Waste management最新文献

The proliferation of technological advancements, knitted with volatile consumption patterns and poor end-of-life management of discarded electronics, is currently outpacing sustainability transitions, putting increasing strain on finite material resources and heightening ecological vulnerability. This, in turn, has made electronic waste a stealth contributor to climate change with adverse impacts on the environment, economy, and society at large. This reality underscores the urgent need for a strategic shift from linear waste-disposal methods to circular pathways, where Artificial Intelligence (AI) can build more sustainable feedback loops. At the nexus of AI and circular e-waste management, this study systematically reviews 147 articles from 2019 to October 2025. The analysis reveals a steady increase in AI adoption, particularly in deep learning-based detection and classification applications. To structure the evidence from the literature, a six-tier taxonomy is proposed, encompassing AI methods, lifecycle stages, data, waste types, limitations, challenges, and future pathways and opportunities. Beyond technical interventions, systemic and operational barriers that demand strategic levers to address regulatory ambiguities, legislative gaps, managerial inefficiencies, and logistical fragmentation are elucidated. These challenges underpin data availability and generalizability, as well as the lack of standardization, interoperability gaps, and barriers to the ethical and regulatory adoption of AI. In practice, these constraints limit the development of uncertainty-aware electronic waste systems capable of functioning under realistic operational dynamics. To this end, the paper reframes AI-based systems from terminal sinks to regenerative loops, aligning technological progress with sustainable electronic waste management.

The rapid proliferation of electronic devices has led to a surge in electronic waste, raising significant environmental concerns. In this study, we demonstrate a sustainable and cost-effective approach for converting waste nickel-metal hydride (Ni-MH) battery casings into high-performance electrocatalysts for the ethanol oxidation reaction (EOR) in alkaline media. Upon Hydrothermal treatment, a thin in situ nickel oxyhydroxide layer is generated on the iron-rich battery casing surface, which serves as the electrochemically active phase for ethanol oxidation. Importantly, the metallic casing is preserved and functions as a highly conductive current collector, ensuring efficient electron transport. The enhanced electrochemical performance originates from the strong interfacial coupling between the metallic substrate and the oxyhydroxide layer, which facilitates rapid charge transfer rather than relying on the intrinsic conductivity of the oxyhydroxide itself. In addition, the oxyhydroxide layer passivates the metallic surface, imparting improved corrosion resistance while maintaining effective electronic communication with the underlying metal. The fabricated electrode exhibited outstanding electrocatalytic activity, delivering a high peak current density of 165 mA cm^-2 at 1.70 V and demonstrating an onset potential of 1.36 V with a low overpotential of 1.42 V at 20 mA cm^-2. Additionally, a small Tafel slope of 46 mV dec^-1 indicated favourable reaction kinetics. This study highlights a green strategy to upcycle battery waste for efficient energy conversion, offering dual benefits of environmental protection and energy sustainability.

With the unexpected increase in municipal solid waste (MSW), the existing waste-to-energy (WTE) facilities have been overloaded, which has posed a severe threat to urban environmental safety. The location of WTE facilities directly determines the economic costs and is essential to sustainable urban development. However, most of the current WTE facility location models are constructed based on optimization frameworks. These frameworks mainly consider economic costs, transportation distances, emissions and capacity limitations, often ignoring the comprehensive integration of thermodynamic efficiency and social environmental factors. Herein, we propose a novel Mixed-Integer Linear Programming (MILP) model integrating Extended Exergy Accounting (EEA) to optimize WTE facility locations by evaluating thermodynamic, economic, social, and environmental impacts. The case study on the site allocation for solid waste incineration plants in Shenzhen City shows that, compared with the current situation and the site allocation plan proposed by the government, the model proposed in this paper generates less external environmental and social costs exergy when handling the same amount of household waste, and can recover more valuable products. It generates 31.06% and 24.12% more additional value products respectively. Our research results indicate that strategic facility layout can reduce transportation energy consumption and dependence on landfill, providing an expandable solution for sustainable municipal solid waste management.

The inability of municipal solid waste (MSW) to meet incineration standards often undermines the sustainability and economic feasibility of waste-to-energy applications. Biodrying offers a promising, eco-friendly pretreatment to enhance the calorific value of MSW. This study evaluated the performance of biodrying based on the final calorific value (FCV) using simple and interactive regression models. Both conventional parameters; moisture content (MC), bulk density (BD), airflow rate (AFR), and initial calorific value (ICV) and unconventional indicators; the Temperature Index (TI), Biodrying Index (BI), and oxygen consumption (L) as a measure of biodegradability were used as predictors. Besides conventional regression models (OLS), to minimize multicollinearity of the dataset with Variance Inflation Factor (VIF) of higher than 10 Ridge regression (RR) analyses were also applied. AFR was the strongest positive variable in all the tested models and achieved maximum impact in RR3 Model with value of 2189.47 at significance level of p < 0.01. In the same model, triple impact of AFR*TI*MC was strong and negative (-819.60 at p < 0.05). In both regression approaches, interactive models provided better prediction efficiencies considering higher R² and reduced error metrics. Professionals in this sector may consider the use of RR in FCV predictions to be both an innovative and practical approach.

