Supporting Household Waste Sorting Practices by Addressing Information Gaps

2020 ◽  
Vol 20 (4) ◽  
Author(s):  
Mikkel Bayard Rasmussen ◽  
Kelvin Østergaard Pagels ◽  
Devarajan Ramanujan
Keyword(s):  
Circular Economy ◽  
Mobile Application ◽  
Waste Stream ◽  
Household Waste ◽  
Preliminary Survey ◽  
Waste Streams ◽  
Detailed Survey ◽  
The Future ◽  
Mixed Waste ◽  
Information Gaps

Abstract The Danish government has outlined a target of recycling 50% of total household waste by the year 2022 and transitioning to a circular economy in the future. Improving household waste sorting is an important consideration toward achieving this goal. This paper focuses on understanding existing waste sorting practices among Danish residents. We conducted a preliminary survey (N = 180) that assessed preference for sorting strategies and the types of waste sorted. Following this, a more detailed survey was conducted (N = 357) that assessed residents’ motivation to sort household waste, knowledge of local sorting requirements, information gaps that prevent effective sorting, and need for specific features in a mobile application. Results show that over one-third of respondents felt they needed additional waste sorting information. Respondents had fewer inaccuracies disposing items within a single waste stream (e.g., electronics waste) compared to items with mixed waste streams (e.g., milk carton with a plastic cap). Based on these findings, we propose the design of a mobile application that can potentially support household waste sorting in Denmark.

Addressing Information Gaps in Household Waste Sorting Using a Mobile Application

2019 ◽  
Author(s):  
Kelvin Østergaard Pagels ◽  
Mikkel Bayard Rasmussen ◽  
Devarajan Ramanujan
Keyword(s):  
Mobile Application ◽  
Waste Stream ◽  
Household Waste ◽  
Preliminary Survey ◽  
Waste Streams ◽  
Detailed Survey ◽  
Mixed Waste ◽  
Information Gaps

Abstract The Danish government has outlined a target of recycling 50% of total household waste by the year 2022. Improving household waste sorting is an important consideration towards achieving this goal. This paper focuses on understanding existing waste sorting practices among Danish residents and exploring whether a mobile application can help address any existing information gaps. We conducted a preliminary survey (N = 180) that assessed preference for sorting strategies and the types of waste sorted. Following this a more detailed survey was conducted (N = 357) that assessed residents’ motivation to sort household waste, knowledge of local sorting requirements, information gaps that prevent effective sorting, and need for specific features in a mobile application. Results show over one-third of respondents felt they needed additional waste sorting information. Respondents had fewer inaccuracies disposing items within a single waste stream (e.g., electronics waste) compared to items with mixed waste streams (e.g., milk carton with a plastic cap). Based on these findings we propose the design of a mobile application that can potentially improve household waste sorting.

Sustainable Waste Management Challenges in Argentina

2020 ◽  
pp. 1-34 ◽  
Author(s):  
Atilio Armando Savino ◽  
Ernesto de Titto
Keyword(s):  
Waste Management ◽  
Hazardous Waste ◽  
Circular Economy ◽  
Buenos Aires ◽  
Household Waste ◽  
Waste Streams ◽  
General Picture ◽  
Best Available Technologies ◽  
Development Agenda ◽  
Owned Company

A general picture of waste management in Argentina is presented, taking into consideration the obligations of the state to guarantee the collection of household waste and to dispose of it in authorized sites and the generator's responsibility on the management of hazardous waste. Separate boxes are presented to present the activities performed by organized waste pickers and by CEAMSE, a state-owned company responsible for waste disposition in the metropolitan area of Buenos Aires. Waste management is essential for a sustainable development agenda. As witnessed in Argentina, this requires (1) closing open dumpsites, (2) a reliable and complete waste collection service, and (3) proper treatment of all waste streams. It is thus clear the need to (1) promote a circular economy; (2) tackle the management of organic waste; (3) ensure the adequate control and treatment of hazardous waste; (4) promote a suitable set of policies, regulations, and economic instruments; (5) select the best available technologies; and (6) formalize the informal phase of recycling.

scholarly journals Conceptualising Reuse in African Households: Perspectives from Chembe, Malawi

2021 ◽  
Author(s):  
Marc Kalina ◽  
Mvuselelo Ngcoya ◽  
Bembeyere Nkhoma ◽  
Elizabeth Tilley
Keyword(s):  
Circular Economy ◽  
Household Waste ◽  
Waste Streams ◽  
Waste Reuse ◽  
Ethnographic Fieldwork ◽  
Theoretical Perspectives ◽  
Poor Understanding ◽  
Rural Africa ◽  
The Individual ◽  
Multiple Lives

