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PubMed2002

The practice and challenges of solid waste management in Singapore.

This paper presents an overview of the current solid waste management situation in Singapore and provides a brief discussion of the future challenges. Singapore is a small island city-state with a large population, warm climate and high humidity. Over the past two to three decades, rapid industrialization and economic development have caused a tremendous increase in solid waste generation. The yearly disposed solid waste increased from 0.74 million tonnes in 1972 to 2.80 million tonnes in 2000. Solid waste management in Singapore has traditionally been undertaken by the Ministry of Environment (ENV), with the participation of some private sectors in recent years. The hierarchy of solid waste management in Singapore is waste minimization (reduce, reuse and recycle or so-called 3 Rs), followed by incineration and landfill. As land is extremely scarce and only one newly constructed offshore landfill site is available, solid waste incineration has been identified as the most preferred disposal method. Waste minimization, the utilization of incineration ashes, industrial waste management are regarded to be the major challenges in the future.

Economics↗

PubMed1984

Management of toxic substances and hazardous wastes.

This paper describes the extent of the hazardous and toxic chemical waste problems in Canada and discusses the management, treatment, and disposal methods commonly used in North America and Europe. The treatment and disposal techniques covered are biological, physical-chemical, incineration technologies, and secure land disposal. Some of the available and emerging technologies for destruction of polychlorinated biphenyls are also described.

Biodegradation, Environmental↗

PubMed2001

Treatability of chromite ore processing waste by leaching.

Developing treatment and disposal strategies and health-based clean-up standards for chromium containing wastes continues to be an important environmental regulatory issue because of the opposing solubility and toxicity characteristics of chromium species under diverse environmental conditions. In this study, leaching characteristics of total Cr and Cr(VI) were investigated using laboratory column studies. The data obtained from the experimental studies were analysed to assess the treatability of chromite ore processing waste (COPW) by leaching and to identify the leaching strategies that enhance mass removal rates of chromium species. COPW used for laboratory soil column studies was obtained from an industrial plant producing sodium chromate in Mersin, Turkey. Laboratory investigations involved chemical characterisation of waste material and column studies. For waste characterisation, U.S. EPA toxicity characterisation leaching procedure (TCLP) was performed on COPW to determine the concentrations of metal species in the TCLP extract. For column studies, various laboratory columns containing plain COPW material, 1:1 COPW/reducing agent (elemental iron or manure) mixture and different type soils (sand, loam and clay) overlain by COPW were subjected to leaching tests using acidic, neutral and alkaline influent water to determine Cr mass leaching efficiencies. Based on the TCLP analyses, COPW is classified as hazardous waste. As a result of comparing the leaching efficiency data from twelve leaching columns, the maximum removal of total Cr was achieved by leaching COPW/manure mixture using acidic (pH 4.78) influent water. The highest Cr(VI) leaching efficiency was achieved in the columns of plain COPW and COPW/manure mixture using highly alkaline (pH 12.0) influent water. The least effective leaching efficiency for both total Cr and Cr (VI) was obtained by leaching plain COPW with neutral (pH 7.0) influent water. Land-disposal of the treated COPW material by mixing with clayey soils seems to be a viable alternative.

Chromium↗

PubMed2003

Don't ban PVC: incinerate and recycle it instead!

Plastics are making a growing contribution to sustainable development. For example, over an expected lifetime of 50 years, the use of window frames and insulating materials made of plastic in buildings save many times the energy required to manufacture them. Plastics for packaging purposes provide protection against damage and dirt contamination, thereby saving considerable amounts of material and energy. Choosing appropriate disposal strategies for plastic waste also helps to protect the environment (Mark 2000).

Conservation of Natural Resources↗

PubMed1993

Impact of a needleless intravenous system in a university hospital.

