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A special issue of Energies (ISSN 1996-1073). This special issue belongs to the section "B: Energy and Environment".

Deadline for manuscript submissions: closed (31 May 2023) | Viewed by 19811

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Special Issue Editors

Dr. Charisios Achillas

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Guest Editor

Department of Supply Chain Management, International Hellenic University, 60100 Katerini, Greece
Interests: data analytics; optimization techniques; circular economy
Special Issues, Collections and Topics in MDPI journals

Dr. Christos Vlachokostas

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Guest Editor

Sustainability Engineering Laboratory, Faculty of Engineering, School of Mechanical Engineering, Aristotle University, GR-54124 Thessaloniki, Greece
Interests: engineering and sustainability management; circular economy; climate change and energy strategies; environmental engineering and management; waste management and energy utilization; decision support and risk assessment tools
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Special Issue Information

Dear Colleagues,

Waste management constitutes one of the most critical aspects in the modern world. Due to the rapid growth of urban population over the years, as well as the changing consuming habits and lifestyle patterns of societies around the globe, solid waste management has emerged as one of the most important pressures on the natural environment. In parallel, the environmental concerns of people are constantly increasing, with citizens across the world “demanding” environmentally sound management of solid wastes. Undoubtedly, due to the complexity of the problem under study, there is not a single waste management option available that can provide a holistic solution for all different kinds of waste streams generated (e.g., municipal solid waste, industrial waste, bio-waste, waste electrical and electronic equipment, construction and demolition waste, end-of-life vehicles) and globally satisfy the needs of different populations with diverse characteristics, customs, and habits. To that end, different, alternative processes, technologies, and strategies ought to be developed and proposed, so as to cover the high requirements for efficient waste management in a number of topics (e.g., waste generation, characterization, collection, separation, treatment, and final disposal). In this light, integrated waste management strategies are considered as a prerequisite towards sustainability.

The present Special Issue, entitled “Integrated Waste Management”, seeks to provide information and evidence on the field for researchers, practitioners, and/or policy-makers, as well as to contribute to the waste management agenda through enhanced scientific and multidisciplinary knowledge to boost the performance efficiency of waste management and support policy-making. To that end, we invite papers on innovative technological developments in the field, as well as reviews and pilot studies that demonstrate new knowledge and near-to-market solutions within the area of integrated waste.

Dr. Charisios Achillas
Dr. Christos Vlachokostas
Guest Editors

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Keywords

recycling
reuse
waste-to-energy
minimization of waste
special waste streams
reverse logistics waste treatment
waste collection/transport/transfer
sustainability
circular economy

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Published Papers (8 papers)

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Research

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19 pages, 1568 KiB

Open AccessArticle

Social Innovations for Improving Compostable Packaging Waste Management in CE: A Multi-Solution Perspective

by Grażyna Kędzia, Barbara Ocicka, Aneta Pluta-Zaremba, Marta Raźniewska, Jolanta Turek and Beata Wieteska-Rosiak

Energies 2022, 15(23), 9119; https://doi.org/10.3390/en15239119 - 1 Dec 2022

Cited by 4 | Viewed by 2041

Abstract

Compostable packaging is one of the innovative alternatives to conventional packaging. This is also an opportunity in view of the current energy crisis and rising oil prices, firstly, because compostable packaging is produced only from renewable resources, and secondly, it can feed both the composting process and biogas plants. According to the CE principles, it is vital to effectively close product life cycles. Therefore, this paper is aimed at expounding the triggering role of social innovations co-created by stakeholders for improving compostable packaging waste management in accordance with the CE concept. The research procedure consisted of four integrated research phases. A qualitive study was undertaken by conducting 29 in-depth interviews and 3 Social Innovation Labs, engaging 67 bio-packaging market stakeholders, which are national and international companies (e.g., manufacturing, distributing), institutions and other organisations from the social, public and private sectors. The results show that one of the key problems for the development of the CE compostable packaging market is the low level of compostable waste packaging management. Its detailed analysis showed that this problem is associated with several barriers and their numerous causes. According to stakeholders, this can be effectively minimised by applying three social innovations that when combined stimulate all elements of waste management, moving it to a higher level of development. Full article

