The Secret Life of Waste: Recycling Dreams of Migration

This essay opens up a new perspective on migration through the lens of waste, tracing the effects of war, border securitization, and global capitalism on a local scale. The analysis of Afganistanbul (2018), a short documentary produced by a team at Kadir Has University in Istanbul where the book in hand originated, captures the predicament of undocumented waste workers in the city who lack the means to continue their journey to Europe or return to their homeland, while resources and revenue in the global recycling business circulate freely. Following the film in its close-up on a specific site of life and labour, this essay teases out competing aspirations among local and migrant city dwellers, arguing that representations of migrant experiences are prone to the temptation of poverty porn and calling on spectators to consider their own implication in interlocking systems of inequity.

Recovery of base and precious metals from PCBs (Printed Circuit Boards) in waste electrical and electronic equipment (WEEE)

Natural minerals are a powerful tool in politics when some have a major role in production. Its depletion is now a hot topic worldwide. Thus, the safety of the environment, natural surface water, groundwater and the protection of soils from chronic contamination by metallic and inorganic elements is a global concern. Indeed, industrialization and development have led to the generation of huge and varied amounts of waste, including electronic waste (e-waste), which is released into the environment. Although e-waste is classified as hazardous, most of it is not recycled and developed countries with strict environmental protection legislation send most of their e-waste to developing countries where regulations are lax. These electronic devices and components after being used are simply dumped into the environment due to lack of treatment and recycling strategy. As a result, they become a threat to the environment, ecosystems and humans. African countries are among the most vulnerable nations. But they are unfortunately ignored and underestimated. To date, there is no e-waste recycling unit (factory) in most African countries and mainly in the Republic of Benin. In response to this challenge, this study explored the different techniques used for the recycling of waste electrical/electronic equipment in order to develop a new environmentally friendly approach in future work, for the extraction and recycling of the usual and valuable metallic elements contained in electronic waste (printed circuit boards) released into the environment. For this purpose, a bibliographic research was carried out from 20 April to 16 October 2021. The results obtained allowed us to identify the advantages and disadvantages of existing recycling methods.

Farm to Institution to Farm: Circular Food Systems With Native Entomoculture

Edible insects recycle food waste, which can help feed a hungrier planet by making food systems more circular and diversifying protein production. The potential for entomophagy (i.e., insect cuisine) to contribute to waste recycling and lower input food production is only beginning to be explored in the U.S., although insects have been consumed by people for millennia in a wide range of cultures. In this perspective piece, we consider as a case study the potential for university foodservice programs in New England to serve as incubators for circular entomophagous food systems. Students are likely early adopters of entomophagy because they increasingly demand sustainable non-meat protein options. University foodservices meanwhile purchase large amounts of food wholesale from local producers, utilize standardized pre-processing, and generate consistent waste streams which may be valuable feed for local insect farmers. Current Farm to Institution approaches strengthen regional food systems by connecting small farmers with university foodservices; we argue that a similar model (Farm to Institution to Farm) could support establishment of local insect farms, introduce edible insects to a relatively receptive base of university student customers, and provide a more sustainable mechanism for repurposing university food waste as insect feed. But to enable this type of food system, additional requirements include: (1) research on domestication of native insect species; (2) investment in processing capacity, ensuring new insect farmers have reliable markets for raw insect products; (3) infrastructure to recirculate waste streams within existing food systems; and (4) creation of recipes that entice new insect consumers.

Nitrogen Acquisition Strategies Mediated by Insect Symbionts: A Review of Their Mechanisms, Methodologies, and Case Studies

Nitrogen is usually a restrictive nutrient that affects the growth and development of insects, especially of those living in low nitrogen nutrient niches. In response to the low nitrogen stress, insects have gradually developed symbiont-based stress response strategies—biological nitrogen fixation and nitrogenous waste recycling—to optimize dietary nitrogen intake. Based on the above two patterns, atmospheric nitrogen or nitrogenous waste (e.g., uric acid, urea) is converted into ammonia, which in turn is incorporated into the organism via the glutamine synthetase and glutamate synthase pathways. This review summarized the reaction mechanisms, conventional research methods and the various applications of biological nitrogen fixation and nitrogenous waste recycling strategies. Further, we compared the bio-reaction characteristics and conditions of two strategies, then proposed a model for nitrogen provisioning based on different strategies.

