SHIPBREAKING IN BANGLADESH: PERSPECTIVES FROM INDUSTRIAL ECOLOGY, POLITICAL ECOLOGY AND ENVIRONMENTAL POLICY

The international shipbreaking industry connects developed and developing countries through the spatial and temporal flow of resources, both transported by the ships and by the recycling of the ships themselves. Much of the research on this industry to date focuses on a natural science perspective, particularly related to local pollution when the ships are recycled. However, many products for the public (such as documentaries and magazine articles) focus on the workers who dismantle these ships, often with minimal protection; the appalling images of shipbreaking yard workers and their polluted surrounds have garnered immense global attention and calls for better regulations. In this dissertation, I examine how these environmental and worker rights issues can be understood through multiple disciplinary perspectives – industrial ecology (and one of its commonly used tools, Life Cycle Assessment), political ecology and environmental policy. Through an industrial ecology perspective, I examine how the social embeddedness in Bangladesh influences the flow of recycled scrap metal thorough the country. My study suggests that reciprocal and trust-based business connections provide the necessary leverage to maintain the flow of scrap resources from the Chittagong ship breaking yards on the coast to the metalsmith community in Old Dhaka. In chapter two, I use Life Cycle Analysis (LCA) to assess the impacts of the shipbreaking industry on local environmental conditions and worker health. The results of the LCA pose a considerable challenge to the dominant narrative of the industry as wholly negative and unredeemable. My study suggests that shipbreaking produces much less pollution and risks to human health than a similar process using virgin ore would. My results also suggest that the rerolling operations (to produce rebar) – rather than the beached ship cutting and in-yard processing – are more environmentally damaging. Among localized concerns, gas torching poses considerable health challenges to the cuttermen in the yard. In chapter three, I investigate the drivers behind the persistent negative images of shipbreaking. This dominant narrative is maintained by Non-Governmental Organizations (NGOs) and their selective focus on pollution and accidents while ignoring improvements in the industry (e.g., introducing new technologies for managing the resources). My interviews with local stakeholders suggest that there are considerable image politics among the local NGOs that divert attention away from the global drivers of these impacts. Using political ecology to frame the scalar politics involved, I found that shipbreaking constitutes a simultaneous interplay of multiple scales, and that the NGOs’ insistence on a local scale solution detracts from the sorely needed policy reforms at national and global scales. The last empirical chapter identifies regulatory gaps in the international treaties and domestic regulatory regimes. In particular, a significant gap exists in international treaties regarding the provision of a funding mechanism to assist developing countries such as Bangladesh. I recommend that adopting a viable financial mechanism – deposit-refund systems – and forming a recycling states alliance would greatly improve shipbreaking conditions globally

Disruption in Circularity? Impact analysis of COVID-19 on ship recycling using Weibull tonnage estimation and scenario analysis method

The sustainability of the ship recycling industry strongly linked with the global shipping market and international commodity flows. More than 80% of the End of Life (EoL) ships are dismantled in South Asian countries, namely Bangladesh, India, and Pakistan. Due to measures taken to minimize the propagation of the Coronavirus disease (COVID-19), an international supply chain is broken to a historic low, except for certain medical-related urgencies. Due to the disruption of global supply chains, the industry may submerge into uncertainty due to, perhaps, lack of adequate labor force to dismantle increased EoL ships and due to disturbances of vessel transportation to the recycling nations amid strong precautionary measures. Our estimate suggests that about 300 million Gross Tonnage (GT) available for demolition in the next five years and the inability to get them recycled would cost about 20 billion dollars. More importantly, South Asian recycling nations would suffer from economic losses and employment opportunities. In this study, we also apply a scenario analysis technique to understand the impact range of COVID-19 in the short term and in the long term. The disruption is viewed through a circular economy framework, identifying a critical lack of ‘global scale’ acknowledgment in the circular economy framework. This article suggests that a formalized global scale, paralleled with favorable policies, may reduce supply chain disruption and improve sustainable development in the receiving nations

PHYTOCHEMICAL STUDIES OF THE PETROLEUM ETHER EXTRACT OF THE LEAVES OF Lagerstroemia speciosa Linn

