Design of an Intelligent Garbage Container that Allows to Monitor the Waste for its Proper Collection

The increase in garbage production today is due to the exponential growth of the population worldwide, due to the fact that thousands of tons of garbage are generated daily around the world, but the mismanagement that gives them has become an environmental problem since 33% of all the garbage generated is not recycled, for that reason it is estimated that within the next three decades the amount of waste worldwide will increase to 70%. That is why in the present research work it is proposed to make an intelligent system based on the Internet of Things (IoT) that allows monitoring the garbage containers in real time representing with percentages the state of these containers and these can be collected in time by garbage trucks, and thus avoid the increase of garbage in the streets and the various types of problems that these would cause. As a result, it was obtained that the System does comply with the established conditions because it allows to monitor in real time representing by percentages the state of the garbage container, which indicates 40% as almost full and 80% indicates that it is already available for collection. Finally, it is concluded that using the Garbage Container Monitoring System will allow to better optimize the collection process and, in addition, the problems that are usually perceived today due to the amount of garbage that are registered in the streets will decrease. Keywords-- Internet of Things; Intelligent system; Real time; Environmental Problem; Monitoror; Percentage.

Preliminary Investigation of Microplastics in Sediments from Industrial Manufacturing Waste Sources

Microplastics (particles with a size of less than 5 mm) are a rising environmental problem. Microplastics can disseminate in the air and accumulate in sediments as well as in microorganisms and humans, due to their small size. Sediment is considered to be the major repository of microplastics, particularly those of the PE type. Microplastics in massive amounts accumulated in sediments, perhaps as a result of point sources or diffuse contamination. Microplastic contamination can spread from industrial production facilities, urban areas, agricultural areas, or the air. The current study was carried out to explore the occurrence of MPs in sediments at discharge sources by evaluating 27 sediment samples taken from 9 distinct waste sources from industrial activity locations to determine the amount of microplastic contamination in sediments at discharge sources. Microplastics with relatively high density were found in all sediment samples in this research, ranging from 2,900 to 238,200 particles/kg dw. The most prevalent microplastics detected in sediment samples at these sites were fibers and fragments, accounting for 59-94% and 6-41%, respectively. Fiber microplastics ranged in size from 1000 to 9,000 µm, whereas fragment microplastics ranged from 200,000 to 2,100,000 µm2. Microplastics with < 1000 µm and 1000-2000 µm sizes accounted for a significant portion of the total, reaching 21.05-37.84% and 39.74-61.17%, respectively. The hue of microplastic particles in sediment samples obtained was highly varied.

Recent Developments in Advanced Oxidation Processes for Organics-Polluted Soil Reclamation

Soil pollution has become a substantial environmental problem which is amplified by overpopulation in different regions. In this review, the state of the art regarding the use of Advanced Oxidation Processes (AOPs) for soil remediation is presented. This review aims to provide an outline of recent technologies developed for the decontamination of polluted soils by using AOPs. Depending on the decontamination process, these techniques have been presented in three categories: the Fenton process, sulfate radicals process, and coupled processes. The review presents the achievements of, and includes some reflections on, the status of these emerging technologies, the mechanisms, and influential factors. At the present, more investigation and development actions are still desirable to bring them to real full-scale implementation.

A Recycling Alternative for Expanded Polystyrene Residues Using Natural Esters

The objective of this research is to provide a new recycling method for one of the most consumed plastics today, since it is used for the manufacture of a wide variety of industrial products, which leads to an environmental problem caused by incorrect handling and final disposal.The dissolution of expanded polystyrene waste (WEP) was evaluated by using natural esters for its post treatment and recovery. The use of omega-3 as a natural solvent creates an opportunity to take advantage of natural biomass, since it can be obtained from the residues from the fishing activity, this being an economic advantage for obtaining raw material and also friendly with the environment.For the development of this research, expanded polystyrene containers were used, as well as omega-3 and glyceryl tributyrate as natural solvents and ethyl butyrate as synthetic solvent, methanol and isopropanol for recovery and cleaning of the polystyrene. The characterization of the recovered material was carried out with thermogravimetric analysis (TGA), differential scanning calorimetry (DSC), scanning electron microscopy (SEM) and infrared spectroscopy (FTIR) techniques. The experimental data obtained indicated that the use of these esters is a good alternative for the recycling of expanded polystyrene.

A Measurement Tool for the Assessment of Farmers’ Perception about Impact of Changing Climate on Agriculture in India

Changing climate is a serious environmental problem affecting agricultural productivity at global level. It is important to study the perceptions of farmers’ towards changing climate and its impact on agriculture as it is one of the strong interpreters of changing farmers’ behaviour to mitigate climate change and adopt adequate and appropriate measures to ensure agricultural production. For the construction of the scale to measure the farmers’ perception, summating rating method suggested by Likart (1932) was followed. Based on review of literature 79 statements were enlisted initially and 21 statements were finalized for the final construction of the scale. The reliability and validity of the scale was calculated to find out the precision and consistency of the results. This scale will be helpful for interested policy makers, academicians and researchers who willing to study the farmers’ perceptions about climate change and its impact on agriculture.

Toxicity of environmentally important micropollutants on three trophic levels

Micropollution is a serious environmental problem caused by continuous entry of trace quantities of toxic chemical substances into the aquatic environment. In the present study, three trophic levels of the aquatic ecosystems were used to evaluate the acute toxicities of environmentally important micropollutants including heavy metals, pesticides and drugs. There is a scarcity of information on toxicity of the studied substances on marine water algae. Among studied micropollutants, the most toxic chemical to Daphnia magna and Danio rerio was found to be 1-Chloro-2,4 dinitrobenzene with EC50 of 0.002 and 4.2 mg/L, respectively. Although this compound was also toxic to marine algae, Phaeodactylum tricornutum, arsenic showed the highest toxicity to the algae with EC50 of 2.4 mg/L. As compared to other organisms, D. magna was found to have higher sensitivity to all of the tested micropollutants.

