1. Go Off the Grid

Our unending energy use is not only burning through our limited natural resources but is extremely damaging to the environment. Solar power, however, is an effective, green and clean source of renewable energy. Switching over to solar power is a move that many eco-conscious individuals and businesses are making.

The start-up costs of installing solar panels for your home may seem daunting, but that money will quickly be made up by the thousands you’ll save on your utility bills each month. Going off the grid will also make you independent and unaffected by increases in rates or electrical issues in your area – bonus!

2. Try EV

The carbon dioxide emissions coming from your car contribute massively to air pollution and the damage being done to the environment, and there are so many ways to negate this problem. Gas emissions can be reduced if more people begin using public transport, opting for a bicycle commute or even walking which is great for your health too. However, if you prefer to own your own vehicle as many people do, there is still another option for you.

Electric vehicles are the so-called future of transport and they’re completely changing the automotive industry. They’re better for the environment (and your pocket) in more than one way. EVs can reduce gas emissions and if you charge using solar energy, your transport can be considered almost entirely green. This is a move towards the future that any green-conscious human will want to get behind.

3. Meatless Monday

Believe it or not, what you put on your plate has a major impact on your carbon footprint. Food production is complex, but most studies do agree that cutting down on meat consumption (particularly red meat) is a step in the right direction when it comes to protecting the environment. This means that changing over to a vegan or vegetarian diet would drastically reduce your carbon footprint, but it doesn’t have to be all or nothing.

Slowly starting to make more environmentally friendly swaps to your diet will have you making an impact in whatever way you can. Start off with one vegetarian meal per week – Meatless Monday. This weekly swap will make a difference in your impact and spending and encourage you to get creative in the kitchen too. If you find that you enjoy veggie-based meals, you can add more and more meat-free days to your week.

4. Reduce Your Waste

Food waste is a major problem across the globe, but it can quite easily be curbed with just a little extra care and thought. Carefully planning out your shopping trips can make a huge difference in the amount of food that gets wasted. Planning your meals for the week ahead of time and shopping your own pantry and fridge before you hit the supermarket is a great way to make sure that everything in your home is being used up before you buy extra and end up wasting (especially fresh produce).

It’s a good idea to plan your meals around what you already have and keep leftovers in mind while considering what you’ll be eating throughout the week. If you’re not keen on eating the same meal two days in a row, loads of meals can be packed away in the freezer and reheated on another day, and perhaps save you from ordering takeout again. 

5. Recycle and Compost

Loads of us recycle – we’ve been told how important it is from the moment we can walk. However, it’s a good idea to brush up on how the whole system works. Recycling can be complex and having leftover food or perhaps the wrong type of plastic caught up in the mix, could potentially ruin a whole batch of recycling.

Check-in with your local recycling plant to find out their rules and regulations, and always do your best to clean out your tins and bottles before recycling them. You can also reduce your waste even further by starting a compost heap in your backyard.

Composting is a great way to get rid of food waste like vegetable peels and eggshells in a way that’s clean and beneficial to the planet. You can use your compost to feed your plants! 

Looking for resources to get started with composting? Composting takes time. It can take a few weeks to several months for your compost to be ready to be used.

6. Shop Sustainably

Fast fashion is easy, convenient and cheap, but it’s also much like its namesake: fast. Constantly splashing the cash on trendy items that only last a season is bad for the environment. Why? When these clothes are no longer wanted or worn, a large percentage of them end up in landfills and take an age to decompose. This is bad for the bank, bad for the environment and the harsh reality is that fast fashion is a pretty unethical business to start off with.

Shopping smarter is shopping kinder. Fill your closet with classic, staple pieces that you know you’ll get years of use out of and try to avoid excessive and impulse buying as far as possible. Thrifting is an incredible way to reduce your carbon footprint. Buying second hand and donating your old clothes can both contribute to an overall more sustainable clothing industry that the planet and your wallet will love.

The post 6 Ways to Level-Up Your Eco Efforts first appeared on BioEnergy Consult.

