Municipal Waste Treatment Research Articles

Waste recycling: share in the structure of the tariff for the treatment of solid municipal waste in the Vologda region

In the modern world, the issues of solid municipal waste disposal, as part of the problem of environmental protection, are quite acute These problems are relevant for Russia and for many other world powers. The Russian Federation is one of the most polluted countries in the world, which negatively affects the quality of life and the health of the population of its regions. The annual increase in the volume of municipal solid waste is part of the man-made impact of man on the natural environment. To make strategic decisions on this issue, it is necessary to understand the policy of MSW management, so the authors in the article consider the values of tariffs for MSW management in one of the major regions of Russia - the Vologda Region. The data of tariffs of the Vologda region approved for 2021 are given. The structure of the average tariffs of the Russian Federation and the Vologda Region is analyzed. On the basis of regional regulations, a sample of data on the costs of disposal and transportation of MSW for some districts of the Vologda region is given: Velikoustugski, Totemski, Mezhdurechensky, Babushkinsky area, Belozersky districts. The average values of tariffs for the treatment of MSW for Russia and other countries are given: the USA, Canada, Germany, France and Finland. In addition to tariffs, the authors conducted a study on the distribution of MSW by type of disposal: disposal, incineration and recycling The article discusses the values of tariffs for the treatment of solid municipal waste and their disposal. In conclusion, the authors express concern about insufficient funds for innovations in the field of MSW processing/ recycling.

Features of Municipal Waste Management in the Context of Sustainable Development in the Countries with High Gni Per Capita and Lower Middle Gni Per Capita on the Example of Finland and Ukraine

Abstract The paper discusses ways to implement in Ukraine one of the important tasks of the sustainable development strategy - minimization and rational use of waste. The concept of a circular economy is analyzed in terms of using the material and energy potential of waste on the example of countries with high Gross National Income (GNI) per capita (Finland) and countries with lower middle GNI per capita (Ukraine). The features of the municipal solid waste management optimization in Finland and Ukraine are highlighted. It is noted that the concerns about the municipal solid waste management have reached the state level and are provided with targeted national programs and action plans. The dynamics of generation and treatment of solid municipal waste in Finland in 2009–2018 and Ukraine in 2013–2019 is analyzed. The main attention in Ukraine is paid to the implementation of the European system of municipal waste management. The paper emphasizes that an important condition for the implementation of state and municipal programs for waste recycling is the study of the socioeconomic potential of the population and the contribution fractions of waste for the organization of the separate collection of waste components and creation an appropriate infrastructure. Under current situation, sensitization work with the population to increase the level of their environmental awareness and promote active participation in the implementation of municipal waste management programs is shown to be of great importance for Ukraine.

How does separate collection efficiency influence biological stability of commingled Italian municipal solid waste?

Italy developed over the last two decades a fairly efficient separate collection system but still about 30% of municipal solid waste (MSW) collected is destined to landfilling. Italian Regulation adopts the Dynamic Respirometric index (DRI) as the key parameter for evaluating the waste biological stability of MSW prior to landfilling. On the basis of a recent literature survey, this paper aims at evaluating how much DRI (used as aerobic waste stability index) and the biochemical methane potential (used as anaerobic waste stability index) of commingled (mixed) waste, respectively before and after a simulated biological treatment, are influenced by separate collection. Experimental data confirm that enhanced separate collection results in a reduction of the putrescible content of commingled waste. However, the reduction of DRI due to separate collection only (about 20%) is insufficient to approve direct landfilling without any biological pretreatment since the required standard is not achieved, while its implementation decreases efficiently both indices in the order of 50–75%. It is also delineated that only the joint use of an aerobic and an anaerobic index gives complete and reliable information on commingled waste stability, which optimizes the treatment of municipal waste for increasing the overall sustainability of the system.

