Waste Treatment Sector Research Articles

OCCUPATIONAL EXPOSURE TO AMMONIA DURING INDUSTRIAL-SCALE ANAEROBIC DIGESTION COMPOSTING OF HOUSEHOLD WASTE

Biodegradable waste material can be exploited through anaerobic digestion, an oxygen-free multi-stage process often completed by a composting step, which harnesses the power of microorganisms to break down organic matter. This waste-treatment sector is growing rapidly in France as it allows the production of valuable digestates and biogas (biomethane). One of the main occupational health concerns in this sector is exposure to ammonia. The present work focused on ammonia emitted over the course of several stages in the anaerobic digestion and composting process, and assessed employee exposure to this pollutant. Exposure was measured for distinct worker activities and work areas, as well as during the various steps of the process. The results revealed non-negligible ammonia exposure for workers operating in the dehydration (until 55 ppmV in the workplace and 17 ppmV on the worker) and composting (until 45 ppmV in the workplace and 17 ppmV on the loader driver) areas on several sites. A classical monitoring approach was supplemented by the identification of explanatory parameters contributing to exposure: material emissivity, amounts stored or handled, and ventilation systems in use. Based on these elements, recommendations were made on prevention choices, including reducing emissions at source namely by process improvement and management of stored quantities, improving existing preventive systems such as capture at source or general ventilation, and employee education to raise awareness of waste management risks and improve practices.

Mitigating greenhouse gases emissions in processing fossil carbon containing industrial waste

The article assesses the Best Available Techniques for the methods of reduction of greenhouse gases (GHG) emissions in the waste treatment sector, that includes oil, plastic and rubber materials. The certain GHG emissions sources were shown and an attention is paid to the economic feasibility of specified methods in different places. It was shown, that for GHG mitigation policy, waste-management should be complied with the product life-cycle optimization, while recycling is considered as initially the best available method. The article is based on methods of scaling and statistical generalization. The data was obtained from official resources, including Reference Documents on the Best Available Techniques, National Inventory of GHG and from scientific publications. It was intended with full agreement, that resource efficiency enhancement relevantly should be in top priority of environmental and economic regulation.

Opportunities for greenhouse gases emissions reduction in the biodegradable industrial waste management processes

The article assesses opportunities for mitigating greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions in the waste treatment sector concerning biodegradable industrial waste. Authors describe GHG emissions sources and ways of their reduction, paying the specific attention to the stages of the life cycle, where, according to the official data, the most significant GHG flows are formed. Methods of systematization and statistical generalization are applied for analysis. The specified work is based on the data from various sources, including National Reference Documents on the Best Available Techniques, statistical and scientific publications. Russian Reference Documents are known in the Eurasian Economic Union and often discussed as a possible background for the future research in the field on Best Available Techniques and resource efficiency enhancement. The main GHG emission sources during the waste generation, neutralization, utilization, recycling and storage are roughly described. Authors suggest relevant approaches to GHG emissions reduction available from the economic and environmental points of view.

Are We Underestimating the Risk of Coastal Flooding in Europe? The Relevance of Critical Infrastructure

The effects of climate change imply an increase in the risk levels due to coastal flooding. These areas present a high concentration of population and economic activity. The failure of critical infrastructures (CI) serving these communities can have significant impacts on these sectors. This study aims to analyze the risk and its future evolution due to climate change in coastal areas, considering the increased impact that the population would experience if the CI (of the energy or water and waste treatment sectors) were affected by coastal flooding. The methodology used has made it possible to analyze the risk of the Functional Urban Areas (FUA) of the European coasts, identifying the areas in which the level of risk to the population is significantly underestimated. In some of these areas and scenarios, the population affected by coastal flooding if the failure of the CI occurs would be up to 4.5 times higher than what is estimated if only their direct impact is considered.

