Lignocellulosic biomass, which contains cellulose (40-50%), hemicellulose (25-50%) and lignin (10-40%), is the most abundantly available raw material on Earth [1]. Broadly, it is classified into three categories: virgin biomass, waste biomass and energy crops. Owing to the rapid growth of global population and corresponding agricultural activities, the amount of lignocellulosic waste biomass is...

Selected heavy metals (HMs) including Cd, Cr, Cu, Ni, Pb and Zn initially released from a full-scale bioreactor landfill were monitored over the first 20 months of operation. At the initial landfill stage, the leachate exhibited high HMs release, high organic matter content (27000-43000gl(-1) of TOC) and low pH (5-6). By the fifth month of landfilling, the methanogenic stage had been establishe...

Phosphate coating hazardous wastes originated from the automotive industry were efficiently encapsulated by an acid-base reaction between phosphates present in the sludge and calcium aluminate cement, yielding very inert and stable monolithic blocks of amorphous calcium phosphate (ACP). Two different compositions of industrial sludge were characterized and loaded in ratios ranging from 10 to 50...

Ultimately, hundreds of billions of dollars of public and private funds will be spent in the US in hazardous chemical site (Superfund and closed RCRA facilities) investigation and remediation. A critical review of the adequacy of remediation of many of these sites that are “closed” in accord with RCRA and/or CERCLA requirements as being interpreted by regulatory agency staff/boards and principl...

The municipal waste management system of the region of Irkutsk is described and a life cycle assessment (LCA) performed to assess the environmental performance of the system. Annually about 500 000 tons of waste are managed. The waste originates from three sources: household waste (27%), commercial waste (23%) and office & institutional waste (44%). Other waste of unknown composition constitute...

Prediction of biodegradation processes for the organic fraction of municipal solid waste is an issue of paramount interest for efficient landfill design and management. This paper presents the results obtained from an extended field work developed in a time period of ten years. Solid waste samples from a landfill were collected at different depths in 5 holes with depth of 17 m, and analyzed in ...

Recent studies on plastic pollution have shown that microscopic particles or microplastics are ubiquitous. Both abiotic and biotic components affected by microplastics. There several ways to get rid of microplastics, include recycling, landfilling, incineration, biodegradation. Biodegradation is still a widely used remediation technology due its significant economic environmental benefits. One ...

In 2007, 1 100 000 tons of sewage sludge were produced in France. This figure is constantly increasing and sludges have to be eliminated. Four disposal routes are currently possible: land spreading (directly or after composting), incineration, incineration with household wastes and landfilling. These different disposal routes as well as the sludge treatments produce greenhouse gases (GHG). To h...