Automotive shredder residue (ASR) : a rapidly increasing waste stream waiting for a sustainable response

Recycling scrapped cars plays an important role in reducing pollution by decreasing the amount of waste that ends up in landfills. Directive 2000/53/EC regulates the management of ELVs. ELVs are collected and dismantled to remove the battery, tyres, fluids and any parts that can be re-used and the wreck is shredded. The metallic parts are separated by physical processes and recovered as ferrous scrap and nonferrous metals, all of which is recycled. The 25% remainder is the automotive shredder residue (ASR), which is composed mainly of plastics, contaminated with any metallic and other parts that could not be separated. This is often disposed of in landfills as solid urban waste and is not recycled. ASR generation in EU is approximately 2-2.5 million tonnes /year, constituting 10% of total hazardous waste in the EU. The study suggests that recovery rates for ELVs set in the EU Directive on end-of life vehicles will not be met until the volume of the ASR is further reduced. Treatment of the ASR focuses on recovering any useable materials, reducing the volume of the ASR to cut down on the quantity that will end up in landfill, and recovering the energy from the petrochemical content of the plastics. Up-to-date there are 8 post-shredder technologies (PST) used or potentially used for the treatment of auto shredder residues (ASR). The aim of this study is to give an overview of what problem the ASR presents to modern society and what the options are for processing this waste into recovered products or materials, or energy, with a minimum of useless by-products for which landfilling is the only route

Quarries environmental footprint in the framework of sustainable development : the case study of Milos island

The installation and operation of a quarry contains complex, difficult, and sometimes unsafe processes (such as explosive) that may affect public health as well as the whole environment and the sustainable development in general in the area which guest the quarry. This paper focuses on the Environmental Footprint from quarries activities located in the island of Milos (Greece), where bentonite, perlite, and pozzolan (type 1 and 2) are mined and extracted. Results indicated that energy consumption is considered to be higher for bentonite than perlite, while pozzolan presented with limited consumption per ton of product. More specific for the production of bentonite 1.81 L/t of oil is needed, 6.15 kWh electricity as well as 7.21 kg of production needs 1 m2 area. Regarding the production of perlite 2.86 L/t of oil is needed, 16.38 kWh electricity, while 7.43 kg required 1 m2 production areas. Pozzolan type 1 consumed 0.71 L/t of oil, 0.87 kWh electricity, and 0.01 kg explosives and 2 m2 of production area are needed, while for the production of pozzolan type 2, 0.87 l/t of oil, 0.76 kWh electricity are needed as well as an area of 10 m2 is required. Concerning the waste generation (which mainly includes rock materials) is 0.83 m3/t for bentonite, 0.39 m3/t for perlite, while in the case of pozzolan 1 and 2 are zero due to the fact that both materials are homogenized. Gaseous emissions were calculated as equivalence of CO2 and for the bentonite was 1.52%, for perlite was 2.18% per production ton of final product

Exploratory research on the adoption of composting for the management of biowaste in the Mediterranean island of Cyprus

Copyright © 2022 The Author(s). Biowaste management is one of the biggest challenges for the European and Commonwealth small state of Cyprus, a Mediterranean island situated in the southeast corner of Europe. On the one hand, it is widely acknowledged that biowaste treatment processes such as composting should be adopted to divert biowaste from landfills, protect the environment, safeguard human health and well-being, and comply with the European environmental policies and legislation; on the other hand, national and local government efforts that promote its implementation appear to be lethargic preventing the move towards a sustainable bioeconomy. Using the political, economic, social, technological, environmental and legal (PESTEL) approach, the study conceptually explores the underlying motives and multitude of reasons that may preclude the adoption of composting for biowaste management. Findings suggest that the lack of a biowaste management infrastructure investment strategy plan has derailed progress on biowaste management, despite the national government's rhetoric to promote sustainable development. Moreover, the lack of waste planning at the local level, public awareness on the consequences of biowaste mismanagement, and the lack of market demand for the compost produced are additional barriers to the adoption of composting. This emphasizes the urgent need for collaboration between the national and local governments to promote the development of a functional, sustainable biowaste management strategy. The study informs on the need of policy and decision-makers to prioritise the development of biowaste management strategy that would be broadly implemented could not only help Cyprus reduce its reliance on landfills and comply with the European legislation, but create environmental, economic and social value via the recovery of resources from biowaste and a sense of responsibility to its public. This is key to supporting the transition towards a circular bioeconomy.Brunel University London; Open University of Cyprus

Sustainable treatment method of a high concentrated NH3 wastewater by using natural zeolite in closed-loop fixed bed systems

The aim of this study is to investigate ammonium removal from a wastewater resulted after homogenization and anaerobic digestion of a mixture of wastes and wastewater from animal processing units and sewage sludge, by using natural zeolite clinoptilolite. Batches as well as closed loop fixed bed system (CLFB) are studied, offering an alternative to conventional fixed bed systems. The experimental results showed that the optimum pH is in the vicinity of 6.48, where the achieved removal in the batch system reached 46%. The CLFB system, under the same experimental conditions and relative flow rate of 2.56 BV h−1, reached a removal of 55%, which is almost 22% higher. In the CLFB the removal of ammonia could be further increased by diluting the initial solution by 1/8, reaching the level of 96%. The achieved zeolite loading, for all studied systems, is between 2.62 and 13 mg g−1. This kind of operation is very useful for relatively high concentration and small volumes of wastewater and in systems that there is no need for continuous flow operation

