ideas and inspiration for those looking to reduce their household waste Is recycling really the answer to household waste? How do we eliminate microplastics from our wastewater? How do we avoid consumer goods that are designed to break? How do we stop the oceans being trashed? Towards Zero Waste offers practical tools for change in your own kitchen, on your weekly shop and around your home, as well as in the wider world. Feidhlim Harty explores how and why we need to go zero waste, firstly looking at where waste currently goes, and revealing the hidden world of food and product miles and embodied energy. He shares how to reduce waste room by room, at events, parties, during our travels, and at work. Having minimised waste for over two decades, Feidhlim and his family share their clever ideas to eliminate junk, buy wisely, free yourself from useless packaging, reduce not only your eco footprint but your household bills, compost all biodegradables, and reuse, repair and reroute. They share five simple steps to zero waste and inspire us to be active and push for change. There is a hunger now within society to address the root causes of plastic waste, right back to the point of oil and gas extraction. People want no part in adding to plastics in the oceans or spreading microplastics into our water, soils and food. Nor do they want to be subjected to the cynical betrayal of consumer built-in obsolescence. Patience with government policy and corporate greenwashing is wearing thin. Towards Zero Waste offers clear guidance for anyone wanting to actively be part of the solutions and not the problems.

2 In China, there are more than 2,759 lakes with surface area greater than 1km , and 2 the total lake area is 91,019km . One-third of these lakes are freshwater lakes, and the majority are situated in the middle and lower reaches of the Changjiang River or in eastern China’s coastal areas. These lakes function as drinking water supplies, ood control systems, aquaculture and tourism resources, navigation channels, etc. Recently, many shallow lakes in China have been subject to rapid eutrophication and suffer from algal blooms. This issue has resulted in a shortage of drinking water and in degradation of their ecosystems. The control of eutrophication of shallow lakes is one of the main issues with which the local people and Chinese governments are concerned today. Lake Taihu is the third largest freshwater lake in China, with an area of about 2 2338km and a mean depth of 1. 9m, a typical shallow lake located in the delta of Changjiang River, the most industrialized and urbanized area in China. Its main function is supplying drinking water for the surrounding cities, such as Wuxi, Suzhou, and Shanghai, but tourism, aquaculture, sheries, and navigation are imp- tant as well. However, with economic development and increased population in the lake basin, Lake Taihu has suffered increasingly from serious eutrophication. The environmental issue of Lake Taihu is now a very common one, as most lakes from eastern China are confronted with it.

This work presents the findings of an extensive study on the state-of-the-art regarding the problem of food waste in Belarus, Estonia, Germany, Latvia, Lithuania, Poland and Sweden. The results show that the problem of food waste can be found at different levels in each country and that our knowledge of it is limited by the current lack of studies in the area. The problem is primarily due to food waste generated by the manufacturing sector, mostly in the form of unused or inefficiently used by-products, as well as on a share of food thrown away by households that is still suitable for human consumption. The main reduction/prevention method, applied across the countries, is food donation; the remaining methods are the same ones used for biodegradable waste in the respective countries. The findings gathered in this study show a number of potential measures/methods for sustainable food waste management, which may be considered in future works in order to reduce the amounts of food waste generated in each of the aforementioned countries.

This book presents an overview of the characterization of electronic waste. In addition, processing techniques for the recovery of metals, polymers and ceramics are described. This book serves as a source of information and as an educational technical reference for practicing scientists and engineers, as well as for students.

This volume is a continuation of the five volumes of "The Chemistry of the Actinide and Transactinide Elements" (published 2006). It expounds on topics in actinide science that are undergoing rapid scientific developments and that are germane to the safe development of nuclear energy in the 21st century, from nuclear fuels to the environmental science and management of waste. The scope of Volume 6 encompasses: actinides in the geosphere, subsurface interactions of actinides species with microorganisms, chemistry of nuclear fuels, actinide waste forms and radiation effects, analytical chemistry of plutonium, actinide chalcogenide compounds, molecular spectroscopy and reaction of the actinide ions in the gas phase and rare gas matrices, and hydrothermal synthesis of actinide compounds. This volume is written by active practitioners and recognized experts in their specialty areas. Each of the topics represents the current state of knowledge in this fascinating area of science and technology.

