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In order to improve the hydrophobicity of xylan hemicellulose, a simple procedure of its chemical modification with alkyl ketene dimer (AKD), a non-toxic, cost-effective, and eco-friendly chemical, was performed. For this purpose, the reaction products of beech wood xylan and different amounts of hydrophobic AKD were used for paper surface treatment. Thus, the coatings of about 4.5 g/m2 were applied on both sides of base paper in single and three successive layers. To obtain a complete reaction between AKD and xylan hemicellulose, the coated papers were thermal cured (about 110 °C) and the effects of AKD content on the barrier (water, oil, and water vapours) and mechanical properties were analysed. The structural analyses by scanning electron microscopy (SEM) and Fourier transform infrared spectroscopy (FT-IR) of coated samples emphasized the presence of β-keto-ester compounds as a result of the reaction between xylan hemicelluloses and AKD. This is confirmed by the improving of barrier properties as the AKD content in coating dispersion is higher. The good barrier performance and improved strength properties were obtained for the coated papers with xylan hemicellulose and 1% AKD applied on paper surface in three successive layers (about 4.5 g/m2). In this case, the water vapours transmission rate (WVTR) was 35% lower than those untreated and the resistance to air passing through coated papers was over 3 times higher compared with base paper. There are no results reported on the chemical reaction of xylan hemicelluloses with AKD as well as its application in coatings for paper packaging. In this context, the obtained results in this study can contribute to expand the applications area of hemicelluloses offering a sustainable strategy for the developing of food packaging papers with appropriate barrier properties using biopolymer coating materials.

To review the current state of resources and environmental sciences in China, this study assessed highly cited papers of five leading CSSCI journals sourced from the Chinese National Knowledge Infrastructure database. The fields of resources and environmental sciences were the research focus, and the bibliometric analysis software CiteSpace was used to perform co-occurrence analysis on keywords, authors, and research institutions based on bibliometrics and social network analysis. Furthermore, the research hotspots, scientist groups, and main cooperation models in the field of resources and environmental sciences in China were also explored. The results show that: (1) For 30 years, the interdisciplinarity of resources and environmental sciences has become more and more intense, and research themes have become increasingly extensive. The research hotspots of highly cited papers focused on energy, ecology, land, water resources, and sustainable development. In recent years, problems associated with energy and carbon emissions have aroused great interest. The ecological and sustainable development of resources and environmental elements has emerged as a future research trend. (2) An analysis of scientist-oriented networks shows that highly cited papers are mostly published by group authors. Scientists work closely within their respective academic groups, while intergroup academic cooperation is rare. Furthermore, connectedness between cooperation networks is poor, and scientists are largely connected through their research institutions. Cooperation among scientists is greatly affected by their geographical locations. Research institutions in the same region are more likely to cooperate. Beijing and Nanjing are high-producing areas of highly cited papers. The Institute of Geographic Sciences and Resources, CAS, is the most influential research institution. This paper introduces the state-of-the-art research hotspots of Chinese resources and environmental sciences to international academic circles and provides a basis for the research practice of resources and environmental sciences worldwide.

The pulp and paper industry (PPI) is a major contributor to the global economy, but it also poses a challenge for waste disposal, as it generates large amounts of several waste streams. Among these, paper rejects are generated during the papermaking process and could account for up to 25% of the produced paper. Moreover, hundreds of millions of tons of paper are produced annually that end up in landfills if not burnt or recycled. Furthermore, the PPI significantly contributes to climate change and global warming in the form of deforestation and water and air pollution. Therefore, the impact of this industry on the sustainability of natural resources and its adverse environmental health effects requires special attention. This review focuses on discussing the sustainable routes to utilize paper waste and rejects from the PPI towards a circular economy. At first, it discusses the industry itself and its environmental impact, followed by the possible sustainable approaches that can be implemented to improve papermaking processes as well as waste management systems, including paper recycling. The literature indicates that paper recycling is crucial because, if appropriately designed, it significantly lowers greenhouse gas emissions, water and resources consumption, and manufacturing costs. However, several concerns have surfaced about the different chemicals that are used to improve recycling efficiency and recycled paper quality. Furthermore, paper recycling is limited to up to seven times. This review, therefore, goes on to highlight several sustainable waste management routes for paper waste utilization other than recycling by emphasizing the concept of converting paper waste and rejects into energy and high-value materials, including biofuels, biohydrogen, biomethane, heat, nanocellulose, hydrochar, construction materials, and soil amendments. Both the benefits and shortcomings of these waste management routes and their applications are discussed. It becomes clear from this review that sustainable management solutions for paper waste and rejects are implementable, but further research and development are still needed.

Marine protected areas (MPAs) are a common management tool for preserving marine biodiversity and halting resource depletion. Despite the number of MPAs rapidly increasing worldwide, there are concerns over the full achievement of their objectives. Indeed, in some cases—the phenomenon of so-called “paper parks”—protected areas totally fail to achieve their conservation and socioeconomic targets. Therefore, identifying the factors underpinning MPA success or failure is crucial to increase their effectiveness. To achieve this goal, we performed a global literature review on the socioeconomic factors that managers should pursue to enhance MPA effectiveness on a global scale. A search of the Scopus database, using strings of keywords connected by Boolean operators, generated a batch of 715 items, out of which 68 were retained after the application of inclusion/exclusion criteria. Six other articles were added through the scanning of the literature cited in selected papers. We grouped MPA success-factors into 13 main groups and ranked them according to the frequency of citation in the literature. Our findings identify stakeholder involvement, increasing communication and awareness between specific stakeholder groups, as well as ensuring appropriate enforcement and monitoring, control and surveillance, as the leading factors for MPA success. Our results will assist in the process of upcoming global expansion of MPAs, thus contributing to improving conservation of marine biodiversity and associated livelihoods.

According to recent literature in the field of sustainability, the circular economy (CE) appears to be a thriving opportunity for creating new businesses, although less attention has been paid to the form in which its principles fit into a comprehensive framework that enables companies to design it in a practical way. This paper presents the methodology that has been adopted to pave the way to a coherent reference framework for circular business model innovation and its outstanding design and implementation, taking into consideration the entire value and supply chain. A unique analysis of recent innovations in circular economy models is provided herein, together with an exhaustive analysis of those elements that enable or hinder their implementation. The main interactions among all those critical elements influencing how organisations innovate and operate cooperatively within a CE ecosystem are also evaluated. In addition, a study of five industrial cases in the pulp and paper industry allowed searching for industrial insights and empirical evidence of the relevance of those elements, including observation, document analysis, and interviews. Lastly, the main outcomes of this research are illustrated using the CE reference framework designed when applied to the aforementioned industrial cases, and relevant insights into future improvements are also provided. This research was funded by European Union, grant number 730305, a collaborative research project entitled “New market niches for the pulp and paper industry waste based on circular economy approaches (paperChain)” from the European Union’s Horizon 2020 research and innovation programme.

The discourse regarding place attachment (PA) has grown even more divergent, and an array of scholars and practitioners apply place attachment concepts in their work, drawing out associations between PA and environment-related behavior and revealing how an understanding of people’s attachment to place can influence research, policy, and design practice. In this paper, we use bibliometrics and CiteSpace software to quantify and visualize 528 publications of place attachment and environment-related behavior research (PAEBR) in the core collection database of Web of Science (WoS) from 1 January 2004 to 1 November 2022 and trace the main overview of the research from the number of published papers. First, we present the number of papers published, research discipline distribution, the core authors of articles, the fundamental condition of countries and research organizations, and the major journals of articles involved in PAEBR through bibliometrics. Second, we identify trending research topics in PAEBR using keyword co-occurrence analysis. The results show that the four research trending topics involved climate change, pro-environmental behavior, and environmental threat. All of these provide readers with a preliminary understanding of PAEBR, indicating that cooperation and analysis involving multiple disciplines, specialties, and perspectives will become the dominant trend in this field.

