This other side of the story is the first to show how waste products contribute positively to the economy, and to place garbage in perspective when considering the total use of America's resources. Alexander comes to this subject with 40 years of experience in making and recycling disposable products and in studying litter and municipal waste issues. He sees the garbage crisis as a political, not a physical, problem and introduces a non-cash national solution. He deals with popular misconceptions about the quantity and growth of garbage, resource consumption, forest productivity, packaging, disposal taxes, landfills, incineration and recycling. Written for open-minded lay readers, policymakers, professionals, and serious-minded students, this is an important contribution to the study of our current environmental situation.

Alexander proposes that the problem does not necessarily lie with the quantity of our resources, population growth, affluence, or with space or pollution, but rather with politics, fear, and misinformation. Alexander offers a survey of the history of garbage, considers the quantity and contents of the waste, and provides us with ways to save our nonrenewable resources. Especially compelling is the discussion of the characteristics and products of our throwaway society. Also covered is the role of packaging, measures for source reduction, the promise and problems of recycling different types of material, biodegradation, compost and litter, and the collection and disposal of municipal solid waste. In Defense of Garbage is about the politics of garbage. Reading this eye-opening book is a sure way to become part of the solution to one of the most hotly-debated problems in the world today.

The interest in air pollution modelling has shown substantial growth over the last five years. This was particularly evident by the increasing number of participants attending the NATO/CCMS International Technical Meetings on Air Pollution modelling and its Application. At the last meeting 118 papers and posters were selected from an abundance of submitted abstracts divided over five modelling topics: (i) model assessment and verification, including policy applications, (ii) air pollution modelling in coastal areas with emphasis on the mediterranean region, (iii) accidental atmospheric releases, including warning systems and regulations, (iv) modelling of global and long-range transport and (v) new developments in turbulent diffusion. A round-table discussion chaired by John Irwin (USA) and Jan Kretzschmar (Belgium) on the harmonization of air pollution models was attended by more than 50 scientists and is reported in these proceedings. The opening paper addressed the main issue of this conference: modelling over complex terrain. Of particular interest were coastal areas where the surface inhomogeneities introduce small-scale circulation and varying atmospheric stability, often combined with a complex topography. As the conference was located on the beautiful island of Crete, problems faced by the host nation, particularly Athens and its environs were obvious examples for consideration. These together with other regions with similar geographical features were addressed. Heavily populated and industrialized as they often are, air quality is generally poor there and emission regulations are desired. Obviously, a major task of air pollution dispersion modelling is to assist policy makers in formulating sensible regulations.

This book entails the developments in the field of e-waste management with particular focus on urban mining, sustainability, and circular economy aspects. It further explains e-waste recycling technologies, supply chain aspects, e-waste disposal in IT industries including health and environmental effects of E-waste recycling processes and associated issues, challenges, and solutions. Further, it describes economic potential of resource recovery from e-waste. Features: Covers recent developments in e-waste management. Explores technological advancements such as nanotech from e-waste, MREW, fungal biotech and so forth. Reviews electronic component recycling aspects. Discusses implementation of circular economy in e-waste sector. Includes urban mining and sustainability aspects of e-waste. This book is aimed at graduate students and researchers in environmental engineering, waste management, urban mining, circular economy, waste processing, electronics, and telecommunication engineering, electrical and electronics engineering, and chemical engineering.

This book highlights the relevant and timely global change movement: green entrepreneurship. Presented in this book is relevant literature and academic knowledge. The book is expected to support in creating more green entrepreneurship initiatives in collaboration with the UN Sustainable Development Goals.

This book examines resource recovery and recycling from waste metal dust, including currently used techniques for waste processing and recycling and their applications, with practical examples and economic potentials of the processes. The focus of this book is on resource recovery by suitable treatments and techniques, including those of recovery by-products. For the first time, this book provides a comprehensive, one-stop reference including seminal principles and methods, the advantages and disadvantages of the processes discussed, and the economics of the technology. It will serve as a technical reference for working scientists and engineers, while serving as an educational reference to students studying the waste recovery of metals.

We've reached an environmental crisis point with plastic, and it's time to take action. But is it possible to make positive changes without radically changing your lifestyle? Absolutely! This practical book suggests eco-friendly alternatives to plastic, including budget options, high-street substitutes and DIY ideas to help you drastically reduce your plastic consumption. With 101 simple ways to use less plastic, you'll find it easy to take the first step and make a difference.

This book examines the issues relating to material composition, toxicity reduction, and opportunities for reclaiming and recycling the component materials in consumer dry cell batteries.