Leachate after aerobic stabilization of municipal solid waste supplemented by waste glycerine from saponification to improve biogas production during co-digestion

Co-digestion of leachate from aerobic stabilization of OFMSW (leachateOFMSW) with waste glycerine (WG) from saponification is a promising approach for municipal waste and wastewater treatment. The effect of feedstock composition on co-digestion efficiency was examined. Two feedstocks with different contents of WG (6%, 13%) were used, which affected the COD:TKN ratios in those feedstocks (60, 100). LeachateOFMSW provided nitrogen and the micro- and macroelements. In both feedstocks, the N–NH4:TKN ratio was low (0.08), indicating that the dominant form of nitrogen was organic nitrogen (Norg). Co-digestion was carried out in upflow anaerobic-sludge blanket reactors (37 ± 2 °C; OLR, 4 kg COD m−3 d−1).This process ensured highly effective COD removal (over 97%). At a feedstock COD:TKN ratio of 60, specific biogas production (SBP) was ca. 0.22 m3 kg−1 COD, and methane content, 61.6%. Increasing the COD:TKN ratio to 100 significantly increased SBP to ca. 0.36 m3 kg−1 COD, but reduced biogas quality (54.2% CH4). Although Norg had to be ammonified to ammonium because of the low N–NH4:TKN ratio in the feedstocks, the ammonium concentration in the post-processing wastewater remained low. Moreover, the low ammonium concentrations meant that the pH (8.8) did not have a toxic effect on anaerobic co-digestion (free ammonia concentrations were merely ca. 28 and 5.5 mg L−1, respectively). However, at higher feedstock COD:TKN ratios than those tested, ammonium could be exhausted, which would impede methane production. These results indicate that WG is an effective co-substrate for leachateOFMSW if an appropriate amount of WG is added to the feedstock.

Recycling of Organic Wastes through Composting: Process Performance and Compost Application in Agriculture

Composting has become a preferable option to treat organic wastes to obtain a final stable sanitized product that can be used as an organic amendment. From home composting to big municipal waste treatment plants, composting is one of the few technologies that can be practically implemented at any scale. This review explores some of the essential issues in the field of composting/compost research: on one hand, the main parameters related to composting performance are compiled, with especial emphasis on the maturity and stability of compost; on the other hand, the main rules of applying compost on crops and other applications are explored in detail, including all the effects that compost can have on agricultural land. Especial attention is paid to aspects such as the improvement of the fertility of soils once compost is applied, the suppressor effect of compost and some negative experiences of massive compost application.

Potential of Producing Compost from Source-Separated Municipal Organic Waste (A Case Study in Shiraz, Iran)

Developing countries face serious environmental, social and economic challenges in managing different types of organic waste. Proper treatment strategies should be adopted by solid waste management systems in order to address these concerns. Among all of the treatment options for organic waste, composting is the most approved method as an effective strategy to divert solid waste from landfills. This experimental research aimed to examine the potential of producing compost from source-separated municipal organic waste in Shiraz, Iran. Market waste (fruits and vegetables) and garden waste (plant residues) were used as the raw input materials. They were subjected to the windrow pile composting method in an open site area. The process was monitored against several physical, chemical and biological parameters. In-situ measurements (temperature and moisture content) were carried out on a daily basis. Sampling and lab analyses were conducted over the period of the biological treatment. The final product was of acceptable moisture and nutrient levels, pH, Electrical Conductivity (EC), and Carbon/Nitrogen ratio. All of the analyzed compost samples had lower concentrations of heavy metals than the Iranian and German standards. Overall, the results obtained revealed that composting is a promising method for municipal organic waste treatment. The findings also imply the effectiveness of the source-separation collection method in the production of high-quality compost.

Assessment of Valuable and Critical Elements Recovery Potential in Ashes from Processes of Solid Municipal Waste and Sewage Sludge Thermal Treatment

Due to the increasing amount of produced and accumulated wastes, a potential source of elements might be the global waste stream coming from the waste incineration process. As a result of this process, bottom ash, fly ash and air pollution control residues are produced. The goal of this study was to evaluate the raw material potential of the anthropogenic materials which are fly ashes from municipal waste incineration and municipal sewage sludge incineration, and the possibility for the recovery of metallic or other economically valuable elements by comparison of their chemical composition with the chemical composition of Earth materials (ultramafic, mafic and felsic igneous rocks, various sedimentary rocks), and with their lowest content in currently exploited ores. Fly ashes contain more valuable and critical elements when compared to Earth materials; however, they are less concentrated in comparison to the content in currently exploited ores. Since natural resources are becoming depleted, the costs of exploitation, mineral processing and related operations are increasing and the fly ashes are easily accessible. Cheap materials do not demand complicated treatment which might be considered as a future source of P, Zn, Sn, Cr, Pb, Au and Ag, and thus fulfilling the assumptions of close-loop economy and to maximize natural resources protection.

