Unlike most leaf-cutting ants, which have underground waste dumps, the leaf-cutting ant Atta colombica dumps waste in a heap outside the nest. Waste is hazardous, as it is contaminated with pathogens. We investigated the organization of the workforce involved in outside-nest tasks (foraging, waste disposal) and quantified task switching and heap location to test hypotheses that these tasks are ...

BACKGROUND Operating rooms (ORs) are estimated to generate up to one-third of hospital waste. At the London Health Sciences Centre, prosthetics and implants represent 17% of the institution's ecological footprint. To investigate waste production associated with total knee arthroplasties (TKAs), we performed a surgical waste audit to gauge the environmental impact of this procedure and generate ...

background: the first step of solid waste management is identification of its composition and the amount of solid waste production per capita. the aim of this research was to estimate the quantity of solid waste production at mazandaran university of medical sciences and the possibility of recycling. methods: this study was a cross-sectional study. the quantity of solid waste production was mea...

background : due to the crucial role of dental solid waste in the spreading of pathogens and threats to human health and the environment, its optimal management is very important. methods: this was a descriptive cross-sectional study. the study population consisted of 40 dental centers, from among which 11 dental centers were selected through random sampling. from each center, 3 samples were co...

Waste management plans usually address all types of ship-generated waste and cargo residues originating from ships calling at ports. Well developed waste management plan is a serious step towards reduction of the environmental impact of ship-generated waste. Such important and at the same time complex considerations can be supported by application of modern mathematical theories. Evaluation of ...

India faces major environmental challenges associated with waste generation and inadequate waste collection, transport, treatment and disposal. Current systems in India cannot cope with the volumes of waste generated by an increasing urban population, and this impacts on the environment and public health. The challenges and barriers are significant, but so are the opportunities. This paper repo...

Olive mill solid waste (OMSW) is a pollutant waste coming from olive oil elaboration by the two-phase centrifugation system. OMSW has a high organic matter content and unbalanced carbon to nitrogen (C/N) ratio, 31/1, which avoids obtaining high methane yields in the anaerobic digestion of this waste. In the present study a microalgae, Dunaliella salina, was employed as co-substrate for the OMSW...

Hazardous waste management should fulfil the following three main goals: (i) to protect human health and the environment, (ii) to reduce waste while conserving energy and natural resources and (iii) to reduce or eliminate the volume of waste to dispose of. The last two of these goals may derive from recycling, which aims at reducing raw materials and energy consumption and decreasing the volume...

This paper provides a general overview of solid waste data and management practices employed in Turkey during the last decade. Municipal solid waste statistics and management practices including waste recovery and recycling initiatives have been evaluated. Detailed data on solid waste management practices including collection, recovery and disposal, together with the results of cost analyses, h...