Although European Union statistics show that municipal waste is a small part of the total waste generated, their analysis is important, due to the complexity of the sources of generation and ...treatment, but also of the consumption patterns specific to each individual member state. The present research will analyze the indicators regarding the generation and treatment of municipal waste in Romania over a period of 10 years, compared to the average of the European Union. Through this analysis, we will be able to observe a trend in Romania, but also what is the current stage of reaching the targets set at the level of the European Union related to the generation and treatment of municipal waste. The indicators taken into account are the amount of municipal waste generated expressed in kg/capita, the amount of municipal waste treated (total and by treatment operations) expressed in kg/capita and the recycling rate of municipal waste expressed in percentage. The main source for statistical data extraction was the statistical office of the European Union (Eurostat), in order to ensure a comparable and objective picture of the indicators.
The functioning of the regional operators’ territorial infrastructure of solid municipal waste management revealed a number of problems. The article considers the initial phase of the solid municipal ...waste management life cycle – the organisation of separate waste collection, which requires joint construction, technological, financial and social solutions, with close cooperation between the state, business and the population. The need to introduce new technologies for the organic waste separate collection, new design solutions in residential buildings under construction for the solid municipal waste separate collection has been noted. In order to monitor waste management processes, coordinate and make decisions to ensure their sustainable functioning, it has been proposed to form an automated information system at the federal level allowing communication to close all regional operators into a unified sectoral information system.
Phthalates or phthalic acid esters (PAEs) are chemical compounds whose use is exceptionally widespread in everyday materials but, at the same time, have been proven to have harmful effects on living ...organisms. Effluents from municipal wastewater treatment plants (WWTP) and leachates from municipal solid waste (MSW) landfills are important sources of phthalates with respect to naturally occurring waters. The main aim of this research was determination, mass loads, removal rates and ecological risk assessment of eight phthalates in municipal wastewaters, landfill leachates and groundwater from Polish WWTPs and MSW landfills. Solid-phase microextraction and gas chromatography with mass spectrometry were used for the extraction and determination of analytes. Summed up concentrations of eight phthalates ranged from below LOD to 596 μg/L in influent wastewater with the highest concentration found for bis-2-ethylhexyl phthalate (DEHP) (143 μg/L). The average degree of phthalate removal varies depending on the capacity of a given treatment plant with larger treatment plants coping better than smaller ones. The highest treatment efficiency for all tested treatment plants, over 90%, was reported for dimethyl phthalate (DMP) and diethyl phthalate (DEP). Overall concentrations of phthalates in leachates ranged from below LOD to 303 μg/L while the highest maximum concentration was registered for DEHP (249 μg/L). Overall concentrations of phthalic acid esters in groundwater from upstream monitoring wells ranged from below LOD to 1.8 μg/L and from LOD to 27.9 μg/L in samples from wells downstream of MSW landfills. The obtained data shows that diisobutyl phthalate (DIBP), dibutyl phthalate (DBP), DEHP, and diisononyl phthalate (DINP) pose a high risk for all trophic levels being considered in effluent wastewaters. In the case of groundwater high environmental risk was recorded for DBP and DEHP for all tested trophic levels. Phthalates, in concentrations that pose a high environmental risk, are present in Polish municipal after-treatment wastewater as well as in groundwater under municipal solid waste landfills.
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•PAEs were determined in wastewater, landfill leachates and groundwater from Poland.•Larger WWTPs usually show better PAEs removal efficiency.•MSW landfills cause phthalate pollution of groundwater in the area.•Some PAEs emitted from Polish WWTPs and MSW landfills pose a high environmental risk.
Theoretical background: As we work towards achieving sustainable development under Goal 12, which entails promoting sustainable consumption and production patterns, one of our key tasks is to ...minimize waste generation through prevention, reduction, recycling, and reusing. Local government units (LGUs) have a significant role to play in implementing this task. By investing in municipal waste management, LGUs can influence the behavior of residents toward responsible waste collection and management, including hazardous waste. Purpose of the article: This article aims to evaluate how local government spending affects municipal waste management in different voivodeships. The hypothesis of this paper is that local government expenditure improve waste management effects. To achieve effective spending that supports sustainable development, public authorities at the regional level must coordinate their activities and adapt to EU standards. Research methods: This article used literature and statistical analysis to adopt dynamics indicators and correlation coefficients. Data on selected variables for the study came from the Local Data Bank of the Central Statistical Office and Eurostat. Main findings: According to the analyses conducted, there has been a positive development in municipal waste management in Polish communes. This suggests that the government’s policies are contributing towards achieving the sustainable development goal of responsible and sustainable waste management, especially when it comes to hazardous waste. These findings could be utilized to recommend to public authorities the necessary changes to fiscal instruments that would promote sustainable public finances.