This book discusses the bioremediation of both solid and liquid waste, including regional solutions for India as well as globally relevant applications. The topics covered include pollutant reduction through composting, solutions for petroleum refinery waste, use of microorganisms in the bioremediation of industrial waste and toxicity reduction, microbial fuel cells, and microbial depolymerisation. The book also explores the biosorption of metals and the bioremediation of leachates, especially with regard to soil and groundwater remediation. It is a valuable resource for researchers, professionals, and policy makers alike.

This book describes essential and effective management for reliably ensuring public safety from radioactive wastes in Japan. This is the first book to cover many aspects of wastes from the nuclear fuel cycle to research and medical use, allowing readers to understand the characterization, treatment and final disposal of generated wastes, performance assessment, institutional systems, and social issues such as intergenerational ethics. Exercises at the end of each chapter help to understand radioactive waste management in context.

This book explores the dilemma of siting a high-level nuclear waste (HLNW) repository. The authors examine siting conflicts from a variety of perspectives - political, psychological, and sociological - and identify the fundamental determinants of public opposition to waste disposal facilities as a means of designing more effective approaches to solving the typical siting dilemma. In assessing the causes of public opposition, the book draws on various surveys of attitudes toward the repository as a function of predictors such as perceptions of risk, benefits, and fairness. Exploring the factors that underlie public opposition to a repository enables one to understand why current siting efforts have failed. More importantly, the data are useful in defining what new strategies might be effective in obtaining public consent for a HLNW storage facility. One of the primary conclusions is that the current impasse in the siting of a HLNW repository stems primarily from a lack of national consensus on the need for such a facility. The book also recommends the need for a fair' siting process and the authors strongly favor a voluntary process to solve the siting dilemma. Such a process was initiated in the U.S. by the 1987 Nuclear Waste Policy Amendments Act; the process of finding a volunteer site has proven to be difficult, but there are signs that this process can work. Finally, the book focuses on the problems associated with siting a HLNW repository by treating this case as a generic example of the more basic siting dilemma. The analysis of public opposition and the recommendations we make for successful siting can be generalized to almost any attempt to site a noxious facility.

The many thousands of human-made and other chemical compounds present in the environment offer a serious challenge to our btosphere. It is appropriate, therefore, that our response to these products of human kno- edge and ingenuity should draw on a body of mtenstve scientific endeavor that is no less impressive. Bioremediation offers the possibility of harnessing the diversity of the biosphere to degrade, remove, alter, or otherwise detoxify these various chemicals. It brings together scientists from a wide variety of disciplines and backgrounds, such as microbiology, molecular biology, a- lytical chemistry, and chemical and environmental engineering, among o- ers. These different fields, each with its own individual approach, have actively contributed to the development of bioremediation research tn recent years. The prmcipal objective of Bioremediation Protocols is to make the fruits of some of this research available in a different format to that of the textbook or journal article. It provides a selection of clearly written laboratory pro- cols presented as stepwise, easy-to-follow mstructions. In common with p- wous volumes in this and the companion Methods in Molecular Biology series, an extensive "Notes" section is provided with each chapter. This contains u- ful mformation (of a type often not normally included m a research paper) supplementmg the protocol. Reviews and case studies are also included to provide a deeper context to the methods chapters.

The world's population is expected to reach the eight billion mark very soon. As a result, there is a need for increased industrial and agricultural production to ensure human wellbeing. This in turn generates huge amounts of waste. Current waste treatment solutions are effective, but usually require huge capital investment, are labour intensive and potentially lead to hazardous by-products. This book presents the latest non-biological approaches to address issues related to the abundance of waste, offering insights into best practices in various regions around the globe. It highlights techniques such as chemical extraction, pyrolysis and ultrasonics, and a number of chapters include individual case studies to further enhance readers' understanding. This comprehensive reference resource is intended for graduate students, researchers and scientists, and is also a valuable addition to all agriculture and biotechnology libraries.

This book presents the proceedings of the NATO Advanced Research Workshop Wastewater Reuse - Risk Assessment, Decision-Making and Environmental Security, held in Istanbul in October, 2006. The papers survey the current state of water management in the world and especially the Middle East and Mediterranean regions, and address some of the most difficult international conflicts. Wastewater, a by-product of agricultural, industrial or domestic water use, can be an environmental hazard causing damage to soil and to water resources. However, as demonstrated in many of the papers, it can also be a benefit if exploited correctly. Papers presented cover in great detail and depth the risk assessment, decision-making approaches and environmental security. Information about design, installation, management of wastewater treatment facilities, and use for saline water is provided by experts from the EU, UNESCO, World Bank, United States, Canada and other contributing agencies.

