Economies of scale and strategic planning for municipal waste treatment plants in Greece

“Most of the politicians and businessmen who are jumping on the environmental bandwagon clearly do not have the slightest idea what they are getting into. They do not yet understand that we see this as a long and serious fight for a profound change in what this country is all about. They are talking about emission control devices on automobiles; we are talking about bans on automobiles. They are bursting with pride over plans for inadequate municipal waste treatment plants; we are challenging the ethics of a society that, with only seven per cent of the world's population, accounts for more than half of the world's annual consumption of raw materials.”

Download Full-text

Regional Marginal Costs and Cost Savings from Economies of Scale in Municipal Waste Treatment: An Application to the Chesapeake Bay Region

Growth and Change ◽

10.1111/j.1468-2257.1988.tb00479.x ◽

1988 ◽

Vol 19 (4) ◽

pp. 1-13

Author(s):

VIRGINIA D. McCONNELL ◽

JOHN H. CUMBERLAND ◽

PATRICE L. GORDON

Keyword(s):

Chesapeake Bay ◽

Economies Of Scale ◽

Waste Treatment ◽

Cost Savings ◽

Municipal Waste ◽

Marginal Costs

Download Full-text

The Air and Sewage Pollutants from Biological Waste Treatment

Processes ◽

10.3390/pr9020250 ◽

2021 ◽

Vol 9 (2) ◽

pp. 250

Author(s):

Marta Wiśniewska ◽

Mirosław Szyłak-Szydłowski

Keyword(s):

Ad Hoc ◽

Waste Treatment ◽

Treatment Plant ◽

Municipal Waste ◽

Sustainable Urban Development ◽

High Positive Correlation ◽

Positive Correlation ◽

Waste Treatment Plants ◽

The Individual ◽

Biological Waste Treatment

The mechanical-biological waste treatment plants (MBTP), which include the municipal waste biogas plants, have an important role in sustainable urban development. Some plants are equipped with a sewage pre-treatment plant, which is then directed to the sewerage system and the treatment plant. Others, on the other hand, have only a non-drainage tank. The parameters of technological sewage (TS) or processing technology could reduce sewage contamination rates. In addition to the quality of sewage from waste treatment plants, the emission of odours is also an important problem, as evidenced by the results obtained over the sewage pumping station tank. The conducted statistical analysis shows a significant positive correlation between odour concentration (cod) and volatile organic compounds (VOCs). Analysing the individual compounds, a high positive correlation was also found—the strongest being between H2S, NH3 and VOCs. In the case of sewage compounds, the insignificant correlation between P total and other parameters was found. For the rest of the compounds, the highest positive correlation was found between COD and BOD and N-NO2 and N-NH3 as well as COD and N-NO2. The dilution of sewage is only an ad hoc solution to the problem. Further work should be aimed at reducing sewage pollution rates. The obtained results indicate large pollution of technological sewage and a high level of odour and odorants concentration. The novelty and scientific contribution presented in the paper are related to analyses of various factors on technological sewage parameters and odour and odorant emission from TS tank at biogas plant processing municipal waste, which may be an important source of knowledge on the management of TS, its disposal and minimisation of emitted compound emissions.

Download Full-text

The Use of Chemical Sensors to Monitor Odour Emissions at Municipal Waste Biogas Plants

Applied Sciences ◽

10.3390/app11093916 ◽

2021 ◽

Vol 11 (9) ◽

pp. 3916

Author(s):

Marta Wiśniewska ◽

Andrzej Kulig ◽

Krystyna Lelicińska-Serafin

Keyword(s):

Waste Treatment ◽

Well Being ◽

Municipal Waste ◽

Quantitative Composition ◽

Technological Processes ◽

Odour Activity Value ◽

Gas Detector ◽

Biogas Plants ◽

Odour Emissions

Municipal waste treatment plants are an important element of the urban area infrastructure, but also, they are a potential source of odour nuisance. Odour impact from municipal waste processing plants raises social concerns regarding the well-being of employees operating the plants and residents of nearby areas. Chemical methods involve the determination of the quantitative composition of compounds comprising odour. These methods are less costly than olfactometry, and their efficiency is not dependent on human response. The relationship between the concentration of a single odorant and its odour threshold (OT) is determined by the odour activity value (OAV) parameter. The research involved the application of a multi-gas detector, MultiRae Pro. Measurements by means of the device were conducted at three municipal waste biogas plants located in Poland. In this paper we describe the results obtained when using a detector during the technological processes, the unitary procedures conducted at the plants, and the technological regime. The determination of these relationships could be useful in the development of odour nuisance minimization procedures at treatment plants and the adjustment to them. This is of paramount importance from the viewpoint of the safety and hygiene of the employees operating the installations and the comfort of residents in the areas surrounding biogas plants. Monitoring of expressed odorant emissions allows the course of technological processes and conducted unit operations to be controlled.

Download Full-text