Assessing quantities and disposal routes for household hazardous products in the United Kingdom

The disposal of household products containing hazardous substances (household hazardous wastes; HHW) is of concern due to possible health and environmental effects as a consequence of environmental pollution. The potential risks of disposal are proportional to the amounts of products used and waste generated, but much of the data relating to quantities are old, inconsistent, or nonexistent. Hence, full-scale risk assessment is not yet feasible. This pilot study was aimed at an initial assessment of the amounts of hazardous products used or stored within the household and potential disposal routes. Representatives of 400 households from southeast England were interviewed about socio-demographic factors, perception of the risks associated with the use and disposal of hazardous waste generated in households, quantities of particular products currently in use or stored within the household, and times and methods of disposal of such products. The estimates of quantities obtained were compared with sales figures and waste estimates to improve understanding of product flow through to the HHW stream. The disposal routes investigated demonstrated that most householders claim to use the entire product priorto disposal in the general refuse bin. The relationship with socio-demographic factors demonstrated a difference between neighborhood size and length of residence in a household with regard to product quantities possessed and the disposal habits adopted.     

危险废物处理项目环境影响评价存在的问题及对策

随着经济的发展,工业化生产的危险废物量巨大,危险废物对人类和环境构成了巨大的威胁,危险废物处理能力已不能满足实际需要。如果危险废物处理不当,必然会产生严重的环境污染。因此,建设危险废物处理项目,需要分析危险废物处置和环境影响评价过程中存在的问题,考虑对环境的影响。要关注危险废物环境影响评价,确保提高危险废物处理项目的环境效益。基于此,本文分析了危险废物开展环境影响评价的重要意义,讨论了危险废物项目评价的总体思路,并提出了危险废物处理项目环境影响评价的相关措施。     

Regulating the disposal of cigarette butts as toxic hazardous waste

The trillions of cigarette butts generated each year throughout the world pose a significant challenge for disposal regulations, primarily because there are millions of points of disposal, along with the necessity to segregate, collect and dispose of the butts in a safe manner, and cigarette butts are toxic, hazardous waste. There are some hazardous waste laws, such as those covering used tyres and automobile batteries, in which the retailer is responsible for the proper disposal of the waste, but most post-consumer waste disposal is the responsibility of the consumer. Concepts such as extended producer responsibility (EPR) are being used for some post-consumer waste to pass the responsibility and cost for recycling or disposal to the manufacturer of the product. In total, 32 states in the US have passed EPR laws covering auto switches, batteries, carpet, cell phones, electronics, fluorescent lighting, mercury thermostats, paint and pesticide containers, and these could be models for cigarette waste legislation. A broader concept of producer stewardship includes EPR, but adds the consumer and the retailer into the regulation. The State of Maine considered a comprehensive product stewardship law in 2010 that is a much better model than EPR. By using either EPR or the Maine model, the tobacco industry will be required to cover the cost of collecting and disposing of cigarette butt waste. Additional requirements included in the Maine model are needed for consumers and businesses to complete the network that will be necessary to maximise the segregation and collection of cigarette butts to protect the environment.     

How disaggregated should information be for a sound food security policy?

This study aimed to answer the question whether disaggregating micro data on food security conditions yielded sufficient new information to improve food security policies. To answer this question, we proposed and implemented a conceptual model that comprised three successive levels of disaggregation. The model was implemented for the Punjab province of Pakistan for which primary data was collected from 1,152 rural households. To measure the food security status of households, the Dietary Intake Assessment (DIA) method was used. Furthermore, the determinants of food security were identified using a Logit Regression model. Comparing the results of this model suggested that disaggregation yields sufficient new information to warrant the extra effort. We found that food security of different household categories and micro-regions were statistically different from each other; moreover, household categories differed in their food security status even within regions. Basing potential policies on analysis of too aggregated data a level can lead to biased conclusions. An implication is that a blanket policy for ensuring rural household food security, as currently implemented in Pakistan, is not an efficient approach.     