Anaerobic digestion using cocoa residues as substrate: Systematic review and meta-analysis

This systematic review analyses the potential of cocoa residues for energy conversion using anaerobic digestion and evaluates strategies for optimizing methane production yields, retrieving information from papers published on anaerobic digestion of cocoa residues in journals indexed in Scopus, Web of Science, and PubMed databases. The articles were selected according to the Preferred Reporting Items for Systematic Reviews and Meta-Analyses (PRISMA) method. The effects of operational and compositional variables were evaluated by multivariate (PCA) and bivariate (correlation) statistics. A total of twenty-two studies were selected for this systematic review, and five of them were considered for meta-analysis. This search evidenced a lack of studies on the anaerobic digestion of cocoa residues, leading to, for example, high heterogeneity in methane yields between studies (163 to 382 mL CH4 gVS−1). Operational and compositional conditions in the anaerobic digestion were comparable (statistically significant correlations), and anaerobic digestion was considered efficient in the treatment of cocoa residues. In the meta-analysis, optimizing strategies did not significantly affect methane yields. Nonetheless, pretreatment using organic solvents can lead to inhibitory effects on the process. Anaerobic co-digestion can be considered a satisfactory strategy depending on the origin of the co-substrate. In conclusion, this review has worldwide relevance for the waste treatment sector and regarding the search for sustainable energy alternatives. To the best of our knowledge, this study was the first one that used quantitative methods such as multivariate bivariate statistical approaches and meta-analysis to answer questions related to the energy conversion of cocoa residues using anaerobic digestion.

Transitioning towards a circular bioeconomy in South Africa: Who are the key players?

The transition towards a circular economy is becoming a priority in many countries globally. However, the circular bioeconomy has received relatively less attention. In South Africa, the valorisation of organic waste is a priority area as demonstrated by national goals to divert organic waste from landfill. To support the growth of the organic waste value chain it is important to gain an understanding of the different value chain actors and their activities. Through a series of semi-structured interviews across the industry, this paper unpacks the organic waste value chain including the roles of different actors and the interlinkages amongst them. Interviewed actors were those involved in the waste treatment sector, including consultants, composters and technology providers and installers. The value chain is characterised by a number of partnerships, including sub-contracting and outsourcing, which enable value chain actors to offer services that they do not necessarily have the in-house skills or capacity to deliver on their own. The majority of actors were not directly engaged in activities related to the treatment of waste, with many of them engaging in support activities to facilitate the treatment of waste. This finding may be attributed to the fact that support activities have relatively lower barriers to entry. This has the potential to create a bottleneck, in which there will be limited capacity for waste treatment as new entrants opt for engaging in support activities. Greater investment is needed from both private and public sources in the waste treatment sector, including support for new entrants. This investment will help enable the country to meet its goals for organic waste diversion whilst contributing to job creation.Significance: The majority of participants in the organic waste value chain were engaged in support activities. The organic waste value chain is characterised by a series of partnerships. Greater investment is needed for the development of waste treatment facilities.

Carbon neutrality prediction of municipal solid waste treatment sector under the shared socioeconomic pathways

To mitigate greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions from municipal solid waste (MSW) sector, it is crucial to describe its GHG emission patterns and propose suitable mitigation measures. Therefore, this study forecasts GHG emissions from MSW treatment by combining IPCC, logarithmic mean divisia index and machine learning models. Carbon neutrality potentials of China towards 2060 are analyzed under assumed policy scenarios and shared socioeconomic pathways (SSPs). Results showed that GHG emissions from China's MSW treatment increased nearly 37 megatons in the past decade, with incineration emissions increasing fast. Economic development was the dominant and positive driving force of MSW GHG emissions. Scenario analysis revealed that carbon neutrality from MSW treatment could be achieved only after implementing MSW classification, reducing approximately 125 megatons GHG emissions. Fossil-fueled development pathway (SSP5) will generate the most GHG emissions among SSPs. Finally, policy recommendations on priority regions, MSW treatment transition and circular economy schemes are proposed.

Environmental Performance Reporting and Assessment of the Biodegradable Waste Treatment Plants Registered to EMAS in Italy

This study investigates how the environmental performances of biodegradable waste (e.g., organic fraction of municipal solid waste, green waste, agro-industrial waste) treatment plants are reported and how their improvement is planned by the managing companies, and assesses current key quantitative data versus the Best Available Techniques associated emission levels (BAT-AELs). Based on their Environmental Statements (ESs), 16 installations registered to EMAS in Italy in 2021 were analyzed. A set of 15 technical-environmental-social key aspects was described through 131 different indicators. Emissions to air, odor emissions, energy consumption/production, waste production and water consumption were the only key aspects considered significant and quantified by at least 50% of the ESs. Improvement targets were set by 38% of the companies for process management, and by 25% for emissions to air, for a total allocated budget of 25.2 M€. Odor emissions were mostly below the lower BAT-AELs, while NH3 concentration values were slightly above the lower BAT-AELs, demonstrating good performance levels and an overall improvement trend in the period 2018–2020 (−6% and −33.6%, respectively). This study provides interesting hints on the environmental performances of biodegradable waste treatment plants, also contributing to raise the trust of the wide public towards this waste treatment sector.

