Analyzing solid waste landfills using satellite imagery and designing new landfill reception areas

Solid waste disposal is important for environmental management for good quality of life in urban cities. Among them is the final disposal of waste in landfills. Landfills can receive tons of waste, but they must be far away from natural resources and urban areas. The research aimed to analyze the physical and biological conditions and design a geolocation map of new sanitary landfills in three urban cities in Peru (Chilca, El Tambo and Huancayo). Landsat 8 OLI/TIRS satellite imagery was used to analyze the physical (LST and Methane) and biological (NDVI and SAVI) conditions of the landfills. The geolocation of the landfills was analyzed through the relationship, intersection and discrimination between their surface criteria (soil type, current use, geology and physiography) and climatic factors (temperature, humidity and precipitation). The physical and biological conditions of the landfills were: CH4: Chilca 8.33g > Huancayo 4.76g > El-Tambo 3.17g; SAVI: Chilca 0.61 > El Tambo 0.54 > Huancayo 0.51; LST: Huancayo 26.15°C > Chilca 24.03°C > El Tambo 22.75°C; NDVI: Chilca 0.85 > Huancayo 0.81 > El Tambo 0.8. In the three cities, "natural grasslands" were considered suitable land for the new solid waste landfill site. The multiple relationship, intersection, and discrimination of surface criteria and climatic factors were categorized into five types of sustainable geolocation (very appropriate > appropriate > moderately adequate > less appropriate > inappropriate) for new solid waste landfills. It was very important to discount the influence areas (rivers and lagoons) to avoid damaging the natural resources.      

Palcayaco watershed management through environmental zoning in Huancavelica, Peru

The technical and integrated participation of the population in environmental zoning and soil and water conservation techniques and management is a sustainable alternative for watershed management. The objective of the research was to develop an environmental zoning map for the Palcayaco watershed in Huancavelica, Peru (from its socioeconomic aspects to its technical recommendations). The research work was deductive, where all the necessary data were delimited, described, inventoried, recapitulated and extracted to describe the morphometric parameters, biophysical and socioeconomic situation, environmental zoning and techniques for soil and water conservation. Results: the watershed was perennial, an average slope of 29.65%, a time of concentration of 180.6 min and a balanced hypsometric curve type (B). It also had low population density, unpaved roads, scarce basic services, and poor education and health services infrastructure. The watershed presented different ecoregions, life zones, climatic classification and altitudinal sector, current land use for agricultural, livestock and silvopastoral production, steep type, forest pasture use and protection capacity. The conflict area was in good use, and economic-ecological zoning was in protection, conservation, recovery, water, productive, and urban-industrial. The environmental zoning designed for the Palcayaco watershed preserved the most important natural resources for rural communities, improving their biophysical and socioeconomic status. Through soil and water conservation techniques and management, it will prevent the degradation of the watershed for a better and sustainable future.             

Microencapsulation of Propolis and Honey Using Mixtures of Maltodextrin/Tara Gum and Modified Native Potato Starch/Tara Gum

Ethanolic extracts of propolis and bee honey contain substances beneficial to human health. Mixtures of wall materials were compared in spray-drying microencapsulation of ethanolic extracts of propolis and bee honey rich in bioactive compounds. Maltodextrin and tara gum were used to obtain microencapsulates A, and modified native potato starch and tara gum were used for microencapsulates B. High values of phenolic compounds, flavonoids, and antioxidant capacity were obtained in microcapsules A and B, and the results obtained in terms of encapsulation efficiency, yield, hygroscopicity, solubility, moisture, Aw, bulk density, and color were typical of the spray-drying process. On the other hand, spherical and elliptical microparticles of sizes between 7.83 and 53.7 µm with light and medium stability were observed. Thermogravimetric properties were similar in both microencapsulates; total organic carbon, SEM-EDS, and FTIR analyses corroborated the encapsulation. X-ray diffractogram exhibited amorphous structures, and the release kinetics of phenolic compounds presented high values from 8.13 to 12.58 mg GAE/g between 7 and 13 h. Finally, modified potato starch is a better encapsulant than maltodextrin because it has better core protection and controlled release of the encapsulated bioactive compounds