Collection and Transportation

There are two factors which have a significant impact on the costs and viability of a waste management system as it relates to collection and transportation: first, the distance travelled between collection and disposal point; and second, the extent to which ‘wet’ kitchen waste can be kept separate from dry waste much of which can be recycled. Separating waste in this way reduces the costs of manual sorting later on, and increases the prices for recyclable materials.

In many larger towns distances become too great for door-to-door collectors to dispose waste directly at the dump site. Arrangements are made to dispose of waste at secondary storage points (large skips) provided by the municipality. However, where these are not regularly emptied, the waste is likely to be spread beyond the bins, creating a further environmental hazard.

Ideally, and if suitable land can be found, a number of smaller waste disposal sites located around a town would eliminate this problem. With significant public awareness efforts on our part, and continual daily reminders to home-owners, we were able to raise the rate of household separation to about 60%, but once these reminders became less frequent, the rate dropped rapidly back to around 25%. The problem is compounded in larger cities by the unavailability of separated secondary storage bins, so everything is mixed up again at this point anyway, despite the best efforts of householders.

If rates are to be sustained, it requires continual and on-going promotion in the long term. The cost of this has to be weighed against the financial benefit of cleaner separated waste and reduced sorting costs. Our experience in Sri Lanka shows how important a role the Local Authority can play in continuing to promote good solid waste management practices at the household level.

Home Composting

Our experience with home composting shows that complete coverage, with every household using the system, is very unlikely to be achieved. Where we have promoted it heavily and in co-operation with the Local Authority we have found the sustained use of about 65% of the bins. Even this level of coverage, however, can have an important impact on waste volumes needing to be collected and disposed of. At the same time it can provide important, organic inputs to home gardening, providing a more varied and nutritious diet for poor householders.

Waste to Compost and Waste to Energy

The variety of technologies we have demonstrated have different advantages and disadvantages. For some, maintenance is more complicated and there can be issues of clogging. For the dry-fermentation chambers, there is a need for a regular supply of fresh waste that has not already decomposed. For other systems requiring water, quite large amounts may be needed. All of these technical challenges can be overcome with good operation and maintenance practices, but need to be factored in when choosing the appropriate technology for a given location.

The major challenge for compost production has been to secure regular sales. The market for compost is seasonal, and this creates an irregular cash flow that needs to be factored in to the business model. In Bangladesh, a significant barrier has been the need for the product to be officially licensed. The requirements for product quality are exacting in order to ensure farmers are buying a product they can trust.

However, the need for on-site testing facilities may be too prescriptive, creating a barrier for smaller-scale operations of this sort. Possibly a second tier of license could be created for compost from waste which would allow sales more easily but with lower levels of guarantees for farmers.

Safe Food Production and Consumption

Community people highly welcomed the concept of safe food using organic waste generated compost. In Sri Lanka, women been practicing vertical gardening which meeting the daily consumption needs became source of extra income for the family.

Female organic fertilizer entrepreneurs in Bangladesh are growing seasonal vegetables and fruits with compost and harvesting more quality products. They sell these products with higher price in local and regional markets as this is still a niche market in the country. The safe food producers require financial and regulatory support from the government and relevant agencies on certification and quality control to raise and sustain market demand.

Conclusion

Solid waste management is an area that has not received the attention it deserves from policy-makers in South Asia nations. There are signs this may change, with its inclusion in the SDGs and in many INDCs which are the basis of the Paris Climate Agreement. If we are to meet the challenge, we will need new approaches to partnerships, and the adoption of different kinds of systems and technologies. This will require greater awareness and capacity building at the Local Authority level. If national climate or SDG targets are to be met, they will need to be localised through municipalities. Greater knowledge sharing at national and regional levels through municipal associations, regional bodies such as SAARC and regional local authority associations such as Citynet, will be an important part of this.