As China puts forward its “carbon emissions peak and carbon neutrality” goals, how to achieve carbon reductions has become a key for China’s goal. The manufacturing industry is a significant source of carbon dioxide emissions. For a manufacturing country such as China, adjustments in various aspects of the industry would have a huge impact on its carbon emissions. As an important reform of the contemporary production mode, the process of production automation in China will inevitably affect China’s carbon emissions; therefore, the analysis of the impact of that production automation on the carbon dioxide emissions is an important basis for judging the future carbon reductions in China. Referring to the traditional study of the carbon Kuznets curve, this paper analyzes the impact of an average wage on production automation and the role of production automation in the carbon Kuznets curve (CKC). This paper proposes that production automation plays a mediating role in the process of carbon emissions, and gives a verification model of that mediating role. By analyzing the relationship between average wages and the production automation process, the U-shaped curve relationship between them was verified. By examining the relationship between carbon dioxide emissions data and the production automation industry in China, we verified that production automation plays a partial mediating role in the change of the carbon Kuznets curve. Combined with the analysis of the two parts, this paper believes that with the continuous development of China’s intelligent manufacturing industry, China’s carbon reduction prospects are more optimistic, and that there is a good industrial foundation to achieve the “carbon peaking and carbon neutrality” goals. Finally, this paper proposes policy suggestions so as to increase research investment in production automation, to help promote the application of production automation, encourage the research and application development of low-carbon technology, especially encouraging modular design, and to give full play to the role of production automation in the process of carbon neutrality in China.

The thermal envelope is a key component of a building’s energy efficiency. Therefore, considerable efforts have been made to develop thermal insulating materials with a better performance than the existing products. However, in the current climate change scenario, these materials must be sustainable, principally during their production stage. In this context, the use of recycled raw materials and agro-industrial waste can be the basis of a material with a low environmental impact and a good thermal performance. In this study, cellulose and wheat straw were characterized. Then, they were mixed in different proportions and densities and the best thermal behavior was selected. The materials were chemically analyzed by TAPPI 2007, thermogravimetric and infrared spectroscopy, together with the measurement of their thermal conductivity with a thermal property analyzer based on the transient line heat source method. The results show that both raw materials are chemically similar to each other. When mixed, they have a thermal conductivity ranging from 0.031 to 0.036 (W/mK), being comparable with several conventional thermal insulators. On the other hand, to achieve the commercial use of this material, an installation through a blowing process has been proposed and proves to be highly promising, achieving a proper density and efficiency in its application.

Materiality assessment identifies the main issues to be disclosed in non-financial reports to respond to the concerns of stakeholders, thus improving the quality of those reports. The purpose of this research is to understand whether there is a relationship between the quality of non-financial reports and the application of standards such as the Global Reporting Initiative (GRI) and the International Integrated Reporting Council (IIRC), as well as between the impact of stakeholder engagement and the adoption of the materiality principle. To do so, manual content analysis was performed on companies from the paper industry in the Iberian Peninsula that published non-financial reports in accordance with the GRI and/or IIRC standards during the period between 2015 and 2020. The sample consists of 133 company-year observations, and data were collected through content analysis of the reports. The results show that companies that more scrupulously follow the GRI and/or IIRC standards and those that pay more attention to the relationship with their stakeholders show higher levels of materiality, meaning higher quality of reports. In addition, it is also noticeable that, over the years, the concern with these disclosures has increased, reflecting an increase in attention given to materiality.

The global process of providing shelter plays an important role in sustainable development. Buildings are estimated to be responsible for up to 50% of global carbon emissions, which makes building a major issue for climate change. The common saying is that what “we cannot measure, we cannot improve”. This assumes that we know what to measure, which requires that we have a common understanding. The indication is that there could be problems in how we understand building sustainability, which, if true, will reduce change towards sustainable building. The purpose of this paper is to assess how building sustainability is understood in building research and building practice. The research approach is to review how building researchers and building companies have interpreted sustainability in leading articles and in leading sustainability reports. These are assessed by studying how sustainability is described and then in more detail applying two maturity matrices on the articles and the reports. The preliminary results indicate that there could be a major problem in understanding sustainability among both building researchers and building company managers, which could constitute a significant obstacle to improving building sustainability. This might not only be related to building sustainability but could be a general problem.

Paper and plastic are the main materials used in food packaging. In the context of climate change, the importance of tree conservation and the mitigation of the negative environmental impacts caused by fossil consumption and deforestation is greater than ever before. This article reviews the potential of plant-origin feedstock from the Baltic Sea region for use in non-wood-fibre and bio-origin plastic food packaging production. It also presents a systematised literature review of the environmental impacts and applications of tree-free paper, plant-origin plastics, and natural-fibre-reinforced bio-composites in fully green food packaging. The results reveal that beneficial environmental impacts are achieved if waste or by-products are used as feedstock. While the production volumes of alternative materials in Europe are small (0.25% of paper is made of materials other than wood, and the share of bio-plastic is 0.9%), we found a large demand and potential for growth. The biggest volumes of natural fibre feedstock in Baltic Sea region countries are generated from wheat. Wheat straw, which is a by-product, has a production volume of 68.71 million tons and is potentially a significant non-wood-paper food packaging source. Agricultural waste generated from sugar beet, maize, potato, and wheat is an environmentally beneficial by-product that could be used for bio-plastic food packaging production.

The purpose of this position paper is to present an opinion on the importance of understanding host community perspectives in any community-based corporate social responsibility initiative. A host community is essentially the consumer of any community-based CSR, yet they each have unique cultures, features, needs, and expectations, which may or may not fit a business’s CSR initiative, unless the community perspectives are accounted for prior to the implementation of the CSR project. Focusing on the hotel sector context, the paper develops its position by reviewing supporting literature and highlighting the outcomes of a qualitative case study that involved face-to face semistructured interviews with 15 local opinion leaders who represented several local communities. The paper concludes with a firmer opinion on its position, and it offers some of the implications of its findings.

The increase in non-face-to-face lifestyles due to COVID-19 worldwide have shown an increase in delivery services. The number of parcels in 2020 was 3.373 billion, an increase of 20.9% from 2.788 billion in 2019. This phenomenon increased delivery box waste. Against this background, this study attempted to develop building materials from the recycling of delivery boxes. In this study, the self-developed WC (wet cellulose) 3D printer confirmed the standardization and uniform performance of the sample by filling the material supply cylinder with cellulose filaments and spraying the composite material through a 10 mm nozzle. The cellulose filament for a WC 3D printer is based on cellulose extracted from wastepaper, and a cellulose filament composite material is used by mixing additives. After manufacturing a specimen using the WC 3D printer, a reliability test for the flame-retardant performance of the material was conducted according to the ISO 11925-2 test method. As a result of the experiment, flame-retardant performance was confirmed at a 40 wt% or greater ceramic binder content. In addition, the WC 3D printer achieved accurate test results by producing specimens with uniform physical properties. In addition, we confirmed that 3D-printed WC can be used to develop customized building materials that can prevent fire spread.

