Polymers, main components of plastics and rubbers, are being discarded in increasing quantities. But this waste can also be considered as plastic gold'. Public concern, coupled with the inherent value of the material, means that recycling is imperative. The present book presents a survey of current knowledge in the form of case studies, including current legal and educational issues. Topics covered also include regulation and practice in NATO countries, the economics of recycling, the reprocessing of single polymers and mixtures, and future prospects and strategies. Audience: Vital reading for all polymer scientists, technicians and engineers.

Metals in Wastes is an excellent guide for scientists, students, engineers, chemists, and industrial chemists who are looking for knowledge of the main sources of metals in industrial wastes. Metals are valuable materials that can be recycled again and again without degrading their properties. The recycling of metals enables us to preserve natural resources while requiring less energy to process than the manufacture of new products using virgin raw materials. A team of experts reviews the state-of-the-art and provides the readers not only with a comprehensive in-depth overview of the main composition of wastes but also discloses innovative methods which have been applied for recovery of critical and valuable metals in petrochemical industry, rubber, energy and automotive industries. This know-how could be considered as a useful reference tool for moving towards the zero-waste economy. Additionally, the book describes the economic aspects of metals recovery from various sources. This is essential for those already involved in the metals business and also for the financial, investment and advisory community internationally.

This is a collection of methods of practical design, calculation and numerical examples that illustrate how organized, analytical reasoning can lead to the discovery of clear, direct solutions to pollution especially in the areas of biosolids management, treatment, disposal and beneficial use. The book contains an extensive collection of detailed design examples and case histories, and a distinguished panel of authors provides insight into a range of topics.

Today synthetic dyes are used extensively in the textile dyeing, paper printing, color photography, pharmaceuticals, food and drink, cosmetic and leather industries. As of now, over 100,000 different dyes are available, with an annual production of over 700,000 metric tons. These industries discharge an enormous amount of colored effluents into natural water bodies, with or without treatment. The textile industry alone discharges 280,000 tons of dyes every year, making it the largest contributor to colored effluent discharge. Although a variety of treatment technologies are available, including adsorption, chemical oxidation, precipitation, coagulation, filtration electrolysis and photodegradation, biological and microbiological methods employing activated sludge, pure cultures, microbial consortia and degradative enzymes are economically viable, effective and environmentally responsible options. As such, this book gathers review articles from international experts working on the microbial degradation of synthetic dyes, offering readers the latest information on the subject. It is intended as a quick reference guide for academics, scientists and industrialists around the world.

This book is focused on the current status of industrial pollution, its source, characteristics, and management through various advanced treatment technologies. The book covers the recycle, reuse and recovery of waste for the production of value-added products. The book explores industrial wastewater pollution and its treatment through various advanced technologies and also the source and characteristics of solid waste and its management for environmental safety. It discusses new methods and technologies to combat the waste-related pollution and focuses on the use of recycled products. This book is of value to upcoming students, researchers, scientists, industry persons and professionals in the field of environmental science and engineering, microbiology, biotechnology, toxicology, further it is useful for global and local authorities and policy makers responsible for the management of liquid and solid wastes.

In this book, editor G Rasul Chaudhry presents a wide range of topics authored by researchers at the cutting edge of biodegradation and bioremediation. The book includes recent research describing how microorganisms clean soil and water, and how they remove toxic substances. It also presents information on how genetics and molecular biological methods are used to improve the ability of microorganisms to degrade a variety of substances.

In this concise, engaging, and provocative work, Richard Porter introduces readers to the economic tools that can be applied to problems involved in handling a diverse range of waste products from business and households. Emphasizing the impossibility of achieving a zero-risk environment, Porter focuses on the choices that apply in real world decisions about waste. Acknowledging that effective waste policy integrates knowledge from several disciplines, Porter focuses on the use of economic analysis to reveal the costs of different policies and therefore how much can be done to meet goals to protect human health and the environment. With abundant examples, he considers subjects such as landfills, incineration, and illegal disposal. He discusses the international trade in waste, the costs and benefits of recycling, and special topics such as hazardous materials, Superfund, and nuclear waste. While making clear his belief that not every form of waste presents the same amount of risk, Porter stresses the need for open-minded approaches to developing new policies. For students, policymakers, and general readers, he provides insight and accessibility to a subject that others might leave out-of-sight, out-of-mind, or buried under an impenetrable prose of statistics and jargon.

