Integrated waste management as a climate change stabilisation wedge for the Maltese islands

The continuous increase in anthropogenic greenhouse gas emissions occurring since the Industrial Revolution is offering significant ecological challenges to Earth. These emissions are leading to climate changes which bring about extensive damage to communities, ecosystems and resources. The analysis in this article is focussed on the waste sector within the Maltese islands, which is the largest greenhouse gas emitter in the archipelago following the energy and transportation sectors. This work shows how integrated waste management, based on a life cycle assessment methodology, acts as an effective stabilisation wedge strategy for climate change. Ten different scenarios applicable to the Maltese municipal solid waste management sector are analysed. It is shown that the scenario that is most coherent with the stabilisation wedges strategy for the Maltese islands consists of 50% landfilling, 30% mechanical biological treatment and 20% recyclable waste export for recycling. It is calculated that 16.6Mt less CO2-e gases would be emitted over 50 years by means of this integrated waste management stabilisation wedge when compared to the business-as-usual scenario. These scientific results provide evidence in support of policy development in Malta that is implemented through legislation, economic instruments and other applicable tools.peer-reviewe

MODEL OPTIMASI PENGELOLAAN SAMPAH DI TPA

The increase in waste generation is a major problem especially for urban areas such as Jakarta with insufficient landfill capacity and an inefficient and environmentally sound waste management system. To produce an optimal, integrated and sustainable landfill management strategy, an analysis of the TPST Bantargebang waste management system is then formulated towards optimization of sustainable landfill management in environmental, financial, and social aspects through a system dynamics intervention scenario model of the TPST Bantargebang waste management system. Based on the descriptive analysis carried out on the latest waste management, 3 main issues are known, namely, landfill capacity almost fully occupied, methane gas emissions increment, and the possibility waste pickers integration to increase scavenging productivity. Simulations were carried out with a system dynamics model for the 2018-2023 period with BAU conditions and an intervention scenario with a reduction in landfill waste and a reduction in waste flow. The results of the scenario are: landfill can still be utilized until 2023; methane gas emissions decreased by an average of 23,50%; the increase in the Scavenger Production Ratio to the Landfill Waste Rate reached 134,58%. As a consequence of the intervention and the addition of waste treatment activities in the TPST Bantargebang, the operational cost per ton has increased up to 309,62%. This study concludes that the scenario of incoming waste reduction and existing landfill waste reduction planned by Material Recovery Facility (MRF) construction with scavenger involvement, compost processing efficiency improvement, construction of Waste to Energy (WtE) facilities in the form of incinerator, landfill mining, and reprofiling simultaneously

MARKETING AND CROP INSURANCE COMBINED TO MANAGE RISK ON A CASS COUNTY REPRESENTATIVE FARM

This study analyzed the effects that the use of crop insurance products and marketing alternatives had on the gross revenue per acre for an individual farm in Cass County. Crop insurance products and marketing strategies were analyzed individually to determine if they were effective in minimizing down side risk, and combined to determine if integration created synergies. A whole farm scenario analysis was run that included integrated strategies that implemented the same insurance coverage and marketing alternatives for each crop. Several general conclusions can be drawn for situations similar to the representative farm. When analyzed at the individual crop level, the use of crop insurance at the 65 percent level minimizes down side risk in wheat and corn, but not significantly in soybeans. Marketing alternatives generally increase the up side potential of gross revenue per acre, while doing little to minimize the down side risk. The integration of crop insurance products and marketing alternatives create a synergy at the lower levels of value at risk, where the down side risk is located. However, the use of integrated strategies does not increase the chances of achieving a cash flow breakeven gross revenue per acre over the base strategy, which did not include insurance or marketing alternatives. The breakeven level is not reached until the 70 percent level, which means that 7 out of 10 years, the farm will not cash flow. Output from the Bullock and AgRisk models are similar. This study may be used as a guide for producers and analysts in studying risk management strategies. To assist in the individual decision making process, further study will need to be done with yield data and budgets for the individual farm.risk, management, strategy, yield, price, insurance, market, Risk and Uncertainty,

Development of the Personnel Risks Assessment and Supply Chain Strategy as a Basis of the Risk Management System of Modern Organizations

The integration of risk management technologies into the business processes of modern organizations serves as the key to highly efficient, stable and sustainable development of any business entity by considering the supply chain strategy. The sphere of management of personnel flows of organizations calls for special attention and needs an adaptive, flexible and integrated risk management system able to ensure both the timely achievement of strategic goals and a high level of personnel security of organizations. The objective of the study is to analyze existing personnel risks and develop an adaptive, universal methodology for assessing their likelihood, with further modeling of possible risk scenarios. In the framework of the study, a two-stage method for estimating the probability of occurrence of 30 personnel risks characteristic of different types of personnel flows was tested. Possible scenarios were simulated using the Scenario Manager method. Modern Russian trade organizations seeking to build an effective personnel security management system can use the methodical approach proposed by the authors in their risk management system