This article examines the place of gendered relationships between parents with regard to child protection work in England, and the effects of this on mothers who are abused by their male partners. These areas are discussed within an emotionally, socially, and politically charged set of issues concerning to what extent the State should intervene, why, and how between parents and their children in terms of parental rights and child protection. In this way, the article examines fault lines in the Western world’s ideology of the family, and concepts and realities of parental, mothers’ and children’s rights. In examining dominant and competing discourses on parental rights in child protection work, the case is made for the need to disaggregate concepts and approaches away from parental rights per se, to viewing the possibility of needing to see fathers and mothers needs and rights as at times being in conflict. This becomes particularly problematic in relation to mothers’ rights to their own protection from abuse, and how this relates to professional interventions when both the mother and the children are being abused. It considers the need to acknowledge and foreground taking account of how the mother and child(ren) are experiencing the abuse, not how society and professionals might like to view the situation by way of an idealized view of families through a particular ideological lens.

Hydrogen energy, one of the energy sources of the future, represents a substantial issue which affects the industries and national technologies that will develop in the future. In order to utilize hydrogen energy, a hydrogen supply chain is required so that hydrogen can be processed and transported to vehicles. It is helpful for technology and policy development to analyze technologies necessary to charge the hydrogen energy generated into vehicles through the supply chain to discover technologies with high potential for future development. The purpose of this paper is to identify promising technologies required in storing, transporting, and charging vehicles generated by the hydrogen fuel supply chain. Afterward, the promising technologies identified are expected to help researchers set a direction in researching technologies and developing related policies. Therefore, we provide technology information that can be used promisingly in the future so that researchers in the related field can utilize it effectively. In this paper, data analysis is performed using related patents and research papers for technical analysis. Promising technologies that will be the core of the hydrogen fuel supply chain in the future were identified using the published patents and research paper database (DB) in Korea, the United States, Europe, China, and Japan. A text mining technique was applied to preprocess data, and then a generic topographic map (GTM) analysis discovered promising technologies. Then, a technology roadmap was identified by analyzing the promising technology derived from patents and research papers in parallel. In this study, through the analysis of patents and research papers related to the hydrogen supply chain, the development status of hydrogen storage/transport/charging technology was analyzed, and promising technologies with high potential for future development were found. The technology roadmap derived from the analysis can help researchers in the field of hydrogen research establish policies and research technologies.

Cellulose is a very common polymer in domestic wastewater (WW), representing a not negligible part of the organic substance contained in sewage. To date, many studies have highlighted the feasibility of reusing this compound in several ways (e.g., building sector, wastewater treatment, energy production, etc.) after its separation from domestic WW. However, studies about the impact of the absence of cellulose on the chemical and physico-chemical parameters of a biological process are still lacking. In this work, two pilot-scale plants were used to simulate an anoxic treatment of WW in septic tanks, with and without cellulose (CWW and NCWW, respectively), for three months. The results of the monitoring highlighted that T, pH, and electrical conductivity (EC) remained almost constants, in both cases. The Spearman correlation coefficients (SCC) for turbidity (TUR), total suspended solids (TSS), and color (COL) indicated a higher removal in the case of CWW (65%, 66%, and 56%, respectively). Organic substance and nitrogen forms showed a similar behavior with and without cellulose, but in the case of CWW, N-NH3 was highly negatively correlated with TUR (SCC: −0.54), TSS (−0.49), and COL (−0.39). A biological denitrification process was highlighted in both cases. Despite these differences, when statistically analyzing the trends of the chemical and physico-chemical parameters for CWW and NCWW, a significant difference due to the absence of cellulose was excluded. These results will be useful to the scientific community, as they exclude that the operational parameters of anoxic treatments and the effectiveness on pollutants removal can be affected in the case of preliminary cellulose separation from domestic WW for recovery/reuse purposes.

Xylan hemicelluloses are considered the second most abundant class of polysaccharides after cellulose which has good natural barrier properties necessary for foods packaging papers and films. Xylan exists today as a natural polymer, but its utilisation in packaging applications is limited and not sufficiently analysed. In this study, the performances of hardwood xylan hemicellulose in forming uniform films and as biopolymer for paper coatings were analysed. The xylan-coated paper and film samples were tested regarding their water, air, and water vapour permeability, water solubility, mechanical strength, and antimicrobial activity against pathogenic bacteria. Structural analyses of xylan hemicelluloses emphasised a high number of hydroxyl groups with high water affinity. This affects the functional properties of xylan-coated papers but can facilitate the chemical modification of xylan in order to improve their hydrophobic properties and extend their areas of application. The obtained results unveil a promising starting point for using this material in food packaging applications as a competitive and sustainable alternative to petroleum-based polymers.

College students are the engine of the sustainability of the future, and their awareness of environmental protection and waste classification is very important for the sustainable implementation of urban solid waste separation projects. Chongqing is one of the first 46 waste separation pilot cities in China. The primary objective of this study was to investigate the municipal waste separation behavior of college students and its influencing factors. Data from a total of 814 questionnaires among college students from sixteen universities in Chongqing were collected. Results showed that most college students think it is necessary to separate waste, and they have executed it in their daily life. Students have a high accuracy in classifying perishable waste, but they are not familiar with the classification of waste lamps, bulbs (14.00%), expired drugs (30.71%), toilet paper (11.3%), peel (18.80%) and brick kilns (27.76%). Special attention should be paid to distinguishing recyclables and other wastes. The principal factors that affect students’ willingness to classify waste are attitude, situational factors and publicity and education, which are embodied in students’ attitude towards waste separation, the surrounding environmental hygiene, the convenience of waste separation, the ease of understanding of waste separation marks and the degree of publicity and education of the school. Four measures are recommended for improving students’ willingness to separate municipal waste based on this investigation.

This paper proposes a simple and easy-to-use methodology for forecasting the impact of changes in influent chemical oxygen demand (COD) and in the emission limit values (ELVs) of COD and total nitrogen on average energy requirements for aeration and sludge production by activated sludge wastewater treatment plants (WWTPs). The methodology is based on mass balances of sludge production and oxygen requirements for carbonaceous material biodegradation and/or nitrification, oxygen transfer and aeration equipment efficiency. Using average values of historical data of regular monitoring (water quality and operating conditions) WWTP-specific equations of oxygen requirements, energy consumption and sludge production are derived as a function of influent COD and influent N-total, which may be used to quantify the impact of influent and ELV changes. The methodology was tested in five extended aeration WWTPs for three scenarios established by the utility. The results show that increasing influent COD, from 900 to 1300 mg/L, for example, significantly increases the energy consumption by 49% and sludge production by 53%. For influent 54–68 mg/L N-total, imposing 15 mgN/L ELV results in a 9–26% increase in energy consumption. The COD ELV change studied (season-specific, from 150 mg/L 12 months/year to 125 mg/L 8 months/year to 100 mg/L 4 months/year) increases the energy consumption by 1.8–2.6% and the sludge production by 4.3–5.4%.

Using woody biomass in thermochemical gasification can be a viable alternative for producing renewable energy. The type of biomass and the process parameters influence the producer gas composition and quality. This paper presents research on the composition of the producer gas from the gasification of three woody biomass species: spruce, alder, and pine. The experiments were conducted in a drop-tube reactor at temperatures of 750, 850, and 950 °C, using air as the gasifying agent, with equivalence ratios of 0.38 and 0.19. Gas chromatography with a thermal conductivity detector was used to determine the composition of the producer gas, while the production of total organic compounds was detected using Fourier-transform infrared spectroscopy. All three wood species exhibited very similar producer gas composition. The highest concentration of combustible gases was recorded at 950 °C, with an average of 4.1, 20.5, and 4.6 vol% for H2, CO, and CH4, respectively, and a LHV ranging from 4.3–5.1 MJ/m3. The results were in accordance with other gasification studies of woody species. Higher temperatures enhanced the composition of the producer gas by promoting endothermic and exothermic gasification reactions, increasing gas production while lowering solid and tar yields. The highest concentrations of combustible gases were observed with an equivalence ratio of 0.38. Continuous TOC measurement allowed understanding the evolution of the gasification process and the relation between a higher production of TOC and CO as the gasification temperature raised.