Reviews of Environmental Contamination and Toxicology attempts to provide concise, critical reviews of timely advances, philosophy and significant areas of accomplished or needed endeavor in the total field of xenobiotics, in any segment of the environment, as well as toxicological implications.

The population of cities around the world is growing at an alarming rate, and as a result the landscapes of most cities are going through enormous changes. In particular, fertile agricultural lands at the periphery of cities are being developed without consideration of holistic planning. As such, peri-urban areas, zones of transition from rural to urban land uses located between the outer limits of the urban and the rural environment are experiencing significant losses of agricultural land, increased runoff, and water quality degradation. Concurrently, the demands for water, food and energy are increasing within cities, and unless a balance is struck the liveability of these cities will soon be compromised. The current water and land use changes have serious consequences on lifestyle, environment, health and overall well-being of urban communities. This book therefore helps readers to understand the current issues and challenges and examines suitable strategies and practices to cope with current and future pressures of urbanisation and peri-urban land-use changes. The book examines a number of critical aspects in relation to the future of cities and peri-urban regions, including the suitability of policies and institutions to sustain cities into the future; impact of current trends in land use change, population increase and water demand; long term planning needs and approaches to ensure the secured future for generations ahead; and strategies to adapt the cities and land uses so that they remain viable and liveable. The readership of the book will include policy makers, urban planners, researchers, post-graduate students in urban planning and environmental and water resources management and managers in municipal councils.

The aim of this book is to offer a river-basin management plan which is directly implementable and consistent with the European Union -Water Framework Directive (EU WFD).The contributors, who are leading world experts in their respective fields, develop an integrated water resources management plan for the Asopos river basin in Greece which is economically efficient, socially equitable and environmentally sustainable. The program offers explicit technical and investment solutions, socioeconomic and legal instruments and recommendations for institutional restructuring. The introductory chapter describes the water situation in Greece and assesses the potential of timely implementation of the EU WFD. Special emphasis is given to the cost-recovery principle. Chapter 2 introduces the case study area highlighting the particular pressures and impacts as well as the environmental functions and values of Asopos River and Oropos Lagoon. Chapters 3 and 4 focus on the economic characterisation of Asopos River Basin in order to identify the economic sectors and social groups that will bear the cost and benefits of the implementation of the EU WFD. In particular, Chapter 3 presents the main water uses and pricing for water supply in the industrial and the agricultural sectors. Chapter 4 completes the baseline appraisal, presenting the details of water use by the residential and touristic sectors. The following chapters assess valuation and decision-making tools from a range of perspectives, including agricultural needs, valuing the impacts of industrial activity, the costs and benefits of environmental preservation and management. The water resources management plan is presented in Chapter 9; the concluding chapter offers recommendations on institutional changes and presents the lessons learned as resources applicable to other river basins in Greece and elsewhere. The book applies state-of-the art market and non-market valuation methods to estimate water demands in the residential, industrial, agricultural, tourism, environmental and health sectors and to balance these, over time and space, with water supply. Given the well-known challenge of managing natural resources in a way that maximizes and sustains social welfare, this book will provide an invaluable point of reference for applied researchers and policy makers working in water resources management.