Volatile organic compounds, ammonia and hydrogen sulphide removal using a two-stage membrane biofiltration process

The analysis of biofiltration efficiency was performed with parallel VOC, H2S and NH3 removal using pilot two-stage biofilters including conventional biofiltration and purification on a membrane filter. The scope of the research was to determine the relationship between the technological parameters of the tested device (two beds and two membranes) and gases removal efficiency. Research was carried out in a semi-technical scale in three industrial plants: mechanical-biological municipal waste treatment (MBT), food industry (FI) and wastewater treatment (WWTP) plants. Experimental results indicate the efficiency removal of VOCs from 89% (WWTP) to 98% (FI), NH3 from 88% (WWTP) to 100% (MBT) and H2S from 93% (WWTP) to 100% (MBT). Biofilter with stumpwood chips-bark-compost bed, fortified with the more porous membrane was the most effective, allowing VOC, NH3 and H2S removal with an average efficiency of 99% for NH3 and H2S and 97% for VOCs. The application of membrane fabrics as the second stage of purification allows high efficiency simultaneous removal of VOCs, NH3 and H2S. Unlike two-stage purification, conventional biofiltration is effective at removing individual impurities from process gases. The results of this study indicate a high potential for practical application.

A statistical analysis of municipal waste treatment types in European countries

In today’s world, the municipal waste management is becoming a main concern for every country and city. In environmental problems, how to collect and eliminate the municipal waste is extremely important. Different countries take different approaches towards the elimination of municipal waste and try to create policies. In this study, municipal waste treatment types for European Union (EU) and EU candidate countries is investigated. The data is taken from a report of EUROSTAT about municipal waste treated in European Union (EU) and EU candidate countries for 2012. There are 4 variables which form how municipal waste is treated in these countries. These variables are called as Recycled, Composted, Landfilled and Incinerated. Using correspondence analysis as a main statistical technique with the help of cluster analysis, a classification of the countries according to municipal waste treatment types is created.

Environmental impacts of waste management and valorisation pathways for surplus bread in Sweden

Bread waste represents a significant part of food waste in Sweden. At the same time, the return system established between bakeries and retailers enables a flow of bread waste that is not contaminated with other food waste products. This provides an opportunity for alternative valorisation and waste management options, in addition to the most common municipal waste treatment, namely anaerobic digestion and incineration. An attributional life cycle assessment of the management of 1 kg of surplus bread was conducted to assess the relative environmental impacts of alternative and existing waste management options. Eighteen impact categories were assessed using the ReCiPe methodology. The different management options that were investigated for the surplus bread are donation, use as animal feed, beer production, ethanol production, anaerobic digestion, and incineration. These results are also compared to reducing the production of bread by the amount of surplus bread (reduction at the source). The results support a waste hierarchy where reduction at the source has the highest environmental savings, followed by use of surplus bread as animal feed, donation, for beer production and for ethanol production. Anaerobic digestion and incineration offer the lowest environmental savings, particularly in a low-impact energy system. The results suggests that Sweden can make use of the established return system to implement environmentally preferred options for the management of surplus bread.

Potentiality of municipal sludge for biological gas production at Soba Station South of Khartoum (Sudan)

Potentiality of municipal sludge for biological gas production at Soba Station South of Khartoum (Sudan)

The Impact of Technological Processes on Odorant Emissions at Municipal Waste Biogas Plants

Municipal waste treatment is inherently associated with odour emissions. The compounds characteristic of the processes used for this purpose, and at the same time causing a negative olfactory sensation, are organic and inorganic sulphur and nitrogen compounds. The tests were carried out at the waste management plant, which in the biological part, uses the methane fermentation process and is also equipped with an installation for the collection, treatment, and energetic use of biogas. The tests include measurements of the four odorant concentrations and emissions, i.e., volatile organic compounds (VOCs), ammonia (NH3), hydrogen sulphide (H2S), and methanethiol (CH3SH). Measurements were made using a MultiRae Pro portable gas detector sensor. The tests were carried out in ten series for twenty measurement points in each series. The results show a significant impact of technological processes on odorant emissions. The types of waste going to the plant are also important in shaping this emission. On the one hand, it relates to the waste collection system and, on the other hand, the season of year. In addition, it has been proved that the detector used during the research is a valuable tool enabling the control of technological processes in municipal waste processing plants.