Greenhouse Gas Emissions Analysis Working toward Zero-Waste and Its Indication to Low Carbon City Development

Low carbon city development and greenhouse gas (GHG) emission mitigation in urban communities are urgent. There is great potential to improve the GHG inventory at the community level. Meanwhile, building zero-waste cities and improving waste treatment efficiency have been significant environmental issues due to the rapid increase of waste generation. This research aims to develop a community-scale GHG emission inventory of the waste sector and improve its accuracy and consistency through applying the bottom-up approach. This study covers both direct and indirect emissions categories of the waste sector with the goal of building a zero-waste community. Honjo Waseda community, located in Japan, was used as a case study community. Energy consumption waste treatment sectors were evaluated and calculated through first-hand field data. GHG emission estimation of the waste sector included waste incineration, residential wastewater, and waste transport. The highest emissions originated from Beisiagate supermarket due to the large waste amount produced, and the CO2-biomass carbon emissions reached approximately 50% of the total emissions. Furthermore, a quantitative analysis of the implementation of new technologies was also conducted. This study created proposals for GHG emission reduction toward a zero-waste community through the comparison of three cases. Case 1 was business as usual; Case 2 proposed a combination of incineration bio-gasification (MBT); Case 3 introduced a combination of solid recovered fuel (SRF) and a bio-gasification system. SRF contributed the most to emission reduction, and Case 3 exhibited the highest energy recovery. Furthermore, comparing the GHG emissions produced by the use of SRF for power generation and heat supply revealed that using SRF as a heat supply reduced more GHG emissions than using SRF for power generation.

A critical analysis of CDM implementation in landfills in Rio de Janeiro after 2012: reflections on its socio-environmental contribution capacity in the Brazilian solid waste treatment sector

ABSTRACT The paper reports a study of Clean Development Mechanism implementation in landfills in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil. CDM is supposed to promote sustainable development through projects of GHG emission reductions. This analysis focuses on the power relationships behind the socio-political process of adopting the mechanism in landfills where emissions have been reduced by the breakdown of biodegradable waste. Sociological concepts such as ‘ecological practices’; ‘market’ and ‘environmental justice’ were used for the analysis. CDM’s neoliberal traits combined with local economic interests that shape the waste management domain in Rio can affect the mechanism’s capacity to promote local social-environmental progress.

The “ReWaste4.0” Project—A Review

ReWaste4.0 is an innovative and cooperative K-Project in the period 2017–2021. Through ReWaste4.0 the transformation of the non-hazardous mixed municipal and commercial waste treatment industry towards a circular economy has started by investigating and applying the new approaches of the Industry 4.0. Vision of the ReWaste4.0 is, among others, the development of treatment plants for non-hazardous waste into a “Smart Waste Factory” in which a digital communication and interconnection between material quality and machine as well as plant performance is reached. After four years of research and development, various results have been gained and the present review article summarizes, links and discuss the outputs (especially from peer-reviewed papers) of seven sub-projects, in total, within the K-project and discusses the main findings and their relevance and importance for further development of the waste treatment sector. Results are allocated into three areas, namely: contaminants in mixed waste and technical possibilities for their reduction as well as removal; secondary raw and energy materials in mixed waste and digitalization in waste characterization and treatment processes for mixed waste. The research conducted in ReWaste4.0 will be continued in ReWaste F for further development towards a particle-, sensor- and data-based circular economy in the period 2021–2025.

Ammonia Emission Characteristics and Emission Factor of Municipal Solid Waste Incineration Plant

This study aims to analyze whether ammonia emission occurs when municipal solid waste (MSW) is incinerated. In cases where ammonia is emitted, we aim to develop an emission factor, calculate annual emission amounts by utilizing activity data (waste incineration amount) applied in air pollutant emission calculations for the waste combustion in Korea, and investigate whether there is a need for emission calculation. As a result of the study, the ammonia emission factor of the MSW incineration facility to be studied was 0.0091 kgNH3/ton, which was 3 times higher than the emission factor in Europe. In the case of emissions, a randomly developed emission factor was applied to confirm the necessity of development of the emission factor, and as a result of the application, it was found to be 22 NH3 ton/year, which is the same number as the annual NH3 emission of the entire waste treatment sector in 2016. Therefore, we believe that MSW incinerator facilities should be recognized as one of the major NH3 omitted emission sources. Moreover, it is evident that there is a need for an NH3 emission factor and emission calculations that reflect the characteristics of Korea.

