BACKGROUND Developing cities like Khulna, the third largest metropolitan city in Bangladesh, have now begun to confess the environmental and public health risks associated with uncontrolled dumping of solid wastes mainly due to the active participation of non-governmental organizations (NGOs) and community-based organizations (CBOs) in municipal solid waste (MSW) management. METHODS A survey ...

The European Union Landfill Directive (1999/31 EC) promotes more environmental friendly waste management options, by reducing the amount of wastes and more specific of biodegradable wastes, disposed of in landfills. The EU member states are adopting the mechanical-biological treatment process for municipal solid waste and non-hazardous industrial wastes to comply with the abovementioned Directi...

This paper presents a comparison of commercial fluidized bed gasifiers and combustors used to recover energy from municipal solid wastes and biomass. The work reported here is excerpted from four case studies prepared for the International Energy Agency’s Bioenergy Agreement, under Task 23 (Energy from Thermal Conversion of MSW and RDF, 1998-2000) and Task 36 (Energy from Integrated Solid Waste...

Anaerobic digestion of dairy cow manure (CM), the organic fraction of municipal solid waste (OFMSW), and cotton gin waste (CGW) was investigated with a two-phase pilot-scale anaerobic digestion (AD) system. The OFMSW and CM were digested as single wastes and as combined wastes. The single waste digestion of CM resulted in 62m3 methane/ton of CM on dry weight basis. The single waste digestion of...

Management of municipal solid wastes (MSW) in most developed societies now involves the use of thermo-chemical conversion methods. This leads to energy and material recovery while also protecting the environment. However, till date most of the wastes generated in Nigeria (including plastic wastes) are either land-filled or openly burnt. These methods are not sustainable and environmentally non-...

During six months of experimentation, a plug-flow system without recirculation was employed to study the volatile fatty acids (VFA) production by means of anaerobic fermentation of urban organic wastes. Results showed an important VFA production at mesophilic range of temperature (37°C). Particulary, VFA concentration in the outlet sludge went from 11.8 g/L at 2 days of retention time up to 23....

This paper presents an overview of current solid waste management practices in Kohima, Nagaland, India and suggests solutions to some of the major problems. The levels of socio-economic development determine the quantity and composition of solid waste. Higher the level of economic development, greater the proportion of waste composition. The total population of the city is 1,32,836, among those...

The aim of this study was to describe the processes that control humic carbon sequestration in soil. Three experimental sites differing in terms of management system and climate were selected: (i) Abanilla-Spain, soil treated with municipal solid wastes in Mediterranean semiarid climate; (ii) Puch-Germany, soil under intensive tillage and conventional agriculture in continental climate; and (ii...

The main purpose of this study is to reduce the production cost of cellulase by optimizing the production medium and using an alternative carbon source such as municipal solid waste residue. In the present investigation, we aim to isolate the two novel cellulase producing fungi (Aspergillus niger and Trichoderma sp.) from municipal solid waste. Municipal solid waste residue (4-5% (w/v)) and pep...