E-waste: Environmental Problems and Current Management

In this paper the environmental problems related with the discarded electronic appliances, known as e-waste, are reviewed.Moreover, the current and the future production of e-waste, the potential environmental problems associated with theirdisposal and management practices are discussed whereas the existing e-waste management schemes in Greece and othercountries (Japan, Switzerland) are also quoted

The link between e-waste and GDP—new insights from data from the pan-European region

Waste electrical and electronic equipment (WEEE) is difficult to sustainably manage. One key issue is the challenge of planning for WEEE flows as current and future quantities of waste are difficult to predict. To address this, WEEE generation and gross domestic product (GDP) data from 50 countries of the pan-European region were assessed. A high economic elasticity was identified, indicating that WEEE and GDP are closely interlinked. More detailed analyses revealed that GDP at purchasing power parity (GDP PPP) is a more meaningful measure when looking at WEEE flows, as a linear dependency between WEEE generation and GDP PPP was identified. This dependency applies to the whole region, regardless of the conomic developmental stage of individual countries. In the pan-European region, an increase of 1000 international $ GDP PPP means an additional 0.5 kg WEEE is generated that requires management

Life Cycle Assessment of Nitrate and Compound Fertilizers Production—A Case Study

The production and utilization of fertilizers are processes with known and noteworthy environmental impacts. Direct greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions and a high contribution to water eutrophication due to the nitrogen (N) and phosphorus (P) derivatives are some of the most crucial impacts derived from the overall life cycle of fertilizer use. The life cycle assessment (LCA) has been reliable and analytical tool for the identification, quantification, and evaluation of potential environmental impacts of fertilizers related to the products, production processes, or activities throughout their lifecycle. In this paper, a gate-to-gate LCA approach was applied in order to identify and evaluate the impacts derived from the production processes of nitrate and compound fertilizers the production industry in Northeastern Greece. The results from this study prove that compound fertilizers have a greater impact compared with nitrate fertilizers, contributing up to 70% of the total production impacts. Furthermore, climate change, freshwater eutrophication, and fossil fuel depletion were identified as the most crucial impact categories. Finally, a comparison with relevant LCA studies was conducted, in order to identify the possibility of a consistency pattern of the fertilizer production impacts in general

A Conceptual Framework to Evaluate the Environmental Sustainability Performance of Mining Industrial Facilities

The aim of this study is to strengthen the capacity of mining industries to assess and improve their environmental sustainability performance through the introduction of a relevant framework. Specific assessment categories and respective indicators were selected according to predefined steps. Sustainability threshold values were identified for each indicator to enable the comparison of the facility’s performance with a sustainability reference value. The application of the framework results in the extraction of an Environmental Sustainability Assessment of Mining Industries Index (IESAMI). The framework was applied to evaluate a mining facility in Greece, with a view to improve its applicability in parallel. The final score of environmental sustainability for the examined facility was 3.0 points (IESAMI = 3.0 points), indicating significant room for improvement where the company should aim to further enhance its sustainability performance

Examination of Industrial Symbiosis Potential Interactions in an Industrial Area Of NE Greece

This paper considers the potential contribution of Industrial Symbiosis in fostering environmental and economical benefits in the area of Nea Karvali, Kavala, Greece. Industrial Symbiosis describes the mutualistic interaction of different industries for beneficial reuse of waste flows or energy cascading that results in a more resource-efficient production system and fewer adverse environmental impacts. Results from the case study presented in this paper, show that the implementation of symbiotic relationships in the industrial area under study, would lead to significant environmental benefits (GHG reduction, reduction on natural sources consumption) and would give a boost to the local economical sector by developing new business opportunities

Phosphogypsum-Paraffin Composites for Low Temperature Thermal Energy Storage Applications