上海市金山区危险废物处置现状分析

金山区作为工业集中区危险废物产生量大,环境风险较高。本研究分析金山区危险废物处置现状和存在的问题,提出加强管理和执法力度,丰富宣传形式等措施,提高危险废物管理水平,降低环境安全风险。     

新固废法视角下的企业危险废物管理研究

新固废法的出台,明确了危险废物的判定标准,细化了对危险废物的管理要求,其中包括管理计划、管理台账、处置单位、识别标志、转移联单、运输要求、应急预案等各项内容。本文以此为出发点,概述了新固废法的内涵,说明了新固废法视角下的企业危险废物管理现状。分别从收集与转移管理、监督管理、信息化管理三个层面,对新时期企业危废管理中存在的问题进行解析。并以此为基础,结合新固废法、监督模式、数字技术,提出了要健全管理制度、加强研发设计、推进数据管理等应对措施。     

食品检测实验室危险废物处置存在的问题及对策建议

危险废物因其爆炸性、毒性、易燃性、反应性以及感染性等特性, 在全球污染治理中备受关注。中国也陆续出台了多项法律法规规范危险废物的处置行为。近年来食品检测行业迅速发展, 各地都在新建食品检测实验室, 但常常由于缺乏专业人员、操作指导以及人员意识淡薄等因素, 忽略实验室危险废物的处置。本文通过对食品检测实验室危废处置现状的分析, 阐述了其主要存在的问题, 并针对这些问题提出了一些建议, 以期给相关研究提供参考。     

Flow analysis of heavy metals in MSW incinerators for investigating contamination of hazardous components

The contribution of hazardous components in municipal solid waste (MSW) to environmental risks has seldom been quantified due to their heterogeneous streams and irregular disposal patterns. A material flow analysis, in which the input metals in major MSW compositions (excluding discriminable hazardous components) were subtracted from the total output metals in the treatment products, was proposed to estimate the heavy metal contamination in MSW due to hazardous components. The statistical data from 1-year field measurements for two large-scale incinerators in Shanghai city were used as an illustrative example. The results indicated that the amount of Cr and Ni in the incineration products were similar to those found in the major MSW compositions, while the amounts of Cd, Cu, Pb, and Zn in the incineration products were 2.27-4.00 times, 1.90-3.77 times, 2.25-3.51 times, and 2.98-4.06 times greater than that in the MSW. According to evaluation, more than 56-75% of Cd, 47-74% of Cu, 56-72% of Pb, and 66-75% of Zn in the MSW were contributed by the minor hazardous components, indicating the need for source separation. The methodology provides a cost-effective procedure for quantification of the hazardous waste contamination in MSW.     

Modeling store brand choice: Minimal effects of households’ demographic features

Demographic characteristics are factors that both managers and business consultants use to explain consumer behavior. However, their usefulness has been questioned by some researchers; this study considers their effect on store brand choice. The authors analyze purchases in 13 food categories by 2011 households over the course of two years using a binomial logit mixed model. The results reveal that the household’s social class, household size, and the head of household’s age affect this choice. A weak relationship emerges between the demographic variables and store brand choice though, indicating that for many years, retailers and business managers have been allocating vast financial resources to obtain data about demographic variables that barely affect real consumer behavior. The results also confirm prior research that indicates retailers should not segment by households’ demographic features but rather should offer store brands and target all buyers with them similarly.     

Recycling of hazardous waste materials in the coking process

Every year the coking industry produces a significant amount of tarry and other wastes in byproducts plants. For the most part these wastes have not been put to any practical use. In addition, an integrated factory produces several waste oils which differ in composition and quantity, e.g., wastes from the steel rolling-mill process. In this work, the possibility of using such waste materials as binders in a partial briquetting process for metallurgical coke production is explored. By means of this coking procedure, a strong metallurgical coke not inferior in quality to coke from conventional coal blends is produced at pilot and semi-industrial scales. The use of such wastes, some of which are classified as hazardous materials, will avoid the need for dumping, thereby contributing to the protection of the environment as well as reducing the costs related to waste disposal.     

Use of retailer fidelity card schemes in the assessment of food additive intake: Sunset Yellow a case study

The feasibility of using a retailer fidelity card scheme to estimate food additive intake was investigated using the Swiss retailer MIGROS's Cumulus Card and the example of the food colour Sunset Yellow (E 110). Information held within the card scheme was used to identify a sample of households purchasing foods containing Sunset Yellow over a 15 day period. A sample of 1204 households was selected for interview, of which 830 households were retained in the study following interview. Interviews were conducted to establish household structure, patterns of consumption by different individuals within the household, and the proportion of foods containing Sunset Yellow habitually purchased at the retailer and/or consumed outside the home. Information provided by the retailer on levels of Sunset Yellow in the foods was combined with the information obtained at interview to calculate the per-capita intake of Sunset Yellow by members of participating households. More than 99% of consumers (n = 1902) of foods containing Sunset Yellow were estimated to consume less than 1 mg Sunset Yellow kg^?1 body weight day^?1. The method proved to be a simple and resource-efficient approach to estimate food additive intake on the basis of actual consumer behaviour and thus reports results more closely related to the actual consumption of foods by individuals     