Process type is the key driver of the fate of organic micropollutants during industrial scale treatment of organic wastes

Organic micropollutants (OMPs) such as polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons, nonylphenols and pharmaceutical products are ubiquitous in organic wastes generated by most human activities. Those wastes are mainly recycled by land spreading, most often after treatments, such as liming, dewatering, composting or anaerobic digestion. It has been shown essentially at lab scales that biological treatments have an effect on the removal of some OMPs. However, less is known on the role of each step of industrial treatment lines combining physico-chemical and biological treatments on the OMP fate and removal. The present study focuses on the impact of waste treatment on the fate of 53 OMPs along 10 industrial treatment lines treating urban, agricultural wastes or mixtures. The combination of studying a diversity of organic wastes and of OMPs with different characteristics (solubility, ionic charges, hydrophobicity etc.), sampling in situ industrial sites, quantifying native OMP concentrations and looking at each step of complete treatment lines allows for a global and representative view of the OMP fate in the French organic waste treatment sector. Less studied wastes, i.e. territorial mixtures, revealed intermediate OMP contents and compositions, between urban and agricultural wastes. Dewatering and liming, usually dismissed, had a noticeable effect on concentrations. Anaerobic digestion and composting had significant effects on the removal of all pollutant families. Combination of processes enhanced most OMP dissipation. Here we showed for the first time that the process type rather than the waste origin affects dissipation of organic micropollutants. Such data could be used to build and validate dynamic models for the fate of OMPs on solid waste treatment plants.

External communication on legal compliance by Italian waste treatment companies

Numerous studies discuss the role of environmental reporting to communicate legislative compliance, but few papers focus on the waste treatment sector, where clear communication is crucial for companies to legitimize management strategies. To fill this gap, an explorative study focusing on solid waste treatment by Italian companies registered with the European Environmental Management and Audit Scheme was conducted. The aim of the research is to discover if and how these companies inform external stakeholders about compliance with environmental legislation in (1) assessing environmental aspects, (2) planning environmental objectives, and (3) monitoring environmental performance. Forty-nine Italian companies were selected, and their Environmental Statements were analyzed. The results prove that environmental reporting of Italian companies frequently includes an explicit reference to legislative compliance in planning environmental objectives; however, rarely legal compliance is assumed as criterion to assess environmental aspects and to monitor environmental performance. Comparing these results with other recent studies, some conflicting findings emerge: the risks derived by the lack of explicit information on legal compliance in environmental reporting are discussed, and recommendations to assure transparency and credibility of reporting are underlined. Final propositions and future perspectives for practitioners and scientists conclude the paper, which contributes to the debate about the adequacy of external communication of environmental management systems in waste treatment sector.

Assessing circularity interventions: a review of EEIOA-based studies

Environmentally extended input–output analysis (EEIOA) can be applied to assess the economic and environmental implications of a transition towards a circular economy. In spite of the existence of several such applications, a systematic assessment of the opportunities and limitations of EEIOA to quantify the impacts of circularity strategies is currently missing. This article brings the current state of EEIOA-based studies for assessing circularity interventions up to date and is organised around four categories: residual waste management, closing supply chains, product lifetime extension, and resource efficiency. Our findings show that residual waste management can be modelled by increasing the amount of waste flows absorbed by the waste treatment sector. Closing supply chains can be modelled by adjusting input and output coefficients to reuse and recycling activities and specifying such actions in the EEIOA model if they are not explicitly presented. Product lifetime extension can be modelled by combining an adapted final demand with adjusted input coefficients in production. The impacts of resource efficiency can be modelled by lowering input coefficients for a given output. The major limitation we found was that most EEIOA studies are performed using monetary units, while circularity policies are usually defined in physical units. This problem affects all categories of circularity interventions, but is particularly relevant for residual waste management, due to the disconnect between the monetary and physical value of waste flows. For future research, we therefore suggest the incorporation of physical and hybrid tables in the assessment of circularity interventions when using EEIOA.