(This article belongs to the Special Issue Integrated Waste Management)

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17 pages, 6034 KiB

Open AccessArticle

Analysis of the Long-Term Mass Balance and Efficiency of Waste Recovery in a Municipal Waste Biodrying Plant

by Sławomir Kasiński, Marcin Dębowski, Maria Olkowska and Marcin Rudnicki

Energies 2021, 14(22), 7711; https://doi.org/10.3390/en14227711 - 17 Nov 2021

Cited by 4 | Viewed by 2373

Abstract

The aim of this study was to determine the role of an installation based on biodrying of municipal waste in a Circular Economy by taking into account the quantitative and qualitative changes in its selectively collected waste stream. As a case study, the Mechanical-Biological municipal waste treatment installation in Olsztyn, Poland, was selected, which is equipped with a separate section for valorizing the selectively collected waste stream. The scope of the work included a complete mass balance of the waste treatment plant, an assessment of the technological efficiency of the municipal waste biodrying installation, and determination of the changes in the main waste from 2016 to 2020. This paper proposes an empirical method for estimating process loss during biodrying and provides many technological results. The average process loss was 23.47%, and on average, 88.9% of the waste produced by biodrying consisted of the Refuse-Derived Fuel fraction. The recovery of commercial assortments from selectively collected waste increased from 84.82% in 2016 to 89.26% in 2020. Considering the current morphology of municipal waste in this region, the maximum share of waste subjected to material and organic recycling processes in the analyzed region could be increased to around 60%, which indicates that Circular Economy targets can be achieved. This work should provide a compendium of information for countries implementing a Circular Economy. Full article

(This article belongs to the Special Issue Integrated Waste Management)

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16 pages, 619 KiB

Open AccessArticle

Recyclables Collection Route Balancing Problem with Heterogeneous Fleet

by Roger Książek, Katarzyna Gdowska and Antoni Korcyl

Energies 2021, 14(21), 7406; https://doi.org/10.3390/en14217406 - 7 Nov 2021

Cited by 7 | Viewed by 2578

Abstract

Nowadays, robust and efficient solid waste collection is crucial to motivate citizens to participate in the circular economy by sorting recyclable solid waste. Vocational vehicles, including garbage trucks, contribute significantly to CO

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emissions; therefore, it is strongly recommended, and in the European [...] Read more.

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emissions; therefore, it is strongly recommended, and in the European Union it is mandatory, to replace conventional-fuel-based garbage trucks with electric ones. For providing sustainable and energy-efficient solid waste collection with a heterogeneous fleet, in-depth mathematical computations are needed to support solving complex decision-making problems, including crew rostering and vehicle routing, because the distance and capacity of electric garbage trucks differ from conventional-fuel-based ones. However, the literature on solid waste collection using electric garbage trucks is still relatively scarce. The main contribution of this paper is developing an optimization problem for balancing travel distance assigned to each garbage truck of a heterogeneous fleet. The problem is based on specific requirements of the Municipal Solid Waste Management in Cracow, Poland, where the working time of routes is balanced and the total time of collection service can be minimized. For the problem, an MIP program was developed to generate optimal crew schedules, so that the hitherto network of segregated solid waste pickup nodes can be served using a heterogeneous fleet in which the share of electric garbage trucks is up to 30%. We study the impact of the changed composition of the fleet on modifications in crew rostering due to the shorter range of an electric vehicle compared to a conventional-fuel-based one. Full article

(This article belongs to the Special Issue Integrated Waste Management)

