Organisation Environmental Footprint (OEF) di un’azienda polisettoriale della Provincia di Taranto

Con la Raccomandazione del 9 aprile 2013, la Commissione europea in collaborazione con il Joint Research Centre di Ispra ha dato avvio alla sperimentazione della metodologia Organisation Environmental Footprint (OEF) per misurare l’impronta ambientale delle organizzazioni nella prospettiva del ciclo di vita. Lo strumento si prefigge di ridurre gli impatti ambientali connessi alle attività delle organizzazioni, tenendo conto di tutte le attività della catena di approvvigionamento (dall’estrazione delle materie prime alla gestione finale dei rifiuti), al fine di migliorare l’efficienza delle risorse delle imprese e la loro competitività. Il presente lavoro illustra i risultati dell’applicazione dello strumento OEF ad un’importante impresa polisettoriale localizzata nel Comune di Taranto, la “Italcave S.p.A.”, con lo scopo di identificare i punti critici dell’attività organizzativa nel suo complesso e valutare le possibili soluzioni da apportare all’organizzazione in termini di riduzione degli impatti ambiental

Improving recognition of odors in a waste management plant by using electronic noses with different technologies, gas chromatography\u2013mass spectrometry/olfactometry and dynamic olfactometry

Odor emissions from waste management plants have long been an environmental and economic issue, but only recently regional authorities in Italy are regulating this sector by imposing control and mitigation of the phenomenon. Electronic noses, initially developed as cheap, easy tools to detect volatiles, may have the required time-resolved coverage of the odor emission phenomenon in a cheap and feasible way with respect to chemical analysis of air. One crucial issue to resolve is to evaluate the discriminant capacity of a sensor array in-field and under working conditions. In this paper the authors have studied the responses of electronic noses of different technologies to odors emitted from a waste management plant, by integrating results obtained with dynamic olfactometry and gas chromatography\u2013mass spectrometry/olfactometry, in the aim to implement a monitoring system and improve cleaner production technologies. Three most impacting odor sources in the waste management plant were detected: biogas, a by-product of mechanical treatment of municipal solid wastes, with low organic fraction and a sludge pressed and dehydrated from treatment of urban wastewater. The most odor impacting source was the sludge and the major responsible of the odor impacts were aromatics (in particular 1,3,5-trimethyl benzene), aliphatic hydrocarbons, terpenes and sulphur volatiles (methyl disulphide, carbon disulphide, dimethyltrisulphide). Ten Metal Oxide Semiconductors and 32 polymer/black carbon (Nano Composite Array) sensors in two electronic noses, were tested for discrimination source capabilities. Results of linear discriminant analysis and cross validation give 86.7% successful recognition for Metal Oxide Semiconductors, 53.3% for Nano Composite Array and 93.3% for a selection of sensors belonging to both technologies chosen according to the selectivity towards the odor active molecules. The containment of odors could also be achieved by spraying a specific product and monitoring the process using selected sensors of the arrays. The results of the in-field work demonstrate strengths and weaknesses of different construction technologies in the e-noses arrays, to characterize and monitor in-site and in real time odor emissions from waste management plants

Life Cycle Assessment and Organisation Environmental Footprint di un’impresa polisettoriale della Provincia di Taranto

La crescente attenzione verso le problematiche ambientali sta spingendo numerose organizzazioni a ricorrere agli strumenti dell’ecologia industriale. Life Cycle Assessment e Organisation Environmental Footprint rappresentano gli strumenti più idonei per misurare le prestazioni ambientali delle attività produttive di un’azienda operante in settori economici diversificati. L’obiettivo dello studio è stato quello di applicare la metodologia di valutazione del ciclo di vita ai quattro macro-impianti gestiti dall’azienda Italcave S.p.A. al fine di valutare i carichi ambientali associati a ciascun sistema, per poi calcolare l'impronta ambientale dell'intera organizzazione. Il presente lavoro illustra i risultati della LCA applicata all’attività di impresa portuale e al deposito temporaneo di merci alla rinfusa della società, riportando infine la valutazione di impatto dell’impronta ambientale dell’organizzazione

Innovative technologies for odor control emissions in landfill

Purpose of this work is to control odor emissions from a landfill plant by implementing a system for process management using advanced sensor technologies. Gaschromatography-Olfactometry/Mass Spectrometry (GC-O/MS), dynamic olfactometry and electronic noses using two different technologies (Metal Oxide Semiconductors and polymer/black carbon nano composite arrays) have been integrated. Results shows the potential of electronic noses in discriminating the sources and monitor both in-situ and in real time, the odorous emissions. An intelligent system, able to react in the critical operations of management of the plant can be developed, by implementing an intelligent network of sensors adequately trained to identify the odor emissions of any type of industrial activity. This approach has shown the full applicability of electronic noses in the process control of wastes having odor impacts

Life Cycle Assessment of a Non-Hazardous Industrial Waste Treatment System

One of the most used tools for assessing the potential environmental impacts of waste management systems is Life Cycle Assessment. This tool is particularly useful when it is applied to landfill waste as it aims to estimate the related long-term emissions of the landfill over an extended time period that takes into account the years following the landfill closure. The purpose of this work is to present the life cycle assessment of the most important production system of a multi-sector company located in the Taranto Province, namely a Non-Hazardous Industrial Waste treatment system. For the landfill gas modelling, data on the composition of the waste entering the landfill was used in order to calculate the amount of biogenic carbon that will undergo a biodegradation process. The time frame for the emissions modelling includes the thirty years following the landfill closure. More complex is the estimate of landfill leachate production for which simplified hypotheses were made. The life cycle impact assessment of the system analysed indicates that the waste disposal phase and third-party transport are the most impacting life cycle stages. The hotspot of the landfill management phase is represented by the atmospheric emissions of the uncaptured landfill biogas that contributes noticeably to the potential climate change due to biogenic methane emissions. The other critical processes of this phase are represented by the clay used to cover the landfill waste and the third-party leachate treatment. The approach followed for the application of this LCA is that indicated by the European Commission which entails LCA as a means to measure the environmental profile and burdens of an organisation. The results of the present work together with future ones of the LCAs of all the organization’s production systems, will be used to implement the Organisation Environmental Footprint tool to measure the environmental profile of the entire organisation and to improve it through the use of possible technological solutions for environmental impact mitigation

Life Cycle Assessment of a calcareous aggregates extraction and processing system

The Life Cycle Assessment methodology is increasingly used by companies to assess environmental loads connected to production processes. The objective of the present work is to apply this method, to assess the environmental impacts of a calcareous aggregates extraction and processing system of a multi-sector company in the Taranto Province. The study takes into account all the phases of the system life cycle starting from the extraction of raw materials up to the final treatment of the produced waste. The life cycle impact assessment highlights the system’s critical points, namely, the electricity consumption of the production plants, the diesel fuel use of machinery and the use of explosives in the quarry front cultivation phase

Valutazione dell’impatto ambientale sulla qualità dell’aria di una discarica nel territorio di Taranto: primi risultati delle simulazioni modellistiche

L’obiettivo del presente lavoro consiste nella valutazione di impatto odorigeno, mediante simulazioni modellistiche, associato all’attività della discarica situata nel territorio di Taranto e gestita dalla società privata Italcave SpA. In particolare, vengono mostrati i risultati preliminari ottenuti nell'ambito del progetto SLAir (Safe Landfill Air) finanziato dalla UE nell'ambito del FESR P.O. 2007-2013, il quale mira a valutare l'impatto delle emissioni di odori da rifiuti compostati nella discarica