Waste Management & Research最新文献

Construction and demolition (C&D) waste recycling plays a significant role in waste reduction and carbon reduction, which is critical for sustainable development. However, due to various limitations such as financial problems, C&D waste recycling industry is not well developed in developing countries. To address this problem, this study combines complex network theory and evolutionary game theory to analyse the diffusion of C&D waste recycling behaviour among enterprises under governmental incentive policies within a complex network context. The results demonstrate that the size of the network has limited effects on behaviour diffusion in Watts-Strogatz small-world network. Additionally, the study highlights the clear impact of governmental incentive probability, initial rate and connection degree on the diffusion path. By quantitatively investigating the effects of incentive tools, this study contributes to the knowledge of C&D waste management and provides valuable implications for stakeholders seeking to promote the diffusion of C&D waste recycling.

In recent years, the concept of sustainability has attracted a great amount of attention, due to increasing energy resources scarceness. Waste recycling is known as an efficient approach to improve sustainability and save energy. In this view, a sustainable supply chain is established in the current study to investigate the effects of waste recycling on sustainable development. The considered supply chain consists of the government, two manufacturers, a supplier, a waste depot, and a recycler. Under this structure, two substitutable products are made of the virgin and recyclable waste materials. The supplier provides the virgin materials for the first product. The waste depot collects the non-recycled waste, whereas the recycler recycles it and supplies the recycled waste for the second product. Also, the government supports the second product to provide an incentive for its members to collect and recycle more waste. Then, the game theory is applied to make decisions under the considered structure. Finally, the results are revealed and some managerial insights are provided. It is derived that the governmental supportive policies play a significant role in resources conservation and energy storage. Moreover, increasing the quality of the product made of the recyclable waste improves the government's utility.

The biochemical methane potential (BMP) test is significant for the landfill industry as it provides a means to evaluate the gas potential, and therefore potential degradability, of both incoming and in-place municipal solid waste (MSW). However, the BMP test is not standardized making comparison of BMP results across sites problematic. For example, the BMP test duration has historically ranged from 20 days to several months with most current BMP tests lasting 60 days. However, the gas generation data can potentially be modelled for any of those durations to produce a prediction of the ultimate BMP value (BMP_ULT). Currently, the predicted BMP_ULT values of 23 long-duration (115-150 days) BMP tests were used to determine the required quantity of data (i.e. number of days) needed to produce an accurate BMP_ULT prediction. Results showed that no single test duration produced both accurate and efficient results, so a novel performance-based endpoint was proposed. The relative change in predicted BMP_ULT values with respect to time (dBMP_ULT/dt) was chosen as a potential performance-based completion metric. Results indicate that once the absolute normalized dBMP_ULT/dt value is within <2.5, <1.5 and <0.6% day^-1 that the predicted BMP_ULT is within 20, 10 and 5% of the true BMP_ULT, respectively. Overall, the use of performance-based metrics for determining BMP test completion will allow for the collection of partial data sets, reduced experimental times and verification of results.

Organic waste management is challenging in low-middle income countries. Environmental impacts and high management costs affect the sustainable development of cities, an issue that is exacerbated by the lack of social involvement. The research conducted in Iran aims to assess the benefits of organic waste home composting in Shiraz to improve solid waste management (SWM) sustainability. The introduction of a pilot project to assess home composting systems was described, together with an economic, social and environmental analysis. The current SWM system (S0) has been compared with the new strategy proposed (S1), where home composting is considered to be introduced to collect about 10% of the municipal solid waste generated in a 10-year horizon. An economic balance related to the capital costs and operational costs of both systems was introduced, in parallel with a life cycle assessment (LCA) of the SWM system, and a questionnaire survey of the local population. Results showed that S1 leads to around 5% economic savings for the municipality due to the avoidance of organic waste transportation and disposal. Environmental benefits include a lowering of CO₂-Eq emissions of about 19,076 tonnes year^-1. In addition, about 28% of the interviewed (n = 319) agreed to employ the home composting system at home (CI 5.5%, 95% of confidence level) supporting the theory that about 10% of the organic waste can be segregated and home-composted. The research underlines that home composting can contribute to improve the sustainability of SWM systems in developing countries.

This mini-review is intended to explore the innovative applications of nanoparticles (NPs) in biogas upgrading, emphasizing their capacity to enhance biogas quality. Numerous studies underscore how NPs, when applied during anaerobic digestion, can boost not only the quantity but also the quality of the produced biogas, leading to reduce significantly the concentration of hydrogen sulphide or even to remove it completely. Moreover, NPs are proving to be excellent alternatives as adsorbent materials, achieving up to 400 mg_H2S g^-1 NPs. In addition, new studies are exploring the application of NPs to increase the efficiency of biological treatments thanks to their unique features. This review also emphasizes the potential benefits and addresses the challenges that need to be overcome for these technologies to reach their full potential, ultimately contributing to the development of a sustainable and environmentally friendly energy landscape.

