Search Results (8)

The COVID-19 outbreak has impacted many daily activities and services we depend on. Due to changes in waste quantity and types, solid waste management (SWM) services such as waste collection, transportation, and treatment/disposal suffered. Global rules and mandates were issued to address these changes and the COVID-19 pandemic. This mini review examines seven countries and summarises the pandemic’s effects on municipal solid waste (MSW) and medical waste (MW) generation in terms of amount and composition, the SWM sector’s challenges, and government or other SWM guidelines and management measures. The data are analysed to provide suggestions for stakeholders on SWM worker protection, waste segregation, and recycling. This article identified that extending MW incineration, separating infectious waste at the source, and discontinuing recycling for infection control are the best ways to manage solid waste. The waste management system’s readiness was crucial to the pandemic response. Thus, countries like China, which has a robust SWM system, were able to contain the crisis and restrict danger, while others with weaker systems struggled. Additionally, the study highlights the importance of revising waste management policies and developing crisis response strategies that integrate flexible, innovative solutions to adapt quickly to changing waste demands and ensure public health and environmental protection during global health crises. Full article

This article presents the results of the study of the morphological composition of municipal solid waste (MSW) from the landfill of Atyrau city, and the waste’s energy characteristics and presence of microorganisms, including bacteria, fungi and viruses. This study was carried out under a government order to determine the feasibility of recycling accumulated and incoming waste into electricity and its hazard to the environment and the workers involved in handling it. At the moment, there is no MSW recycling in Kazakhstan, which has led to the accumulation of more than 125 million tons of waste with an annual increase of 5 million tons. The research included four major cities (Almaty, Shymkent, Atyrau and Astana), which were selected not only on the basis of population, but also because the cities were located in different climatic zones. Samples were collected at the city landfills: 10 samples with an average distance of 100 m from each other were collected to provide a maximum coverage of both recently received waste and long-time stored waste. The research showed that neither climatic conditions nor the population size had a significant impact on MSW density, the values of which ranged from 120.1 kg/m³ to 145.4 kg/m³, as this indicator directly depends on the quality of life. The mass of the combustible fraction ranged from 39.41% to 54.62% and was mainly represented by plastic, textile and paper waste. The average value for the four cities was 50.30%. The higher calorific value fell in the range of 24.22–30.49 MJ/kg, with an average value of 26.71 MJ/kg. Microbiological studies showed little difference in average composition regardless of climatic conditions. Thus, no sharp differences in MSW composition, its energy characteristics and microbiological composition were found. The results of this study may be useful for optimising MSW recycling and disposal processes, as well as for developing measures to reduce their negative impact on the environment and human health. Full article

Municipal solid waste (MSW) management is a global concern, especially in low–middle-income countries such as Pakistan, which require the redressal of MSW treatment issues to attain sustainability in the waste sector. The prosperity of municipal solid waste (MSW) collectors, i.e., the sanitary workers, is critical in the waste management hierarchy. Hence, the health, safety, social welfare, economic conditions and overall wellbeing of this tier need to be focused on more. Safeguarding the interests of the sanitary workers will support the MSW management sector in sustainability, which will help to generate revenue and minimize climatic impacts. An innovative MSW business model with waste ownership and technological intervention has excellent potential to support the sector towards a circular economy in Pakistan, the fifth most populous country in the world, generating about 100,000 metric tons of MSW per day. The proposed recycling business model will ensure a daily material recovery of 26,070 tons with 4721 tons of compost manufacturing in the country, which ultimately helps towards achieving the sustainable development goals (SDGs) and meeting the targets of nationally determined contributors (NDCs) by 2030. In addition, the sector’s economic potential can contribute 5.5% to the total annual budget and possibly pay 1.4% of the gross domestic product (GDP) per annum to service national foreign debt, thus helping maintain the debt threshold value with an opportunity to accelerate the economic growth of Pakistan. Full article

