scholarly journals Plastic Pollution, Waste Management Issues, and Circular Economy Opportunities in Rural Communities

2021 ◽  
Vol 14 (1) ◽  
pp. 20
Author(s):  
Florin-Constantin Mihai ◽  
Sedat Gündoğdu ◽  
Laura A. Markley ◽  
Arianna Olivelli ◽  
Farhan R. Khan ◽  
...  

Rural areas are exposed to severe environmental pollution issues fed by industrial and agricultural activities combined with poor waste and sanitation management practices, struggling to achieve the United Nations’ Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) in line with Agenda 2030. Rural communities are examined through a “dual approach” as both contributors and receivers of plastic pollution leakage into the natural environment (through the air–water–soil–biota nexus). Despite the emerging trend of plastic pollution research, in this paper, we identify few studies investigating rural communities. Therefore, proxy analysis of peer-reviewed literature is required to outline the significant gaps related to plastic pollution and plastic waste management issues in rural regions. This work focuses on key stages such as (i) plastic pollution effects on rural communities, (ii) plastic pollution generated by rural communities, (iii) the development of a rural waste management sector in low- and middle-income countries in line with the SDGs, and (iv) circular economy opportunities to reduce plastic pollution in rural areas. We conclude that rural communities must be involved in both future plastic pollution and circular economy research to help decision makers reduce environmental and public health threats, and to catalyze circular initiatives in rural areas around the world, including less developed communities.

2016 ◽  
Author(s):  
Florin Constantin MIHAI

The paper examines the biowaste management issues across rural areas ofRomania in the context of poor waste management infrastructure in the lastdecade (2003-2012). Biowaste is the main fraction of municipal waste, thusa proper management is a key challenge in order to sustain a bioeconomy inthe near future. The amount of biowaste generated and uncollected by wasteoperators is generally uncontrolled disposed if not recovered through homecomposting. The paper points out the role of home composting in divertingthe biowaste from wild dumps and landfills for the regions covered or notby waste collection services. Home composting and the biowaste losses arefurther assessed based on several scenarios (worse-case, pessimistic,realistic, optimistic) where the net loads of greenhouse gasses (GHG) arecalculated at national and regional levels. The transition of homecomposting techniques, from open piles to plastic bins with respect tostandard guidelines will improve the home composting performance in termsof compost quality and net GHG’s savings, supporting a bio-based economywhich will lead towards a sustainable rural development. Regionaldisparities are revealed across Romanian counties and the paper opens newresearch perspectives regarding which options should be adopted by countiesand rural municipalities in the biowaste management process.


Author(s):  
Veronika Alhanaqtah ◽  
Omar Alhanaqtah ◽  
Antonina Pakhomova

The chapter dwells on the theoretical and practical aspects of the private sector involvement in the system of waste management in rural communities. First, the authors discuss the advantages and disadvantages as well as the risks of the private sector involvement. Second, typical features for developing countries' case studies on the private sector development are analyzed. Third, the authors provide a summary of experience and practical recommendations for decision making concerning the development of the private sector for waste management in rural communities. The authors conclude that public-private partnerships, namely the involvement of the private sector where most effective and appropriate, is the most favorable solution. Commercialization of the public sector could be a reasonable solution for the countries with the middle- and below-middle-income levels, at least at the start.


2018 ◽  
Vol 14 (2) ◽  
pp. 98-105
Author(s):  
O J ADEOSUN ◽  
O D SHOBAYO ◽  
O U DAIRO ◽  
A A ADERINLEWO ◽  
I A OLA

The study assessed the waste management practices adopted by farmers in some rural communities around Abeokuta in Ogun State, Nigeria. Seven research questions were raised and answered, using a total of 40 structured questionnaires. The questionnaires were administered, with personal communi-cation, to individual farmers in order to gather pieces of information from farm establishments in the study area. Farms of one hectare of land and above were sampled. The study revealed the methods of waste management practiced in the area to include incineration (80.0%), “re-use” (40.0%), waste contractors (27.5%), burying and tipping (15%), storage (12.5%), “take back by suppliers” (7.5%) and others (7.5%). the choice of waste management methods adopted by the farmers was found to be dependent on cheapness (32.5%), common practice around (14.0%), suitability (11.0%) and others (2.5%). The level of awareness of waste regulatory bodies was relatively low (35.0%) in the rural areas.