This volume, unlike the three preceding it, represents the collected papers from an experiment with an "electronic symposium." Co-participators in this symposium included The George Washington University, The Smithsonian Institution, Clark Atlanta University, the Agriculture Research Service of the United States Department of Agriculture, The University of Georgia, Morris Brown College, Spellman College, Morehouse College, North Carolina State University at Raleigh, The United States Food and Drug Administration, and the Forest Service of the United States Department of Agriculture among others. This unusual "electronic symposium" concept was developed by members of the Program, Planning and Organizing Committee as an alternative to the more costly convention-type symposium. As before, leading scientists in specific topic areas were invited to participate. Topic Session chairpersons were encouraged to arrange their own method of communication by telephone, electronic mail, or conference call, and report their findings back to the symposium center at The George Washington University. Additional papers were accepted from individuals and laboratories who are actively involved in relevant areas of research and study. Participation was also arranged for internationally established scientists. International authors are represented herein from Nigeria, Italy, Spain, Brazil and Argentina. Our goal was to present a research composite volume that reflected current developments, informed reviews, new and recently developing areas of the present state of knowledge as it relates to these proceeding topics. All of the reports included in this volume have undergone scientific, technical and editorial peer review.

This book surveys existing literature from both waste management and behavioural sciences to offer a complete overview of how economic agents relate to a central matter in the policy making agenda: that of waste prevention and recycling. Environmental behavioural economics is a growing field of research, yet investigation in this area concentrates mostly on energy savings or pollution reduction. The authors highlight the importance of the role of waste management, analysing the effect of monetary and non-monetary incentives and motivations, and explores the complex interplay between motivations, recycling, minimisation and waste policies to affect consumer behaviour. This book will be of interest to researchers and policy-makers in the fields of waste management and environmental economics.

This book focuses on the water-energy-climate nexus, which can be used to improve energy security and quality of life for millions of people in developing countries. It enhances the reader's understanding of the link between energy and climate, through the development of new approaches to and methods for energy generation, energy use, and climate change adaptation and resilience. By presenting case studies and research reports, the book addresses the relevant issues needed in order to analyze and successfully implement technologies in the water-energy-climate nexus. It focuses on the contributions of higher education institutions in terms of capacity-building for energy efficiency, energy access and energy security, as they relate to climate change mitigation. The book combines results from the authors' own research with detailed analyses, and the research presented lays the foundation for innovative new concepts and ideas, which the authors subsequently discuss. The book will appeal to all those interested in the links between energy issues, sustainability and climate change, as it focuses on the exchange between science and technology experts, as well as decision makers. It also supports students studying renewable energies and energy security, while serving as a valuable reference source for researchers, professionals, practitioners and scientists.

This volume discusses how small bioreactors can produce useful biogas and compost from biodegradable waste. The authors identify which biodegradable wastes are optimal for small bioreactors, and how these choices can be used to increase bioreactor productivity. Additionally, readers will learn about how the amount and composition of biogas is estimated, the concentration of biodegradable waste that needs to be supplied to a bioreactor, the development of small bioreactors including the ratio of cost to the obtained benefits, and the nature of biodegradable wastes generated by both small farms and large food industry enterprises. The beginning chapters explain what biodegradable waste is, show how to predict how much waste an enterprise will produce, and elaborate the characteristics of the biogas which is generated from biodegradable waste in small bioreactors. Then the book discusses the types of small bioreactors and how to select the optimal bioreactor for a given case. Bioreactor performance is analyzed on both an economical and production efficiency basis, with experimental results provided on the quantity and quality of the biogas produced. The final chapters address how small bioreactors can be incorporated into small biogas plants, and the potential use of small bioreactors in countries with high demand for alternative energy using the case of Lithuania. The audience for this work includes specialists in biodegradable waste management and utilization enterprises, designers, and academics, researchers and students engaged in environmental engineering.

The proceedings in this work present 60 papers on mine and mill tailings and mine waste, as well as current and future issues facing the mining and environmental communities. This includes matters dealing with technical capabilities and developments, regulations, and environmental concerns.