In this paper the properties of clay bricks with 5 wt%, 10 wt%, and 20 wt% sewage sludge ash (SSA) were studied and compared with the properties of control bricks made of 100% clay. Sewage sludge (SS) was collected at two wastewater treatment plants (WWTPs) in Croatia—WWTP Zagreb and WWTP Karlovac—and incinerated at a temperature of 900 °C The bricks were produced on a laboratory scale. A total of seven types of bricks were produced—control bricks and six types of bricks as combinations of different wt% of SSA generated from SS that was collected at two different WWTPs. The physical and mechanical properties of produced bricks were tested. Compressive strengths of bricks with 5 wt% SSA (54.0–54.5 N/mm2) and 10 wt% SSA (50.2–51.0 N/mm2) were higher compared to the control bricks (50.4 N/mm2), while bricks with 20 wt% SSA (37.0–43.9) N/mm2) had noticeably lower compressive strenght. The coefficient of saturation was lower for bricks with SSA compared to control bricks. The initial absorption values were more pronounced for SSA fractions of 20 wt%.

One third of food produced globally is wasted. Disposal of this waste is costly and is an example of poor resource management in the face of elevated environmental concerns and increasing food demand. Providing this waste as feedstock for black soldier fly (Hermetia illucens) larvae (BSFL) has the potential for bio-conversion and valorisation by production of useful feed materials and fertilisers. We raised BSFL under optimal conditions (28 °C and 70% relative humidity) on seven UK pre-consumer food waste-stream materials: fish trimmings, sugar-beet pulp, bakery waste, fruit and vegetable waste, cheese waste, fish feed waste and brewer’s grains and yeast. The nutritional quality of the resulting BSFL meals and frass fertiliser were then analysed. In all cases, the volume of waste was reduced (37–79%) and meals containing high quality protein and lipid sources (44.1 ± 4.57% and 35.4 ± 4.12%, respectively) and frass with an NPK of 4.9-2.6-1.7 were produced. This shows the potential value of BSFL as a bio-convertor for the effective management of food waste.

The waste slurry produced by the dredging of urban rivers needs to be dewatered before being reused sustainably. As a large amount of plant debris accumulates in sediment, humus-like substances become one of main components in waste slurry. In light of the lack of research on the effect of fulvic acid (FA) in waste slurry on flocculation and separation, this paper carried out experimental research, including the effect of FA content on flocculation and filtration, as well as flocculation and filtration experiments of eight different sources of waste slurry. The results show that if only the FA content in the slurry is changed, the effect of FA on flocculation and separation is significant when the FA content is 0~3%, but it is not obvious when the FA content exceeds 3%. The flocculation and filtration results of eight different sources of river-dredged waste slurry are obviously different, the D10 increment can differ by nearly 10 times, and the specific resistance to filtration (SRF) differs by 2 orders of magnitude. However, FA is not a sensitive factor affecting the flocculation results. FA mainly affects the results by affecting the zeta potential of the slurry. Therefore, in the dewatering design of waste slurry, only the zeta potential needs to be considered.

As the environment is humiliated at a disturbing rate, most governments have persistent calls following global energy policies for the utilization of biofuels. This paper essentially examines the portrayal investigations of fatty acid methyl esters and fatty acid pentyl esters obtained from palm oil. The characterization studies such as gas chromatogram, mass spectrometry, and Fourier transformed infrared spectrometry have been performed to study biodiesel’s chemical composition. This article likewise shows biodiesel’s physiochemical properties and concentrates on biodiesel blends’ hypothetical combustion properties with Al2O3 nanoparticles. The spectroscopic investigations demonstrate the contiguity of eight methyl esters and five pentyl esters prevalently of palmitic acid, oleic acid, octanoic acid, and stearic acid. The esters’ nearness was additionally affirmed by the FTIR range, where the peaks in the scope of 1700 cm−1 to 1600 cm−1 can be observed. Looking at the thermophysical properties of the mixes with that of the base diesel fuel yielded the compromising results by giving the comparative density to that of the diesel fuel. The palm oil biodiesel’s calorific value is, by all accounts, diminished by 10% when contrasted with diesel fuel. The addition of the nanoparticles up to 1 g has raised the calorific value most closely to the diesel’s value. Correspondingly, the theoretical burning examinations have demonstrated the limit of biodiesel to go about as an option compared to consistent diesel in the conventional DI–CI engine. This article talks about the combustion attributes of the blend containing 60% diesel, 20% fatty acid methyl ester (FAME), and 20% fatty acid pentyl ester (FAPE) with aluminium oxide (Al2O3) nanoparticles at two distinctive concentrations. This article primarily concerns the inquiry of combustion criterion, such as in-chamber pressure variation, rate of heat release, start of combustion, end of combustion, and ignition delay for considered fuel blends when contrasted with neat diesel fuel in a four-stroke, direct-injection, single-cylinder diesel engine. The results showed a decrease in in-cylinder pressure at all loads of engine operation for biodiesel blends when compared with neat diesel, irrespective of the nanoparticle concentration. Biodiesel blends at all nanoparticle concentrations showed an increase in ignition delay compared with diesel fuels at all engine operation loads. The performance results show a slight deterioration in the engine’s thermal efficiency using biodiesel blends, irrespective of the nanoparticle concentration. Additionally, the emissions show a considerable fall in trends for all loads in contrast with diesel fuel.

In view of the increasing concerns over non-renewable resource depletion and waste management, this paper studied the development of low-density controlled low-strength material (CLSM) by using stone sludge and lightweight aggregates. First, the investigation was performed at a laboratory scale to assess the effects of the composition on the properties of the resulting low-density CLSM. The Taguchi method with an L9(34) orthogonal array and four controllable three-level factors (i.e., the stone sludge dosage, water to binder ratio, accelerator dosage and lightweight aggregate dosage) was adopted. Then, to optimize the selected parameters, the analysis of variance method was used to explore the effects of the experimental factors on the performance (fresh and hardened properties) of the produced low-density CLSM. The test results show that when the percentage of stone sludge usage was increased from 30% to 60%, the initial setting time approximately doubled on average. Moreover, at the age of 28 days, the compressive strength of most specimens did not exceed the upper limit of 8.83 MPa stipulated by Taiwan’s Public Construction Commission. Further, the material cost per cubic meter of the produced CLSM was about NT$ 720.9 lower than that of the ordinary CLSM, which could reduce the cost by 40.6%. These results indicate that the use of stone sludge as a raw material to produce CLSM could achieve environmental sustainability. In other words, the use of stone sludge and lightweight aggregates to produce low-density CLSM was extremely feasible.