Repercussions of COVID-19 pandemic on municipal solid waste management: Challenges and opportunities

The COVID-19 pandemic has caused global emergency and has raised social and economic concerns which will also spill over to environmental issues. Amid this natural experiment, current study evaluates prevailing municipal solid waste (MSW) management practices, with the emphasis on MSW treatment and disposal facilities in select developed and developing countries. The data and information used in this paper is collected from several scientific research papers from different disciplines, publications from governments and multilateral agencies and media reports. Despite limited literature on MSW management during such pandemics, this article presets a global backdrop of MSW management during COVID-19 outbreak and examines various aspects of MSW management. Discussion includes identifying parameters of disease transmission through solid waste handling, consequences of medical waste surge on current municipal waste treatment and disposal systems. Further, based on previous pandemic and disaster waste management studies, this study also presents challenges and opportunities in the aftermath of the ongoing pandemic. The paper recommends alternatives approaches for MSW treatment and disposal and outlines the future scope of work to achieve sustainable waste management during and aftermath of the pandemics.

Visualizing the emerging trends of biochar research and applications in 2019: a scientometric analysis and review

Biochar, derived from thermal pyrolysis of biomass, has been regarded as a low-cost, sustainable and beneficial material and widely applied in agriculture, environment and energy during the last two decades. To elucidate the research status timely and future trends in biochar field, CiteSpace is used to systematically analyze the related literature retrieved from the Web of Science core collection in 2019. Based on the keywords clustering analysis, it was found that “biochar production”, “organic pollutants removal”, “heavy metals immobilization”, “bioremediation” were the main hotspots in research covering biochar. “Bioremediation” is an emerging topic and deserves extensive attention due to its highly effective and environmentally friendly treatment of pollutants. Improving the phytoremediation effect, immobilizing functional microorganisms on biochar, and using microorganisms as raw materials to produce biochar were the common methods of biochar-assisted bioremediation. While studies focused on “soil quality and plant growth” and “biochar and global climate change” decreased, investigations concentrated in the toxicity of biochar to soil biota and ruminants are sustainably growing. Research on direct and catalytic thermal pyrolysis of green waste (mainly microalgae) for biofuels (bio-oil, biodiesel, syngas, etc.) and biochar production is increasing. Converting municipal wastes (e.g., sewage sludge, fallen leaves) into biochar through pyrolysis was a suitable treatment for municipal waste and became a popular topic in recent time. Moreover, the biochar produced from these municipal wastes exhibited excellent performance in the removal of pollutants from wastewater and soil. This review may help to identify future directions in biochar research and applications.

The GHG emission determinants research for waste disposal process at city-scale in Baoding

Current research on greenhouse gas(GHG) inventories supports the view that waste disposal is an important source of urban GHG emissions. Studying the driving factors behind the changes in greenhouse gas emissions from municipal waste treatment can provide better information support for emission reduction. This paper systematically evaluates the city-scale GHG emission determinants in waste disposal process using a system dynamics model. Subsequently, an empirical analysis was conducted on Baoding City. This research brings some interesting results: (1) The impact of the population is paramount. The emission reduction effect of controlling the size of the city and improving the quality of the population is remarkable. (2) Policy is another key factor. Comprehensive and appropriate policies are more effective than introducing and applying advanced technologies. Including urban land management, waste separation and metering and charging can be used for it. (3) It is necessary to formulate appropriate emission reduction policies for different industrial sectors by focusing on GHG generated from solid waste. Because the combined effect of factors is not equal to the simple sum of each factor. Policy implications in terms of our study results are discussed.

