The Role of Secondary Resource Market in the Development of the Extended Producer Responsibility Mechanism in Russia

The paper is aimed at the evaluation of current state of secondary resource market in Russia and the determination of factors of their influence on the extended producer responsibility (EPR). Research objectives include scientific justification of directions for the improvement of solid waste management handling process in the Russian regions in order to provide the support for manufactories and importers performing the extended producer responsibility activities. GAP-analysis was used as a method of obtaining the systematic results on the basis of the information received about the current state of the Russian secondary resource market according to various criteria, including the product quality, processing methods, communication between producers and consumers, and state regulations. Research is executed on the grounds of collaborative use of positivistic and phenomenological approaches, where the findings are based on the comparison of experts’ opinions on the factors influencing the development of EPR mechanism, and statistics of the financial performance of main players of the Russian secondary resource market. As a scientific novelty, it is proposed to use the development of secondary resource market for enhancing of EPR mechanism in Russia. The study reveals that successful functioning of the extended producer responsibility mechanism depends not only on business representatives involved in the production of goods and packaging, but also on consumers and on the state authorities.

Effectiveness of integrated management of secondary resource flows in the construction industry

Problem statement.The solution to the problem of the integrated use of secondary construction resources should be considered in the context of the spread of the world practice of using, processing and reclaiming all valuable waste as secondary resources. This is due to profound changes in the world economy associated with limited natural resources, threats to environmental and social security, an increase in the amount of waste and man-made landfills.The process of managing the flows of secondary resources should be aimed at achieving economic and environmental effects, the definition of which has certain characteristics for various stakeholders in this process: (producers of building materials (waste recyclers), developers (construction companies and organizations), the construction industry (at the regional level, countries).The application of world experience in the use of secondary resources in the construction industry can become the basis for the development of infrastructure for obtaining secondary raw materials from construction waste and attracting them into re-circulation, which will make it possible to more effectively implement the National Waste Management Strategy until 2030, adopted by the Government of Ukraine.The goal of the strategy is to introduce a systematic approach to waste management at the state and regional levels, to reduce the volume of waste generation by increasing the volume of their processing and reuse. Purpose of the article: substantiate the effectiveness of the use of tools for integrated management of secondary resource flows in the construction industry and propose an economic and mathematical model for optimal management of construction waste flows at the level of individual enterprises of the industry in the region. Conclusion. The toolkit for managing waste streams in the construction industry includes information (including statistical, monitoring), analytical, predictive tools for managing the flows of secondary resources. We consider the creation of a unified system of integrated management of the flows of secondary resources (materials) as a condition for decision-making and the effectiveness of the overall management of waste streams in the construction industry, the main goal of which is to achieve a cumulative economic effect from attracting construction waste to a repeated production cycle.The effectiveness of the use of tools for complex management of the flows of secondary resources in the construction industry has been substantiated and a method is proposed for its determination, on the basis of a mathematical model for solving the problem of optimal management of flows of construction waste at the level of enterprises are waste producers, enterprises-processors (producers of building materials from secondary raw materials), the construction industry of the region. Keywords: building sector; integrated management; secondary resource streams; economic efficiency;performance criteria; management tools

Editorial for Special Issue “Applications of SEM Automated Mineralogy: From Ore Deposits over Processing to Secondary Resource Characterization”

Matter is particulate [...]

Artificial consortium demonstrates emergent properties of enhanced cellulosic-sugar degradation and biofuel synthesis

Planktonic cultures, of a rationally designed consortium, demonstrated emergent properties that exceeded the sums of monoculture properties, including a >200% increase in cellobiose catabolism, a >100% increase in glycerol catabolism, a >800% increase in ethanol production, and a >120% increase in biomass productivity. The consortium was designed to have a primary and secondary-resource specialist that used crossfeeding with a positive feedback mechanism, division of labor, and nutrient and energy transfer via necromass catabolism. The primary resource specialist was Clostridium phytofermentans (a.k.a. Lachnoclostridium phytofermentans), a cellulolytic, obligate anaerobe. The secondary-resource specialist was Escherichia coli, a versatile, facultative anaerobe, which can ferment glycerol and byproducts of cellobiose catabolism. The consortium also demonstrated emergent properties of enhanced biomass accumulation when grown as biofilms, which created high cell density communities with gradients of species along the vertical axis. Consortium biofilms were robust to oxic perturbations with E. coli consuming O2, creating an anoxic environment for C. phytofermentans. Anoxic/oxic cycling further enhanced biomass productivity of the biofilm consortium, increasing biomass accumulation ~250% over the sum of the monoculture biofilms. Consortium emergent properties were credited to several synergistic mechanisms. E. coli consumed inhibitory byproducts from cellobiose catabolism, driving higher C. phytofermentans growth and higher cellulolytic enzyme production, which in turn provided more substrate for E. coli. E. coli necromass enhanced C. phytofermentans growth while C. phytofermentans necromass aided E. coli growth via the release of peptides and amino acids, respectively. In aggregate, temporal cycling of necromass constituents increased flux of cellulose-derived resources through the consortium. The study establishes a consortia-based, bioprocessing strategy built on naturally occurring interactions for improved conversion of cellulose-derived sugars into bioproducts.