the management of solid medical waste (Sorting and Container, Transportation, Storage and Processing) and develop a solid medical waste management strategy at HAMBA Hospital in Batanghari Regency according to Minister of Environment and Forestry Regulation P.56/Menlhk-Setjen/2015. The process of sorting and container has been separated directly from the waste producer, transportation and storage are transported by special officers (Cleaning Service) and stored in the temporary storage area (TPS) of B3 waste. Processing using its own incinerator which already has a permit. The strategy for managing solid medical waste at HAMBA Hospital in Batanghari Regency with a SWOT analysis, namely, establishing cooperation with other hospitals and health centers, providing education and training budgets for management officers and operators to obtain B3 waste management competency certification.

Untangling the critical success factors of the latest compulsory waste sorting initiative in Shanghai: The role of accountability governance

Municipal solid waste sorting is an essential element of urban sustainability as cities transition to a circular economy. As a mega-city, Shanghai has achieved remarkable milestones in its latest compulsory waste sorting program. This success has garnered widespread attention, and most studies have primarily focused on policy interventions from either a macro perspective or micro-analysis of individual behaviours. However, these studies have often overlooked the intricacies of multi-stakeholder coordination and the division of responsibilities, which frequently contributed to the failure of waste sorting initiatives. Furthermore, existing research lacks a systematic theoretical framework to elucidate multi-stakeholder accountability mechanisms. Therefore, this research adopts a case study approach to untangle the factors that led to Shanghai's success. Through the lens of accountability theory, this study systematically elaborates stakeholder accountability mechanisms and offers a distinctive multi-stakeholder perspective to explain Shanghai's success across vertical, horizontal, and felt accountability dimensions. This informative exemplar provides crucial empirical insights for other cities, especially those grappling with challenges in promoting and managing waste sorting initiatives.

Construction of a full-chain model of municipal solid waste sorting based on digital technology and case studies

Construction of a full-chain model of municipal solid waste sorting based on digital technology and case studies

Tariff setting for solid waste management services in Kazakhstan: problems and ways to solve them

The improvement of the pricing mechanism in the field of solid household waste management (MSW) is due to the need to transition to a sustainable waste management system. The current state of affairs in the field of solid waste management is characterized by chronic underfunding. Regulatory documents on the current regulatory instruments in this area do not fully implement the regulatory impact on the financial provision of the sphere of solid waste management. In this regard, the problem of scientific research and the search for ways to improve the efficiency of the process of tariff formation for solid waste management services is extremely urgent. The article provides a critical analysis of the normative primary sources for calculating the tariff for solid waste management services and determining the norms for the formation and accumulation of municipal waste (CO). The results of experimental author's studies of calculating tariffs and determining norms in retrospect over recent years with the identification of local features in their dynamics are presented, recommendations are given to improve the organization of sample observations in determining norms, as well as determining the volume of waste exported. Based on the logic of the economic factor analysis of the regulatory model of tariff calculation, the problematic provisions of the current methodology for calculating the need for financial resources for the collection and transportation, sorting and disposal of solid waste, determining the annual tariff per unit of solid waste and determining the rate of formation and accumulation of CO, appropriate recommendations have been developed to eliminate the identified problems. The conclusions and recommendations of the study will be useful to state bodies, local representative and executive authorities, economic entities, experts interested in the development of the sphere of solid waste management.

A comprehensive review on the decentralized composting systems for household biodegradable waste management

Municipal solid waste primarily consists of household biodegradable waste (HBW). HBW treatment is a crucial step in many countries due to rapid urbanization. Composting is an effective technique to treat HBW. However, conventional composting systems are unable to produce matured compost (MC), as well as releasing huge amounts of greenhouse and odorous gases. Therefore, this review attempts to suggest suitable composting system to manage HBW, role of additives and bulking agents in composting process, identify knowledge gaps and recommend future research directions. Centralized composting systems are unable to produce MC due to improper sorting and inadequate aeration for composting substrate. Recently, decentralized compost systems (DCS) are becoming more popular due to effective solid waste reduction at the household and/or community level itself, thereby reducing the burden on municipalities. Solid waste sorting and aeration for the composting substrate is easy at DCS, thereby producing MC. However, Mono-composting of HBW in DCS leads to production of immature compost and release greenhouse and odorous gases due to lower free air space and carbon-to-nitrogen ratios, and higher moisture content. Mixing HBW with additives and bulking agents in DCS resulted in a proper initial substrate for composting, allowing rapid degradation of substrate due to longer duration of thermophilic phase and produce MC within a shorter duration. However, people have lack of awareness about solid waste management is the biggest challenge. More studies are needed to eliminate greenhouse and odorous gases emissions by mixing different combinations of bulking agents and additives (mainly microbial additives) to HBW in DCS.

Climate change mitigation potential of kitchen waste utilization in China for combined heat and power production

Given the concerns about climate change, energy sustainability, and public health, the reuse of kitchen wastes (KW) is attracting increasing interest. In China, the municipal solid waste sorting scheme has increased the available KW. To assess the available KW and the climate change mitigation potential of KW utilization for bioenergy in China, three scenarios (base, conservative, and ambitious) were defined. A new framework was implemented to assess the climate change impacts of bioenergy. The annual available KW ranged from 11.450 million dry tons (in metric) under the conservative scenario to 22.898 million dry tons in the ambitious scenario, and had the potential to produce 12.37 × 106–24.74 × 106 MWh heat and 9.62 × 106–19.24 × 106 MWh power. The total potential climate change impacts of KW for combined heat and power were 3.339–6.717 million tons CO2 eq in China. The highest eight provinces and municipalities contributed over half of the national total. Among the three components of the new framework, fossil fuel-derived greenhouse gas emissions and biogenic CO2 emissions were positive. The difference in carbon sequestration was negative and ensured a lower integrated life-cycle climate change impacts than that of natural gas-derived combined heat and power. The mitigation effects of using KW as a substitute for natural gas and synthetic fertilizers were 2.477–8.080 million tons CO2 eq. These outcomes can inform relevant policymaking and benchmark climate change mitigation in China. The conceptual framework of this study can also be adapted for applications in other countries or regions worldwide.

Evaluating the In-Site Sorting of Solid Waste in Selected Educational Institutions – A Pilot Study

Evaluating the In-Site Sorting of Solid Waste in Selected Educational Institutions – A Pilot Study

EFFECT OF DUST METALS AND COMPOST ON GROWTH OF Gundelia tournefortii L. AND CHEMICAL COMPOSTION OF IT᾿S EDIBLE PORTION

A field experiment was conducted at the Grdarasha Research Field station, College of Agricultural Engineering Sciences, Salahaddin University – Erbil using randomized complete block design (RCBD) during the years 2019-2021 to study the effect of five levels 0, 5, 10, 15 and 20 g of dust metals of Erbil steel factory (size 2mm mesh) in combination with compost of solid waste management and sorting of Akre district-Duhok province on growth, yield and chemical composition of Gundelia tournefortii L. The results indicated that powdery metal dust and compost fertilizer significantly increased length, diameter, fresh weight and dry weight of edible portion, and thus escalated the total yield of this plant for the two growing seasons. The highest value (669.07g/m2) of total yield was recorded by application 20g of dust metals combined with compost fertilizer in the second year. Chemical composition of edible portion also affected by fertilizer application Fe%, Co, Ni, Cu, Zn, Se, Hg and Pb ppm. The results reviewed that the addition of mineral dust as nutrients and compost fertilizer significantly enhanced the concentration of these above elements in edible portion. The maximum response was obtained with the high levels of mineral treatments for all studied elements as compared with control.