This article uses model materials to introduce a controlled, location- and manufacturer-independent internationally accepted method for assessing shredding machines based on large-scale tests. Furthermore, a better understanding of the comminution behaviour of shredders with fixed settings (gap width, shaft speed, cutting tool geometry) is in the focus of the present investigation and assessed, using the statistical analyses for particle size distribution in certain screen sections. Conclusions have been drawn on the comminution behaviour in general and the material-material interactions of different fractions in the grinding chamber of the shredder by showing significant differences in the pure fraction's comminution behaviour against the mixture's comminution behaviour. In addition, the effect of the wear condition of the cutting tools on the particle size distribution has been investigated using statistical tests. As a result, interactions of the materials in the shredder grinding chamber can be demonstrated. The null hypothesis of the statistical test can be rejected due to the p-values, which are around 0.01 and therefore less than the predetermined alpha, which is 0.05, meaning that the shredding behaviour of pure fractions and those in a mixture is different. Additional investigations of waste wood only have shown that the wear condition of the cutting tools does not exhibit any effect on the particle size distribution of waste wood, as seen in the p-value (0.29), which is higher than the used alpha value. This could mean that the cutting tools need to be changed less frequently, which could have a positive effect on plant operation.

Monitoring plastic consumption in emerging economies such as India is crucial because in these countries more than half of the consumption gets converted into waste within a year. In 2022, the Government of India enforced the Plastic Waste Management Rules to manage plastic waste. This article aims to find the potential impact of these rules on plastic waste generation from now until 2050. The simulation is carried out in two steps. In step one, a material flow analysis is conducted that maps plastic flow from production to its end-of-life. Through this it is estimated that at an optimistic level, off the 20 million metric tonnes (Mt) of plastic consumed, around 10 Mt is added to stock, 4.5 Mt is recycled, 2.5 Mt is reutilized and the balance 3 Mt is mismanaged. In step two, through system dynamics model, the impact of policy instruments is estimated on each stage of the flow of plastic assuming a phased implementation. Through this model, it is found that annually mismanaged plastic waste increases 11 to 28 Mt in 2050 in a business-as-usual scenario; however, implementing all the policies in a phased manner would stabilize waste generation from 2040 onwards.

The war in Ukraine and its consequences are becoming a disaster not only on a national scale but also for many other countries. The overview and considerations on such consequences given in this article shall help in managing and restoring (Ukrainian) territories after war. A structured analysis of literature about the war and post-war impact on the environment paired with 'grey literature' and the collection of currently available information from regional and national government agencies and official organizations on the specific situation in Ukraine, with a particular focus on waste management issues, was conducted. The main groups of environmental components affected by military actions are analysed, systematized, and classified. It is shown that the negative impact of military actions has irreversible consequences for the environment not only in Ukraine but is also already gaining global proportions. In addition, much of the infrastructure in the waste management sector has been destroyed, meaning that large volumes of unsorted and untreated waste are now ending up in landfills, most of which are uncontrolled since other more effective and sustainable environmental and waste management options are currently missing. Therefore, it is necessary to develop remediation concepts and implement comprehensive measures to clean up the territories and restore environmental components and the waste management sector after war. This includes - among other issues - assessing or measuring the generation and composition of post-war demolition waste and municipal solid waste during and after the war as a basis for further planning and decision-making.

This article aims to undertake a mini-review of the current state of electronic waste (e-waste) challenges on the African continent through a systematic analysis of existing national policies and legal frameworks, inventorying established management practices, and identification of innovative technological solutions. A literature review was conducted synthesizing evidence from over 80 peer-reviewed publications between 2010 and 2022. Content analysis of e-waste laws from 20 African countries supplemented the review of documented collection, recycling and export-related activities across the region alongside associated obstacles. Key findings indicate that while several African countries have enacted initial e-waste regulations, significant gaps persist around implementation and enforcement capabilities. Formal recycling remains minimal due to underdeveloped infrastructure, and the majority of e-scrap continues to be crudely processed informally resulting to health and environmental risks. Monitoring of transboundary trade and treatment standards also requires strengthening to curb the flow of undocumented shipments. Several technological start-ups and social enterprises are piloting novel approaches but require further testing and scale-up support. Based on these insights, the study recommends a harmonized policy framework and monitoring systems established through regional coordination. Recommendations also propose strategies to incentivize reducing consumption and promote eco-industrial parks for integrated recycling.