Reclamation of Abrasive Slurry to Obtain SiC Ceramic Material

In the period of silicon and silicon carbide wafer slicing process, the abrasive oil, silicon carbide (SiC), silicon and trace elements e.g., iron, zinc, copper, and nickel is generated as an oily mixture of insoluble matter. The SiC is the main component (>70%) in the abrasive slurry and the extraction of SiC from the slurry can eliminate the risk of illegal waste disposal and reduce the cost for the enterprises. In this study, a chemical separation process is applied to remove silicon particles and SiC can be extracted from the slurry mixtures. The X-ray diffraction analysis revealed that recycled material is moissanite with two crystalline polymorphs. The 3C and 6H X-ray powder pattern is observed and the cubic and hexagonal crystalline structure is revealed. The particle size distribution analysis showed that median value of purified SiC powder material is 9.8 μm.

Multi-criteria decision making for determining landfill location in Malaka Regency, East Nusa Tenggara Province of Indonesia

The absence of a landfill has increased the illegal waste disposal sites in Malaka Regency, which was established between 2013 and 2021. Therefore, this study aimed to analyze suitable and available land for the development of a landfill. The methodology used consisted of 2 analysis steps, namely land suitability and land availability. Land suitability was analyzed using a multi-criteria decision-making method, which included the slope, stone type/geology, lithology, soil type, soil texture, soil depth, soil drainage, distance from settlements, and water sources. The criteria were then weighted using the Analytical Hierarchy Process (AHP) and geographic information system for overlaying. Furthermore, the results of the land suitability analysis were used to determine its availability with the aid of spatial and regional planning (RTRW), land use, and forest area maps. The results showed that the highly suitable (S1) and available terrain for the landfill in Malaka Regency covered an area of 203.37 ha or 1.73% of the regency. Also, the analysis results indicated that there was still adequate land available for the landfill.

Scenario of Municipal Waste Management in Malaysia

Malaysia has rapidly modernized, with most of the population now residing in cities and the remainder in rural or remote areas. The amount of municipal solid waste generated has increased in tandem with the country's rapid urbanization in response to that statement. Due to a lack of connectivity in rural areas, there may be insufficient infrastructure for a proper waste management system. As a result, illegal waste dumping was common, and landfills' massive volumes of waste may contribute to greenhouse gas emissions. The Malaysian government has responded by taking the necessary steps to upgrade the country's current waste management system in order to better manage municipal solid waste disposal. This research looks at how energy recovery from accumulated waste can be used as a renewable energy source, as well as the current issues, challenges, and proposed solutions. Methane gas produced as a byproduct of waste decomposition in landfills or disposal sites was used to generate electricity more efficiently and sustainably, resulting in a positive economic and environmental outcome.

Sources, spatial distribution, and abundance of marine debris on Thondi coast, Palk Bay, Southeast coast of India

Background The Thondi coast is rich in valuable natural marine resources and socio-economically significant activities like agriculture, aquaculture, and fishing. The area receives an excess of untreated solid and liquid waste as a result of these activities. The study focuses on the abundance, distribution, and status of the Clean-Coast Index (CCI) of marine debris from the Thondi coast, Palk Bay, Southeast coast of India. This is the first research work focused on assessing the type and quantity of marine debris on the Thondi coast. Results A total of 1636 marine debris items/m2 and their 4.09 concentration of the items/m2 were determined in the marine debris: plastics (77.49%), cotton swabs (8.62%), cigarette butts (10.15%), and food containers (3.73%). From the result, the CCI had ranged between 4.25 (clean) and 20.4 (extremely dirty) with a mean of 8.92 (moderate) in the Thondi coast assessed. Conclusion This study was conducted for the first time in this region. Finally, the high CCI value of 20.4 on the coast indicated that the marine debris pollution levels were high at the time of sampling in the middle part of the Thondi coast (most of the beaches are covered with plastic) due to land-based marine debris (62.45%), sea-originated marine debris (21.14%), and unknown sources (16.41%) of the items. Our findings served as a baseline for potential evaluations of the marine environment. Input prevention should be the goal of management efforts, including proper waste management, plastic recycling, and stringent penalties for illegal waste dumping.