2021 ◽  
Vol 13 (7) ◽  
pp. 3816
Author(s):  
Javier Rodrigo-Ilarri ◽  
Camilo-A. Vargas-Terranova ◽  
María-Elena Rodrigo-Clavero ◽  
Paula-A. Bustos-Castro

For the first time in the scientific literature, this research shows an analysis of the implementation of circular economy techniques under sustainable development framework in six municipalities with a depressed economy in Colombia. The analysis is based on solid waste data production at a local scale, the valuation of the waste for subsequent recycling, and the identification and quantification of the variables associated with the treatment and final disposal of waste, in accordance with the Colombian regulatory framework. Waste generation data are obtained considering three different scenarios, in which a comparison between the simulated values and those established in the management plans are compared. Important differences have been identified between the waste management programs of each municipality, specifically regarding the components of waste collection, transportation and disposal, participation of environmental reclaimers, and potential use of materials. These differences are fundamentally associated with the different administrative processes considered for each individual municipality. This research is a good starting point for the development of waste management models based on circular economy techniques, through the subsequent implementation of an office tool in depressed regions such as those studied.


2017 ◽  
Author(s):  
Florin Constantin MIHAI

The paper aims to examine the changes in the rural waste management sector at regional scale since the Romania adhesion to the EU in 2007. Traditional waste management based on the mixed waste collection and waste disposal often on improper sites prevailed in municipal waste management options of transitional economies across the globe. The lack of formal waste collection services in rural areas has encouraged the open dumping or backyard burning. The paper analyses the improvements and challenges of local authorities in order to fulfill the new EU requirements in this sector supported by data analysis at local administrative unit levels and field observations. Geographical analysis is compulsory in order to reveal the local disparities. The paper performs an assessment of waste collection issues across 78 rural municipalities within Neamt County. This sector is emerging in rural areas of Eastern Europe, but is far from an efficient municipal waste management system based on the waste hierarchy concept.


Oryx ◽  
2019 ◽  
Vol 54 (3) ◽  
pp. 351-358 ◽  
Author(s):  
Francisco Zorondo-Rodríguez ◽  
Darío Moreira-Arce ◽  
Stan Boutin

AbstractCarnivore conservation depends on people's willingness to implement management practices to reduce threats to carnivores and mitigate conflicts between carnivores and domestic animals. We assessed the willingness of rural communities in central-southern Chile to (1) conserve carnivores, and (2) adopt management practices to reduce predation of domestic animals, a key factor triggering carnivore–human conflicts in rural areas. The study focused on five carnivores: the chilla Lycalopex griseus, the culpeo Lycalopex culpaeus, Darwin's fox Lycalopex fulvipes, the guiña or kodkod Leopardus guigna, and the puma Puma concolor. We found that rural communities perceived that threats towards carnivores rarely occurr in their region, contrary to the literature on this subject; people's attitudes differed depending on the carnivore; and people were willing to adopt management practices to help conserve carnivores (e.g. overnight protection of domestic animals and investment in infrastructure for henhouses and cowsheds), except leashing dogs. The willingness to conserve carnivores and adopt practices that would help do so may be associated with how these measures affect people's well-being. Although rural communities would like carnivores to be conserved, this cannot be achieved unless some pivotal practices, such as management of domestic dogs, are adopted by these communities. For successful biodiversity conservation outcomes in human-dominated landscapes, the social incentives necessary for rural communities to adopt appropriate management practices must be identified and implemented.


2020 ◽  
Vol 12 (15) ◽  
pp. 6049
Author(s):  
Sun-Kyoung Shin ◽  
Namil Um ◽  
Yong-Jun Kim ◽  
Na-Hyeon Cho ◽  
Tae-Wan Jeon

With an increasing use of plastic, considerable plastic waste is generated, threatening the environment and public health. In particular, changes in living patterns in urban areas have significantly impacted the rate at which plastic waste increases every year. Thus, governments in many developed countries have implemented numerous policies to reduce plastic waste generation. Among them is the concept of circular economy that aims to protect the environment from plastic pollution and promote growth and innovation in industry and human life through overall changes in designing, producing, using, and recycling plastic products. The Korean government has implemented the Resource Circulation Act (RCA), which includes the concept of circular economy and resource efficiency policy for overall waste management. Following the concept of RCA, the Plastic Waste Control Plan (PWCP) was established for the comprehensive management of plastic waste. Therefore, this study introduces the goals and strategies of PWCP, which has a circulation system of four stages of production, consumption, discharge, and recycling, as well as the major roadblocks in the stages impeding the achievement of the goals and strategies. This study also suggests countermeasures at the government level for solving the major problems in the four stages.