By the end of the 1970s, contaminated sites had emerged as one of the most complex and urgent environmental issues affecting industrialized countries. The authors show that small and prosperous Switzerland is no exception to the pervasive problem of sites contamination, the legacy of past practices in waste management having left some 38,000 contaminated sites throughout the country. This book outlines the problem, offering evidence that open and polycentric environmental decision-making that includes civil society actors is valuable. They propose an understanding of environmental management of contaminated sites as a political process in which institutions frame interactions between strategic actors pursuing sometimes conflicting interests. In the opening chapter, the authors describe the influences of politics and the power relationships between actors involved in decision-making in contaminated sites management, which they term a "wicked problem." Chapter Two offers a theoretical framework for understanding institutions and the environmental management of contaminated sites. The next five chapters present a detailed case study on environmental management and contaminated sites in Switzerland, focused on the Bonfol Chemical Landfill. The study and analysis covers the establishment of the landfill under the first generation of environmental regulations, its closure and early remediation efforts, and the gambling on the remediation objectives, methods and funding in the first decade of the 21st Century. The concluding chapter discusses the question of whether the strength of environmental regulations, and the type of interactions between public, private, and civil society actors can explain the environmental choices in contaminated sites management. Drawing lessons from research, the authors debate the value of institutional flexibility for dealing with environmental issues such as contaminated sites.

This book provides an overview of state-of-the-art technologies for energy conversion from waste, as well as a much-needed guide to new and advanced strategies to increase Waste-to-Energy (WTE) plant efficiency. Beginning with an overview of municipal solid waste production and disposal, basic concepts related to Waste-To-Energy conversion processes are described, highlighting the most relevant aspects impacting the thermodynamic efficiency of WTE power plants. The pervasive influences of main steam cycle parameters and plant configurations on WTE efficiency are detailed and quantified. Advanced hybrid technology applications, particularly the Hybrid Combined Cycle concept, are examined in detail, including an illuminating compare-and-contrast study of two basic types of hybrid dual-fuel combined cycle arrangements: steam/water side integrated HCC and windbox repowering.

This book presents novel techniques to evaluate electrodialysis processes, to synthesize ionic membranes and to characterize their properties. It shows the potential use of membrane process to the treatment of effluents generated in many industrial sectors such as refineries, leather industries, mining and electroplating processes. The book is based on the results obtained by the author's research group during the past decade. It is useful for students, researchers and engineers interested in membrane technologies for water reuse.

Natural saline water, waste water, and irrigation return flow endanger the groundwater aquifers in the Rift. In the long run this will ruin the socio-economic backbone of the settlements in the area. Sustainability of the water resources will only be achieved when the process of water replenishment and its underground flow is understood and water extraction is regionally controlled. Rare earth element and spider patterns are presented as new tools for studying the hydrology. Progress in 3-D modelling of groundwater flow proved successfully the impact of pumping on the surroundings of wells and overexploitation of aquifers.

Cementitious materials are being widely used as solidification/stabilisation and barrier materials for a variety of chemical and radioactive wastes, primarily due to their favourable retention properties for metals, radionuclides and other contaminants. The retention properties result from various mineral phases in hydrated cement that possess a high density and diversity of reactive sites for the fixation of contaminants through a variety of sorption and incorporation reactions. This book presents a state of the art review and critical evaluation of the type and magnitude of the various sorption and incorporation processes in hydrated cement systems for twenty-five elements relevant for a broad range of radioactive and industrial wastes. Effects of cement evolution or ageing on sorption/incorporation processes are explicitly evaluated and quantified. While the immobilisation of contaminants by mixing-in during hydration is not explicitly addressed, the underlying chemical processes are similar. A quantitative database on the solid/liquid distribution behaviour of radionuclides and other elements in hydrated cement systems is established on the basis of a consistent review and re-evaluation of literature data. In addition to recommended values, all underlying original experimental data and key experimental info rmation are provided, which allows users to trace the given recommendations or to develop their own set of key values. This database is closely tied to the safety analysis of near surface disposal of radioactive waste in Belgium. It focuses on radioelements, toxic stable elements and heavy metals, which makes it relevant for investigations involving the interaction of radioactive and conventional contaminants with cement-based barriers.

"Water and Health" strengthens the dynamic relationship between human health and water. The book has the potential to ignite our minds about several water-related diseases due to biological and chemical contamination, and to their high-end solutions. The contents are original, comprehensive and highly informative, and gradually take the reader around the component most important to his or her quality life, and not just existence. The book is set in social, scientific and economic dimensions, and is a must read for all those who cherish and celebrate human life and dignity.