Learning to Identify Illegal Landfills through Scene Classification in Aerial Images

Illegal landfills are uncontrolled disposals of waste that cause severe environmental and health risk. Discovering them as early as possible is of prominent importance for preventing hazards, such as fire pollution and leakage. Before the digital era, the only means to detect illegal waste dumps was the on site inspection of potentially suspicious sites, a procedure extremely costly and impossible to scale to a vast territory. With the advent of Earth observation technology, scanning the territory via aerial images has become possible. However, manual image interpretation remains a complex and time-consuming task that requires expert skill. Photo interpretation can be partially automated by embedding the expert knowledge within a data driven classifier trained with samples provided by human annotators. In this paper, the detection of illegal landfills is formulated as a multi-scale scene classification problem. Scene elements positioning and spatial relations constitute hints of the presence of illegal waste dumps. A dataset of ≈3000 images (20 cm resolution per pixel) was created with the help of expert photo interpreters. A combination of ResNet50 and Feature Pyramid Network (FPN) elements accounting for different object scales achieves 88% precision with an 87% of recall in a test area. The results proved the feasibility of applying convolutional neural networks for scene classification in this scenario to optimize the process of waste dumps detection.

Prediction and Remediation of Groundwater Pollution in a Dynamic and Complex Hydrologic Environment of an Illegal Waste Dumping Site

The characteristics of groundwater pollution caused by illegal waste dumping and methods for predicting and remediating it are still poorly understood. Serious 1,4-dioxane groundwater pollution—which has multiple sources—has been occurring at an illegal waste dumping site in the Tohoku region of Japan. So far, anti-pollution countermeasures have been taken including the installation of an impermeable wall and the excavation of soils and waste as well as the monitoring of contamination concentrations. The objective of this numerical study was to clarify the possibility of predicting pollutant transport in such dynamic and complex hydrologic environments, and to investigate the characteristics of pollutant transport under both naturally occurring and artificially induced groundwater flow (i.e., pumping for remediation). We first tried to reproduce the changes in 1,4-dioxane concentrations in groundwater observed in monitoring wells using a quasi-3D flow and transport simulation considering the multiple sources and spatiotemporal changes in hydrologic conditions. Consequently, we were able to reproduce the long-term trends of concentration changes in each monitoring well. With the predicted pollutant distribution, we conducted simulations for remediation such as pollutant removal using pumping wells. The results of the prediction and remediation simulations revealed the highly complex nature of 1,4-dioxane transport in the dumping site under both naturally occurring and artificially induced groundwater flows. The present study suggests possibilities for the prediction and remediation of pollution at illegal waste dumping sites, but further extensive studies are encouraged for better prediction and remediation.

Illegal Waste Dumping under a Municipal Solid Waste Charging Scheme: Application of the Neutralization Theory

Illegal waste dumping has become a threat to human health and the global environment. In Hong Kong, the government has proposed a quantity-based municipal solid waste charging scheme to reduce waste. However, individuals may still dispose of waste improperly, even if such a scheme has been implemented. In this study, the neutralization theory was adopted and an online survey with 273 respondents was conducted to examine the reasons for improper dumping intentions. A principal component analysis identified two types of neutralization: intrinsic neutralization (including denial of responsibility, denial of injury, and defense of necessity) and extrinsic neutralization (including condemnation of the condemners and appeal to higher loyalties). A regression analysis showed that intrinsic neutralization and gender were significant factors for illegal waste dumping intentions when attitude toward illegal waste dumping was controlled.

Poland will boost penalties for illegal waste imports

Headline POLAND: Crackdown promised on Illegal waste imports

Present tendencies in landscape planning and recognition of the opinion of local citizens on the example of the Tiszazug

A survey based on online and face-to face interviews with 104 persons who live in the Tiszazug in the central part of the Great Hungarian Plain. According to the answers the character of the landscape here would change dramatically by disappearance of oxbow lakes, floodplain forests and vineries. The decreasing population and aging of the citizens result in decreasing intensity of landuse, increasing number of abandoned buildings and the attractiveness of the landscape is spoiled by illegal waste disposals and weedy water banks.