Addressing the nitrogen challenge: Footprint tools and on-farm solutions

Nitrogen management presents a unique dilemma: We must use nitrogen to grow our food and sustain life on earth, but excess reactive nitrogen that accumulates in the environment contributes to a cascade of negative impacts to human and ecosystem health. Addressing this nitrogen challenge will require a suite of solutions. This dissertation presents and explores three nitrogen management strategies: 1) The first ever integrated carbon and nitrogen footprint tool for campus sustainability management; 2) Exporting compost to improve a farm’s nitrogen efficiency; and 3) Methods for reducing gas emissions from aerated static pile heat recovery composting. Nitrogen footprint tools connect our everyday choices with the associated nitrogen pollution to the environment. The campus-level nitrogen footprint tool has been particularly successful at both communicating the nitrogen story and encouraging real change with nitrogen footprint reduction goals. However, it is important to assess environmental impacts together to identify management strategies and avoid trade-offs. In this paper, the development and methodology behind the first ever integrated carbon and nitrogen footprint tool for campuses is presented. Comparisons of campus carbon and nitrogen footprints show that the footprints correlate strongly, and scenario analyses indicate benefits to both footprints from a range of management strategies. Integrating the carbon and nitrogen footprints into a single tool for campuses facilitates more comprehensive and integrated management of campus sustainability. Food production is a significant source of nitrogen pollution, and new and improved farm nitrogen management practices are necessary to reduce nitrogen losses. In this study, aerated static pile heat recovery composting is considered as a nitrogen management strategy. To assess its potential, the nitrogen budget of an organic dairy farm was first assessed, where it was found that organic practices led to the cycling of substantially more nitrogen on the farm property than was imported or exported. Some of the potential farm nitrogen loss pathways were characterized, including gas emissions from the compost facility (ammonia, carbon dioxide, methane), but future research should characterize other nitrogen loss pathways to assess the balance between storage and environmental loss. Management strategies for reducing greenhouse gas and ammonia emissions from the compost facility were identified. Scenario analysis found that exporting finished compost was a viable strategy for improving the farm’s nitrogen use efficiency as long as enough nitrogen is retained on-site to support crop production

Developing Integrated Waste Management Systems: Information Needs and the Role of Locally Based Data

No abstract available

Real options and scenario planning as a way to gain insight into flexibility in health care real estate management, a first exploration

Real estate management in health care faces many uncertainties, and more specific in the Netherlands even more because of changing regulations regarding\ud the financing of capital costs. Therefore we propose, based on literature and a\ud survey, to use scenario planning in combinations with the real option approach to deal with these uncertainties. The survey shows that limited use is made of future uncertainties and options for flexibility in the responded Dutch hospitals. Real options provide insight for real estate managers into opportunities for flexibility when making strategic decisions in real estate management, such as choosing for a building organisation form

Exploring pathways for sustainable water management in river deltas in a changing environment

Exploring adaptation pathways into an uncertain future can support decisionmaking in achieving sustainable water management in a changing environment. Our objective is to develop and test a method to identify such pathways by including dynamics from natural variability and the interaction between the water system and society. Present planning studies on long-term water management often use a few plausible futures for one or two projection years, ignoring the dynamic aspect of adaptation through the interaction between the water system and society. Our approach is to explore pathways using multiple realisations of transient scenarios with an Integrated Assessment Meta Model (IAMM). This paper presents the first application of the method using a hypothetical case study. The case study shows how to explore and evaluate adaptation pathways. With the pathways it is possible to identify opportunities, threats, timing and sequence of policy options, which can be used by policymakers to develop water management roadmaps into the future. By including the dynamics between the water system and society, the influence of uncertainties in both systems becomes clearer. The results show, among others, that climate variability rather than climate change appears to be important for taking decisions in water management

How labour organization may affect technology adoption: an analytical framework analysing the case of integrated pest management

Integrated Pest Management (IPM) is an important component of sustainable agriculture. Farmers who switch from a more capital-intensive pesticide-based pest management strategy to IPM have to substitute capital with labour. The adoption of IPM will therefore depend, among other things, on the opportunity costs of labour. A simple model analyses the trade-off between IPM and current farmers' best practice in developing countries. Modifications of the model include different forms of labour organization in pest management, such as owner operated and short- and long-term labour contracts. The implications are that agricultural policies, environmental policies, and labour market policies can go hand in hand. Unfortunately, this will be more likely at a higher level of original pesticide use and hence a higher level of environmental costs

Simulation Based Study of Safety Stocks under Short-Term Demand Volatility in Integrated Device Manufacturing.

© IEOM Society InternationalA problem faced by integrated device manufacturers (IDMs) relates to fluctuating demand and can be reflected in long-term demand, middle-term demand, and short-term demand fluctuations. This paper explores safety stock under short term demand fluctuations in integrated device manufacturing. The manufacturing flow of integrated circuits is conceptualized into front end and back end operations with a die bank in between. Using a model of the back-end operations of integrated circuit manufacturing, simulation experiments were conducted based on three scenarios namely a production environment of low demand volatility and high capacity reliability (Scenario A), an environment with lower capacity reliability than scenario A (Scenario B), and an environment of high demand volatility and low capacity reliability (Scenario C). Results show trade-off relation between inventory levels and delivery performance with varied degree of severity between the different scenarios studied. Generally, higher safety stock levels are required to achieve competitive delivery performance as uncertainty in demand increases and manufacturing capability reliability decreases. Back-end cycle time are also found to have detrimental impact on delivery performance as the cycle time increases. It is suggested that success of finished goods safety stock policy relies significantly on having appropriate capacity amongst others to support fluctuations