Zhenghui Li, Zhuliang Yu, Da Chen, Longqian Li, Zhimin Lu, Shunchun Yao
{"title":"Soft sensing of NOx emission from waste incineration process based on data de-noising and bidirectional long short-term memory neural networks.","authors":"Zhenghui Li, Zhuliang Yu, Da Chen, Longqian Li, Zhimin Lu, Shunchun Yao","doi":"10.1177/0734242X241259643","DOIUrl":"10.1177/0734242X241259643","url":null,"abstract":"<p><p>Continuous emission monitoring system is commonly employed to monitor NOx emissions in municipal solid waste incineration (MSWI) processes. However, it still encounters the challenges of regular maintenance and measurement lag. These issues significantly impact the accurate and stable control of NOx emissions. Therefore, developing a soft NOx emission sensor to complement hardware monitoring becomes imperative. Considering data noise, dynamic nonlinearity, time series characteristics and volatility in the MSWI process, this article introduces a soft sensor model for NOx emission prediction utilizing the complete ensemble empirical mode decomposition adaptive noise (CEEMDAN)-wavelet threshold (WT) method and bidirectional long short-term memory (Bi-LSTM). Firstly, the original data signal is decomposed into a group of intrinsic mode functions (IMFs) using the CEEMDAN. Subsequently, the WT processes the high-frequency IMFs that are noise-dominant. Then, all IMFs are reconstructed to obtain the denoized signal. Finally, the Bi-LSTM model is employed to predict NOx emissions. Compared to conventional modelling approaches, the model proposed in this article demonstrates the best predictive performance. The mean absolute percentage error, root-mean-squared error and average absolute error on the test set of the proposed model are 3.75%, 5.34 mg m<sup>-3</sup> and 4.34 mg m<sup>-3</sup>, respectively. The proposed model provides a new method to soft sensing NOx emissions. It holds significant practical value for precise and stable monitoring of NOx emissions in MSWI processes and provides a reference for research on modelling key process parameters.</p>","PeriodicalId":23671,"journal":{"name":"Waste Management & Research","volume":" ","pages":"602-615"},"PeriodicalIF":3.7,"publicationDate":"2025-04-01","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"141793633","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":4,"RegionCategory":"环境科学与生态学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
Laís Fabiana Serafini, Paulo José Gomes Monteiro Praça, Fernando González-Andrés, Artur Gonçalves
{"title":"Life cycle approach as a tool for assessing municipal biowaste treatment units: A systematic review.","authors":"Laís Fabiana Serafini, Paulo José Gomes Monteiro Praça, Fernando González-Andrés, Artur Gonçalves","doi":"10.1177/0734242X251326866","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.1177/0734242X251326866","url":null,"abstract":"<p><p>Biowaste is an increasingly relevant environmental issue worldwide, causing significant environmental, economic and social impacts. Effective strategies are crucial to mitigate impacts, maximising biowaste's valorisation. This article presents a systematic literature review on using life cycle assessment (LCA) to evaluate municipal biowaste treatment facilities. The primary objective was to analyse how LCA is applied to assess the environmental efficiency of mechanical and biological treatment involving composting and anaerobic digestion (AD)-based systems. The article addressed the methodological heterogeneity across previous LCA studies, identifying critical gaps and challenges regarding standardisation and result comparability. It underscores the importance of accurately considering environmental indicators and emission factors, as these significantly affect overall LCA outcomes. Results show that most publications focus on Europe and Asia, highlighting a research gap in regions like Africa. The organic fraction municipal solid waste is the predominant feedstock, and 1 tonne of biowaste was the frequently used functional unit, reflecting the upstream impacts of waste. The most recurrent system boundary was the cradle-to-grave, offering a comprehensive analysis as it covers all stages of biowaste treatment from collection to disposal. The studies highlight the environmental benefits of AD-based systems through energy production compensations, particularly in reducing global warming potential, compared with other treatment operations such as landfills. While replacing mineral fertilisers with digestate and compost is very well discussed, it raises concerns about heavy metal content and nutrient availability. Therefore, selective collection of organic waste is crucial to improve compost quality and AD efficiency, though it increases transportation costs.</p>","PeriodicalId":23671,"journal":{"name":"Waste Management & Research","volume":" ","pages":"734242X251326866"},"PeriodicalIF":3.7,"publicationDate":"2025-03-27","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"143721596","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":4,"RegionCategory":"环境科学与生态学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