AbstractAfrican households are often models of sustainability, practicing daily behaviours, which, if even not directly associated by the individual with Western conceptualisations of ‘recycling’ or ‘reuse’, have dramatically positive impacts on the amounts of household waste generated. However, rarely has the African household been given the same consideration, and there is a poor understanding within the discipline how poor individuals, and Africans in particular, understand and conceptualise ‘waste’ as both a problem and a resource. Drawing on Kennedy and Appadurai’s theoretical perspectives, the purpose of this article is to critically examine and contextualise household solid waste reuse practices in Chembe, Malawi, a rapidly densifying village and a constituent part of one of the nation’s premier resort destinations. Drawing on extensive ethnographic fieldwork with residents and stakeholders, findings suggest that, within Chembe, reuse practices, and the motivations that drive them, are both widespread and diverse, with a multitude of ‘waste’ items living multiple ‘lives’ before being ultimately discarded as ‘trash’. These behaviours are facilitated by the fact that many desirable waste items are widely available locally within Chembe, and although some of these reuse practices may be widespread within Malawi, others have been uniquely fostered by Chembe’s position as an affluent tourism destination with abundant and easily accessible waste streams. This investigation is particularly important within the context of rural Africa, and the Global South more broadly. Moreover, it should critically inform circular economy, zero waste, and broader waste management studies discourse, where African households have been habitually treated as problems needing solutions, rather than potential sources of innovation and learning.

Pocket E-Li: Listening Assessment Made Easy

2019 ◽  
Vol 3 (1) ◽  
pp. 4
Author(s):  
Norazean Sulaiman ◽  
Nurul Nadiah Dewi Faizul Ganapathy ◽  
Wan Faizatul Azirah Ismayatim
Keyword(s):  
Mobile Application ◽  
Listening Comprehension ◽  
Teaching And Learning ◽  
Positive Response ◽  
Mobile Apps ◽  
Listening Skills ◽  
Current Technology ◽  
The Future ◽  
Level Of Understanding ◽  
Almost All

Listening skills should be given more attention as listening takes precedence over anything else when it comes to acquiring a language (Putriani, Sukirlan & Supriyadi, 2013). Even with the booming of various technology to facilitate teaching and learning of listening skills in class, the assessment conducted to identify students’ level of understanding of certain topic is still not up-to-date and not parallel with the advancement of technology. The current studies show that the use of mobile apps for listening purpose is proven to be effective in reducing students’ anxiety (Rahimi & Soleymani, 2015), sustaining students’ motivation (Read & Kukulska-Hulme, 2015), and improving students’ linguistic competencies (Ramos & Valderruten, 2017). This study is aimed to test the effectiveness of mobile application in assessing students’ listening skills. Diploma students from various faculties in UiTM Shah Alam were randomly chosen to answer listening comprehension questions via the prototype developed, named Pocket E-Li. The results demonstrate that the majority of the students provided positive response towards the implementation of mobile application for listening assessment. Almost all respondents agreed that listening assessment should be conducted via mobile application in the future. It can be concluded that listening assessment via mobile application is beneficial to students since it meets the students’ demands and needs which is equivalent with the use of current technology.

scholarly journals The “ReWaste4.0” Project—A Review

Processes ◽  
2021 ◽  
Vol 9 (5) ◽  
pp. 764
Author(s):  
Renato Sarc
Keyword(s):  
Circular Economy ◽  
Industry 4.0 ◽  
Waste Treatment ◽  
Digital Communication ◽  
Review Article ◽  
Plant Performance ◽  
Energy Materials ◽  
Treatment Processes ◽  
Mixed Waste ◽  
Further Development

ReWaste4.0 is an innovative and cooperative K-Project in the period 2017–2021. Through ReWaste4.0 the transformation of the non-hazardous mixed municipal and commercial waste treatment industry towards a circular economy has started by investigating and applying the new approaches of the Industry 4.0. Vision of the ReWaste4.0 is, among others, the development of treatment plants for non-hazardous waste into a “Smart Waste Factory” in which a digital communication and interconnection between material quality and machine as well as plant performance is reached. After four years of research and development, various results have been gained and the present review article summarizes, links and discuss the outputs (especially from peer-reviewed papers) of seven sub-projects, in total, within the K-project and discusses the main findings and their relevance and importance for further development of the waste treatment sector. Results are allocated into three areas, namely: contaminants in mixed waste and technical possibilities for their reduction as well as removal; secondary raw and energy materials in mixed waste and digitalization in waste characterization and treatment processes for mixed waste. The research conducted in ReWaste4.0 will be continued in ReWaste F for further development towards a particle-, sensor- and data-based circular economy in the period 2021–2025.