This study evaluates the efficiency of a sustainable technology represented in an integrated pilot-scale system, which includes a facultative pond (FP), a high-rate algal pond (HRAP), and a rock filter (RF) for wastewater treatment to produce water that complies with the Egyptian standards for treated wastewater reuse. Still, limited data are available on pathogen removal through HRAP systems. Thus, in this study, the performance of the integrated system was investigated for the removal of Escherichia coli (E. coli), coliform bacteria, eukaryotic pathogens (Cryptosporidium spp., Giardia intestinalis, and helminth ova), somatic coliphages (SOMCPH), and human adenovirus (HAdV). Furthermore, physicochemical parameters were determined in order to evaluate the performance of the integrated system. The principal component analysis and non-metric multidimensional scaling analysis showed a strong significant effect of the integrated system on changing the physicochemical and microbial parameters from inlet to outlet. The mean log10 removal values for total coliform, fecal coliform, and E. coli were 5.67, 5.62, and 5.69, respectively, while 0.88 log10 and 1.65 log10 reductions were observed for HAdV and SOMCPH, respectively. The mean removal of Cryptosporidium spp. and Giardia intestinalis was 0.52 and 2.42 log10, respectively. The integrated system achieved 100% removal of helminth ova. The results demonstrated that the system was able to improve the chemical and microbial characteristics of the outlet to acceptable levels for non-food crops irrigation. Such findings together with low operation and construction costs of HRAPs should facilitate wider implementation of these nature-based systems in remote and rural communities. Overall, this study provides a novel insight into the performance of such systems to eliminate multiple microbial pathogens from wastewater.

A myriad of resources and efforts have been devoted to assessing the possibilities of using locally sourced biomass to produce energy, reduce CO2 emissions, and, in turn, lower dependance on petroleum. Grape pomace (GP) and walnut shells (WS) are organic waste generated in Chile. Within the last decade, the potential benefits and application of biomass have received significant attention, both in terms of producing functionalized carbon materials, and the various potential applications in the field of energy storage and environmental protection. The proposed research motivation is on the development of carbonous materials through thermal decomposition processes. Few researchers have addressed the idea of developing a multipurpose carbonaceous matrix from hydrochar, and there remains a need for an efficient method to obtain hydrochar specially from grape pomace. Hence, the general objective of this research is to study the potential of grape pomace and walnut shells treated with hydrothermal carbonization (HTC) as an alternative low-cost and efficient carbonous matrix. Proximate and elemental analysis was determined to distinguish the nature of the feedstock along with the hydrochar produced. Yield and reaction severity were also studied to study the impacts of temperature and residence time for both feedstocks. Successful results from the proposed work have broad applications for increasing the sustainability biomass applications, contributing to a positive economic impact.

The present study explored the efficiency of a four-chambered anaerobic baffled reactor (ABR) as a cost-effective and sustainable method of organic pollutant and pathogen removal from domestic wastewater, under a range of environmental conditions. An ABR with a circular additional filter at the outlet pipe was constructed to treat wastewater from a residential colony of 108 households with an average inflow of 110 m3/day and a nominal hydraulic retention time (HRT) of 20 h. Analysis of the chemical oxygen demand (COD), total nitrogen, sulfate and phosphate load, and total coliform removal for 2 years of operation, 2015 and 2017, showed a COD of 46%, sulfate load of 28%, phosphate load of 51% and total nitrogen of 28% for 2015, compared to a COD of 48%, sulfate load of 44%, phosphate load of 58% and total nitrogen of 31% for 2017. The lack of a significant effect of sludge removal suggested a stable process. The overall efficiency of the ABR increased in the summer, including for pathogen removal, which was significantly higher during the summer months of both years. Overall, the ABR was found to be able to consistently treat primary wastewater, although tertiary effluent treatment was still required before water reuse or final discharge.

Depletion in the levels of fossil fuels and increasing environmental concerns associated with the rise in consumption of conventional fuels are among the top global concerns. Finding an alternative sustainable fuel that matches the performance characteristics of diesel/petrol fuels as well as decreases the exhaust emissions has been a challenging task. After deliberate research, it is found that every alternative fuel is associated with different problems when they are used independently, thereby limiting its benefits. Scientists suggest that using different fuel blends might lead to sustainability. This article is the analysis of data obtained from the experimentation based on two different alternative fuels, Rapeseed Methyl Ester (RME)-based biodiesel and Rapeseed Oil (RO), blended with diesel (D) and Isopropanol (P) into three different proportions each. Tests were carried out in a compression ignition (CI) engine, and comparisons are based on the resulted performance and exhaust emission characteristics. The two different alternative fuels are blended into the following proportions to make six fuel mixtures, D50RME30P20, D50RME40P10, D50RME45P5, D50RO30P20, D50RO40P10 and D50RO45P5. The tests are carried out at different loads (BMEP) and are compared to that of pure diesel. Using the experimentation results, we also obtained the combustion characteristics of all fuel mixtures for further evaluation

In this work, Azolla filiculoides was used for the bioremediation of a textile effluent and as a potential sorbent for the rejection of Congo red (CR9) dye from a synthetic aqueous solution. The sorbent was characterized, and a pot culture test was carried out to assess the physiological responses in a controlled environment. The response of the plants to the exposure to the emanating pollutants was subordinate. The BOD, COD, and TDS removals were found to be 98.2%, 98.23%, and 90.29%, respectively. Moreover, the dried biomass was studied for the expulsion of CR9, and the process variables were optimized. The maximum CR9 removal was 95% at the optimal conditions of 2 g/L of the sorbent dose at acidic pH. Equilibrium data for adsorption were analyzed using a two-parameter isotherm model. It was observed that the Langmuir isotherm fit with the data (R2 = 0.98) and also had satisfactory lower error values, with its maximum sorption capacity reaching 243 mg/g. The pseudo-second-order kinetics were well fitted (R2 = 0.98). The mass transfer models and the thermodynamic parameters of the system were evaluated. The regeneration studies also showed that the uptake efficacy in the fifth cycle is reduced by 20% when compared with the first cycle. The results show that the biomass was a capable sorbent for the removal of CR9.

Organic wastes of rural slaughterhouses in developing countries comprise of blood and undigested rumen contents harboring infectious microbial pathogens and having impermissible BOD5 and COD values. Previously we demonstrated valorization of blood and rumen contents through drying and conversion to an efficacious organic fertilizer which was free from infectious pathogens and heavy metals. Here we describe fabrication of a novel helical-ribbon mixer dryer for transition from the current small-scale household cooking to equipment-driven sustainable production. Blood and rumen digesta mixed in a 3:1 ratio, having initial moisture of 85%, were dried at 90–110 °C for 3–4 h to attain 15.6% final moisture-containing organic fertilizer. Energy consumption and moisture extraction rate were 49.4 MJ per batch and 18.9 kg h−1 respectively. Using this method, small abattoir owners could emerge as multi-product producers to enhance earnings while farmers could source the fertilizer locally for organic farming. The two activities can be complementary to each other and become a sustainable circular economy model. We applied a spreadsheet-based model for calculation of cash flow, breakeven point and conducted financial cost–benefit analysis on the projected operation of the dryer. Fertilizer production parallel with the meat trade should be profitable for slaughterhouse owners and farmers apart from generating local employment opportunities.

To achieve sustainability, it is necessary to use proper treatment methods to reduce the pollutant loads of receiving waters. This study investigates the coagulative reduction of turbidity, COD, BOD and colour from aquaculture wastewater (AW) using a novel Garcinia kola seeds coagulant (GKC). This coagulant was obtained from extraction of Garcinia kola seeds and analysed for its spectral and morphological characteristics through FTIR and SEM. The kinetics of coagulation-flocculation were also investigated in terms of total dissolved and suspended solids (TDSP). The seeds had 11.27% protein and 68.33% carbohydrate, showing usability in adsorption/charges neutralisation as a coagulant to reduce particles. Maximal turbidity reduction = 81.93%, COD = 75.03%, BOD = 72.84% and colour = 56.69% at 0.3 g GKC/L, pH 2, 60 min and 303 K were achieved. Von Smoluchowski’s second-order peri-kinetics theory was used to fit the results, giving R2 &gt, 0.9. At a coagulation order (α) of 2, the reaction rate (KC) and half-life (τS1/2) were 0.0003 L/g·min and 25.3 min at the optimal conditions. The sorption data better fit the Lagergren compared to the Ho adsorption model. Furthermore, the net cost of using GKC to handle 1 L of AW (including electricity and material costs) was calculated to be 1.57 EUR, and the costs of 0.3 g/L GKC preparation and energy were 0.27 and 1.30 EUR, respectively. In summary, these seeds can be used to pre-treat AW.

