1. A waste separation system based on sensor technology and deep learning: a simple approach applied to a case study of plastic packaging wasteRok Pučnik, Monika Dokl, Yee Van Fan, Annamaria Vujanović, Zorka Novak-Pintarič, Kathleen B. Aviso, Raymond R. Tan, Bojan Pahor, Zdravko Kravanja, Lidija Čuček, 2024, original scientific article Keywords: waste management, smart waste bin system, central post-sorting, sensor technology, deep learning, convolutional neural networks Published in DKUM: 23.08.2024; Views: 51; Downloads: 8 Full text (3,64 MB) |
2. Rationalisation of costs in the collection, segregation and transport of municipal wastePaweł Zając, Ivona Bajor, Matevž Obrecht, Stanisław Ejdys, 2023, original scientific article Abstract: The article contains answers to three "why" questions: - why the waste management system still does not bring the expected results, and the Polish state is one of the lowest-ranking in the European score regarding the amount of segregated waste; - why the sale of selected secondary raw materials and their material reuse in production processes do not cover the costs related to waste management; - why it does not bring additional profits. The article is based on research conducted in Wroclaw from 1998 to 2018. There is a cost model that can be adapted to similar cases. The article deals with removing organisational and/or technical reasons causing the stagnation of selective waste collection. Keywords: waste, mixed, sorting, fee, management Published in DKUM: 16.02.2024; Views: 204; Downloads: 20 Full text (698,09 KB) This document has many files! More... |
3. An analysis of the responsibility for zero wasteIvana Tršelič, Daniel Rolph Schneider, Niko Samec, Filip Kokalj, 2019, original scientific article Abstract: European Union Directive 2008/98/EC sets the priority hierarchy of the prevention of waste, re-using waste, recycling waste, waste recovery, and waste disposal. Although every one of us is in daily contact with waste, we do not have the knowledge that can lead us to the sound management of waste from the beginning, before products are identified as waste. Zero waste is a fundamental concept of the sustainable community of the future. It is a phrase frequently used by politicians seeking to upgrade the municipal solid waste management systems in their communities. In this manner, the responsibility of zero waste is given to the waste management process instead of to householders. Householders then equate waste prevention with recycling and the proper waste management of the collectors, public services, or waste management company. In reality, zero waste starts with each one of us at home. Households should aim to reduce consumption and undertake repairs to extend the life span of products. Behaviour change can only start with knowledge. In reality, waste prevention does not include recycling. Recycling leads to a combined reduction of waste brought to landfill and raw material extraction. The present paper evaluates household waste to clarify the facts. It analyses the composition of three streams: municipal solid waste, separately collected packaging waste, and bulky waste in different regions of Slovenia. The research defines waste into five different categories. The first category is waste that can and should be avoided. The second category is waste that can be re-used. Further on, the research expands by researching the market of the third category that defines recyclables, which waste can be recycled; the last two categories are the waste that we are fighting with at the end of the waste management process, either to make it to the waste-to-energy process or to comply with landfill restrictions. At the end of the research, we summarize the situation of household waste in 2018. Our goal is to reduce the quantity of waste, making only waste that can be recycled. If we consider waste prevention to be a fight against waste, we can put our plan in place by taking the first step: getting to know our enemy. Keywords: municipal solid waste, zero waste, recycling, lightweight packaging waste, waste management, material recovery Published in DKUM: 05.12.2023; Views: 397; Downloads: 8 Full text (463,42 KB) This document has many files! More... |
4. Potential of using waste materials in flexible pavement structures identified by optimization design approachPrimož Jelušič, Süleyman Gücek, Bojan Žlender, Cahit Gürer, Rok Varga, Tamara Bračko, Murat V. Taciroğlu, Burak E. Korkmaz, Şule Yarcı, Borut Macuh, 2023, original scientific article Abstract: This paper presents the design of geosynthetic reinforced flexible pavements and their modification by incorporating waste materials into bonded and unbonded layers of the pavement structure. The optimal design of flexible pavements was achieved by minimizing the construction cost of the pavement. The incorporation of waste materials into the pavement structure affects the material properties. Therefore, along with the traffic load, the effects of the material properties of the asphalt concrete, base layer, sub-base layer, and subgrade were analyzed in terms of pavement structure costs and CO2 emissions of materials used in pavement construction. In addition, a comparison was made between pavements with and without geosynthetic reinforcement in terms of design, optimum construction cost, and CO2 emissions. The use of geosynthetics is even more effective in pavement structures that contain waste materials in an unbound layer, both in terms of cost and CO2 emissions. The minimum value of the California Bearing Ratio of the subgrade was determined at which the use of geosynthetic reinforcement for pavement structure with and without the inclusion of waste materials is economically and sustainably justified. The use of geosynthetics could result in a 15% reduction in pavement structure cost and a 9% reduction in CO2 emissions due to the reduced thickness of unbound layers. In addition, reducing the CBR of the unbound layer from 100% to 30% due to the inclusion of waste materials implies a cost increase of up to 13%. While the present study is based on an empirical pavement design method in which pavement thickness is limited by the pavement thickness index, the same minimum thicknesses are obtained in the optimization process regardless of whether the objective function is the minimum construction cost or minimum CO2 emissions. Keywords: pavement design, waste materials, optimization, minimum construction cost, CO2 emissions, geosynthetics, waste management Published in DKUM: 18.09.2023; Views: 644; Downloads: 55 Full text (6,20 MB) This document has many files! More... |
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6. Environmental management & audit 4: Environmental assessment - featured articles : Tempus project Recoaud2016, scientific monograph Abstract: The present scientific monograph, entitled “Environmental management & audit“, is the result of three years’ work on an international project entitled “Environmental management in Russian companies – retraining courses for the sensibilization for and integration of Eco-Audit programs in corporate decision-making (RECOAUD)”. Within its more than 600 pages, the monograph features interesting texts written by 31 authors from the European Union and the Russian Federation, edited by dr. Borut Jereb, Darja Kukovič and dr. Daria Meyr.