Needlestick injuries are a serious, but preventable problem in the healthcare industry. Industry has developed better devices to protect the healthcare worker. This study evaluates the impact of a "needleless" intravenous system on needlestick exposures and whether the increased cost of this new system could be justified. Exposures were defined and injury reports analyzed retrospectively and following introduction of the needleless IV system. This study indicates that the introduction of a needleless IV system can significantly reduce the number of IV-related injuries that occur in an institution, and is economically feasible. Other categories of exposure (needle-related, related to other sharps, and trash-related) also showed a drop, whereas exposure from the disposal of sharp devices into needle boxes showed a significant increase. This seems to support other findings that in-room needle-box containers have not thus far reduced the number of injuries related to sharps disposal.

Costs and Cost Analysis↗

PubMed2002

Pattern of intestinal parasites among hosptial patients at Ile-Ife.

Intestinal and extraintestinal parasitic diseases continue to constitute important public health problems in many developing African countries. While malaria continues to ravage the continent, the silent onslaught of intestinal helminthiases and protozoal infection seem not to relent. The objectives of this study was therefore to determine the prevalence of intestinal helminthic and protozoan infections and to determine the trends in intestinal parasitic infections. Results of laboratory investigations for parasitic infections during a three-year period in two succeeding decades (1988-90 and 1996-98) were analysed. During the two periods 4233 (65.1%) of 6504 and 2297 (63.1%) of 3641 clinical specimens were respectively, positive for intestinal parasites. These results are very significant as determinants of the level of environmental and domiciliary hygiene. It is concluded that the findings should be of great concern to the local Authority Health Departments which should spur the government to concerted effort aimed at ameliorating the deplorable situation brought about by indiscriminate faecal disposal.

Developing Countries↗

PubMed2003

Urban garbage disposal and management in China.

This paper, probing into the present situation of urban domestic garbage by analyzing its growing trend, compositional change and regional difference, reveals the problems existing in its disposal and management in China. Meanwhile, a questionnaire was conducted in five big cities around China for surveying urban residents' attitudes towards garbage disposal and management policies and measures. Results showed the output of urban domestic garbage in Chinese cities is ever increasing, and the recoverable materials and energy in garbage composition are also increasing. The population growth, economic development, and increase of residents' expenditure level are the main factors influencing the growing output and changing composition of the garbage. Information acquired from the questionnaire showed that majority of the urban residents are in favor of the garbage reduction policies and managerial measures and are willing to collaborate with municipal government in battling against garbage. Based on the analysis and questionnaire, some policymaking-oriented suggestions such as operating the garbage disposal from a social welfare service to a sector of profit-gaining enterprises, transferring the garbage management from passive end control to active source control, promoting the classified garbage collection in cities around China, and charging garbage fees for its cleanup and disposal, have also been put forward in the paper.

China↗

PubMed1992

Constant incidence rates of needle-stick injury paradoxically suggest modest preventive effect of sharps disposal system.

Does placement of impenetrable sharps disposal systems in hospitals reduce needle-stick injury? To study this question, annual health questionnaires were distributed on a quarterly basis to all 8000 employees in an academic medical center in a large eastern US metropolitan city asking each employee whether he or she had experienced a needle-stick injury since the last questionnaire. Questionnaires from active floor nurses were separated and hand tallied in 1987, 1989, and 1990, the latter 2 years being after impenetrable sharps disposal systems had been placed at nursing stations and in individual patients rooms. Total needle sticks in staff nurses reported during the 3 years (20.5%, 23.2%, 21.8%, not significant) did not decrease in the last 2 years. Simultaneously, hospital purchases of needle-containing devices increased 13.5%. Thus a constant reported needle-stick incidence rate may paradoxically represent a modest preventive effect of a hospital sharps-disposal system.

Equipment Safety↗

PubMed1991

[Nuclear medicine--personnel exposure and release of radioactivity].