The Health and Environmental Impact of Plastic Waste Disposal in South African Townships: A Review

Twenty-first century human behaviour continues to escalate activities that result in environmental damage. This calls for environmentally friendly solutions, such as waste recycling and handling, to deal with the increased amount of waste, especially plastics. The plastic materials manufacturing sector is booming, particularly packaging; while only a fraction of its waste is recycled, another fraction is destroyed, and the larger part continues to pollute the environment. In addition to other waste disposal activities, destroying plastic or incineration (which could be for energy recovery) is usually subjected to strict legal requirements because of its effect on the environment. However plastic is destroyed or disposed of, it poses a serious challenge in both the short term and the long term to humans and their natural environment if the process is not efficiently managed. This article describes how a growing amount of plastic waste is disposed of haphazardly in South African townships, while most of the inhabitants are not aware or do not care about the adverse environmental and health effects of these actions. This article examines the environmental and health effects of poor plastic disposal in South African townships as it is in other developing countries to sensitise the citizens to the significance of reducing plastic waste quantities, which will downplay their impact on human health and the environment.

Effects of Artificial Sweat Formulation and Extraction Temperature on Estimation of the Dermal Bioaccessibility of Potentially Toxic Elements in a Contaminated Soil from an E-Waste Recycling Site

Informal recycling of electronic waste leads to soil contamination that can impact human health. To accurately assess exposure to potentially toxic elements (PTE) in soil it is necessary to consider their bioavailability through ingestion, inhalation and dermal contact. However, bioaccessibility tests that estimate dermal absorption following adhesion of contaminated soil particles to skin are not well established. In this study the concentrations of As, Cd, Cr, Cu, Fe, Mn, Ni, Pb and Zn were estimated in the <45 µm particle size fraction of a bulk composite soil from an e-waste recycling site using five different artificial sweat formulations. Extractions were performed at temperatures ranging from 17 to 47 °C to investigate the effect of ambient temperature on bioaccessibility. Results obtained using the different artificial sweats were not consistent with one another. In particular, the NIHS 96-10 formulation solubilized larger amounts of analytes (ranging from 6.3 times the next most effective extractant for Cu to 1700 times the next most effective for Pb). There was a general increase in release of PTE with increasing temperature, except for As. Although trends varied between analytes and formulations, this highlights the need to consider ambient temperature when estimating dermal bioaccessibility of PTE in soil.

A Review on Global E-Waste Management: Urban Mining towards a Sustainable Future and Circular Economy

The trending need for smarter electrical and electronic equipment (EEE) is surging globally by the year and is giving rise to huge amounts of outdated EEE going into landfills. This has caused enormous threats to our environment and the health of living beings due to its unsustainable ways of collection, treatment and disposal of waste EEE or E-waste. With increasing E-waste, the formal sectors lack infrastructure, technology and expertise required to collect and process the E-waste in an environmentally sound manner. This article is intended to bring out the global best practices in the field of E-waste management, to shed light on the importance of policy implementation, technology requirement and social awareness to arrive at a sustainable and circular economy. Although about 71% of the world’s populace has incorporated E-waste legislation, there is a need to enforce and implement a common legal framework across the globe. The article explains the gap created among the stakeholders and their knowledge on the roles and responsibilities towards a legalized E-waste management. It further explains the lack of awareness on extended producer responsibility (EPR) and producer responsibility schemes. Despite various legislations in force, numerous illegal practices such as acid leaching, open incineration, illegal dumping carried out by the informal sector are causing harm to the environment, natural resources and the safety of unorganized and unskilled labor. The article discusses the crucial need for awareness amongst stakeholders, consumer behavior and the global challenges and opportunities in this field to achieve a low-carbon, circular economy. To conclude, the article highlights the importance of common legal framework, EPR and licenses, transformation of the informal sector, benchmark technologies, responsibilities of various stakeholders and entrepreneurial opportunities to enhance the formal capacity. The article wholly advocates for transparency, accountability and traceability in the E-waste recycling chain, thus creating a greener environment and protecting our planet and natural resources for future generations.