Microalgae are one of the most promising sources of renewable substrates used for energy purposes. Biomass and components accumulated in their cells can be used to produce a wide range of biofuels, but the profitability of their production is still not at a sufficient level. Significant costs are generated, i.a., during the cultivation of microalgae, and are connected with providing suitable culture conditions. This study aims to evaluate the possibility of using sodium bicarbonate as an inexpensive alternative CO2 source in the culture of Chlorella vulgaris, promoting not only the increase of microalgae biomass production but also lipid accumulation. The study was carried out at technical scale using 100 L photobioreactors. Gravimetric and spectrophotometric methods were used to evaluate biomass growth. Lipid content was determined using a mixture of chloroform and methanol according to the Blight and Dyer method, while the carbon content and CO2 fixation rate were measured according to the Walkley and Black method. In batch culture, even a small addition of bicarbonate resulted in a significant (p ≤ 0.05) increase in the amount of biomass, productivity and optical density compared to non-bicarbonate cultures. At 2.0 g∙L–1, biomass content was 572 ± 4 mg·L−1, the maximum productivity was 7.0 ± 1.0 mg·L–1·d–1, and the optical density was 0.181 ± 0.00. There was also an increase in the lipid content (26 ± 4%) and the carbon content in the biomass (1322 ± 0.062 g∙dw–1), as well as a higher rate of carbon dioxide fixation (0.925 ± 0.073 g·L–1·d–1). The cultivation of microalgae in enlarged scale photobioreactors provides a significant technological challenge. The obtained results can be useful to evaluate the efficiency of biomass and valuable cellular components production in closed systems realized at industrial scale.

The effect of adding alum water treatment residues (WTR) on the methanogenic activity in the digestion of primary domestic wastewater sludge was evaluated through laboratory experiments in sedimentation columns, using total suspended solids (TSS) concentrations from 0.37 to 1.23 g/L. The addition of WTR to primary clarifiers can benefit its effluent water quality in terms of colour, turbidity, chemical oxygen demand (COD), and TSS. However, the presence of WTR can negatively influence the production of methane gas during organic sludge digestion in primary clarifiers, for concentrations of TSS between 14.43 and 25.23 g/L and of VSS between 10.2 and 11.85 g/L. The activity of the Methanothrix sp., curved bacilli, methanococci, and Methanosarcina sp. decreases considerably after 16 days of anaerobic digestion, and methane production seems to only be associated with fluorescent methanogenic bacilli.

The aggressive growth of Eichhornia crassipes (Water Hyacinth) plants causes severe damage to the irrigation, environment, and waterway systems in Iraq. This study aims to produce, characterize, and test biofuel extracted from the Eichhornia crassipes plant in Iraq. The extracted biodiesel was mixed at 10%, 20%, and 40% with neat diesel to produce three biodiesel samples. The methodology consists of the physiochemical properties of the samples that were characterized. The performance of the IC engine fueled by neat and biodiesel samples was measured under various operational conditions. The exhaust gases were analyzed to estimate the compounds to assess the environmental impact. The results showed that the density and viscosity of mixtures increase and the calorific value decrease with biodiesel. The engine test showed that the diesel + 10BE, diesel + 20BE, and diesel + 40BE enhanced brake thermal efficiency using 2.6%, 4.2%, and 6.3%, respectively, compared to neat diesel. Exhaust tests show a slight reduction, of 0.85–3.69% and 2.48–6.93%, in CO and HC emission, respectively. NOx is higher by 1.87–7.83% compared with neat diesel. The results revealed that biodiesel blended from Eichhornia crassipes is a viable solution to mitigate the drastic impact on the environment and economy in Iraq. The blended biodiesel has good potential to be mixed with the locally produced diesel from oil refineries.

The present study intends to evaluate a synergy towards enhanced biogas production by co-digesting municipal sewage sludge (SS) with brewery spent grain (BSG). To execute this, physicochemical and metagenomics analysis was conducted on the sewage sludge substrate. The automatic methane potential test system II (AMPTS II) biochemical methane potential (BMP) batch setup was operated at 35 ± 5 °C, pH range of 6.5–7.5 for 30 days’ digestion time on AMPTS II and 150 days on semi-continuous setup, where the organic loading rate (OLR) was guided by pH and the volatile fatty acids to total alkalinity (VFA/TA) ratio. Metagenomics analysis revealed that Proteobacteria was the most abundant phyla, consisting of hydrolytic and fermentative bacteria. The archaea community of hydrogenotrophic methanogen genus was enriched by methanogens. The highest BMP was obtained with co-digestion of SS and BSG, and 9.65 g/kg of VS. This not only increased biogas production by 104% but also accelerated the biodegradation of organic matters. However, a significant reduction in the biogas yield, from 10.23 NL/day to 2.02 NL/day, was observed in a semi-continuous process. As such, it can be concluded that different species in different types of sludge can synergistically enhance the production of biogas. However, the operating conditions should be optimized and monitored at all times. The anaerobic co-digestion of SS and BSG might be considered as a cost-effective solution that could contribute to the energy self-efficiency of wastewater treatment works (WWTWs) and sustainable waste management. It is recommended to upscale co-digestion of the feed for the pilot biogas plant. This will also go a long way in curtailing and minimizing the impacts of sludge disposal in the environment.

Carob flour is increasingly popular in innovative functional foods. Its main producers are Mediterranean countries, facing health and nutrition challenges, and difficulties in tackling climate change. This study aims at formulating innovative sustainable bakery products of high nutritional value while pleasing the consumer and addressing regional challenges. Hence, carob flour was obtained by grinding sun-dried carob pods, thus reducing the environmental impact, and preserving carob’s high nutraceutical value. Different bread formulations resulted from the blend of wheat flour with carob pulp (5, 10, 20, and 30%) and/or seed powder (5 and 10%), with no added fats, additives, or processing aids. New products were evaluated for their textural, chromatic, nutritional, aromatic, and hedonic properties. Carob is rich in aroma, antioxidants, and prebiotic fibers, and does not contain gluten, so when combined with wheat, the proportion of gluten in bread is reduced. Carob is also rich in minerals (4.16% and 2.00% ash, respectively in seed and pulp), and breadmaking seems to generate lesser furane derivatives than in white bread. In short, carob is typically Mediterranean and is a valuable local resource in the formulation of sustainable foods with high nutritional value, low carbon footprint, safe, healthy, tasty, and affordable, all at once. info:eu-repo/semantics/publishedVersion

In this study, engine performance on thermal factors for different biodiesels has been studied and compared with diesel fuel. Biodiesels were produced from Pongamia pinnata (PP), Calophyllum inophyllum (CI), waste cooking oil (WCO), and acid oil. Depending on their free fatty acid content, they were subjected to the transesterification process to produce biodiesel. The main characterizations of density, calorific range, cloud, pour, flash and fire point followed by the viscosity of obtained biodiesels were conducted and compared with mineral diesel. The characterization results presented benefits near to standard diesel fuel. Then the proposed diesel engine was analyzed using four blends of higher concentrations of B50, B65, B80, and B100 to better substitute fuel for mineral diesel. For each blend, different biodiesels were compared, and the relative best performance of the biodiesel is concluded. This diesel engine was tested in terms of BSFC (brake-specific fuel consumption), BTE (brake thermal efficiency), and EGT (exhaust gas temperature) calculated with the obtained results. The B50 blend of acid oil provided the highest BTE compared to other biodiesels at all loads while B50 blend of WCO provided the lowest BSFC compared to other biodiesels, and B50 blends of all biodiesels provided a minimum % of the increase in EGT compared to diesel.