Graça Martinho, Ana Gomes, Pedro Santos, Mário Ramos
{"title":"Evaluation of a specific system of extended producer responsibility for veterinary medicines packaging waste.","authors":"Graça Martinho, Ana Gomes, Pedro Santos, Mário Ramos","doi":"10.1177/0734242X251326270","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.1177/0734242X251326270","url":null,"abstract":"<p><p>In Portugal, packaging products for veterinary medicines (VM) are subjected to the extended producer responsibility (EPR) scheme coordinated by a Producer Responsibility Organisation (PRO), responsible for the management of both human and VM packaging waste. Despite an 80% recycling target for VM packaging waste, recent years have consistently shown performance below this level. However, there is no compositional data on VM packaging waste in scientific literature, hindering effective problem diagnosis and solution proposals. So, this research proposes a protocol to characterise VM packaging waste entering and leaving a sorting centre and presents the corresponding results. Of the 822.1 kg entering the centre, glass is the predominant material (66.7%, in weight). Often, glass has rubber and metal attached, but this is not recognised as a constraint on recyclability by the glass recycling industry. Biohazardous VM waste was found in the containers dedicated to pharmacologic VM waste, raising a challenge. To evaluate alignment with the principles of circularity, opportunities for waste reduction were assessed but found to be limited by stringent VM regulations. Nevertheless, the potential for recycling could be enhanced through adjustments to the sorting procedures. Moreover, future research should prioritise biohazard risks and operational aspects of recyclability. In addition, discussion and potential reconsideration of recycling rate targets for this waste category are recommended.</p>","PeriodicalId":23671,"journal":{"name":"Waste Management & Research","volume":" ","pages":"734242X251326270"},"PeriodicalIF":3.7,"publicationDate":"2025-03-27","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"143732085","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":4,"RegionCategory":"环境科学与生态学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
Xiaoqing Ai, Xiaoyue Zhang, Yi Tian, Mei Lu, Wei Wang
{"title":"Research status, key technologies and development trends of pharmaceutical waste salt treatment technology: A review.","authors":"Xiaoqing Ai, Xiaoyue Zhang, Yi Tian, Mei Lu, Wei Wang","doi":"10.1177/0734242X251326271","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.1177/0734242X251326271","url":null,"abstract":"<p><p>The expanding pharmaceutical industry generates a large amount of waste salt (WS) with a complex composition, which is difficult to treat and poses potential risks to the environment and human health. Removing toxic organic compounds has become a bottleneck issue that needs to be addressed. This article presents a comprehensive review of traditional and emerging treatment technologies based on the sources and characteristics of WS from the pharmaceutical industry. It also discusses the problems and challenges faced by typical WS treatment technologies and evaluates the application of innovative integrated processes. Building on this, a future outlook for pharmaceutical WS treatment technologies is outlined. This review aims to assist scientists in enhancing their understanding of different technologies used for treating WS, thereby accelerating the improvement of process parameters and technologies.</p>","PeriodicalId":23671,"journal":{"name":"Waste Management & Research","volume":" ","pages":"734242X251326271"},"PeriodicalIF":3.7,"publicationDate":"2025-03-25","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"143711332","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":4,"RegionCategory":"环境科学与生态学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
