13,288 research outputs found

    Nutritient flow scenarios for sustainable smallholder faming systems in southwestern Burkino Faso : food security and better livelihoods for rural dryland communities

    Get PDF
    The report presents a study on nutrient flows of agricultural livelihood systems dominated by smallholder farms in South-western Burkina Faso. The material flow analysis of nitrogen, phosphorus, and potassium provides a detailed picture of current nutrient flows within, in to, and out of smallholder farms. Such a picture allows quantifying material potentials for sustainable intensification, that is, increasing the ratio of crop yield to mineral fertilizer inputs. Finally, in the pursuit of indicators for sustainable intensification, we propose combining indicators derived from material flow analysis with indicators of socio-economic nature to move from material potential assessments to sustainability assessments. The combination is informed by the criticality concept, a concept which denotes how important a specific material resource is to an anthropogenic system. Based on an existing criticality determination methodology for metals, we sketch the criticality indicator set for the case of nitrogen, phosphorus, and potassium and smallholder farms. Further research should include increasing temporal boundaries to capture cycles longer than a year, the applied temporal boundary in this study. A multi-scale study including villages and landscapes could provide additional insights on the role of water bodies or future .industrial activities in nutrient cycling. In turn, the multi-scale MFAs would provide the necessary indicator values to assess nutrient criticality not only at the smallholder farm level, but also at the village and landscape level. Finally, the material flows could be further characterized with respect to gender, cost/benefits, etc

    E-Waste Policy in Developing Countries: The Context of Nigeria

    Get PDF
    The use of ICTs in developing countries has grown significantly since the start of the 21st century (ITU 2012), driven on by encouraging evidence and literature that associates ICTs with various aspects of economic and social development (UNCTAD 2011). However, ICT equipment, which is supposed to help developing countries improve education and stimulate economic growth may undermine the sustainability of ICT use, and have negative impact on human health, and the environment, if not addressed. The environmental concerns regarding e-waste stem from the hazardous elements and compounds that can be found in everyday e-waste. These compounds are known to have adverse impacts on the health of the environment and all living beings. Most developing countries, including Nigeria, have neither a well-established system of disposal of e-waste nor a legislation dealing specifically with e-waste and a lax enforcement of existing laws dealing with general waste management. (Nnrom and Osibanjo, 2008) The aim of this paper is to discuss a theoretical framework which will be used as a ‘sensitizing device’ for a qualitative study of the issues and challenges associated with waste policy formulation and implementation process in Edo state, Nigeria.(Myers, 1977)

    Estimation of computer waste quantities using forecasting techniques

    Get PDF
    Technology changes rapidly over years providing continuously more options for computer alternatives and making life easier for economic, intra-relation or any other transactions. However, the introduction of new technology “pushes” old Information and Communication Technology (ICT) products to non-use. E-waste is defined as the quantities of ICT products which are not in use and is bivariate function of the sold quantities, and the probability that specific computers quantity will be regarded as obsolete. In this paper, an e-waste generation model is presented, which is applied to the following regions: Western and Eastern Europe, Asia/Pacific, Japan/Australia/New Zealand, North and South America. Furthermore, cumulative computer sales were retrieved for selected countries of the regions so as to compute obsolete computer quantities. In order to provide robust results for the forecasted quantities, a selection of forecasting models, namely (i) Bass, (ii) Gompertz, (iii) Logistic, (iv) Trend model, (v) Level model, (vi) AutoRegressive Moving Average (ARMA), and (vii) Exponential Smoothing were applied, depicting for each country that model which would provide better results in terms of minimum error indices (Mean Absolute Error and Mean Square Error) for the in-sample estimation. As new technology does not diffuse in all the regions of the world with the same speed due to different socio-economic factors, the lifespan distribution, which provides the probability of a certain quantity of computers to be considered as obsolete, is not adequately modeled in the literature. The time horizon for the forecasted quantities is 2014-2030, while the results show a very sharp increase in the USA and United Kingdom, due to the fact of decreasing computer lifespan and increasing sales

    Extended Producer Responsibility for the Management of Waste from Mobile Phones

    Get PDF
    This thesis explores the functionality of Extend Producer Responsibility (EPR) in the management of Electrical and Electronic waste (e-waste) in Kenya using a case study on manufacturer involvement in end-of-life management. To achieve the purpose of the study the analytical framework used incorporates Environmental effectiveness, Economic efficiency, Political acceptability, Administrabilty and Innovative advancement in discussing the EPR policy instrument used by the manufacturer. On the practical front the data on the take-back scheme was discussed under the following factors that affect the efficiency and effectiveness of a take-back scheme: economic incentives, disincentives, convenience, inconvenience and information. On the other hand the thesis provides preliminary insights into the overall ewaste management scenario in Kenya. Literature and practical knowledge were used to explore and establish a picture of the dynamics of EPR in e-waste management under the ICT sector with special focus on mobile telephony and the actors in the sector. Suggested policy directions are based on the gaps identified through an analysis of the materials and information collected while in the field. The research confirms that there is need to develop waste management policies and regulations in Kenya structured and guided by EPR principles. The thesis emphasizes that EPR is a necessity in the management of e-waste in Kenya and the developing countries at large. Further it notes that there is need for knowledge transfer and exchange from the developed countries to the developing countries grappling with e-waste management in formulation of appropriate institutional and legislative frameworks customized to the ground realities