The Nuclear Medicine Division and 30 other groups at the University of Hannover School of Medicine are taken as examples to describe the diagnostic, therapeutic and research uses of radioactivity and the effectiveness of the associated radiation protection. The evolution of radiation exposures of 520 employees followed over the last six years and the methods used for the disposal of radioactive waste are explained. The adaptation of protective measures to individual and, in particular, specific working conditions has led to approximately 90% of all exposures remaining under the detection limit of the personal dosimeters during the entire observation period. Only a few people contributed to the collective radiation dose. In 1990, the average annual dose equivalent among personnel in the Nuclear Medicine Division was 0.12 mSv/person. By the installation of facilities for the storage of isotopes with short half-lives and of filters in the air circulation system, environmental contamination could be held much below the legal limits. Combustible and liquid waste containing radionuclides with long half-lives such as tritium and 14C had to be disposed of separately. However, they were a small fraction of the total radioactivity used.

Environmental Pollutants↗

PubMedDate not supplied

Treatment and disposal of contaminated sharps.

Dentists, like other health care workers, make an overt effort to protect themselves and their employees from infectious agents present in the body fluids of their patients. Of special concern are treatment-generated infectious waste materials, such as sharps. Sharps are items such as needles, sutures, scalpel blades, or broken glass which are capable of puncturing, cutting, or abrading tissue. Needles can cause occupational transmission of hepatitis B and AIDS. This article presents methods to safety store, treat, and dispose of sharps. All suggested procedures comply with current Indiana law, CDC guidelines, and EPA and OSHA regulations.

Dental Offices↗

PubMed2002

Land application of phosphorus-laden sludge: a feasibility analysis.

An investigation was conducted to examine aerobic digestion of the phosphorus-laden sludge produced at the Regina Wastewater Treatment Plant and feasibility of land use of this sludge combined with the dewatered anaerobically digested primary sludge from this plant. Experimental studies showed that aerobic digestion can be employed for the stabilization of the chemical sludge. Results of the feasibility analysis showed that mixing the two digested sludges met the heavy metal criteria set by various guidelines for agricultural use, presented the advantage of an increased concentration of nutrients and a decreased concentration of heavy metals, and a longer useful life of the agricultural site compared to using dewatered anaerobically digested primary sludge alone. Land application of the mixed digested sludges would be a more appropriate method of sludge disposal compared to the present practice of landfilling the dewatered sludge and lagooning the chemical sludge.

Agriculture↗

PubMed2005

Linking sediment chemical and biological guidelines for characterization of dredged material.

Dredged material management in Spain and possible options for the different categories is discussed according to chemical sediment quality guidelines. Also an approach using an integrated assessment that includes biological end points as part of a tiered testing schema is discussed for future implementation in Spanish recommendations. To establish the feasibility of using both kinds of guidelines, an example of the utility and validity of the approach that links both chemical and biological guidelines proposed for the management of dredged material characterization processes data from a particular case study associated with a port in the north of Spain are discussed. The use of both kinds of methodologies, together with the necessity of assessing the bioavailability of some contaminants, has been shown as a powerful tool for the best selection of different disposal options of dredged material in the case study described.

Biological Availability↗

PubMed2000

Assessment of impact on health of residents living near the Nant-y-Gwyddon landfill site: retrospective analysis.

OBJECTIVES: To compare indices of health in a population living near a landfill site with a population matched for socioeconomic status and to review environmental monitoring data. DESIGN: Ecological study with small area statistics and environmental reports. SETTING: Electoral wards in valleys of South Wales. SUBJECTS: Populations in the five wards near the landfill site who had formally complained of odours (exposed population), and comparison populations in 22 wards in the same unitary authority within the same fifth of Townsend score. OUTCOME MEASURES: Mortality, rates of hospital admission, measures of reproductive health (proportion of all births and stillbirths of infants weighing <2500 g; rates of admissions for spontaneous abortion; rates of all reported congenital malformations). Environmental data on site emissions. RESULTS: There were no consistent differences in mortality, rates of hospital admissions, or proportion of low birthweight infants between the two populations. There was an increased maternal risk of having a baby with a congenital abnormality in residents near the site, both before its opening (relative risk 1.9; 95% confidence interval 1.3 to 2.85; P<0.001) and after (1.9; 1.23 to 2.95; P=0.003). Environmental monitoring showed that hydrogen sulphide from the site was probably responsible for odours. CONCLUSIONS: The area surrounding the landfill site has an increased rate of reported congenital malformations, which predated the opening of the landfill, although the cluster of cases of gastroschisis post-dated its opening. Several chemicals emitted from the site, including hydrogen sulphide and benzene, were found in air samples in the nearby community. Further studies of the reproductive risk in such communities are needed to examine the safety of waste disposal sites.