Public regulatory relief and the adoption of environmental management systems: a European survey

An increasing number of organizations across the world have adopted Environmental Management Systems (EMSs) based on certifiable standards, notably the European Eco-Management and Audit Scheme (EMAS) and the ISO 14001 standards. Although the specialized literature has studied the motivations, obstacles and benefits of the adoption of these standards for EMSs extensively, the impact of the public incentives on the adoption of such environmental management tools has been overlooked. In order to fill this gap in the literature, this article aims to shed light on the level of companies' knowledge and application of the main regulatory relief initiatives provided by public administrations around the EU for organizations with a certified EMS. For that purpose, this article summarizes the main findings of a survey carried out with the participation of 244 European EMAS-registered organizations. The findings of the survey highlight the fact that most of the surveyed companies have adopted or benefitted from some form of regulatory relief, mainly by making use of the measures granting an extended duration of some permits (44%), reductions in financial guarantees in the waste-treatment sector (31%) and tax reductions (26%). Moreover, it emerges that, among countries, the role of regulatory relief to support companies in the path to the adoption of EMSs is not univocal.

An overview of current household waste management in Indonesia: development of a new integrated strategy

One of the main problems of current socio-economic activities in Indonesia is how to deal with the increasing amounts of household waste generated in urban areas. This paper discusses the main issues of the current management of household waste in Indonesia and analyses its socio-economic factors as well as introduces a new strategy to utilise and reduce household waste for current and future generations. Many large cities in Indonesia are suffering from severe problems caused by disorderly household waste handling and require an integrated management approach involving various players. The paper addresses the implementation of 3R activities by the Ministry of Environment, Ministry of Public Work and Society. The study found that the introduction of biomass, pollutant and waste treatment sectors with proper advanced technologies will reduce waste generation and CO2 emissions. The study also suggests that the coordination between regional governments and political commitment are necessary and that the Indonesian Government should be open-minded about new ways to comprehensively deal with all types of waste.

清掃工場における省エネ、再生可能エネルギー、市民ファンドへの意識調査

清掃工場における省エネ、再生可能エネルギー、市民ファンドへの意識調査

地域経済と廃棄物循環

The purpose of this study is to examine the characteristics of interdependence between flow of goods and waste in regional economy focusing in Hokkaido region. We apply the input-output model considering waste generated from regional industry and waste treatment sectors. Estimating waste input-output table for Hokkaido region that consists of 38 industrial sectors and three waste disposal methods, we find as follows :First, one unite of final demand for “cement, glass product, miscellaneous stone & clay products”, “beverage, feeds & tobacco” contributes to reducing waste generation for landfill. And that for “pulp, paper & processed paper products” contributes to reducing waste generation for both landfill and incineration in the case of estimation including marketable waste.Second, although the coefficients of direct landfill requirement are negative to produce “precision machinery”, “construction”, “gas supply, stream & hot water supply”, “public service”, “other services”, its inverse counterparts are positive. It means that one unite of final demand for the products indirectly requires landfill service.Third, compared our results with the waste input-output analysis in Japan, we find that the operation of industry such as “agriculture”, “pulp, paper & processed paper products”, “machinery of transportation”, “other manufacturing product (plastic products)” contributes to the reduction of waste for landfill in Hokkaido, although they induce the generation of waste for landfill in Japan.Difference in characteristics of the waste circulation is mainly caused by allocation matrix and input coefficients from the industries of using waste. To improve our method, it is necessary to separate the classification of waste treatment sector in more detail and to improve the estimation method of waste input matrix. It's also necessary to introduce dung and urine of animals generated from agricultural sector into our waste circulation process.JEL classification : Q51, Q53, R15

Present status of Clean Development Mechanism (CDM) and the role of civil engineering

According to the Kyoto Protocol, the Kyoto Mechanism was established including Emission Trading, Joint Implementation (JI) and Clean Development Mechanism (CDM). In particular, CDM is expected to contribute the sustainable development in developing countries, through project based activities for the GHG emission reduction or enhancement of removals, including technology transfer and capacity building. Feasibility for a lot of types of projects are studied, e.g., energy efficiency improvement of power plants, energy saving in the energy-intensive industries, utilisation of renewable energy, plantation, and demand side energy saving including high efficiency lighting. Expected contribution from civil engineering to the CDM will be very important. In particular, CDM projects in transport and waste treatment sectors will be essential for the sustainable development in developing countries. On the other hand, baseline setting and monitoring methodology of these sectors are critical issues in civil engineering. This study introduces the international and domestic activities concerning CDM, discuss the necessary role, subjects and future directions for the civil engineering and technologies.