Advances in Frontier Research on Engineering Structures focuses on the research of advanced structures and anti-seismic design in civil engineering. The proceedings present the most cutting-edge research directions and achievements related to civil and structural engineering. Topics covered in the proceedings include: * Engineering Structure and Seismic Resistance * Structural Mechanics Analysis * Components and Materials * Structural Seismic Design * 3D Printing Concrete * Other Related Topics The works of this proceedings will promote development of civil and structural engineering, resource sharing, flexibility and high efficiency. Thereby, promote scientific information interchange between scholars from the top universities, research centers and high-tech enterprises working all around the world.

This book presents a complete state of the art for different types of nanomaterial, their environmental fate, and their use in textile waste remediation. Nano-engineered materials including nanoparticles, nanofibers, nanotubes have been used extensively for a variety of applications. Environmental concerns have been noted mainly due to the discharge of textile waste. Nanotechnology is fast growing on research and bringing sustainable solution in minimizing the waste. This also minimizes the risk of exposure and health hazards. With the development of industry, environmental pollution and energy shortage have raised awareness of a potential global crisis. So, it is urgent to develop a simple and effective method to address these current issues. Nano-engineered materials can be better solution in finding solution of environmental sustainability more specific to the textile waste remediation. Nano-engineered materials have emerged as pioneering photocatalysts and account for most of the current research in this area. This can provide large surface areas, diverse morphologies, abundant surface states, and easy device modeling, all of which are properties beneficial to photodegradation. Furthermore, the stability and cost of nano-engineered materials are critical factors. Therefore, it is a challenge of great importance to identify and design nano-engineered materials that are efficient, stable, and abundant for the remediation of textile waste.

This book, along with its companion volume, discusses the research needs, institutional modifications, and legislative changes that must be addressed to deal more effectively with the risks of hazardous materials. Prominent among the research needs is the necessity to assess the health effects of low-level exposure to toxicants. For none of these agents (lead, mercury, radiation, PCDDs, dioxins, PCBs, pesticides) is the existing toxicological data sufficient to define unambiguously the dose-effect relationship in the low-dose domain. Another uncertainty is our ignorance of how individuals within the human population may vary in susceptibility to the agents because of differences in genetic background, age, sex, diet, health status and exposure to extraneous environmental influences. Also identified among the research needs are methods for improving the technology of waste disposal, waste reduction, and waste recycling. Institutional changes necessary are the commitment to long-term, pro-active, prevention-oriented objectives; institutional mechanisms to achieve better consistency and coordination among different agencies; improvement in the reliability, credibility, and effectiveness with which institutions communicate risk-assessments and risk-management policies; and provision for more adequate education and training of all who must be involved. Finally, the need for certain legislative changes is considered, including better use of incentives, such as taxation and price support mechanisms; better use of enforcement provisions; statutes that address cross-media patterns of human exposure; and greater federal-state-local coordination in risk-assessment and risk-management activities.

Manufactured Sites focuses on the legacy of industrial production and pollutants on the contemporary landscape and their influence on new scientific research, innovative site technologies and progressive site design. It presents innovative environmental, engineering and design approaches along with ongoing research and built projects of international significance. Contributions range from innovative scientific engineering research from industry and federal agencies to contemporary international and regional professional reclamation and redevelopment projects such as the 2000 Olympic Games in Sydney, Australia and the A.G. Thyssen steelworks and blast furnace planning in Germany's Ruhr region.


eBook available with sample pages: 0203361342

Addressing the techno-socio-economic challenges involved in the protection, conservation, recycling and equitable utilization of water as an economic good, this text explores the linkages and dynamics of interactions involving water, and includes the following key topic areas: dynamics of interactions involving water; water quality; augmentation and conservation of water resources; wastewater reuse systems; use of water in agriculture; industrial and municipal uses of water; water pollution; economics and management of water supplies; etiology of water-related diseases; climate change impacts on water resources and paradigms of water resource management.

This book focuses on the utilization of bio-resources and their conversion pathways for a sustainable future. Tapping into bio-resources by means of thermochemical and biochemical processes has attracted researchers from all over the world; it is a broad area that has given birth to concepts like the biorefinery, as well as a new stream known as biotechnology. Its scope includes biochemical and microbiological engineering, biocatalysis and biotransformation, biosynthesis and metabolic engineering, bioprocess and biosystem engineering, bioenergy and biorefineries, cell culture and biomedical engineering, food, agricultural and marine biotechnology, bioseparation and biopurification engineering, bioremediation and environmental biotechnology, etc. The book discusses a host of new technologies now being used to tap these resources with innovative bioprocesses. All chapters are based on outstanding research papers selected for and presented at the IconSWM 2018 conference.