The monograph “Environmental management & audit“ is composed of four books: “Scarcity and Introduction of Environmental Management”, “Management Systems”, “Controlling and Stakeholders”, and “Environmental Assessment” (Featured Articles). These four topics reflect the complexity, heterogeneity and multidisciplinary of the project Tempus RECOAUD.
The reader of the monograph gets a comprehensive overview of theoretical perspectives of environmental management and audit in the chosen areas. Furthermore, the monograph also highlights the results of research in the field of environmental management and audit as well as trends and challenges in the development of this field. Providing insight into theoretical and research findings, the monograph will prove useful to both practitioners and researchers in the field of environmental management and audit; it can also be used for study purposes. Keywords: logistics, environment, climate change adaptation, sustainability, reverse logistics, life cycle assessment, environmental impact assessment, waste management, oil industry, gas industry, pollution Published in DKUM: 09.05.2018; Views: 2257; Downloads: 135 Full text (5,51 MB) This document has many files! More... This document is also a collection of 9 documents! |
7. 3D-CO2-modelling for waste management in Styria/AustriaWolfgang Fischer, Danko Simic, 2016, original scientific article Abstract: The paper in hand focuses on a calculation model which had been developed for calculating the CO2 production of a garbage truck during a waste collection tour. The challenge is the integration of not only the distance and loading weight but also the different petrol consumption and therefore CO2 production in regard to the topography of the whole collection tour. Additionally the increase of waste load at each stop during the whole collection tour has to be taken into account for the calculation.
The model has been developed on basis of Excel. In order to get the real data from the collection tours these had been accompanied. There not only the whole tour but also all waste bins and stops for loading the waste had been registered. Both GPS (Global Positioning System) and RFID (Radio-Frequency Identification) had been used. The huge amount of data had to be scrubbed. This process of amending or removing data in a database that is incorrect, incomplete, improperly formatted, or duplicated was an important step to have reliable data for further calculation processes.
The identification of the CO2 production during a waste collection tour including the topography and continuous revenue load had not been done so far and allows the identification of tour segments with lower but mainly higher or very high ecological impact. However, this is the basis for further discussions about options for optimizing the actual tours and habits of waste collection. That approach is part of a more comprehensive investigation of waste collection tours with general focus on economic, ecologic and social potentials for optimization. Keywords: waste management, CO2 production of trucks, Styria, Austria Published in DKUM: 17.04.2018; Views: 1321; Downloads: 100 Full text (665,97 KB) This document has many files! More... |
8. Combustion of municipal solid waste for power productionFilip Kokalj, Niko Samec, 2013, independent scientific component part or a chapter in a monograph Keywords: gospodarjenje z odpadki, zgorevanje, waste management, municipal solid waste, integrated waste management system, waste-to-energy, thermal treatment, waste-to-energy plant, computational fluid dynamics Published in DKUM: 10.07.2015; Views: 2227; Downloads: 97 Link to full text |
9. Utilization of bottom ash from the incineration of separated wastes as a cement substituteFilip Kokalj, Niko Samec, Bernardka Jurič, 2005, original scientific article Abstract: Waste incineration is still an essential technology in the concept of integrated waste management. Most of the combustion residues are incinerator bottom ash. It has been discovered that incinerator bottom ash from the incineration of separated waste in the primary chamber of the modular two-stage incinerator mainly consists of metal oxides, especially SiO2 and CaO, in proportions that are quite similar to those in cement and so the feasibility of its application as a substitute for cement in concrete was investigated. It was found that after 28 days, the flexural and compressive strengths of the binder using bottom ash were practically comparable with those of a pure cement mixture. The results show that it is reasonable to use a binder containing incinerator bottom ash for applications in which an early-stage lower strength of concrete element is acceptable. Keywords: waste management, solid municipal waste, separated wastes incineration, bottom ash, cement, concrete Published in DKUM: 01.06.2012; Views: 2307; Downloads: 136 Link to full text |