{"title":"Microplastics in Chinese coastal waters: A mini-review of occurrence characteristics, sources and driving mechanisms.","authors":"SiQiong Li, Hua Wang, XiangYu Feng, Yichuan Zeng, Yuhan Shen, Qihui Gu","doi":"10.1177/0734242X241248727","DOIUrl":"10.1177/0734242X241248727","url":null,"abstract":"<p><p>The oceans are facing global and irreversible pollution from microplastics, and China is not immune. In this mini-review, information on microplastics in four coastal waters of China and the natural and social environment of key basins were compiled. The results showed that microplastics were ubiquitous in the coastal waters, and the abundance and spatial distribution of microplastics varied significantly under different sampling methods. For trawl samples, microplastic abundance ranged from 0.045 to 1170.8 items m<sup>-3</sup>, among which the coastal waters of the East China Sea were the most polluted. For filtered samples, microplastic abundance ranged from 46 to 63,600 items m<sup>-3</sup>, and the coastal waters of the Yellow Sea were the most polluted. Meanwhile, human activities in basin were the key factors affecting microplastic pollution in coastal waters. The main terrestrial source in the coastal waters of the South China Sea was express packaging loss, whereas the main source in the other coastal waters was tyres and road markings wear from vehicle trip. The decoupling results of analytic hierarchy process showed that there was spatial heterogeneity in the impact of socio-economic and natural environmental factors in the basin on the distribution of microplastics in coastal waters. Among the five major basins, the impact weights of the latter were 20.00%, 83.34%, 66.66%, 50.00% and 25.00%, respectively. This study provides the first perspective of land-sea linkage to summarize the characteristics, sources and influencing factors of microplastics in Chinese coastal waters, providing ideas for reducing marine microplastic pollution from the source.</p>","PeriodicalId":23671,"journal":{"name":"Waste Management & Research","volume":" ","pages":"358-368"},"PeriodicalIF":3.7,"publicationDate":"2025-03-01","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"140944557","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":4,"RegionCategory":"环境科学与生态学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
Xuewen Wu, Weihua Gu, Shengjuan Peng, Jianfeng Bai
{"title":"Investigating the distribution of microplastics in soils from e-waste dismantling sites and their adsorption of heavy metals.","authors":"Xuewen Wu, Weihua Gu, Shengjuan Peng, Jianfeng Bai","doi":"10.1177/0734242X241251432","DOIUrl":"10.1177/0734242X241251432","url":null,"abstract":"<p><p>Microplastics are characterized by strong hydrophobicity, large specific surface area. In addition to the pollutant they contain, the heavy metals adsorbed on the surface of microplastics can migrate or be transformed with them into the environmental medium, which is potentially harmful to humans. The distribution characteristics of microplastics in contaminated soil at the e-waste dismantling site were studied. The study investigated the adsorption characteristics of polyvinyl chloride (PVC), polypropylene (PP) and acrylonitrile-butadiene-styrene (ABS) on copper (Cu), zinc (Zn) and lead (Pb). It analysed the influence of various factors on the adsorption process of heavy metals, the adsorption law of microplastics on some of the heavy metals in the environment, and the risk of heavy metal release from microplastics to soil. The results showed that ABS and PP were the main microplastics in the contaminated soil. Among them, black, white and transparent microplastics accounted for 89.91%. The shape of microplastics is mainly granular, and microplastics with a particle size of 1-2 mm accounted for the largest proportion. Further studies showed that plastic particles made of ABS, PP and PVC also have the adsorption capacity for different types of heavy metals in soil, and the trends of adsorption capacity are: PP>PVC>ABS. When PP does not reach adsorption equilibrium in the adsorption process, the smaller the particle size and the more added amount, the greater the adsorption capacity. This is because the smaller the particle size of the microplastic is, the more adsorption points it can provide, increasing its ability to adsorb heavy metal ions.</p>","PeriodicalId":23671,"journal":{"name":"Waste Management & Research","volume":" ","pages":"386-396"},"PeriodicalIF":3.7,"publicationDate":"2025-03-01","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"141154856","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":4,"RegionCategory":"环境科学与生态学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
Charlotte Nilsson, Stefan Karlsson, Bert Allard, Thomas von Kronhelm