2021 ◽  
Author(s):  
Arthur Messias Sodré Cunha ◽  
Jully do Nascimento Germano ◽  
Gustavo Tavares Machado ◽  
Frank Pavan de Souza

The main proposal of the circular economy is to change the concept of "garbage" fromWaste that was structured in this project and replaced by a continuous and cyclical vision of the production, in which resources are no longer just explored and discarded and are now reused in a new Cycle. The Circular Economy encourages new management practices, creating opportunities and value for organizations in harmony with the environment. This article aims to analyze the feasibility of implementing Circular Economy methods, with an emphasis on controlling scrap disposal in the Açu Port Complex (São Joãoda Barra/RJ), bringing sustainable alternatives to Waste Management. In addition to evaluating its environmental and economic efficiency, it proposes to end the linear production process and reinsert waste into the production cycle to minimize environmental treatment and the extraction of raw materials. The investigation will start through specific exploratory research, bringing as a consequence, possible economic alternatives for the reuse of these materials. The research is also classified as descriptiveand case study since a survey of real information on waste management in the Açu Port Complex will be carried out. It is hoped through this research to demonstrate how the circular economy can contribute to economic, social, and environmental development when used in an interdisciplinary way by productive activities.


2014 ◽  
Vol 20 ◽  
pp. 160-167
Author(s):  
Michael C.O. Ajufoh ◽  
Murtala A. Babaji

Waste management is the collection, transportation, processing, recycling or disposal of waste materials. The term usually relates to materials produced by human activity and is generally undertaken to reduce their effect on health, aesthetics, amenity and the environment and also to recover resources. Waste management can involve solid liquid or gaseous substances with different methods and fields of emphasis for each. Waste management practices differ for developed, developing nations, for urban and rural areas, and for residential and industrial production. This paper tries to deal with illegal and unplanned solid waste disposal; it also attempts to proffer solutions to the problem of improper waste disposal through incineration and recycling of metals, cellophane and Teflon and how Bauchi state can generate some revenue through the recycling of these waste materials. The paper also tries to educate on the problems associated with landfills while dealing briefly, on the advantages of biological processing and also how waste can be avoided and reduced. The paper also tries to present waste management concepts in relation to Bauchi city.


Animals ◽  
2020 ◽  
Vol 10 (5) ◽  
pp. 790 ◽  
Author(s):  
Emily Haddy ◽  
Joao B. Rodrigues ◽  
Zoe Raw ◽  
Faith Burden ◽  
Leanne Proops

Recently, the need for a more holistic approach to welfare assessment has been highlighted. This is particularly pertinent in the case of working equids who provide vital support for human livelihoods, often in low- to middle-income countries, yet suffer from globally low standards of welfare. This study aimed to provide insight into the welfare status and traditional use of working equids in rural Western European communities using the new EARS welfare tool, designed to provide a broad view of the welfare of working equids and the context in which they are found. Other questions on the topics of equid management practices, social transmission of expertise, environmental stressors, and traditions, alongside physical and behavioural welfare assessments were also included to explore the impact of these wide-ranging factors on an understudied population of working equids. The protocol was trialled on 60 working equid owners from communities in Portugal and Spain where, despite the decline in traditional agricultural practices and livestock keeping, donkeys and mules remain working animals. Many owners stated that the help donkeys provided was invaluable, and donkeys were considered to be important for both farming and daily life. However, participants also recognised that the traditional agricultural way of life was dying out, providing insights into the traditional practices, community structure, and beliefs of equid owners. Questions investigating the social networks and social transfer of information within the villages were effective in finding local sources of equid knowledge. Overall, welfare was deemed fair, and the protocol enabled the identification of the most prevalent welfare problems within the communities studied, in this case obesity and the use of harmful practices. The findings suggest that the new protocol was feasible and detail how contextual factors may influence equid welfare. Increasing understanding of the cultural context, social structure, and attitudes within a community, alongside more traditional investigations of working practices and animal management, may, in the future, help to make equid welfare initiatives more effective.


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