With the aim of moving to a circular economy, as specified in the European Union amending Directive 2018/851, by the year 2025, member states must reach a level of at least 65% by weight in the ...preparation for reuse and recycling of municipal waste, with the possibility of a 5-year postponement, under certain conditions. However, the generation of municipal waste has registered an increasing trend, due to the low recycling rates in many member states of the European Union, the low inefficiency of the collection systems and the poor implementation of the legislation in force. Through the research carried out, we want to highlight the trends regarding the generation, treatment, and recycling rates of municipal waste in Romania, in the period 2011-2021, but also the degree of fulfillment of the assumed targets regarding municipal waste. For this, we used the European databases available for the indicators selected in the research, as indicators of a circular economy. The analysis undertaken showed that in the last decade the amount of municipal waste per capita has increased, but it is far below the European Union average. Regarding the treatment of municipal waste, it is noted that the main operation is still landfill disposal and other similar operations, with an increasing trend compared to the base year of the analysis and contrary to the specifications of the European Union Framework Directive on waste, according to which waste disposal should be the last choice, when we consider the hierarchization of waste. The recycling rate of municipal waste was only 11.3% in 2021 and put Romania in last place in the ranking of the member states of the European Union. The bio-waste recycling rate did not have good values either; this was 14 kilograms per capita, decreasing in the analyzed period and well below the European Union average.
Evaluating scenarios toward zero plastic pollution Lau, Winnie W Y; Shiran, Yonathan; Bailey, Richard M ...
Science (American Association for the Advancement of Science),
09/2020, Letnik:
369, Številka:
6510
Journal Article
Recenzirano
Odprti dostop
Plastic pollution is a pervasive and growing problem. To estimate the effectiveness of interventions to reduce plastic pollution, we modeled stocks and flows of municipal solid waste and four sources ...of microplastics through the global plastic system for five scenarios between 2016 and 2040. Implementing all feasible interventions reduced plastic pollution by 40% from 2016 rates and 78% relative to "business as usual" in 2040. Even with immediate and concerted action, 710 million metric tons of plastic waste cumulatively entered aquatic and terrestrial ecosystems. To avoid a massive build-up of plastic in the environment, coordinated global action is urgently needed to reduce plastic consumption; increase rates of reuse, waste collection, and recycling; expand safe disposal systems; and accelerate innovation in the plastic value chain.
As population density, urbanization and industrialization continue to increase, so do quantities of global urban waste worldwide. Still, compact urban areas record low-performing rates of ...recyclables. Improving the recycling performance in order to recover qualitative materials, save resources and keep waste out of landfills belongs to the pressing challenges of our time. Moving towards a circular economy requires active public participation in waste management and pre-sorting of wastes at home. In the process of establishing and improving well-performing municipal solid waste management systems (MSWMS) the understanding of fundamental social factors to influence household behaviour is commonly underestimated but of utmost importance. Compiling theory and good practices from cities globally, this paper intends to support practitioners and policy makers from different backgrounds to design future strategies and interventions to motivate household waste separation behaviour. By means of an extensive literature review a general overview of the main social factors influencing household recycling behaviour is given and key motivation drivers for behavioural change are identified. Followed by a presentation of international good practices and recommendations for urban areas, special attention was given to high-density contexts. The results in combination are supposed to serve as a resource for practitioners and as a basis to develop further studies focusing on the improvement of recycling behaviour in defined urban areas and tailored to the local situation.
•Circular economy models require public participation in waste management.•Understanding social factors influencing household behaviour is of utmost importance.•Tailoring waste management system to local context and background is a key point.•Public education and specific communication highly contribute to improve recycling.•Collaboration and learning from experiences of compact cities worldwide is encouraged.
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•PHA production from biowaste is an economic and ecofriendly approach.•Microbes are able to recover resource from waste and produce PHA.•C, N, P and dissolved oxygen are the main ...factors that affect PHA production.•The downstream process has a big impact on whole cost of PHA production.•Functionalization of PHA has potential to improve their applications.
Biowaste management is a challenging job as it is high in nutrient content and its disposal in open may cause a serious environmental and health risk. Traditional technologies such as landfill, bio-composting, and incineration are used for biowaste management. To gain revenue from biowaste researchers around the world focusing on the integration of biowaste management with other commercial products such as volatile fatty acids (VFA), biohydrogen, and bioplastic (polyhydroxyalkanoates (PHA)), etc. PHA production from various biowastes such as lignocellulosic biomass, municipal waste, waste cooking oils, biodiesel industry waste, and syngas has been reported successfully. Various nutrient factors i.e., carbon and nitrogen source concentration and availability of dissolved oxygen are crucial factors for PHA production. This review is an attempt to summarize the recent advancements in PHA production from various biowaste, its downstream processing, and other challenges that need to overcome making bioplastic an alternate for synthetic plastic.
The rapidly rising generation of municipal solid waste jeopardizes the environment and contributes to climate heating. Based on the Shared Socioeconomic Pathways, we here develop a global systematic ...approach for evaluating the potentials to reduce emissions of greenhouse gases and air pollutants from the implementation of circular municipal waste management systems. We contrast two sets of global scenarios until 2050, namely baseline and mitigation scenarios, and show that mitigation strategies in the sustainability-oriented scenario yields earlier, and major, co-benefits compared to scenarios in which inequalities are reduced but that are focused solely on technical solutions. The sustainability-oriented scenario leaves 386 Tg CO
/yr of GHG (CH
and CO
) to be released while air pollutants from open burning can be eliminated, indicating that this source of ambient air pollution can be entirely eradicated before 2050.
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