Characterization of patterns of food packaging usage in Portuguese homes

This study aimed to further refine the exposure assessment of migrants from food-contact materials by characterizing, at the household level, food packaging usage (amount and type) in Portuguese urban families. Packages from domestic use were collected from a sample of 105 consumers from 34 households over a 30-day period. Collected packages (more than 6000 items) were characterized in the laboratory and data were used to estimate: (i) global packaging usage and food intake; (ii) the consumption factors (CF) that describe the fraction of the daily diet expected to be in contact with specific packaging materials and (iii) the food-type factors (FTF) that reflect the fraction of all food contacting each material which differ in nature according to six major types: aqueous, acidic, alcoholic, milky, fatty and dry. The daily intake of packaged food and beverages consumed at home ranged from 5–50 g kg^?1 bw. Considering all materials, total package usage ranged from 0.1 to 0.6 dm² day^?1 kg^?1 bw. The ratio between package surface area in contact and the quantity of food was determined for all packaging items collected and an average value of 25 dm² kg^?1 food was recorded. Data were gathered and presented in a manner compatible with current probabilistic approaches to exposure assessment. In this way, relevant consumption patterns from this type of population can be best represented in exposure assessments and subsequent risk assessments.     

Impact of a homestead gardening program on household food security and empowerment of women in Bangladesh

This paper assesses the additional benefits of a homestead gardening program designed to control vitamin A deficiency in Bangladesh. In February and March 2002, data were collected on the food security and social status of women from 2,160 households of active and former participants in the gardening program and from control groups in order to assess the impact and sustainability of the program. The proportions of active and former-participant households that gardened year-round were fivefold and threefold, respectively, higher than that of the control group (78% and 50% vs. 15%). In a three-month period, the households of active participants produced a median of 135 kg and consumed a median of 85 kg of vegetables, while the control households produced a median of 46 kg and consumed a median of 38 kg (p <.001). About 64% of the active-participant households generated a median garden income of 347 taka (US$1 = 51 taka), which was spent mainly on food, and 25% of the control households generated 200 taka in the same period (p < .001). The garden production and income levels of formerly participating households three years after withdrawal of program support were much higher than those of the control households, illustrating the sustainability of the program and its ability to increase household food security. Significantly more women in active- and former-participant households than in control households perceived that they had increased their economic contribution to their households since the time the program was launched in their subdistricts (> 85% vs. 52%). Similar results were found for the level of influence gained by women on household decision-making. These results highlight the multiple benefits that homestead gardening programs can bring and demonstrate that these benefits should be considered when selecting nutritional and development approaches targeting poor households.     

Greenhouse gas emission reductions from domestic anaerobic digesters linked with sustainable sanitation in rural China

Anaerobic digesters provide clean, renewable energy (biogas) by converting organic waste to methane, and are a key part of China's comprehensive rural energy plan. Here, experimental and modeling results are used to quantify the net greenhouse gas (GHG) reduction from substituting a household anaerobic digester for traditional energy sources in Sichuan, China. Tunable diode laser absorption spectroscopy and radial plume mapping were used to estimate the mass flux of fugitive methane emissions from active digesters. Using household energy budgets, the net improvement in GHG emissions associated with biogas installation was estimated using global warming commitment (GWC) as a consolidated measure of the warming effects of GHG emissions from cooking. In all scenarios biogas households had lower GWC than nonbiogas households, by as much as 54%. Even biogas households with methane leakage exhibited lower GWC than nonbiogas households, by as much as 48%. Based only on the averted GHG emissions over 10 years, the monetary value of a biogas installation was conservatively estimated at US$28.30 ($16.07 ton(-1) CO(2)-eq), which is available to partly offset construction costs. The interaction of biogas installation programs with policies supporting improved stoves, renewable harvesting of biomass, and energy interventions with substantial health cobenefits are discussed.     

环保管家对企业危险废物管理提升的探索

随着社会的不断发展,国家对于环保工作愈加关注.因此,相关部门明确提出了将在5年内实现危险废物环境管理体系的搭建,并在不久的将来会将该项治理工作作为地方业绩考核的一项重要内容.同时在责任落实当中以谁产生,谁负责为原则进行保险的投保.国家对危险废物治理的关注度逐步提高,危险废物管理能力的提升将成为未来企业经营者和管理者所应...     

Quantifying carbon footprint reduction opportunities for U.S. households and communities

Carbon management is of increasing interest to individuals, households, and communities. In order to effectively assess and manage their climate impacts, individuals need information on the financial and greenhouse gas benefits of effective mitigation opportunities. We use consumption-based life cycle accounting techniques to quantify the carbon footprints of typical U.S. households in 28 cities for 6 household sizes and 12 income brackets. The model includes emissions embodied in transportation, energy, water, waste, food, goods, and services. We further quantify greenhouse gas and financial savings from 13 potential mitigation actions across all household types. The model suggests that the size and composition of carbon footprints vary dramatically between geographic regions and within regions based on basic demographic characteristics. Despite these differences, large cash-positive carbon footprint reductions are evident across all household types and locations; however, realizing this potential may require tailoring policies and programs to different population segments with very different carbon footprint profiles. The results of this model have been incorporated into an open access online carbon footprint management tool designed to enable behavior change at the household level through personalized feedback.     