Waste water treatment is the largest biotechnology industry in the world, handling and disposing of domestic and industrial wastes so they present no threat to the general populace or the environment at large. The activated sludge process is the cornerstone of sewage treatment systems. Although it is a biological process and has been in use for more than 80 years, we still lack detailed understanding of how it works and how its performance might be better controlled and manipulated. This book presents a comprehensive review of what is currently known about the general microbiology of activated sludge and some of the bacteria responsible for the major operational problems encountered. Current understanding and the existing literature are critically assessed and new potentially valuable areas for research suggested. Methodology particularly appropriate to the study of the bacteria that cause bulking and foaming is described, and there is an identification section consisting of photomicrographs and detailed descriptions of the filamentous and other bacteria commonly seen in activated sludge plants. The impact of molecular methods on our understanding of activated sludge microbiology is emphasized throughout the book. The book will be of immediate interest to both microbiologists and waste water engineers, and has been written so as to be relevant and understandable to both. It will also be of interest and value to postgraduate students and researchers working in the fields of environmental engineering, general microbiology and microbial ecology.

The European Union initially demonstrated its interest in waste in the late 70s with the progamme on Waste Recycling Research and Development. At that time composting was only present as a coordination activity and it was only later that specific research programmes in the area were within Europe which was largely instrumental in setting up a series of European conferences, seminars and work shops. Some of these have resulted in publications which have made significant contributions to developments in the understanding of composting and the use of composts. In particular the outputs from meetings in Oxford ( 1984), Udine (1986), Neresheim ( 1988) and Angers ( 1991) are worthy of note. Composting has seen significant changes since the 70s when the major thrust in Europe was using mixed municipal solid waste as a feed material. Many com posting plants which were built to use this material were closed due to the poor quality of the compost which made it very difficult to market. As a result the main areas of interest, as far as the municipa1ities are concemed, are now with biowaste and source-separated organics. This interest is apparent from the many new plants which are being constructed across Europe, and the ready market which exists for the products. In parallel with the renewed interest of the municipalities other areas, such as agriculture and the wastewater treatment industries, are also developing their own schemes."

TheI&ECSYMPOSIUMfromwhichthisvolumewasderivedfeatured519presen- tationsat88technicalsessionsduringathree-daymeetingonSeptember17-20, 1996in Birmingham,Alabamawith580registrants. Thefinalselectionsforthechaptersincluded hereinwerebasedonpeerreview,scientificmerit,theeditors'perceptionsoflastingvalue orinnovativefeatures, andthegeneralapplicabilityofeitherthetechnologyitselforthe scientificmethodsandscholarlydetailsprovidedbytheauthors. Thevolume isacontinuationofathemeinitiatedin 1990. Itspredecessors,Emerg- ing Technologies in Hazardous Waste Management, ACS Symposium Series No. 422 (1990), EmergingTechnologiesinHazardous WasteManagementII,ACSSymposiumSe- ries No. 468 (1991), Emerging Technologies in Hazardous WasteManagement III, ACS SymposiumSeriesNo. 518(1993), EmergingTechnologiesinHazardous WasteManage- mentIV, ACSSymposium Series No. 554 (1994),Emerging Technologies in Hazardous WasteManagement V. ACSSymposiumSeriesNo. 607(1995), andEmergingTechnolo- gies in Hazardous Waste Management VI, American AcademyofEnvironmental Engi- neersPublication (1996), arerelatedcontributionsonhazardouswastemanagement,but eachvolumeisessentiallydifferent. Byinspection,thereadermayquicklyrecognizethis diversity,andalsoconcludethatnosinglevolumecandojusticetothebreadthanddepth oftechnologiesbeingdevelopedandappliedinpractice. Thecontributionspresented in thisvolumearedivided intofourseparatebutcom- plementary sections, including: (1) Chemical and Thermal Treatment; (2) Biochemical Treatment;(3)SeparationTechnologies;and(4)RadioactiveWasteTreatment. D. WilliamTedder FrederickG. Pohland GeorgiaInstituteofTechnology UniversityofPittsburgh Atlanta, Georgia30332-0100 Pittsburgh,Pennsylvania15261-2294 v ACKNOWLEDGMENTS The Industrial & Engineering Chemistry (I&EC) Division ofACS organized and sponsored the symposium. ACS Corporate Associates was a majorfinancial cosponsor; theAmericanInstituteofChemicalEngineers(AIChE)EnvironmentalSciencesDivision, theAIChECenterforWasteReductionTechnologies,theAmericanAcademyofEnviron- mental Engineers,andtheJointAssociationfor theAdvancementsofSupercriticalFluid Technologywerenominalcosponsors;andEnviroExpocositedanexhibition. Thisgener- osity was essential to the overall successofthe symposium and is gratefully acknow- ledged. vii CONTENTS I. EmergingTechnologiesinHazardousWasteManagementVII:AnOverview...FrederickG. PohlandandD. WilliamTedder ChemicalandThermalMethods 2. GranularIronOxideasaCatalystinChemicalOxidationofOrganic Contaminants...9 MiratD. Gurol,Shu-SungLin,andNileshBhat 3. AnElectronBeamGeneratedPlasmaReactorforDecompositionof HalogenatedVOCs 23 S. A. Vitale, K. Hadidi,D. R. Cohn, L. Bromberg,andP. Falkos 4. IncinerationandThermalTreatmentofChemicalAgentsandChemicalWeapons 33 F. C. GouldinandE. M. Fisher 5. PredictingStabilityConstantsofVariousChelatingAgentsUsingQSAR Technology 49 R. W. Okey,S. Lin,andP. K. A. Hong 6. MineralizationofHazardousChemicalsbyHemeReaction ...69 GuyoungKang,JimoJung,KapsongPark,andDavidK. Stevens BiochemicalTreatment 7. AnaerobicTransformationsofCarbonTetrachloride:CombinedBacterialand AbioticProcesses 81 FlynnW. Picardal,SanggooKim,AnnaRadue,andDeberaBackhus 8. BiorecoveryofMetalsfromAcidMineDrainage...91 RakeshGovind,UmaKumar,RamaPuligadda,JimmyAntia,and HenryTabak ix x Contents 9. BiotreatmentofMinewater-ContainingCyanidesbyUsingImmobilizedCell Technology 103 Onguri K. Vijaya,G. R. V. Babu,JackAdams,JamesH. Wolfram,and KiritD. Chapatwala 10. Augmentationofin-SituSubsoilRemediationUsingColloidalGasDispersions 113 P. G. Chaphalkar,K. T. Valsaraj,D. Roy, W. D. Constant,andP. Lee 11. EffectofSorptionontheMicrobialReductiveDechlorinationofSoil-Bound Chloroalkenes 127 SpyrosG. PavlostathisandPingZhuang SeparationTechnologies 12. TheRemovalofVOCsfromExhaustAirandVapourCondensatesby MembraneProcesses ...