Two new compounds, normal alcohol containing of higher carbons and isomer of β-sitosterol were isolated for the first time from the petroleum extract of the leaves of Lagerstroemia speciosa. The structure of the compound has been established on the basis of UV, IR, 1H-NMR, 13C-NMR and mass spectra and identified as nonanol and isomer of β-sitosterol.   Keywords: Lagerstroemia speciosa, petroleum ether extracts, isolation, 1-nonanol, 2 β-sitostero, spectral analyses

A Fuzzy TOPSIS Approach for Big Data Analytics Platform Selection

Big data sizes are constantly increasing. Big data analytics is where advanced analytic techniques are applied on big data sets. Analytics based on large data samples reveals and leverages business change. The popularity of big data analytics platforms, which are often available as open-source, has not remained unnoticed by big companies. Google uses MapReduce for PageRank and inverted indexes. Facebook uses Apache Hadoop to analyse their data and created Hive. eBay uses Apache Hadoop for search optimization and Twitter uses Apache Hadoop for log file analysis and other generated data[ 1]. Different Big data analytics platform providers are providing different types of facilities. To select those analytics platform for our business and public sector institutions purpose we follow multiple criteria. Multiple criteria decision making (MCDM) is mostly used in ranking one or more alternatives from finite set of available alternatives with respect to multiple criteria. Among many multi-criteria techniques, MAXMIN, MAXMAX, SAW, AHP, TOPSIS, SMART, ELECTRE are the most frequently used methods. The TOPSIS (Technique for Order Preference by Similarity to the Ideal Solution) methods are simplicity, rationality, comprehensibility, good computational efficiency and ability to measure the relative performance for each alternative in a simple mathematical form

Determination of phenol in the Bangsai river water of Bangladesh by gas chromatography-mass spectrometry

A simple, sensitive and rapid gas chromatography-mass spectrometry (GC-MS) method is proposed for the analysis of some environmentally important highly toxic phenols in water. The concentration level of phenol was determined in water at the sampling stations of Savar, Dhaka Export Processing Zone (DEPZ) and Bank Colony of the Bangsai river, Bangladesh. Water samples were collected from different depth of the sampling stations. The phenolic compounds were extracted with dichloromethane, which was further preconcentrated by evaporation. Different concentrations of toxic phenol were obtained in the river water at the various sampling stations. The concentration of highly toxic phenol was found in the range of 0.01 – 0.998 μg∙L⁻¹. This method could permit the analysis of water for phenol as well as phenolic derivatives with detection limit as low as 100 ng∙L⁻¹.Предложен проcтой и экспрессный метод газовой хроматографии и масс-спектроскопии (ГХ – МС) для анализа некоторых высокотоксических фенолов в воде, имеющих большое значение в окружающей среде. Уровень концентрации фенола определяли в воде на станциях отбора проб в Саваре, в зоне обработки экспорта в Даке (ЗОЭВ), а также Банковской колонии на реке Бенгази (Бангладеш). Образцы воды отбирали на разных глубинах на станциях отбора проб. Фенольные соединения выделяли с помощью дихлорометана, который в дальнейшем предварительно концентрировали путем выпаривания. Концентрация фенола была получена в диапазоне 0.01– 0.998 mg∙L⁻¹. Этот метод дает возможность проводить анализ воды на содержание фенола, а также фенольных производных с пределом обнаружения 100 ng∙L⁻¹.Запропоновано проcтой і експресний метод газової хроматографії та мас-спектроскопії (ГХ – МС) для аналізу деяких високотоксичних фенолів у воді, які мають велике значення в навколишньому середовищі. Рівень концентрації фенолу визначався у воді на станціях відбору проб у Саварен, в зоні обробки експорту в Даке (ЗОЕВ), а також Банківської колонії на річці Бенгазі, Бангладеш. Зразки води відбирали на різних глибинах на станціях відбору проб. Фенольні сполуки виділялися за допомогою діхлорометана, який надалі попередньо концентрували шляхом випарювання. Концентрація фенолу була отримана в діапазоні 0.01– 0.998 mg∙L⁻¹ Цей метод дає можливість проводити аналіз води на вміст фенолу, а також фенольних похідних з межею виявлення 100 ng∙L⁻¹

Circular economy, proximity, and shipbreaking: A material flow and environmental impact analysis