An investigation into disposal and recycling options for daily disposable and monthly replacement soft contact lens modalities

PurposeTo examine the annualised waste and end-of-life disposal options with two representative soft contact lens (CL) modalities.MethodsThe component parts of two representative soft CL modalities were catalogued, separated, weighed and inspected for material identification: somofilcon A soft CLs (clariti elite, CooperVision Inc.) used with multi-purpose solution (MPS) (All in one Light, CooperVision Inc.) and somofilcon A CLs (clariti 1 day, CooperVision Inc). Using a model that assumed compliant wear and care of CLs, the mass of material solid waste generated by CL use over a year was calculated. Disposal options were explored using household and specialist recycling streams in order to develop recommendations for responsible disposal of CL waste.ResultsFull-time daily disposable (DD) CL wear generates 1.06 kg of waste annually compared to 0.83 kg generated by reusable-monthly replacement daily wear (‘reusable’) CLs. Plastic was the dominant material in both modalities. With full-time use of DD CLs, 64% of waste by mass was plastic blister trays. For full-time use of reusable CLs, where figures from lens and MPS packaging are combined, plastics accounted for 67% of waste by mass. MPS bottles alone made up almost half the waste (45%) associated with full-time reusable CL wear.ConclusionFull-time DD wear generates 27% more waste annually than full-time reusable lens wear. Reusable CL wearers can recycle 78% of waste at home. DD lens wearers have access to recycling options that allow them to recycle 100% of CL related waste. Full-time CL lens wear represents just 0.20–0.26% of the 412 kg of household waste generated per person, per year in the United Kingdom. Worn CLs should never be disposed of down the sink or lavatory. CL wearers should be aware of responsible end-of-life recycling and disposal options for all CL waste.     

医疗废物管理处置现状与对策

随着经济的不断发展,医疗卫生机构在医疗活动中会产生一些具有感染性及其他危害性的医疗废物,并且随着医疗机构的增加,医疗废物的数量也呈现上涨的趋势,本文首先简要介绍了医疗废物的特征,然后分析了医疗废物的处理现状,接着分析了医疗废物管理处置过程中存在的问题,最后从四个方面分析了管理处置医疗废物的具体策略,以此来供相关人士交流参考。     

Co speciation in hardened cement paste: a macro- and micro-spectroscopic investigation

Cement-based materials play an important role in multi-barrier concepts developed worldwide for the safe disposal of hazardous and radioactive wastes. Cement is used to condition and stabilize the waste materials and to construct the engineered barrier systems (container, backfill and liner materials) of repositories for radioactive waste. In this study, Co uptake by hardened cement paste (HCP) has been investigated with the aim of improving our understanding of the immobilization process of heavy metals in cement on the molecular level. X-ray-absorption spectroscopy (XAS) on powder material (bulk-XAS) was used to determine the local environment of Co in cement systems. Bulk-XAS investigations were complemented with micro-beam investigations to probe the inherent microscale heterogeneity of cement by using micro-X-ray-fluorescence (micro-XRF) and micro-XAS. Micro-XRF was used to gain information on the spatial heterogeneity of the Co distribution, whereas micro-XAS was employed to determine the speciation of Co on the microscale. The Co-doped HCP samples hydrated for time-scales from 1 hour up to 1 year were prepared under normal atmosphere, to simulate similar conditions as for waste packages. To investigate the role of oxygen, further samples were prepared in the absence of oxygen. The study showed that, for the samples prepared in air, Co(II) is oxidized to Co(III) after 1 hour of hydration time. Moreover, the relative amount of Co(III) increases with increasing hydration time. The study further revealed that Co(II) is predominately present as a Co-hydroxide-like phase and/or Co-phyllosilicates, whereas Co(III) tends to be incorporated into a CoOOH-like phase and/or Co-phyllomanganates. In contrast to samples prepared in air, XAS experiments with samples prepared in the absence of oxygen revealed solely the presence of Co(II). This finding indicates that oxygen plays an important role for Co oxidation in cement. Furthermore, the study suggests that Co(III) species or Co(III)-containing phases should be taken into account for an overall assessment of the Co release from Co-containing cement-stabilized waste under oxidizing conditions.