The Treatment of Pharmaceutical Wastewater: Innovative Technologies and the Adaptation of Treatment Systems covers the various aspects of pharmaceutical sources, treatment technologies, their harmful effects on the natural environment, and new technological developments and upgrading of existing treatment systems. This book highlights the 3Rs (reduce, reuse, recycle) applied to treatment and resource recovery systems for pharmaceutical treatment. Case studies are included to enable fuller understanding of the practical aspects of treatment and modeling. This helpful guide is for civil and environmental engineers and researchers who want to understand the complex nature and treatment schemes for pharmaceutical wastewaters.

There is not an extensive literature on street sweeping. Much of the research that has been completed exists in the "gray" area of technical reports and government documents. Furthermore, a great deal of this research is locally based, and has not been widely published. Indeed, our review of the scientific literature, revealed that, while storm water quality has received a lot of attention, few academicians have been involved in street sweeping research per se. Thus, throughout our research into street we sweeper effectiveness, sweeping protocols, and sweeping practices, wished that there had been a book summarizing some of the important issues associated with street sweeping. As our frustration grew, we realized that we were uniquely poised to write such a book as our research had encompassed a variety of different projects including sweeper testing, waste management, and related storm water quality. Also, early on in this exercise, we recognized that there was a growing demand for information about street sweeping policies and management, especially for studies focusing on the effectiveness of different sweeping schedules, on waste management operations, and on non-point, pollution reduction practices associated with storm water runoff. It was abundantly clear that there was a profound lack of research on street sweeping that could assist with developing local, regional, or national policies. There was, in effect, little guidance for city managers on these issues.

Waste Management and Resource Recycling in the Developing World provides a unique perspective on the state of waste management and resource recycling in the developing world, offering practical solutions based on innovative tools and technologies, along with examples and case studies. The book is organized by waste type, including electronic, industrial and biomedical/hazardous, with each section covering advanced techniques, such as remote sensing and GIS, as well as socioeconomic factors, transnational transport and policy implications. Waste managers, environmental scientists, sustainability practitioners, and engineers will find this a valuable resource for addressing the challenges of waste management in the developing world. There is high potential for waste management to produce energy and value-added products. Sustainable waste management based on a circular economy not only improves sanitation, it also provides economic and environmental benefits. In addition to waste minimization, waste-to-economy and waste-to-energy have become integral parts of waste management practices. A proper waste management strategy not only leads to reduction in environmental pollution but also moves toward generating sufficient energy for improving environmental sustainability in coming decades.

Biotechnology for Waste Management and Site Restoration covers: waste management - solid, gaseous, liquid; site restoration - radioactivity, organics, toxic metals; educational, economic, social and business aspects; and international collaboration. International collaboration is growing apace and many concrete projects have been started. The body of knowledge is growing. Over the long term, it is envisaged that this international collaboration will result in a long-term scientific and technological strategy, new technologies and alternative solutions, and practical implementations of biotechnology for the nuclear and industrial sectors of the economy.