This study analyzed the microbial community metagenomically to determine the cause of the functionality of a livestock wastewater treatment facility that can effectively remove pollutants, such as ammonia and hydrogen sulfide. Illumina MiSeq sequencing was used in analyzing the composition and structure of the microbial community, and the 16S rRNA gene was used. Through Illumina MiSeq sequencing, information such as diversity indicators as well as the composition and structure of microbial communities present in the livestock wastewater treatment facility were obtained, and differences between microbial communities present in the investigated samples were compared. The number of reads, operational taxonomic units, and species richness were lower in influent sample (NLF), where the wastewater enters, than in effluent sample (NL), in which treated wastewater is found. This difference was greater in June 2019 than in January 2020, and the removal rates of ammonia (86.93%) and hydrogen sulfide (99.72%) were also higher in June 2019. In both areas, the community composition was similar in January 2020, whereas the influent sample (NLF) and effluent sample (NL) areas in June 2019 were dominated by Proteobacteria (76.23%) and Firmicutes (67.13%), respectively. Oleiphilaceae (40.89%) and Thioalkalibacteraceae (12.91%), which are related to ammonia and hydrogen sulfide removal, respectively, were identified in influent sample (NLF) in June 2019. They were more abundant in June 2019 than in January 2020. Therefore, the functionality of the livestock wastewater treatment facility was affected by characteristics, including the composition of the microbial community. Compared to Illumina MiSeq sequencing, fewer species were isolated and identified in both areas using culture-based methods, suggesting Illumina MiSeq sequencing as a powerful tool to determine the relevance of microbial communities for pollutant removal.

Biomass is an attractive energy source that can be used for production of heat, power, and transport fuels and when produced and used on a sustainable basis, can make a large contribution to reducing greenhouse gas emissions. Anaerobic digestion (AD) is a suitable technology for reducing organic matter and generating bioenergy in the form of biogas. This study investigated the factors allowing the optimization of the process of biogas production from the digestion of wheat straw (WS). The statistical analysis of the experiments carried out showed that ultrasonic processing plays a fundamental role with the sonication density and solids concentration leading to improved characteristics of WS, reducing particle size, and increasing concentration of soluble chemical oxygen demand. The higher the sonicating power used, the more the waste particles are disrupted. The optimality obtained under mesophilic conditions for WS pretreated with 4% w/w (weight by weight) H2O2 at temperature 36 °C under 10 min of ultrasonication at 24 kHz with a power of 200 W improves the methane yield by 64%.

The chemical composition of hop sediments from beer brewing and fermentation gives them the potential for further use. These wastes are not generated in large amounts, but the absence of proper characteristics may lead to processing errors. This study examines the possibility of using hop waste for aerobic biological transformation processes (composting). The study was carried out on two hop sediments from two different technological stages of beer production: hot trub and spent hops. Chemical, microbiological, and biochemical analyses were performed in the composted hop sediments, as was the assessment of phytotoxicity to Lepidium sativum L. The tested feedstocks were partially inhabited by microorganisms and thus safe from an epidemiological point of view, and they were not a source of microbial contamination. Inhibitory properties for plant development were found for hot trub, which most likely result from the organic compound content. If it is only a small portion of its biomass, the mineral composition of hot trub does not exclude the possibility of its composting. Spent hops were characterized by a significant total nitrogen content, which affected the composting process. Composting this sediment required the selection of substrates with a widely C:N ratio.

This study aims to evaluate the physicochemical properties of rubberwood sawdust (RWS) and sewage sludge (SS) for producing biofuel or liquid products via pyrolysis and co-pyrolysis. The chemical and thermal properties of both samples were observed to have superior bioenergy production capabilities. RWS and SS had significantly different physicochemical properties, such as particle-size distribution, bulk density, ultimate and proximate analysis, lignocellulose composition, thermal-degradation behaviour, and major and minor elements. The composition of extractives was found to only marginally affect the end product. Carbon and hydrogen content, the two main elements for biofuel enhancement, were found to correlate with the organic components of both RWS (48.49, 7.15 wt.%) and SS (32.29, 4.06 wt.%). SS had a higher elemental composition of iron, calcium, and potassium than RWS. Both samples had a higher heating value of 13.98 to 21.01 MJ/kg and a lower heating value of 11.65 to 17.66 MJ/kg, a lesser energy potential than that of fossil fuels. The findings from these blends are relatively moderate due to the related lignocellulosic potential composition. The novel contribution of this research was to optimize the use of local waste materials as a new raw material for biofuel production that could serve as a sustainable fuel source.

This project investigated the relative efficiencies of three pilot-scale constructed columns for enhancing drainage wastewater treatment processes to ensure compliance with Egyptian and international water quality criteria. In this investigation, basic materials (sand and gravel) and variable natural clay minerals zeolite (Z), diatomite (D) and bentonite (B) were utilized as packing materials to build up a Z column (ZC), D column (DC) and B column (BC), respectively. The three columns’ ability to remove pollutants from waste water for re-use in irrigation was investigated throughout one year (12 trials). The results revealed that the influent water had 211 mg/L total suspended solids, 6.09 mg/L total nitrogen, 36.67 mg/L biochemical oxygen demand, 56 mg/L chemical oxygen demand, 1700 mg/L total dissolved solids, 0.97 mg/L copper (Cu2+), 1.12 mg/L iron (Fe2+), 1.07 mg/L manganese (Mn2+), 1.02 mg/L lead (Pb2+), 1.05 mg/L zinc (Zn2+), and 46 × 103 CFU/mL fecal coliforms. These parameters were higher than the values permitted by Egyptian and international licenses. The range of removal efficiency of these pollutants by ZC was 96–21%, by BC was 99–29.8%, and by DC was 99–19.80%. Regeneration studies for the spent adsorbents demonstrated that the percentages of pollutant removal were sufficiently high. The treated effluent produced by the three columns was suitable for irrigation purposes, especially at a contact time of four hours, with the order for column treatment efficiency being BC ˃ DC ˃ ZC. Treated water was classified for irrigation suitability according to the Agrifood Water Quality Index (AFWQI) as marginal from the ZC, very good from the DC, and excellent from the BC. Treatment of such drainage water using the BC and DC appears feasible, because the process is easily operated and leads to final treated effluent of high quality for agricultural uses. The economic cost also confirms the feasibility of this treatment.

Taiwan is highly dependent on imports of solid wood materials. In the past ten years (2009–2018), it imported raw materials for solid wood products from 117 countries. Therefore, the diversity of raw material sources is a serious concern. The purpose of this research is to evaluate the risks of solid wood product supplies. The dispersion and concentration of supply sources are the measures. The SWI and HHI models are used to calculate the six major imported solid wood products. The results show that from the beginning of 2009 to the end of 2018, wood chips and pellets with the highest average annual import quantity had the lowest average performance in SWI and with the highest average HHI value, which indicates that wood chips and pellets are the riskiest items among the 6 solid wood products. While the sawn wood has the highest average SWI value and the lowest HHI value, it offers the smallest supply risk.