This book contains peer reviewed papers accepted for presentation at the National Conference on Advances in Environmental Science & Technology. Topics include environmental regulations, groundwater remediation technologies, waste to energy, climate change, economics, environmental justice, fate and transport of contaminants, food bio-processing, innovative environmental technologies, sustainable energy and water resources and waste management. Federal agencies, private agencies and university professors set the stage for the September 12, 2013 National Conference on Advances in Environmental Science and Technology. The purpose of the National Conference on Advances in Environmental Science and Technology which was held in Greensboro, North Carolina, was to provide a forum for agencies to address advances in environmental science and technology including problems, solutions and research needs.

Life Cycle Assessment (LCA) has become the recognized instrument to assess the ecological burdens and human health impacts connected with the complete life cycle (creation, use, end-of-life) of products, processes and activities, enabling the assessor to model the entire system from which products are derived or in which processes and activities operate. This volume introduces the major new book series LCA Compendium - The Complete World of Life Cycle Assessment. In this volume, the main drivers in the development of LCA are explored. The volume also discusses strengths and limitations in LCA as well as challenges and gaps, thus offering an unbiased picture of the state-of-the-art and future of LCA.

This book covers the fundamental requirements for air, soil and water pollution control in oil and gas refineries, chemical plants, oil terminals, petrochemical plants, and related facilities. In this concise volume, Dr. Bahadori elucidates design and operational considerations relevant to critical systems such as the waste water treatment units, solid waste disposal, and waste water sewer treatment  as well as engineering/technological methods related to soil and air pollutions control. Engineers and technical managers in a range of industries will benefit from detail on a diverse list of topics.

Global society in the 21st century is facing challenges of improving the quality of air, water, soil and the environment and maintaining the ecological balance. Environmental pollution, thus, has become a major global concern. The modern growth of industrialization, urbanization, modern agricultural development and energy generation has resulted in the indiscriminate exploitation of natural resources for fulfilling human desires and needs, which has contributed in disturbing the ecological balance on which the quality of our environment depends. Human beings, in the truest sense, are the product of their environment. The man-environment relationship indicates that pollution and deterioration of the environment have a social origin. The modern technological advancements in chemical processes/operations have generated new products, resulting in new pollutants in such abundant levels that they are above the self-cleaning capacity of the environment. One of the major issues in recent times is the threat tohuman lives due to the progressive deterioration of the environment from various sources. The impact of the pollutants on the environment will be significant when the accumulated pollutants load will exceed the carrying capacity of the receiving environment. Sustainable development envisages the use of natural resources, such as forests, land, water and fisheries, in a sustainable manner without causing changes in our natural world. The Rio de Janeiro-Earth Summit, held in Brazil in 1992, focused on sustainable development to encourage respect and concern for the use of natural resources in a sustainable manner for the protection of the environment. This book will be beneficial as a source of educational material to post-graduate research scholars, teachers and industrial personnel for maintaining the balance in the use of natural sources for sustainable development.

This book, written by specialists from Canada, India, Italy, Palestine, Peru, Spain and the Netherlands, is a guide to establishing a city on a sustainable path. It addresses sustainable urban planning issues by breaking the city down to its components. A broad range of planning and sustainability considerations are discussed. Important concluding chapters provide a 'what to do and how to do it' practical roadmap for implementing a sustainability program.

This monograph presents an analysis of construction safety problems and on-site safety measures from an economist's point of view. The book includes examples from both emerging countries, e.g. China and India, and developed countries, e.g. Australia and Hong Kong. Moreover, the author covers an analysis on construction safety knowledge sharing by means of updatable mobile technology such as apps in Androids and iOS platform mobile devices. The target audience comprises primarily researchers and experts in the field but the book may also be beneficial for graduate students.

