An assessment of waste management efficiency at BAA airports

The issue of waste management within airports is becoming increasingly important with enormous increases in passenger numbers and is a key responsibility of the facilities manager. Airports are notoriously poor environmental performers and this growth in the industry is leading to increasing levels of waste production. The purpose of this paper is to assess the efficiency of waste management operations at BAA airports, with reference to best practices within airports in continental Europe. The paper presents the findings of a survey of waste management methods in a sample of UK airports. The analysis of numerical data is based on those airports in the BAA group. Many of these are among the busiest airports in Britain, and Heathrow and Gatwick are two of the world's busiest. Data constraints prevented a more detailed analysis of other airports outside BAA. The paper highlights some difficulties in measuring BAA's waste management efficiency based on the waste hierarchy and concludes that some European airports have achieved greater efficiency in waste management. The situation is now changing though and BAA is taking environmental management seriously. However, a more co-ordinated approach to environmental strategy is needed across the industry and this is best produced at government level.     

Regulating Plastics Waste,Stakeholder Engagement and Sustainability Challenges in South Africa

In May 2003, the South African government enacted regulations banning the production of thin-film plastic shopping bags. The government advocated that such thin-film plastic shopping bags were indiscriminately discarded because they had no economic and recycling value. However, in as much as the regulations led to significant reductions in plastic shopping bags in the environment, the law resulted in severe unintended negative consequences, as jobs were lost with some businesses in the plastic shopping bag manufacturing sector closing down. The paper also reveals that key stakeholders, such as industry, business and labour, lobbied against the introduction of the regulations but without success. On average, business went down by about 83% with a conservative 25% reduction in employment. Drawing insights from the Irish and Australian experiences, this paper critically reviews sustainability debates and responses surrounding environmental regulation and business, with a special focus on the Plastic Bag Regulations in South Africa. Lessons learnt are presented with the intention to provide insights for future waste product or other environmental regulation initiatives in South Africa and elsewhere in the region.

汶川地震后建筑垃圾再利用途径探讨

四川汶川大地震带来巨大量的建筑垃圾成了重建工作的巨大障碍,建筑垃圾的科学合理、及时处理关系到灾区重建能否顺利进行,更是保证灾区生态环境和社会可持续发展的重要组成部分。基于灾区建筑垃圾处理的重要性本文探讨了建筑垃圾再利用途径,分析了各种途径所产生的效益。     

Korean household waste management and recycling behavior

The rapid industrial and economic development in the recent several decades has caused serious environmental problems in Korea. The country has very limited carrying capacity; the population density in Korea is 481 people per km², ranking the third-highest in the world [1]. In 1995, the Korean government implemented a volume-based waste fee system (unit pricing system) that required every household to purchase certified plastic bags for waste disposal [2]. Consequently, since the introduction of this regulation, household solid waste in Korea has been substantially decreased, and household recycling has been increased. This study is to examine current Korean household recycling and waste management behavior and explore factors that affect those behaviors. Data was gathered though a survey conducted in Seoul, Korea. For the data analysis, 196 responses were used. The impacts of several factors on recycling and waste management behaviors including NEP (New Environmental Paradigm), attitudes for recycling and waste management, and the respondents’ demographic variables were examined. To analyze the data, correlations and multiple regressional analyses were conducted using SPSS 16. The results showed that environmental attitudes affected recycling and waste management behaviors significantly along with several demographic variables.     

E-waste: An assessment of global production and environmental impacts

E-waste comprises discarded electronic appliances, of which computers and mobile telephones are disproportionately abundant because of their short lifespan. The current global production of E-waste is estimated to be 20-25 million tonnes per year, with most E-waste being produced in Europe, the United States and Australasia. China, Eastern Europe and Latin America will become major E-waste producers in the next ten years. Miniaturisation and the development of more efficient cloud computing networks, where computing services are delivered over the internet from remote locations, may offset the increase in E-waste production from global economic growth and the development of pervasive new technologies. E-waste contains valuable metals (Cu, platinum group) as well as potential environmental contaminants, especially Pb, Sb, Hg, Cd, Ni, polybrominated diphenyl ethers (PBDEs), and polychlorinated biphenyls (PCBs). Burning E-waste may generate dioxins, furans, polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons (PAHs), polyhalogenated aromatic hydrocarbons (PHAHs), and hydrogen chloride. The chemical composition of E-waste changes with the development of new technologies and pressure from environmental organisations on electronics companies to find alternatives to environmentally damaging materials. Most E-waste is disposed in landfills. Effective reprocessing technology, which recovers the valuable materials with minimal environmental impact, is expensive. Consequently, although illegal under the Basel Convention, rich countries export an unknown quantity of E-waste to poor countries, where recycling techniques include burning and dissolution in strong acids with few measures to protect human health and the environment. Such reprocessing initially results in extreme localised contamination followed by migration of the contaminants into receiving waters and food chains. E-waste workers suffer negative health effects through skin contact and inhalation, while the wider community are exposed to the contaminants through smoke, dust, drinking water and food. There is evidence that E-waste associated contaminants may be present in some agricultural or manufactured products for export.     