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17 pages, 3506 KiB

Open AccessArticle

Conversion of Sewage Sludge and Other Biodegradable Waste into High-Value Soil Amendment within a Circular Bioeconomy Perspective

by Ewa Neczaj, Anna Grosser, Anna Grobelak, Piotr Celary and Bal Ram Singh

Energies 2021, 14(21), 6953; https://doi.org/10.3390/en14216953 - 22 Oct 2021

Cited by 6 | Viewed by 2251

Abstract

Resource recovery from biodegradable waste is essential in order to reach the goals of zero circular economy waste generation and zero greenhouse gas emissions from the waste sector. Waste whose management is a real challenge is sewage sludge, mainly because of high concentrations of heavy metals. The aim of this study was to compare the effectiveness of material stabilization during aerobic stabilization of two feedstocks with sewage sludge obtained from different sources, namely, digestate from a municipal wastewater treatment plant and digestate from a co-digestion process. Moreover, the goal of the experiment was to assess the quality of compost in terms of remediation potential. The composting process was carried out for four different mixtures consisting of the mentioned digestates, municipal solid waste, and grass. A better composting efficiency with digestate from the co-digestion process was observed. In that case, a higher temperature in the thermophilic phase (>55 °C) and a higher organic matter loss ratio (60%) were obtained as compared to the process with digestate from wastewater treatment plant. Taking into account the fertilizing properties and the concentration of heavy metals, all obtained composts met the requirements set out in the Polish Regulation for organic fertilizers. Only the content of Helminth eggs in the composts produced with the digestate from the wastewater treatment plant was above the acceptable level. The research also proved that the produced composts can be used in the phytoremediation process of the degraded area. It was found that all composts caused a significant increase in fescue biomass. The highest yield was achieved for compost produced from a mixture with the addition of 30% sewage sludge from the co-digestion process. Full article

(This article belongs to the Special Issue Integrated Waste Management)

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18 pages, 1696 KiB

Open AccessArticle

Leaching of Chlorides, Sulphates, and Phosphates from Ashes Formed as a Result of Burning Conventional Fuels, Alternative Fuels, and Municipal Waste in Household Furnaces

by Alicja Kicińska and Grzegorz Caba

Energies 2021, 14(13), 3936; https://doi.org/10.3390/en14133936 - 30 Jun 2021

Cited by 4 | Viewed by 1554

Abstract

The aim of the study was to assess leaching of Cl⁻, SO₄²⁻, and PO₄³⁻ from ashes formed in household furnaces. The ashes were obtained following the combustion of conventional fuels, namely wood and hard coal, and alternative fuels with various fractions of municipal waste in a household boiler. Aqueous leachates of the ashes were used to determine concentrations of chlorides by titration (Mohr’s method) (21.3–3049.6 mg/dm³), sulphates by the gravimetric method (12.2–244.1 mg/dm³), and phosphates by spectrophotometry (0.01–67.2 mg/dm³). It was found that co-combustion of municipal waste with plastic-coated paper cartons, diapers, or a mixed waste fraction leaves the greatest amount of ashes on the furnace grate. The highest amounts of Cl⁻, SO₄²⁻, and PO₄³⁻ were leached from ashes generated from burning a mix of wood and coals, or wood alone (different species). The addition of municipal waste to the process of burning the conventional and alternative fuels studied did not significantly increase Cl⁻, SO₄²⁻, and PO₄³⁻ content in aqueous extracts of ashes, the exception being diapers and plywood. In light of the study results, it was concluded that all the ashes could be reused (as an additive to concrete) except for the ash generated from the combustion of a mixed municipal waste fraction and coal (due to the content of Cl⁻) and diapers (due to the content of PO₄³⁻). It was demonstrated that Cl⁻, SO₄²⁻, and PO₄³⁻ content in the entire set of samples and in individual ash groups is highly heterogeneous and variable. Full article

(This article belongs to the Special Issue Integrated Waste Management)