{"title":"Phosphorus speciation in sewage sludge and their ashes after incineration as a function of treatment processes.","authors":"Charlotte Nilsson, Stefan Karlsson, Bert Allard, Thomas von Kronhelm","doi":"10.1177/0734242X241252913","DOIUrl":"10.1177/0734242X241252913","url":null,"abstract":"<p><p>Phosphorus (P) is a key component in agricultural fertilizers, but it is also a scarce resource, why its recycling has been thoroughly investigated and one promising resources is sewage sludge. Because of stricter regulations in terms of sludge disposal, thermal treatment (e.g. incineration) has become an attractive option. The incineration process alters the chemical speciation of P in favour to calcium-associated (apatite, apatite phosphorus (AP)) species, which is preferred for P recovery. In order to achieve qualitatively transformation, it is important to identify limiting or promoting factors. This study reports on the impact of iron, aluminium and calcium on the transformation of iron- and aluminium-phosphate (NAIP) to AP species, assessed by studying sludge and ash from 10 municipal wastewater treatment plants in Sweden. The effect of iron and aluminium added in the treatment processes was also evaluated. The obtained results show that high calcium concentration favours formation of AP species in both sludge and ashes, whereas high concentration of iron and aluminium favours formation of NAIP species in the sludge. The transformation from NAIP to AP species is hampered by aluminium, irrespectively of its origin, whereas no such correlations could be seen for iron. Therefore, in order to enable efficient P recovery from sewage sludge ash, the amount of aluminium added in the treatment process, as well as its concentration in influent streams to the treatment plants, must be limited.</p>","PeriodicalId":23671,"journal":{"name":"Waste Management & Research","volume":" ","pages":"378-385"},"PeriodicalIF":3.7,"publicationDate":"2025-03-01","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC11874579/pdf/","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"141184790","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":4,"RegionCategory":"环境科学与生态学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"OA","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
Zahid Ali, Yasir Jamil, Hafeez Anwar, Raja Adil Sarfraz
{"title":"Classification of e-waste using machine learning-assisted laser-induced breakdown spectroscopy.","authors":"Zahid Ali, Yasir Jamil, Hafeez Anwar, Raja Adil Sarfraz","doi":"10.1177/0734242X241248730","DOIUrl":"10.1177/0734242X241248730","url":null,"abstract":"<p><p>Waste management and the economy are intertwined in various ways. Adopting sustainable waste management techniques can contribute to economic growth and resource conservation. Artificial intelligence (AI)-based classification is very crucial for rapid and contactless classification of metals in electronic waste (e-waste) management. In the present research work, five types of aluminium alloys, because of their extensive use in structural, electrical and thermotechnical functions in the electronics industry, were taken. Laser-induced breakdown spectroscopy (LIBS), a spectral identifier technique, was employed in conjunction with machine learning (ML) classification models of AI. Principal component analysis (PCA), an unsupervised ML classifier, was found incapable to differentiate LIBS data of alloys. Supervised ML classifier was then trained (for 10-fold cross-validation) on randomly selected 80% and tested on 20% spectral data of each alloy to assess classification capacity of each. In most of the tested variants of K nearest neighbour (kNN) the resulting accuracy was lower than 30% but kNN ensembled with random subspace method showed improved accuracy up to 98%. This study revealed that an AI-based LIBS system can classify e-waste alloys rather effectively in a non-contactless mode and could potentially be connected with robotic systems, hence, minimizing manual labour.</p>","PeriodicalId":23671,"journal":{"name":"Waste Management & Research","volume":" ","pages":"408-420"},"PeriodicalIF":3.7,"publicationDate":"2025-03-01","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"140898779","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":4,"RegionCategory":"环境科学与生态学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
Paolo Salvatore Calabrò, Elsayed Elbeshbishy, Farokh Laqa Kakar, Demetrio Antonio Zema