The construction industry is the largest single waste producing industry in the UK. Ensuring a supply chain of recycled materials affords many potential gains, achieved through: reducing the material volume transported to already over-burdened landfill sites, possible cost reductions to the contractor/client when considering the landfill tax saved and the potential for lower cost material replacements, a reduction in the environmental impact of quarrying and the saving of depleting natural material resources. Reuse of Materials and Byproducts in Construction: Waste Minimization and Recycling addresses use of waste and by products in the construction industry. An over view of new "green" design guides to encourage best practice will be examined and current legislation that channels on site practices, such as site waste management plans. Fundamental individual construction materials are discussed and the process of reforming by products and waste products into new construction materials is investigated, examining the material performance, energy required to convert waste into new products and viability of recycling. The main range of constructional materials will be examined. Aimed at postgraduate students, lecturers and researchers in construction and civil engineering, the book will also be of interest to professional design practices.

An Introduction to Water Quality Modelling Second Edition Edited by A. James Department of Civil Engineering, University of Newcastle upon Tyne, UK This book presents a simple introduction (for those not familiar with modelling, computing or numerical methods) to the use of modelling techniques and their applications in the management of water quality. Eight years have passed since the first edition of the book was published and there has been a tremendous increase in the use of mathematical models in environmental engineering, especially the control of pollution in rivers and estuaries. Modelling has also addressed a much wider range of pollutants and there has been an increase in the range of conceptual approaches to the formulation of models. The text of this second edition has therefore been modified to reflect these changes. The chapters dealing with techniques have been expanded to cover a greater range of kinetics and introduce a background of understanding for statistical techniques and time series analysis. Similarly, the chapters dealing with the application of models to rivers, estuaries, lakes, groundwater and the marine environment have been expanded and updated. The overall aims of the book, however, remain the same, making it an ideal introductory text for people wishing to learn about water quality modelling.

This book proposes the use of waste from oil drilling and sugar cane bagasse ash in the production of ecologically friendly soil-cement bricks. It offers a viable alternative to the traditional bricks available on the market, which use wood as fuel: manufacturing bricks from waste is less costly and does not require the consumption of trees and forests. It also proposes an alternative to the current discharging of the above-mentioned types of waste in sanitary landfills, avoiding additional environmental problems.

This book focuses on the treatment and disposal technology used for solid waste in China, puts forward an optimal management scheme that takes into account the complete lifecycle, and introduces a new technical model that reflects the synergies of resource utilization and secondary pollution control. In addition, it provides a set of methods for professional on-site investigation, risk assessment, classification management and control to minimize the risk of groundwater contamination by solid waste at landfill. Given the extent and depth of knowledge and experience gathered in the book, it offers an important reference guide for government managers, environmental researchers, and all those involved in and concerned about solid waste disposal.

Putting forward an up-to-date waste-to-energy approach that combines experience, sophisticated modeling and technical-economic analysis, this book examines the current need for the maximum utilization of energy from waste and the associated environmental impacts. It outlines step-by-step procedures for a complex and original waste-to-energy approach from the idea to its industrial application. With waste incinerators and industrial plants producing large amounts of pollutants, municipalities as well as smaller decentralized operations are beginning to focus on waste research. The principal advantage of utilizing research findings is the ability to apply a complex approach "from idea to industrial implementation" with respect to the needs of the market established by thorough market analysis. This book builds on this concept with an original approach that takes into consideration geographical aspects, the specifics of regions/micro-regions and technological units and/or equipment. Key areas discussed and analyzed in the text include: strategic planning of energy-source locations according to the nature of the respective region or microregion; types and amounts of wastes; logistics etc. using original mathematical models; consideration of on-site processing of various types of waste, taking into account the character of the region (agricultural, industrial etc.); tailor-made technologies for energy recovery from various types of wastes; implementation of individual technologies with original elements; and support for environmental protection based on advanced flue gas (i.e. off-gas in the case of incineration) cleaning methods.