Environmental management systems and sustainability in SMEs

Environmental sustainability in manufacturing sector has been allocated a major consideration in the international literature. Due to growing concerns over the high effect of SMEs on world manufacturing industries and their contribution to pollution; this research attempts to focus on the key parameters that interact in the application of environmental management system, taking into account the main features of SMEs and also the integral role of industrial entrepreneurs in inspiring their firms’ approaches. The paper explores the potential opportunities which enable these enterprises to move towards organizations with high level of responsibility regarding environmental protection in order to provide a healthier life for future generations. Case investigation is carried out on an adhesive manufacturing company, which covers a notable market share within the sector. The research identifies that the company requires developing both internal and external entities within an explicit plan to revolutionize the recruitment patterns. Given the lack of adequate studies in adhesive technology, more researches are recommended in the future to consider the sustainable innovations on a broader sample of adhesive manufacturing companies to perform the life-cycle analysis due to the harmful organic compounds and toxic vapours of the adhesive products

A Model for Evaluating Soil Vulnerability to Erosion Using Remote Sensing Data and A Fuzzy Logic System

Soil vulnerability is the capacity of one or more of the ecological functions of the soil system to be harmed. It is a complex concept which requires the identification of multiple environmental factors and land management at different temporal and space scales. The employment of geospatial information with good update capabilities could be a satisfactory tool to assess potential soil vulnerability changes in large areas. This chapter presents the application of two land degradation case studies which is simple, synoptic, and suitable for continuous monitoring model based on the fuzzy logic. The model combines topography and vegetation status information to assess soil vulnerability to land degradation. Topographic parameters were obtained from digital elevation models (DEM), and vegetation status information was derived from the computation of the normalized difference vegetation index (NDVI) satellite images. This spectral index provides relevance and is updated for each scene, evidences about the biomass and soil productivity, and vegetation density cover or vegetation stress (e.g., forest fires, droughts). Modeled output maps are suitable for temporal change analysis, which allows the identification of the effect of land management practices, soil and vegetation regeneration, or climate effects

Magnetic Fe3O4-Ag0 nanocomposites for effective mercury removal from water

In this study, magnetic Fe3O4 particles and Fe3O4-Ag0 nanocomposites were prepared by a facile and green method, fully characterized and used for the removal of Hg2+ from water. Characterizations showed that the Fe3O4 particles are quasi-spherical with an average diameter of 217 nm and metallic silver nanoparticles formed on the surface with a size of 23-41 nm. The initial Hg2+ removal rate was very fast followed by a slow increase and the maximum solid phase loading was 71.3 mg/g for the Fe3O4-Ag0 and 28 mg/g for the bare Fe3O4. The removal mechanism is complex, involving Hg2+ adsorption and reduction, Fe2+ and Ag0 oxidation accompanied with reactions of Cl- with Hg+ and Ag+. The facile and green synthesis process, the fast kinetics and high removal capacity and the possibility of magnetic separation make Fe3O4-Ag0 nanocomposites attractive materials for the removal of Hg2+ from wate

Physical Properties of Soils Affected by the Use of Agricultural Waste

This chapter provided an overview of the physical properties of soils and their importance on the mobility of water and nutrients and the development of a vegetation cover. It also gives some examples of why the use of agricultural residues can affect positively soil physical properties. The incorporation of agricultural wastes can be a sustainable practice to improve soil characteristics, favoring a model of zero waste in agricultural production and allowing better management of soils. We review and analyze the effect of the use as amendments of different agricultural residues, on physical properties of the soil (e.g., bulk density, porosity, and saturated hydraulic conductivity), especially related to the movement of water in the soil

An integrated swot-pestle-ahp model assessing sustainability in adaptive reuse projects

In the recent past, sustainable development has been considered a major issue for urban and regional studies. Adaptive reuse appears to be a practical solution for sustainable urban development. Beyond and in addition to a conceptual base consistent with circular economy and sustainability principles, how do we know if adaptive reuse is actually sustainable, provided that it constitutes a multidisciplinary and multilevel process? The present study aims at evaluating, in as much as feasible quantitative terms, adaptive reuse practices sustainability. This was attained using a set of indicators, developed combining PESTLE (the Political, Economic, Technical, Social, Legal, and Environmental aspects) and SWOT (the Strengths, Weaknesses, Opportunities, and Threats) approaches, of which the results were subjected to evaluation by experts (pairwise comparisons), following the Analytic Hierarchy Process (AHP). The indicators representing strengths and opportunities of the process were calculated to be of higher value (overall level of final cumulative indicators values; 70.4%) compared with indicators representing weaknesses and threats. Enhancing strengths and opportunities and counteracting weaknesses and threats contribute making the potential of adaptive reuse practices in urban sustainability more evident. Among analysis dimensions, political and economic aspects rank first, followed by environmental, socio-cultural, technological-technical, and legal aspect. The empirical results of this paper serve as a useful reference point for decision-making and policy formulation addressing adaptive reuse practices in sustainable development strategies

Aquatic Environment

Environment and Development: Basic Principles, Human Activities, and Environmental Implications focuses on the adverse impact that human activities, developments, and economic growth have on both natural and inhabited environments. The book presents the associated problems, along with solutions that can be used to achieve a harmonic, sustainable development that provides for the co-existence of man and natural life