scholarly journals Extending Multilevel Statistical Entropy Analysis towards Plastic Recyclability Prediction

2021 ◽  
Vol 13 (6) ◽  
pp. 3553
Author(s):  
Philippe Nimmegeers ◽  
Alexej Parchomenko ◽  
Paul De Meulenaere ◽  
Dagmar R. D’hooge ◽  
Paul H. M. Van Steenberge ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Circular Economy ◽  
Real Life ◽  
Plastic Waste ◽  
Entropy Analysis ◽  
Waste Collection ◽  
Statistical Entropy ◽  
Waste Streams ◽  
Material Component ◽  
Future Work

Multilevel statistical entropy analysis (SEA) is a method that has been recently proposed to evaluate circular economy strategies on the material, component and product levels to identify critical stages of resource and functionality losses. However, the comparison of technological alternatives may be difficult, and equal entropies do not necessarily correspond with equal recyclability. A coupling with energy consumption aspects is strongly recommended but largely lacking. The aim of this paper is to improve the multilevel SEA method to reliably assess the recyclability of plastics. Therefore, the multilevel SEA method is first applied to a conceptual case study of a fictitious bag filled with plastics, and the possibilities and limitations of the method are highlighted. Subsequently, it is proposed to extend the method with the computation of the relative decomposition energies of components and products. Finally, two recyclability metrics are proposed. A plastic waste collection bag filled with plastic bottles is used as a case study to illustrate the potential of the developed extended multilevel SEA method. The proposed extension allows us to estimate the recyclability of plastics. In future work, this method will be refined and other potential extensions will be studied together with applications to real-life plastic products and plastic waste streams.

scholarly journals Migration of Sulfur and Nitrogen in the Pyrolysis Products of Waste and Contaminated Plastics

2021 ◽  
Vol 11 (10) ◽  
pp. 4374
Author(s):  
Waldemar Ścierski
Keyword(s):  
Circular Economy ◽  
Physicochemical Parameters ◽  
Literature Analysis ◽  
Waste Plastics ◽  
Pyrolysis Process ◽  
Pyrolysis Products ◽  
Plastics Recycling ◽  
A Value ◽  
Mixed Waste ◽  
Pyrolytic Oil

The most advantageous way of managing plastics, according to circular economy assumptions, is recycling, i.e., reusing them. There are three types of plastics recycling: mechanical, chemical and energy recycling. The products of the pyrolysis process can be used for both chemical and energy recycling. Possibilities of further use of pyrolysis products depend on their physicochemical parameters. Getting to know these parameters was the aim of the research, some of which are presented in this article. The paper presents the research position for conducting the pyrolysis process and discusses the results of research on pyrolysis products of waste plastics. The process was conducted to obtain the temperature of 425 °C in the pyrolytic chamber. Such a value was chosen on the basis of my own previous research and literature analysis. The focus was on the migration of sulfur and nitrogen, as in some processes these substances may pose a certain problem. Studies have shown high possibilities of migration of these elements in products of pyrolysis process. It has been shown that the migration of sulfur is similar in the case of homogeneous and mixed waste plastics—it immobilizes mainly in pyrolytic oil. Different results were obtained for nitrogen. For homogeneous plastics, nitrogen immobilizes mainly in char and oil, whereas for mixed plastics, nitrogen immobilizes in pyrolytic gas.

scholarly journals Poland’s Proposal for a Safe Solution of Waste Treatment during the COVID-19 Pandemic and Circular Economy Connection

2021 ◽  
Vol 11 (9) ◽  
pp. 3939
Author(s):  
Krzysztof Pikoń ◽  
Nikolina Poranek ◽  
Adrian Czajkowski ◽  
Beata Łaźniewska-Piekarczyk
Keyword(s):  
Thermal Treatment ◽  
Waste Management ◽  
Municipal Solid Waste ◽  
Solid Waste ◽  
Economic Impact ◽  
Circular Economy ◽  
Waste Treatment ◽  
Management Systems ◽  
Waste Streams

The purpose of the study presented in this text is to show the influence of COVID-19 on waste management systems and circular economy stream, and their impact on circular economy, particularly the economic impact of the pandemic on the waste management sector, impact on circular economy objectives’ implementation as well as additional challenges like the need for hygienization of waste streams during different implementation efforts, such as changes in the municipal solid waste market and different waste processes of their disposal. Additionally, some methods—such as thermal treatment—which seemed to be not fully aligned with the circular economy approach have advantages not taken into account before. Incineration of higher volume of waste affects the waste structure and will change some of the circular economy objectives. The analysis was carried out on the example of the Polish market.

Sign in / Sign up

Export Citation Format

Share Document