Mesophilic and Thermophilic Anaerobic Digestion of Organic Fraction Separated during Mechanical Heat Treatment of Municipal Waste

The objective of this study was to investigate the effect of process temperature on semi-continuous anaerobic digestion of the organic fraction separated during autoclaving of municipal waste. Tests were carried out in reactors with full mixing. Biogas production was higher in thermophilic conditions than in mesophilic conditions (0.92 L/g volatile solids at 55 °C vs. 0.42 L/g volatile solids at 37 °C, respectively). The resulting methane yields were 0.25-0.32 L CH4/g VS and 0.56–0.70 L CH4/g VS in mesophilic and thermophilic conditions, respectively. In both variants, the methane share was over 70% v/v. This work also discusses the potential impact of Maillard compounds on the efficiency of the fermentation process, which were probably produced during the process of autoclaving of municipal waste. These results indicate that, after autoclaving, the organic fraction of municipal waste can be an effective substrate for anaerobic digestion in thermophilic conditions.

Mesophiles outperform thermophiles in the anaerobic digestion of blackwater with kitchen residuals: Insights into process limitations

Co-digestion of blackwater (BW) and organic kitchen waste (KW) is a promising and effective resource-recovery based approach for municipal waste and wastewater treatment. In this study, anaerobic co-digestion treatments of BW and KW using anaerobic sequencing batch reactors under mesophilic and thermophilic conditions were compared. Our results showed that although higher sludge specific methanogenesis activities were observed in the thermophilic reactor, mesophilic treatment achieved significantly higher treatment capacity and methane production. It was concluded that thermophilic conditions introduced H2 inhibition and reduced activities of syntrophic acetogenic bacteria and syntrophic acetate oxidizing bacteria in the reactor. Further investigation on microbial communities showed significantly different microbial communities between reactors, where Thermotogaceae and Methanothermobacter were the most prevalent bacteria and archaea in the thermophilic reactor, and Cloacamonaceae and Methanosarcina were the most prevalent ones in the mesophilic reactor.

The selective treatment of municipal waste – a challenge for the architect

Contemporary civilisation has an obsession for consuming more and more goods. This, combined with the packaging habbits of suppliers, results in the emergence of increasingly large amounts of waste in Poland. The collection, selection and utilisation of this waste are becoming more and more significant, expensive and logistically complicated problems. In Poland, municipal utilities enterprises are responsible for solving these problems. However, as the space occupied by the collection, storage and disposal of waste is becoming larger, architects and urban planners should also consider being involved in providing solutions. This article presents figures and legal regulations related to the subject of municipal waste management in Poland. They are correlated with the methods of selective waste collection in Polish housing estates. Scientific research that was performed in housing estates is also presented; this research was aimed at checking the quality of existing urban and architectural solutions for municipal waste collection points. The article moves on to present good practices – examples of beneficial solutions for selective waste collection in selected European countries, such as Sweden and Italy. In order to carry out preliminary analyses of how to solve the functional and aesthetic issues related to housing waste collection points as part of the didactic classes at the Faculty of Architecture, of SUT, research exercises were conducted on the subject of developing a concept for new containers in a housing estate. Based on the received work (65 drawings) elements can be noticed that students most often paid attention to. Based on the conducted research and analysis, conclusions were reached regarding the methods of aestheticisation of district selective waste collection points and fundamental problems related to their design.

Environmental Problems in the Municipal Waste Treatment

Environmental Problems in the Municipal Waste Treatment

Rapid and de-centralized model for municipal effluent reclamation using microalgae

Abstract Microalgal bioremediation is currently being venerated for its potential in municipal liquid waste (MLW) treatment. Algae-based water treatment with retention time competitive to the conventional water treatment processes is a challenge. The present study investigated the role of algal biomass concentration to improve treatment efficiency to reduce the time required for water treatment. Eighty percent removal of pollutants (in terms of chemical oxygen demand (COD), ammonia, phosphate and fecal coliforms) was obtained in 12 hours at a biomass concentration of 1 gL−1. Further, continuous treatment of MLW using membrane-assisted photobioreactor was established. The treatment led to >95% removal of ammonia, >75% removal of COD and 100% removal of fecal coliforms within 12 hours. Physiological assessment of the algal culture showed that the cells did not manifest symptoms of stress throughout the reactor cycle, a consequence of continuous availability of the nutrients, maintaining the culture in continuous growth state.