    ICT and the Environment in Developing Countries: an Overview of Opportunities and Developments

    Get PDF
    Both developed and developing countries face many environmental challenges, including climate change, improving energy efficiency and waste management, addressing air pollution, water quality and scarcity, and loss of natural habitats and biodiversity. Drawing on the existing literature, this paper presents an overview of how the Internet and the ICT and related research communities can help tackle environmental challenges in developing countries. The review focuses on the role of ICTs in climate change mitigation, mitigating other environmental pressures, and climate change adaptation.information and communication technology (ICT), environment, climate change, mitigation, adaptation.

    Supporting urban planning of low-carbon precincts: Integrated demand forecasting

    Get PDF
    Waste is a symbol of inefficiency in modern society and represents misallocated resources. This paper outlines an on-going interdisciplinary research project entitled "Integrated ETWW demand forecasting and scenario planning for low-carbon precincts" and reports on first findings and a literature review. This large multi-stakeholder research project develops a shared platform for integrated ETWW (energy, transport, waste and water) planning in a low-carbon urban future, focusing on synergies and alternative approaches to urban planning. The aim of the project is to develop a holistic integrated software tool for demand forecasting and scenario evaluation for residential precincts, covering the four domains, ETWW, using identified commonalities in data requirements and model formulation. The authors of this paper are overseeing the waste domain. A major component of the project will be developing a method for including the impacts of household behavior change in demand forecasting, as well as assessing the overall carbon impacts of urban developments or redevelopments of existing precincts. The resulting tool will allow urban planners, municipalities and developers to assess the future total demands for energy, transport, waste and water whilst in the planning phase. The tool will also help to assess waste management performance and materials flow in relation to energy and water consumption and travel behavior, supporting the design and management of urban systems in different city contexts. © 2013 by the authors

    Material flow and economic analysis as a suitable tool for system analysis under the constraints of poor data availability and quality in emerging economies

    Get PDF
    Waste from electrical and electronic equipment or e-waste is increasingly processed in transitional or developing countries. The waste originates from both national consumption and waste imports. In these countries the e-waste processing and recycling is managed almost entirely by informal recycling businesses. Due to the application of inappropriate techniques, this sector bares high risks of environmental and occupational hazards and also looses valuable materials. Formal recycling industries have to compete with the informal businesses and simultaneously comply with environmental and occupational regulations. The presented model applies a dynamic stock-driven material flow model and an economic evaluation of gold and copper flows to the Indian personal computer (PC) recycling sector. The metal concentration per PC and value of these metals mainly determine the profits for recyclers. The study introduced threshold values for formal and informal gold and copper recycling according to their recycling cost per PC. At present level of metal concentration per PC and metal prices the formal sector will not become active. Two scenarios, one with double metal prices and a second with reduced threshold values for formal recycling, have been calculated. Also under theses scenarios the formal recycling sector will not overtake a majority of the recycling. The model proves that a stock-driven dynamic material flow model can be combined with an economic evaluation of material flows. The analysis included a calculation of error propagation and a sensitivity analysi

    Increasing the Use of Secondary Plastics in Electrical and Electronic Equipment and Extending Products Lifetime – Instruments and Concepts

    Get PDF
    While secondary plastics arising at the manufacturing and processing phases are recycled to the production process in large measure due to its high purity, the market share of secondary plastics remains low and recycling is often dominated by thermal recovery. Energetic recovery of plastics in waste electrical and electronic equipment (WEEE) has been dominating for a long time. At the same time reuse of WEEE is not well developed at EU level; with few exceptions at Member State level

    The smart waste collection routing problem: alternative operational management approaches

    Get PDF
    Waste collection is nowadays an increasingly important business. However, it is often an inefficient op- eration due to the high uncertainty associated with the real waste bins’ fill-levels. To deal with such uncertainty the use of sensors to transmit real time information is seen as possible solution. But, in order to improve operations’ efficiency, the sensors’ usage must be combined with optimization procedures that inform on the optimal collection routes to operationalize, so as to guarantee a maximization of the waste collected while also minimizing transportation costs. The present work explores this challenge and studies three operational management approaches to define dynamic optimal routes, considering the access to real-time information on the bins’ fill-levels. A real case study is solved and important results were found where significant profit improvements are observed when compared to the real operation. This shows the potential of the proposed approaches to build an expert system, which can support the operations manager’s decisions.info:eu-repo/semantics/acceptedVersio
    • 

    corecore