Electrokinetic dewatering of Turkish glass sand plant tailings

In this study, the dewatering of glass sand plant tailings from Mersin, Turkey was investigated using an electrokinetic technique. The particle size (d(80)) of the solid waste material tested was less than 0.020 mm and consisted mainly of silica, orthoclase, alumina, potassium and iron oxides. In current plant practice, Larox high-pressure filters are used to produce a filter cake containing 22-25% moisture. As an alternative, a laboratory-scale dewatering pond using an electrokinetic technique was designed and a final product (cake) containing 34% moisture was obtained after 24h treatment using 14.6 V direct current applied for 40 min. When the treatment continued up to 48 h, a firm-to-hard cake was produced.     

Evaluations of existing waste recycling methods: A Hong Kong study

Environmental problems have been considered as a serious situation in Hong Kong construction. Waste management is pressing harder with the alarming signal warning the industry. Reuse, recycling and reducing the wastes are considered as the only methods to recover the wastes generated; however, the implementations still have much room for improvement. In order to ameliorate the existing situations, evaluations of the existing waste recycling methods are studied in this research. A telephone interviewing to the recyclers, site visits to the construction and demolition sites (including the Lower Ngau Tau Kok Estate Phase 1) and the centralized recycling plant in Tuen Mun Area 38 are under investigation. Difficulties encountered for various recycling parties are investigated. Rather than the poor quality found from the recyclable materials, they found the high investment cost, lengthy demolition period and limited space caused the major barriers for them. Therefore, some recommendations are suggested: (i) proposing a higher landfill charging scheme; (ii) setting up a centralized centre for recycling the materials; (iii) examining the Hong Kong government should be supported in the provision of land for recycling plants; (iv) implementing innovative demolition methods; (v) allowing some locations in town for residents’ easy access to drop-off recyclable materials; (vi) allowing flexible demolition periods; (vii) setting up recycling plant in town or in the form of mobile installations; (viii) reusing the reusable components as donations to the charity organization; (ix) providing higher flexibility in receiving concrete waste in Tuen Mun Area 38 recycling plant; and (x) balancing the supply and demand of recycled materials through legislations or incentive schemes.     

城市垃圾气化制气的研究

在实验室研究阶段,确定了垃圾的分类、成份,发热量等基本特性,在内径400mm的流化床气化炉内,进行了工艺开发单元的研究,气化温度为785℃时,燃气产率为1.17m~3/kg,燃气的高热值为5.65MJ/m~3,气化效率75％,碳转化率95％。     

预拌混凝土的绿色生产管理

本文对预拌混凝土的绿色生产管理进行了分析,讨论了预拌混凝土绿色生产管理的具体措施,提出了绿色生产管理的意义．指出绿色生产管理是预拌混凝土业发展的必然选择。     

垃圾滚筒筛设计

垃圾滚筒筛是一种城市生活垃圾分选机械。本文介绍了垃圾滚筒筛的类型,传动型式,驱动方式,结构和工作原理,并对垃圾在滚筒中的运动进行了分析,论述了滚筒筛的设计计算方法。     

3D建筑打印研究综述

3D打印技术出现在20世纪90年代中期,是制造业领域正在迅速发展的一项新兴技术,其实质是增材制造技术。该文对3D建筑打印相关文献资料和实例进行梳理、汇总,分析了国内外研究现状与发展趋势,总结了目前主流的3D建筑打印工艺方法与特点。其中,D-Shape打印工艺以细骨料和胶凝料为打印材料,形成特定形状且坚固的石质建筑物;轮廓工艺(Contour Crafting)以混凝土为打印材料,通过计算机自动化施工方法来构建整个房屋;尼龙纤维激光烧结工艺(Softkill Design)则以骨骼架构为原型,以纤维尼龙为材料制作所有的部件。若在这些技术研究基础上,增强相互之间的交流融合,发展新的低成本的3D打印方法体系,将有助于解决全球住房危机和节约能源、环保等问题,促进社会和谐发展。     

生活垃圾“2+1”分类收集规划研究

阐述了目前国内垃圾分类存在的问题:分类混乱、分类名称学术化、分类太细;分析了中国的三个国情特色:饮食、传统和拾荒文化特色;提出了"2+1"的垃圾分类模式:"2"为干、湿垃圾分类,"1"为特定垃圾定期专项收集。     

塑料型材挤出模CAD系统开发

介绍了新近研究开发成功的塑料型材挤出成型模具CAD系统的基本原理、主要内容和实际意义。     

垃圾筛分设备回收率,纯度和效率计算

城市生活垃圾处理过程中的各种筛分设备,如振动筛,格筛,滚筒筛等可视作是二进制的分离设备,本文介绍以二进制分离计算垃圾筛扮设备的回收率,纯度和效率,并通过实例说明计算公式的应用。     

3D打印月球基地可行性研究

3D打印技术具有直接打印任意形状的建筑物和复杂结构体系的能力,在建筑界受到越来越多的关注.3D打印技术将惰性材料打印为建筑物,极大提高了建构太空空间可能.本文通过实验手段,验证了在月球恶劣的环境下,利用3D打印技术和月球土壤建设月球基地的可能性.     

后装压缩式垃圾车装载压缩机构及其分析比较

后装压缩式垃圾车是我国垃圾车发展的主要方向。本文介绍了这种垃圾车的五种装载压缩机构，并对其结构复杂性，装载性能和压缩性能进行了分析比较，得到了这五种装载压缩机构的特性比较表，为了装压缩式垃圾车装载压缩机构的选型提供了依据。