Environmentally sustainable methods of waste disposal are a strategic priority. For organic waste management and innovative biological treatments present advantageous opportunities, although organic waste treatment also includes environmental drawbacks, such as bioaerosol production. This study aims to evaluate bioaerosol spread during an innovative experimental treatment. The process consists of two anaerobic steps: acidogenesis, which includes polyhydroxyalkanoate accumulation, followed by methanogenesis. Bioaerosol, PM10, and endotoxin concentrations were measured at three sampling points during different campaigns to evaluate: (1) the background levels, (2) the contamination produced in the pre-treatment stage, and (3) the residual contamination of the outgoing digested sludge. Environmental PM10 seemed to be generally quite contained, while the endotoxin determination was close to 90 EU/m³. Significant microbial concentrations were detected during the loading of the organic fraction of municipal solid waste (fungi > 1300 CFU/m³, Bacillus genus (≈10³ CFU/m³), higher Clostridium spp. and opportunistic human pathogens such as Pseudomonas aeruginosa and Klebsiella pneumoniae), suggesting a significant contamination level. Such results are useful for hazard identification in the risk assessment of innovative processes, as they reveal contaminants potentially harmful to both workers’ health and the environment. Full article

The recently finalized research project “ZRR for municipal waste” aimed at testing and evaluating the automation of municipal waste sorting plants by supplementing or replacing manual sorting, with sorting by a robot with artificial intelligence (ZRR). The objectives were to increase the current recycling rates and the purity of the recovered materials; to collect additional materials from the current rejected flows; and to improve the working conditions of the workers, who could then concentrate on, among other things, the maintenance of the robots. Based on the empirical results of the project, this paper presents the main results of the training and operation of the robotic sorting system based on artificial intelligence, which, to our knowledge, is the first attempt at an application for the separation of bulky municipal solid waste (MSW) and an installation in a full-scale waste treatment plant. The key questions for the research project included (a) the design of test protocols to assess the quality of the sorting process and (b) the evaluation of the performance quality in the first six months of the training of the underlying artificial intelligence and its database. Full article

This research focused on the contents of the five most bio-toxic heavy metals, As, Cd, Hg, Cr, and Pb of 26 municipal solid waste (MSW) samples from the Eastern Guangdong Area. To investigate the apportion of the heavy metal source, Pearson correlation and principal component analysis (PCA) were introduced as major approaches. The health risks posed to MSW workers exposed to heavy metals in MSW were assessed using a Monte Carlo simulation combined with the US Environmental Protection Agency Health Risk Assessment Model. The As, Cd, Hg, Cr, and Pb contents of the east Guangdong MSW were (0.76 ± 0.75), (2.14 ± 4.44), (0.11 ± 0.14), (55.42 ± 31.88), and (30.67 ± 20.58) mg/kg, respectively. Hg, Cr, and Pb were potentially derived from glass, textile, food waste, and white plastic, while As and Cd were mainly derived from soil and food waste in the MSW. The non-carcinogenic risks of heavy metal in MSW exposure to MSW workers could be ignored. However, the heavy metals in MSW might pose carcinogenic risks, with the probabilities for male and female workers being 35% and 45%, respectively. The non-carcinogenic and carcinogenic risk indices were slightly higher for female workers under the same exposure situations. Full article

Waste collectors have a theoretical risk of Hepatitis A virus infection. The aim of the study was to assess the prevalence and risk factors of hepatitis A virus infection (HAV) among municipal solid waste workers (MSWWs) in a municipality of central Greece. A seroprevalence study of HAV was conducted among 208 employees (100 waste collectors and 108 municipal gardeners) of a municipality in central Greece. Total antibodies against HAV were measured and information regarding potential risk factors was collected through a face to face interview. The prevalence of HAV infection among the municipal waste collectors was 61% vs. 27% among municipal gardeners. Logistic regression analysis showed that exposure to waste (OR = 2.87; 95% CI = 1.24–6.62) and age (OR = 22.57; 95% CI = 7.29–69.88) were independently associated with the anti-HAV positivity. Moreover, waste collectors who reported smoking/drinking/eating during waste collection were at higher risk of HAV infection (RR = 2.84; 95% CI = 1.73–4.63). Stratified analysis among municipal waste collectors indicated an independent association between eating/smoking/ drinking during waste collection and anti-HAV (+) (OR = 3.85; 95% CI = 1.34–11.06). Occupational exposure to waste is a potential risk factor for HAV infection. Smoking/eating/drinking during waste collection could be the mode of hepatitis A virus transmission among municipal waste collectors. Full article

The state of the art on Municipal Solid Waste (MSW) management is based on the domestic separation of materials produced. After domestic separation, the resident has to transfer the separated materials to the MSW manager through the hands of collection workers. It is exactly at this stage that an end-use product changes its status and property becomes waste. This paper analyzes and compares the opinions and awareness of citizens and kerbside collection workers on this subject by means of two structured questionnaires in the city of Mercato San Severino (about 22,000 people), in Southern Italy. Full article