Congenital Abnormalities↗

PubMed1993

Disposal of outdated anti-infective products.

After an unsuccessful search for guidelines to destroy outdated anti-infective products, a procedure was developed for pharmacy that uses currently available biohazardous materials. By using a blood/body-fluid absorbent, an inexpensive waste system was developed to avoid the negative public sentiment caused by use of public landfills and avoid the risk of disposing waste in hospital drainage systems.

Anti-Infective Agents↗

PubMed1999

Coming to grips with a slippery issue: human waste disposal in cold climates.

Problems associated with sewage treatment and human wastes at high latitudes are briefly reviewed. In view of the fact that E. coli and other faecal bacteria can survive in the snow and the coastal waters of polar regions, several methods of how to deal with sewage outfalls in the Arctic and Antarctic are compared and discussed. Some consequences of raw sewage on the health of captive populations of a variety of Antarctic invertebrates and fish are described. Locomotion and respiration appear to be most affected. However, gaps, both in understanding the biological impact of human sewage on polar ecosystems and in finding optimal solutions for the disposal and treatment of the wastes generated by people who live in polar settlements, unfortunately still remain.

Antarctic Regions↗

PubMed1980

The handling of antineoplastic drugs in a major cancer center.

It has long been known that many commonly used antineoplastic agents are carcinogenic. Yet most health care professionals take few precautions, if any, when handling these drugs. Recent findings suggest a possible hazard to personnel as evidenced by increased mutagenicity of urine of nurses exposed to anticancer drugs during preparation and administration of doses. Although more study is needed to determine the significance of these data, it would seem prudent to take measures to prevent any unnecessary exposure to these drugs by those preparing and administering them. The policies and procedures at the Memorial Sloan-Kettering Cancer Center require that chemotherapeutic drugs be prepared in a vertical laminar flow containment hood by personnel wearing sterile disposable gloves. Chemotherapeutic agents are specially labeled to ensure segregated disposal of waste, which is subsequently incinerated.

Antineoplastic Agents↗

PubMed2004

[Removal of Cr from tannery sludge by acidophilic Thiobacilli].

The removal of Cr from tannery sludge by bioleaching technology was reported in the paper. Batch experiments involved the inoculation of acidophilic Thiobacilli and addition of elemental sulfur as their substrate. Results showed that Cr removal of 100% could be obtained after 8 days of bioleaching. The oxidation of added sulfur by acidophilic Thiobacilli decreased sludge pH value which caused the solubilization of Cr from tannery sludge. A threshold pH of 2.0 existed for Cr solubilization from tannery sludge, below which Cr solubilization efficiency sharply increased to 80%-100%. This study might provide a newly attractive alternative for the treatment and disposal of heavy metal-contaminated solid wastes.

Acidithiobacillus↗

PubMed2005

Investigation of energy recovery from poultry litter and municipal solid waste by thermochemical conversion method in India.

The waste disposal is becoming a major threat to environmental issues and to sustainable development of mankind. The rapid growth in population and enormous developmental activities are the main causes for the generation of waste in many forms. Hence there is need to redress the concern on environment and efforts to be made for effective collection and disposal of wastes. Most of the solid waste is a mix of household wastes, street wastes, commercial and institutional wastes containing organic as well as inorganic matter. This offers better opportunity to recover energy from organic fraction of wastes by adapting suitable processing and treatment technologies. This paper describes the various technologies need to be adopted for the disposal of poultry waste and municipal solid waste. More emphasis has been given on waste disposal technologies for better environment and economics. The advantages and disadvantages of each disposal technology have been briefed.

Agriculture↗