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17 pages, 5612 KiB

Open AccessArticle

Optimization of Silver Nanoparticle Separation Method from Drilling Waste Matrices

by Monika Gajec, Ewa Kukulska-Zając and Anna Król

Energies 2021, 14(7), 1950; https://doi.org/10.3390/en14071950 - 1 Apr 2021

Cited by 3 | Viewed by 2085

Abstract

Significant amounts of produced water, spent drilling fluid, and drill cuttings, which differ in composition and characteristics in each drilling operation, are generated in the oil and gas industry. Moreover, the oil and gas industry faces many technological development challenges to guarantee a safe and clean environment and to meet strict environmental standards in the field of processing and disposal of drilling waste. Due to increasing application of nanomaterials in the oil and gas industry, drilling wastes may also contain nanometer-scale materials. It is therefore necessary to characterize drilling waste in terms of nanomaterial content and to optimize effective methods for their determination, including a key separation step. The purpose of this study is to select the appropriate method of separation and pre-concentration of silver nanoparticles (AgNPs) from drilling wastewater samples and to determine their size distribution along with the state of aggregation using single-particle inductively coupled plasma mass spectrometry (spICP-MS). Two AgNP separation methods were compared: centrifugation and cloud point extraction. The first known use of spICP-MS for drilling waste matrices following mentioned separation methods is presented. Full article

(This article belongs to the Special Issue Integrated Waste Management)

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Review

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11 pages, 996 KiB

Open AccessReview

Overview of Biomass-to-Energy Supply and Promotion Policy in Taiwan

by Yu-Ru Lee and Wen-Tien Tsai

Energies 2022, 15(18), 6576; https://doi.org/10.3390/en15186576 - 8 Sep 2022

Cited by 7 | Viewed by 2366

Abstract

During the past two decades, Taiwan’s average dependence on imported energy was 97.6%, thus pushing the government to promote the indigenous energy supply. In this regard, the energy policy and regulatory incentives for promoting biomass-to-energy or bioenergy have been recently established. In this work, the updated statistics of biomass-derived waste and energy supply from biomass during the period of 2005–2021 were analyzed using national/official reports. It was found that the annual agricultural waste amounts in Taiwan ranged from 4.5 to 5.2 million metric tons, and about 80% of those were generated from rice-derived residues (rice straw and rice husk) and livestock/poultry-derived waste (manure). In addition, a decreasing trend was observed in the indigenous bioenergy supply, mostly from the solid-type biomass resources, including waste wood, rice husk, and sugarcane bagasse. In order to expand bioenergy diversification, the central competent authorities, including the Ministry of Economic Affairs (MOEA), Council of Agriculture (COA), and Environmental Protection Administration (EPA), have announced the relevant policies for bioenergy promotion under the authorization of acts. Among them, the Renewable Energy Development Act is the legal foundation for promoting bioenergy and its industry development through economic incentives like feed-in-tariff (FIT), installation supports (or subsidies), and electrical grid connection. Full article

(This article belongs to the Special Issue Integrated Waste Management)

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18 pages, 2369 KiB

Open AccessReview

Review of Wood Biomass Cyclone Burner

by Kangil Choe

Energies 2021, 14(16), 4807; https://doi.org/10.3390/en14164807 - 6 Aug 2021

Cited by 4 | Viewed by 2843

Abstract

Despite the technology for wood biomass combustion being much more advantageous when compared to traditional burners, such as the Stoker or fluidized burner, there has been scant research on the topic of wood biomass cyclone burners. The purpose of this paper is to review biomass cyclone burner technology, which includes theory, design, and combustion, in terms of the chemistry and properties of wood biomass, emission related to NOx and CO, and application of the burner, such as co-firing with coal and gasification firing. The design factors for type 2 cyclone burners have been identified through the following three dimensionless numbers: swirl intensity (S), Strouhal number (St), and Reynolds number (Re). The lowest CO and NOx of type 2 cyclone burners have been sought for pulverized and non-pulverized wood biomass. The benefits of the co-firing of wood biomass in a cyclone burner with coal, have been presented in respect to combustion efficiency, alkali retention, and the amount of K and Na. The results evidently reveal the reduction in clinker and slag generation, which are the biggest concern to wood biomass combustion. The recent results of gasification studies using type 2 cyclone burners are compared, in terms of producer gases and syngases (H₂, CO, CO₂, CH₄). Full article

(This article belongs to the Special Issue Integrated Waste Management)

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