The Use of Carbon Finance for Struggling With Climate Change

The developments in science and technology have brought a lot of problems with them. The most important of these is climate change, which appears at the global level. The effect of climate change, which comes first as an environmental problem, cannot be ignored. Management, which has had serious income and economic losses because of weather conditions, has taken several precautions in order to reduce climate change risks. One of these is weather derivations. Weather derivations are a safety type that makes the determined payments if there are defined weather events. However, the most commonly used are weather option agreements, weather swap agreements, and weather future agreements. In the chapter, climate change and the weather derivations that are a means that managements use to avoid climate change risks will be explained.

Determination of the radon concentration in homes depending on the insulation used for the floor

A current environmental problem is the presence of radon inside the house. Radon (222Rn) is a noble, colourless and odourless gas that comes from radioactive elements naturally present in rocks and soil. Being gas, it is released from the ground with a tendency to concentrate in closed spaces such as caves, mines, cellars but also in any rooms in the basement, ground floor or with poor ventilation. Due to the differences between the temperature inside and the soil, the radon in the soil will move naturally to the interior of the houses, concentrating in closed rooms. The accumulation of radon inside buildings is a consequence of technological progress. Insulation work, tightly closed windows, poor ventilation of rooms lead to unobservable increase in radon concentration inside. In this paper we aim to present the values of the concentration of radon accumulated inside a house depending on the way of insulating the floor.

ANÁLISE DA EVOLUÇÃO DO USO E OCUPAÇÃO DAS TERRAS NO ARRONDISSEMENT DE ARCAHAIE-HAITI (1987, 1997 E 2018)

Atualmente, utiliza-se os recursos da natureza de forma exploratória, sem a projeção dos impactos que essa atitude pode ocasionar, gerando problemas de caráter social e/ou ambiental, podendo apresentar seus efeitos rapidamente ou em grande escala de tempo. No Haiti, constata-se que a região possui incapacidade de enfrentar qualquer problema de caráter ambiental, essa situação está relacionada diretamente com as atividades antrópicas. Nesse sentido, a presente pesquisa teve como objetivo analisar a evolução temporal do uso e ocupação da terra do Arrondissement de Arcahaie, localizada a Oeste do Haiti. O Arrondissement é uma divisão administrativa do território haitiano que é composta por vários municípios. O método utilizado foi uma fotointerpretação sobre o recorte das Imagens Landsat 5 e Landsat 8, referente a área de estudo. Para o mapeamento foi utilizada a classificação supervisionada. As classes de uso e ocupação definidas foram: pastagem, cobertura vegetal, solo exposto, área cultivada, área urbana, mata natural. Os resultados mais significativos mostram mudanças na dinâmica de uso e ocupação da terra no Arrondissement de Arcahaie, durante 31 anos e consequentemente, podendo causar danos, muitas vezes, irreversíveis ao meio ambiente e comprometer a qualidade de vida da população. EVOLUTION ANALYSIS OF THE LAND USE AND OCCUPATION IN ARRONDISSEMENT OF ARCAHAIE-HAITI (1987, 1997 AND 2018)A B S T R A C TCurrently, the nature resources are used in an exploratory way, without the projection of the impacts that this attitude can cause, generating social and / or environmental problems, can present their effects quickly or in a large scale of time. In Haiti, it appears that their inability to face any environmental problem is directly related to anthropic activities. In this sense, the present research had as main objective to analyze the temporal evolution of the use and occupation of the land of the Arrondissement of Arcahaie, located to the West of Haiti. The Arrondissement is an administrative division of Haitian territory that decomposes several municipalities. The method used was a photointerpretation on the clipping of the Landsat 5 and Landsat 8 images, referring to the study area. Supervised classification was used for the mapping. The classes of use and occupation defined were pasture, vegetation cover, exposed soil, cultivated area, urban area, natural forest. The most significant results show changes in the dynamics of use and occupation in the Arrondissement of Arcahaie during the last 31 years and, consequently, can cause damage, often irreversible to the environment and compromise the quality of life of the population.Key words: Environmental impacts, Natural resources, Arrondissement of Arcahaie

Effect of Remediation Reagents on Bacterial Composition and Ecological Function in Black-Odorous Water Sediments

Black-odorous urban water bodies and sediments pose a serious environmental problem. Herein, we conducted microcosm batch experiments to investigate the effect of remediation reagents (magnesium hydroxide and calcium nitrate) on native bacterial communities and their ecological functions in the black-odorous sediment of urban water. The dominant phyla (Proteobacteria, Actinobacteria, Chloroflexi, and Planctomycetes) and classes (Alpha-, Beta-, and Gamma-proteobacteria, Actinobacteria, Anaerolineae, and Planctomycetia) were determined under calcium nitrate and magnesium hydroxide treatments. Functional groups related to aerobic metabolism, including aerobic chemoheterotrophy, dark sulfide oxidation, and correlated dominant genera (Thiobacillus, Lysobacter, Gp16, and Gaiella) became more abundant under calcium nitrate treatment, whereas functional genes potentially involved in dissimilatory sulfate reduction became less abundant. The relative abundance of chloroplasts, fermentation, and correlated genera (Desulfomonile and unclassified Cyanobacteria) decreased under magnesium hydroxide treatment. These results indicated that calcium nitrate addition improved hypoxia-related reducing conditions in the sediment and promoted aerobic chemoheterotrophy.