{"title":"A short bibliographic review concerning biomethane production from wastewater sludge.","authors":"Paolo Salvatore Calabrò, Elsayed Elbeshbishy, Farokh Laqa Kakar, Demetrio Antonio Zema","doi":"10.1177/0734242X241252906","DOIUrl":"10.1177/0734242X241252906","url":null,"abstract":"<p><p>Biomethane production by anaerobic digestion (AD) of sludge from municipal wastewater treatment is a viable practice to valorise the residues of these plants. However, although the relevant literature is abundant, no comprehensive reviews have been recently published on this topic. Detailed information concerning the factors influencing the AD process and values of biomethane production from the sludge from municipal wastewater treatment plants (MWWTPs) on the global scale may support technicians and researchers in both the planning and the design steps of an AD process. This study proposes a systematic review and a meta-analysis of the factors that noticeably influence biomethane yield deriving from AD of sludge from MWWTP. The reported values were systematically analysed compared to the main factors driving AD, including publication year, geographical area of each study, type of digested sludge, treatment in the water line of the MWWTP, possible sludge pre-treatments, type of digestion process, hydraulic retention time (HRT) and temperature regime of the AD process. A higher biomethane production was registered in North American plants compared to countries in other continents. Older studies published between 2001 and 2005 reported lower mean values compared to the more recent experiments. A gradient of 'primary sludge' > 'mixed sludge' > 'wastewater activated sludge' was found for the mean biomethane yield in relation to the digested sludge type. The mean biomethane yields for different types of sludge on a global scale are 0.425, 0.296 and 0.176 Nm<sup>3</sup> kg <sub>VS</sub><sup>-1</sup> for primary sludge, mixed sludge and waste activated sludge, respectively. Overall, the study demonstrates: (i) the very large variability of biomethane yields from AD of the residues from MWWTPs (mainly due to the different characteristics of sludge) and (ii) the non-significance of some factors (i.e. treatment in the water line, pre-treatments, type of process, HRT and temperature regime) on energy yields from the AD process.</p>","PeriodicalId":23671,"journal":{"name":"Waste Management & Research","volume":" ","pages":"297-305"},"PeriodicalIF":3.7,"publicationDate":"2025-03-01","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"140959637","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":4,"RegionCategory":"环境科学与生态学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
{"title":"Bi-objective optimization for last-mile routing of garbage trucks: Aesthetics and Public exposure.","authors":"Aathira K Das, Bhargava Rama Chilukuri","doi":"10.1177/0734242X241252914","DOIUrl":"10.1177/0734242X241252914","url":null,"abstract":"<p><p>In the area of Solid Waste Management, transportation of the collected waste is a critical aspect considering the substantial time spent by garbage trucks on public roads. Studies have reported that transporting garbage has challenges related to public exposure and aesthetics. This study presents a generalised bi-objective formulation for the optimal routing of garbage trucks from transfer stations to recycling sites/landfills considering the trade-off between public exposure and aesthetic loss and constraining the operating cost. The formulation uses the novel link capacity function to account for the delay at traffic signals and the mix of trucks and cars on link performance. The proposed formulation is solved using the weighted sum and ε-constraint methods and applied to a realistic case study of the City of Chicago, USA. The Pareto Front obtained for the bi-objective formulation offers diverse trade-off solutions catering to distinct performance metrics. The results highlight the disparity across the solutions; the solution (P0.95 on Pareto Front) for minimum operating cost (or travel time or distance travelled) is very different from the solution (P0.4 on Pareto Front) for aesthetic cost and public exposure. The parametric study indicated that a modest operating budget may suffice for achieving aesthetic benefits, but minimising public exposure requires a higher operating budget. Finally, the proposed framework is adaptable to address various challenges pertaining to waste transportation, thereby serving as a valuable tool for evaluating policies and practices geared towards sustainability objectives.</p>","PeriodicalId":23671,"journal":{"name":"Waste Management & Research","volume":" ","pages":"369-377"},"PeriodicalIF":3.7,"publicationDate":"2025-03-01","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"141088446","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":4,"RegionCategory":"环境科学与生态学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}