For centuries, plant ash has been repurposed as a fertilizer owing to its nutrient richness. Black carbon particles within plant ash serve as one of the vectors for potassium; however, their inherent high stability facilitates accumulation and migration in the soil, consequently impacting the release of potassium and other nutrients. In this study, based on the DLVO theory, the transport of black-carbon and endogenous potassium was studied by leaching released experiment. And the influence of black carbon from tobacco straw (TC) and corn straw (CC) on potassium ion (K⁺) release across varying conditions were compared. The results indicated that the endogenous potassium content in TC was 144 mg·g^-1, with approximately 78% being readily available, which was 1.5 times the potassium supply capacity of CC. In contrast, CC exhibited higher hydrophobicity, resulting in a much higher migration rate compared to TC. Notably, as the pH increased, so did the repulsive forces, ion concentration, and ionic valence, intensifying the compression of the electric double layer and impacting the transport of black carbon and potassium. This research offers valuable insights for the development of ecological fertilizers, highlighting the impact of black-carbon properties on potassium dynamics in agricultural systems.

Efficient conversion of urban organic solid waste into hydrogen-rich gas constitutes a pivotal pathway toward achieving carbon neutrality goals. In this work, a slurry-assisted, sorption-enhanced co-pyrolysis/reforming strategy was employed to optimize the blending ratio and operating parameters for waste polypropylene (PP) and waste motor oil (WMO). Experimental screening identified a polypropylene-to- waste motor oil mass ratio of 7:3 as optimal, yielding 4.91 mmol/g H₂ yield and 32.32 % H₂ at 800 °C without catalyst. Implementation of the slurry-assisted process improved heat and mass transfer, increasing the H₂ concentration to 35.79 % and the H₂ yield to 7.24 mmol/g. Introducing Ni/ZSM-5 markedly enhanced hydrogen generation, producing 60.43 % H₂ and 35.31 mmol/g H₂ at 800 °C; further coupling with CaO increased the H₂ fraction to 62.74 % and reduced CO₂ content to 3.81 %. The optimal reforming temperature was 750 °C, where the Ni/ZSM-5 + CaO system achieved 31.38 mmol/g H₂, 39.16 mmol/g syngas yield, and 3.44 % CO₂. SEM/TEM characterization revealed extensive carbon nanotube formation and severe coking on Ni/ZSM-5, mitigated by CaO addition. ReaxFF molecular dynamics simulations with hydrogen-atom tracking confirmed that PP acted as a hydrogen donor during co-pyrolysis, elucidating the mechanistic basis of the observed synergy. This slurry-assisted and sorption-enhanced co-pyrolysis/reforming strategy significantly enhances hydrogen yield and purity from waste PP and WMO co-conversion, offering a novel approach and theoretical insight for high-value valorization of polymers and waste oils toward targeted H₂ production.

Entrained-flow gasification of waste allows for high recycling rates towards CO₂-neutral chemical building blocks. In order to engineer such gasifier facilities, experimental analysis of the reaction rates is of great importance. Solid-recovered material (SRM) from commercial mixed plastic waste is prepared cryogenically to a conveyable powder achieving a characteristic particle diameter, suitable for subsequent analysis at pressurized conditions in a wire-mesh reactor, a high-temperature entrained-flow reactor and thermogravimetric analyzer. The pyrolysis behavior of SRM is investigated via a parameter study on temperature, pressure, heating rate and holding time. Kinetic devolatilization data is derived from a wire-mesh reactor, mimicking the reaction conditions of an entrained-flow gasifier at lab-scale. Full devolatilization within 400 ms at 1600 °C despite a particle size of 600 µm is achieved. A representative SRM pyrolysis char is prepared in a unique entrained-flow reactor under relevant near-industrial conditions at 1400 °C, 10 bar and 2.4 s for the first time in literature. The char sample is characterized in its properties and intrinsic reactivity towards O₂, CO₂ and H₂O in a thermogravimetric analyzer at 10 bar. A Power Law model allows for accurate representation of the experimental results, providing a reliable data set for gasifier CFD simulation. Here, the reactivity of SRM is driven by the Alkali-Index, and greater than bituminous coal, lower than lignite, but similar to pine and waste wood. Highly necessary performance indicators like conversion, cold gas efficiency and syngas quality can be determined towards thermo-chemical recycling of plastic waste allowing for stand-alone or co-gasification strategies.

The large-scale accumulation of gold tailings (GT) poses significant threats to ecological systems and human health, while existing resource recovery strategies remain limited by low value-added outputs. This study aims to valorize GT into high-value products via an alkaline hydrothermal process, achieving comprehensive utilization of all components. The liquid-phase product, GT-derived silica source, was employed to fabricate hydrophobic GT-based silica aerogels (GTSA). Systematic characterization was conducted to elucidate the chemical structure evolution, thermal stability, hydrophobicity, pore characteristics, and microscopic morphology of GTSA under varying hydrophobic modifiers dosages. The results revealed that surface modification led to partially replaced of Si-OH groups with Si-CH₃ groups in GT-based silica aerogels, facilitating the transition from hydrophilicity to hydrophobicity. During modification, the GT-based silica aerogels transformed from densely aggregated large particles into uniformly distributed nanoparticles, forming a well-dispersed porous network. The solid-phase hydrothermal product-GT-based FAU zeolite (GTFZ)-was applied for the adsorption of Cu²⁺ and Zn²⁺ from wastewater. GTFZ exhibited comparable adsorption behavior toward both metal ions, with adsorption mechanisms involving electrostatic attraction, ion exchange, and surface complexation. Overall, this work presents a sustainable and efficient strategy for the high-value and full-component utilization of GT, providing a feasible pathway for the green synthesis of porous materials from high-silica solid wastes.