Brazil stands out internationally in the production and commercialization of wood products. Although the external and internal demand for these products is met by the Brazilian forestry sector, challenges related to the internal management of lignocellulosic waste are evident, as the country has structural difficulties in the sector of solid waste management. Therefore, the objective was to comparatively analyze the performance of the most abundant lignocellulosic materials in the Brazilian market, regarding energy recovery at the end of their life cycles. Pine wood treated with chromed copper arsenate (CCA), untreated pine wood, eucalypt wood treated with CCA, untreated eucalypt wood, uncoated medium density fiberboard panel (MDF), and MDF panel with melamine coating were sampled. The characterization included thermogravimetric analysis (TGA), scanning electron microscopy (SEM) with energy-dispersive x-ray spectroscopy (EDXA), and elementary analysis (EA). The presence of the CCA salts and the melamine coating reduced the energy potential of the biomass, altering the burning behavior and significantly increasing the amount of generated ashes. They also caused an increase in the concentrations of copper (Cu), chromium (Cr), arsenic (As), and cadmium (Cd) in the wood ashes as well as lead (Pb) and chromium in the panel ashes.

Shrimp waste is a common waste in seafood processing. It is used as part of the fish meal which is added to feed. Bearing in mind the Green Deal and sustainability development, it was proposed to use northern prawn shells to obtain chitosan (Ch), which could then be used for polyurethane (PUR) modification. In ports, oil micro-spills often flow into the waters of gulfs and, consequently, into the sea. Systematic chemical and petroleum water pollution may pose a threat to flora and fauna. In this study, chitosan, which was obtained from shrimp shells, was used to synthesize polyurethane–chitosan foams (PUR+Ch) with different chitosan concentrations. Selected physico-chemical and sorption properties in relation to oil and water of these materials were determined. It was found that the amount of Ch added to the foam affected its morphology, hardness, density, and thermal and sorption properties. PUR foam with a 1.5% weight of Ch was characterized as having the highest water and oil sorption. The advantages of the tested material as an innovative product with potentially significant proecological values were estimated using strengths–weaknesses–opportunities–threats (SWOT) analysis. The conducted preliminary research made it possible to demonstrate the use of these materials in the processes of water treatment with the mentioned micropollutants.

Low-emission zones (LEZs), incentivizing electric cars, park-and-ride systems, and other traffic reduction schemes, are all single measures aimed at achieving low-/zero-emission mobility. This paper aims to investigate the impact of LEZs’ passenger car banning and argues that such single measures cannot achieve significant traffic or emission reduction levels without being integrated into a well-designed policy package that ensures the sufficient provision of mobility alternatives. Featuring Rotterdam as a single case study, this paper follows a mixed methodology consisting of (1) quantitative real-time data on transport usage that mirror the users’ behavior and (2) qualitative data acquired from in-depth interviews and documents that explain the government’s intention and the users’ behavior. The results show that between 2016 and 2020, after applying the LEZ policy for restricting passenger cars and vans of Euro 3 and lower, there was a 50% decrease in the number of polluting passenger cars and vans entering Rotterdam. However, this decrease is insignificant, since the number of vehicles targeted by the policy was less than 2% of the overall vehicles that entered the LEZ area. The results also shed light on the role of systematic policy packaging in ensuring a change in user behavior. Among other initiatives, a successful LEZ implantation should be supported by inner-city parking reduction, electric vehicle charging facilities, incentive schemes, and alternative sustainable mobility options. Above all, the number of restricted vehicles must be significant. The conclusion and discussion develop a well-structured, educational, evaluative framework and recommend a comprehensive package of policy measures for cities seeking low-emission mobility. The research, however, did not consider the impact of different land-use distributions on the application of the LEZ, which can be an interesting angle for future researchers.

Implementing active learning methods in engineering education is becoming the new norm and is seen as a prerequisite to prepare future engineers not only for their professional life, but also to tackle global issues. Teachers at higher education institutions are expected and encouraged to introduce their students to active learning experiences, such as problem-, project-, and more recently, challenge-based learning. Teachers have to shift from more traditional teacher-centered education to becoming instructional designers of student-centered education. However, instructional designers (especially novice) often interpret and adapt even well-established methods, such as problem-based learning and project-based learning, such that the intended value thereof risks being weakened. When it comes to more recent educational settings or frameworks, such as challenge-based learning, the practices are not well established yet, so there might be even more experimentation with implementation, especially drawing inspiration from other active learning methods. By conducting a systematic literature analysis of research on problem-based learning, project-based learning, and challenge-based learning, the present paper aims to shed more light on the different steps of instructional design in implementing the three methods. Based on the analysis and synthesis of empirical findings, the paper explores the instructional design stages according to the ADDIE (analysis, design, development, implementation, and evaluation) model and provides recommendations for teacher practitioners. Implementing active learning methods in engineering education is becoming the new norm and is seen as a prerequisite to prepare future engineers not only for their professional life, but also to tackle global issues. Teachers at higher education institutions are expected and encouraged to introduce their students to active learning experiences, such as problem-, project-, and more recently, challenge-based learning. Teachers have to shift from more traditional teacher-centered education to becoming instructional designers of student-centered education. However, instructional designers (especially novice) often interpret and adapt even well-established methods, such as problem-based learning and project-based learning, such that the intended value thereof risks being weakened. When it comes to more recent educational settings or frameworks, such as challenge-based learning, the practices are not well established yet, so there might be even more experimentation with implementation, especially drawing inspiration from other active learning methods. By conducting a systematic literature analysis of research on problem-based learning, project-based learning, and challenge-based learning, the present paper aims to shed more light on the different steps of instructional design in implementing the three methods. Based on the analysis and synthesis of empirical findings, the paper explores the instructional design stages according to the ADDIE (analysis, design, development, implementation, and evaluation) model and provides recommendations for teacher practitioners. European Union

This state-of-the-art review paper aims to provide an overview of the current research in supply chain and management on cross-industrial collaborations. It also formulates a theoretical proposition to study them. This research on cross-industrial collaborations is carried out in the more specific context of the circular economy, as the scale-up of this economic model has the particularity of requiring collaborations between organisations from different industrial sectors, a subject that remains to date relatively unexplored. The paper is divided into two parts. The first part is a literature review. A presentation on current knowledge on supply-chain collaborations for the circular economy is realised, followed by a literature gap exploration of cross-industrial collaborations. The second part is a theoretical proposition. Concepts of the network theory and of the inter-organisational proximity framework and their relevance are explained, followed by a proposition of a combination of the two views to conceptualise cross-industrial collaborations. The objective of this concept paper is to provide a thematic and theoretical background for future studies to understand how to connect non-traditional actors within a supply network, how companies from different industries manage to collaborate, and to assess the opportunities and pitfalls of these collaborations for the scale-up of the circular economy.

The development of an integrated energy system (IES) is conducive to promoting the transformation of the energy system and helping to achieve the ‘double carbon’ goal in China. The IES integrates cooling, heating, electricity, gas, and other energy resources, which is significantly more difficult than single energy network planning. This paper systematically sorts out the process of IES network planning and proposes an improved methodology. Firstly, the bottom-up dynamic multiple-load forecasting method of 8760 h a year is proposed as the basis of system configuration and capacity selection. Subsequently, a planning method for energy station location and route optimization using the Dijkstra algorithm is constructed by applying the P-median optimization model. Finally, when optimizing the capacity allocation of the IES, the complementary characteristics of natural gas, electricity and heat, as well as the corresponding energy demand characteristic, have been fully considered, so that the optimization objectives can be reasonably determined. Through the actual calculation, it is found that the optimization method proposed in this paper can reduce the construction cost of the network by 41%. The work combines the process of energy network planning and capacity configuration of IES, which provides a simple, easy and economical solution for IES planning in new areas.