This book presents a Two-Stage Anaerobic Digestion (TSAD) technique for producing hydrogen and methane, following a step-by-step approach in order to guide readers through the experimental verification of the related hypothesis. In the first stage of AD, the reaction conditions are optimized to obtain the maximum amount of hydrogen, while in the second the liquid residue from the first phase is used as a substrate to produce fuel-methane. AD has traditionally been used to reduce the organic content of waste; this results in a biogas that is primarily constituted of CH4 and CO2. Over the last few decades, the conversion of organic matter into hydrogen by means of AD and selecting Hydrogen Producing Bacteria (HPB) has matured into a viable and sustainable technology among the pallet of H2 generation technologies. The combined bio-production of hydrogen and methane from Organic Waste Materials (OWM) is considered to be an ideal way of utilizing waste, and can increase energy efficiency (the substrate Heat Value converted into H2 and CH4 fuel) to roughly 80%, since the energy efficiency of H2-production alone (15%) is not energetically competitive. The two gas streams can be used either separately or in combination (Hytane (R)), be supplied as civilian gas or used for transportation purposes. All the aspects of this sustainable technology are taken into account, from the basic biochemical implications to engineering aspects, establishing the design criteria and the scale-up procedures for full-scale application. The sustainability of the TSAD method is assessed by applying EROI (Energy Return On Investment) and EPT (Energy Payback Time) criteria, and both the general approach and application to the field of Anaerobic Digestion are illustrated.

This book encourages and demonstrates an innovative approach to the design and operation of urban wastewater systems: integrated modelling and control. Consideration of sewer system, wastewater treatment plant and receiving water body as a single system (rather than as three moderately independent units as before) opens up new types of analyses and new control algorithms for urban wastewater systems.After a comprehensive review of the literature of various fields including processes affecting water flow and quality in urban wastewater systems and their description by different types of models, this book also introduces some of the fundamental concepts of the operation of such systems. It discusses conventional as well as innovative control approaches - ranging from control by simple set-points to elaborate hierarchical control concepts taking into account the water flow and the quality of sewer systems, treatment plants and receiving water body. Thus it will enable the researcher as well as the practising engineer to analyse and to implement various types of control for a particular case study site. In order to illustrate the concepts developed, a detailed simulation study, covering the complete urban wastewater system, is presented. The conclusions drawn demonstrate that the application of innovative control concepts can lead to improved performance of wastewater systems.In addition, a comprehensive survey of mathematical optimisation methods is presented. This book can assist the practising engineer and the student to gain knowledge of all aspects of wastewater systems. To the researcher, this book provides a thorough survey of existing simulation and control concepts and inspiration for further work.

This book reviews water treatment technologies for the removal of pharmaceutically active compounds (PhACs). It provides the reader with an overview of state-of-the-art techniques and recent efforts to develop more sustainable approaches. After nearly two decades of research into the presence and impact of PhACs in the environment, they remain one of the hottest topics in the fields of environmental chemistry, toxicology and engineering. Accordingly, intensive research efforts are currently being devoted to water treatment technologies that can reduce the presence of these emerging contaminants in water bodies. This book examines various types of contaminated water from industry, hospitals and urban wastewater. It provides the reader with a range of potential solutions for water treatment and reuse, and addresses the advancement of analytical tools for evaluating the performance and efficiency of treatment technologies.

Hitherto the disposal of munitions was mostly concerned with obsolete stocks, but the political developments in the states of the former Soviet Union have necessitated the disposal of vast quantities of current and obsolete stocks. Obviously, open burning/open detonation cannot be used on such a large scale, not least for environmental considerations. There are two main technical problems associated with the disposal of munitions on the scale required. First, the materials are not simple wastes or rubbish. Their handling, storage, packaging and transportation are subject to very rigid regulation, and justifiably so, for obvious reasons. Second, they are very valuable goods, for which a high price has been paid by the holding states' economic systems. Mere destruction would mean the irretrievable loss of the value invested. But therein lies the problem. Goods like steel or brass scrap can easily be reclaimed, but hypergols and other rocket fuels (for instance) represent a true chemical challenge, while, under certain conditions, explosives may be diverted to civilian use. This, in summary, is the problem that the present book deals with: the two-pronged attack involving demilitarization and recycling technologies.

Proceedings of the International Workshop, Thermal Solid Waste Utilization in Regular and Industrial Facilities, held in Kazimierz Dolny, Poland, November 28-30, 1999. In recent years, industrial and urban growth has resulted in growing volumes of nondegradable wastes, and this volume focuses on the technologies related to recycling and material reuse which are now being favoured over land disposal. There is an overview on waste utilisation in industrial facilities, particularly cement kilns, from an ecological as well as technological aspect, and some innovative solutions of pyrolitic and plasma reactors, used for hazardous wastes combustion.