International audienceCircular economy focuses on the extension of material and resource circularity within the economic system in order to minimize the extraction of natural resources. Attaining such circularity requires the integration of adverse impacts on the place in which the process takes place, as not all recycling activities occur within the same perimeter. The shipbreaking phenomenon epitomizes the circularity of metal that helps reaching the circular economy targets, but is often carried out far from the origin of the commodity, raising issues regarding proximate recycling. This study illustrates this aspect by analyzing the global ship flow pattern, domestic metabolism, and global environmental savings. Our results suggest that size of the ships rather than flagging pattern determines the recycling destination, as smaller ships are recycled in standard destinations despite being popularly flagged while large ships are recycled in substandard destinations despite being owned by standard recycling nations such as Turkey. We also see that shipbreaking avoids (70–90%) environmental impacts at the cost of (1–5%) disposal impacts and (5–20%) domestic processing impacts. Evaluating proximate recycling against distant recycling shows that former perform worse by far (95 against 184) than distant recycling. We suggest that pursuing distant recycling rather than proximate recycling is globally imperative and thus, a beyond-border extended producer responsibility can be initiated to minimize beyond border adverse impacts of distant recycling

How social ties influence metal resource flows in the Bangladesh ship recycling industry

The ship recycling industry in Bangladesh provides critical metal resources for construction and consumer products in the country, which has no native metal sources. This industry illustrates how industrial recycling can arise in a self-organized manner and be maintained through social embeddedness. Information provided through interviews with shipyard owners, traders, and blacksmiths illustrate the importance of historical, cognitive, structural, and cultural embeddedness to maintaining the flow of metals from the ships beached in the coastal city of Chittagong to the capitol city of Dhaka, more than 300 km away. The industry began through small scale metal scavenging; the early scavengers developed the major metal trading businesses operating today, maintained by family relationships. The metalworking community maintains a balance between the strong family ties and weak social ties, ensuring an optimum flow of information among the businessmen in the community. The engagement with scrap handling produces a sense of pride and a pleasure of innovation that binds this community with waste recycling. Thus, the embeddedness of this community through self-recruitment and trade information via social ties directs the resource flows in the community

Chemical composition of essential oil by different extraction methods and fatty acid analysis of the leaves of Stevia Rebaudiana Bertoni

The chemical composition of essential oils of Stevia Rebaudiana Bertoni leaves grown in Bangladesh Sugarcane Research Institute, Pabna, Bangladesh and obtained by two different extraction methods (hydro distillation and steam distillation) were determined by gas chromatography–mass spectroscopy analyses (GC–MS). One hundred and twenty three peaks were obtained from hydro distillation where 62 compounds were identified as major compounds such as α-cadinol (2.98%), caryophyllene oxide (1.23%), (−)-spathulenol (2.21%) and β-guaiene (0.32%), and 50 peaks were obtained from the steam distillation where all the major compounds were present. After approximately 115 days the latter again ran the samples where only 4 peaks were identified of which none of these were constituents of essential oil in Stevia Rebaudiana Bertoni. The fatty acid analysis by GLC showed palmitic acid (86.50%) as the most abundant fatty acid in the leaves of Stevia Rebaudiana Bertoni

Environmental and Cost Assessment in Recycling of End-of-life LED Bulbs

International audienc

Gas chromatograph–mass spectrometry determination of carcinogenic naphthalene, anthracene, phenanthrene and fluorene in the Bangsai river water of Bangladesh

A sensitive and fast method is described that solid phase extraction (SPE) using dichloromethane, followed by gas chromatograph-mass spectrometry for the determination of environmentally carcinogenic naphthalene, anthracene, phenanthrene and fluorene (NAPF) from the Bangsai river water near the Dhaka mega city of Bangladesh. The method was applied to identify and quantify the carcinogenic NAPF in water samples collected from surface and 30 cm depth of water. Methanol (50 ml) pretreated and filtered water samples were applied directly to a C18 SPE column. The carcinogenic NAPF were extracted with dichloromethane and the NAPF concentration was obtained to be 0.39 to 54.98 ppm. The factors influencing SPE e.g., absorbent types, sample load volume, eluting solvent and temperature, were investigated. A cartridge containing a C18 absorbent and using solvent gave a better performance for the extraction of NAPF from the Bangsai river water samples. Average recoveries exceeding 75% could be achieved for toluene at 25 °C with a 2.6% RSD