Phoshpogypsum (PG) is an environmentally hazardous industrial by-product of the fertilizer industry with an annual production of 300 Mt, with a utilization rate of only 15%. In this work, we propose a novel use-case for PG. The latter is combined with a commercial-grade paraffin to fabricate composite phase change materials (CPCMs), for thermal energy storage applications. CPCMs are fabricated following a comminution and sintering process. The fabricated materials exhibit a stable latent heat (75 J/g) after 96 cycles (25 to 100 °C), with a maximum average specific heat capacity of 1.54 J/gK at 60% paraffin content. The thermal conductivity is found to be 75% higher than pure paraffin, while the energy storage density is only 14% lower

Χαρακτηριστικά, μεταφορά και μετατροπή αέριων ρυπαντών σε σχέση με την ατμοσφαιρική οξύτητα: περιπτώσεις μελέτης: Βόρεια Κίνα - Πεκίνο, Νότια Κίνα - Επαρχία Γκουϊζού, περιοχή Κάντο - Ιαπωνία

Objective:Acidification of the ambient environment is not an issue strictly localized and is influenced by distant sources, covering an area that includes also the neighboring to Japan countries. Among them China, with a coal-dependent energy policy, faces serious acidification risks that can be propagated to Japan. The objective of the study was :a) to investigate the characteristic mechanisms of gaseous and particulate acidic components of the atmosphere at urban, suburban and rural sites of China and Japan b) point out transformation processes and transportation potential of atmospheric acidity.ApproachThe greater areas of the urban centers of Beijing and Guiyang were selected as representative non-acid and acid areas respectively for the field studies conducted at China. Kawasaki, an industrial urban center, Urawa, an urban residential area and Gyoda, a rural site was chosen as the sampling sites for the Kanto plain field study at Japan. Air was sampled foe several consecutive days through two- and three-stage filter packs (FP), on a 4-h and/or 6-h steps. Apart from ground-level air sampling, the vertical distribution of pollutants over Kanto plain was determined from measurements by an airplane at designated altitudes and courses. Following the elaboration of data, a comparative field study with specifically designed sampling apparatus was carried out in order to verify the efficiency of the sampling methods and protocols. Results•The characteristics and the spatial differences of air pollutants contributing to the atmospheric acidity at rural, sub-urban and urban-industrial sites of both Japan and China were determined.•The tendency of FP method towards artifact formation in ambient conditions of very high temperatures and low relative humidity was reconfirmed. •Areas of higher population density and numerous direct emission sources have a protective influence as far as local neutralization of regional acidity is regarded, whereas lower aerosol neutralization capacity and thus higher potential for elevated aerosol acidity is likely to occur in the neighboring suburban or rural sites.•Elemental carbon derives from coal combustion in China whereas auto-mobile emissions are responsible for the built-up of elemental carbon in Kanto plain, Japan.•Sulfate aerosol is secondary formed in Beijing and the conversion mechanism is very likely to be photochemistry, whereas photochemistry plays a less significant role in the inland sites of Kanto plain. However, airborne measurements (through airplane sampling) indicated a more significant role of photochemistry at 600-900 m above Kanto in Japan.•The agreement between the measured gaseous precursors (NH3, HNO3 and HCl) concentration products and the predicted theoretical equilibrium conditions for the formation of NH4NO3 and NH4Cl aerosols was fairly good.•The observed minor discrepancies were justified with the introduction of the hypothesis of size-segregated internal mixture of aerosols. Aerosols exist in two size classes; coarse aerosols with aerodynamic diameter dp >2-2.5μm, mechanically generated aerosols, e.g. soil-dust, sea-salt, and fine aerosols with aerodynamic diameter dp 2-2,5μm, που δημιουργούνται με μηχανικές φυσικές διεργασίες, π.χ. εδαφική διάβρωση, αλάτι θάλασσας, και τα λεπτομερή αερολύματα με αεροδυναμική διάμετρο dp<2-2,5μm που είναι συνήθως δευτερογενώς σχηματιζόμενα και προέρχονται από διεργασίες καύσης