Practical Action’s key messages for regional and national policy makers, based on our experience in the region in the last 5 years, are about the need for:

• creating new partnerships for waste collection with NGOs and the informal sector,
• considering more decentralised approaches to processing and treatment, and
• recognising the exciting potential for viable technologies for generating more value from waste

The post Solid Waste Management in South Asia: Key Lessons first appeared on BioEnergy Consult.

Waste Collection and Transportation

In many cities, waste collection services fail to reach all areas of the town or city. People are left to manage their own waste, which they do by burning and burying it, or dumping on open spaces. Sometimes large bins or skips are provided but they may be irregularly emptied, and also overflow when the contents is picked over by waste pickers and animals.

In Bangladesh, in order to help increase the overall capacity for collecting household waste, Practical Action has promoted a door-to-door collection service run by local NGOs. Residents pay a service charge in addition to their municipal rates, but in return they receive a regular service, leading to a cleaner neighbourhood.

In Faridpur, the local NGO, WORD, with technical backstopping from Practical Action serves more than 5,000 customers with waste collection. There are three main types of customer, non-slum households, slum households and institutions. Slum-based households are charged the lowest tariffs (minimum BDT 10) while the institutional rate is highest (minimum BDT 150).

The numbers of slum households is small because the alternative option of localized composting (with a barrel system) was widely taken up. This is easier than collection through vans and is useful for slum people as they can use the compost later. Waste collectors use small rickshaw vans for the collection service. Recently we have also introduced small small rickshaw vans and small motorized versions for the collection service.

The waste is taken to a composting facility where it is sorted and the organic portion is separated for composting, and in some cases for generating biogas. In 2008, WORD started the waste collection business with only 525 customers. In the last 8 years, the number has increased more than tenfold (5,100 customer per month) making the solid waste management a viable business. It has not only contributed to a better living environment, but also generated green and dignified jobs for 21 waste workers.

The municipal conservancy department continues to play a regulatory and coordinating role through the Waste Management Steering Committee. This meets regularly to discuss any emerging issues and review the progress of door-to-door collection services. The conservancy department continues to manage the sweeping of streets and drains, and collection of waste from some areas of the town, from vegetable markets and slaughter houses. The only recycling and reuse of organic waste is done by WORD, as all municipal waste for now continues to be disposed at an open dumping site where no further treatment, sorting or reuse takes place.

In Nepal, Practical Action has facilitated organic waste management under a public-private partnership model. For example, in Butwal Municipality, a private firm, Marry Gold Concern, collects and manages wastes from 400 households with a monthly service fee of NPR 50 (GBP 0.33) in an area called Ramnagar. The company employs three operators for collecting and managing waste from low income communities. A compost plant has been set up which processes up to 10 metric tonnes of organic waste and generate 5 metric tonnes of compost per month. In addition, recyclable waste, mainly plastic, is sold to scrap dealers, creating another source of income.

Recycling and Disposal by Forming Associations and Enterprises

In Bangladesh, collection services have been organised through existing local NGOs. In Nepal, Practical Action has instead helped to form different groups of Informal Waste Workers (IWW) such as street waste pickers, waste segregators, pheriya (dry waste pickers), scrap owners and door to door collectors.

We have worked intensively  with IWW from five municipalities of Kathmandu Valley. We have facilitated the establishment of a IWWs association called Samyukta Safai Jagaran (SASAJA), and the first waste workers’ cooperative with the same name. These organisations have distributed identity cards to members to increase their recognition as an ‘official’ part of the waste management system. We provided basic safety equipment to 5,622 IWWs, including rain boots/shoes, gloves, masks, raincoats, windcheaters with trouser and wrapper, aprons, cap etc. to minimize health risks.

Following capacity building and skill enhancement training from Practical Action, many of the IWW group members have established waste-based enterprises. For example, plastic tearing (PET bottle and carton crushing or pressing) for recycling and reuse; paper recycling and mechanical composting of organic waste. This approach has been scaled up in other municipalities in Chitwan and Rupadehi districts reaching around 350 IWWs there.

Reducing Waste through Home Composting

In Nepal and Sri Lanka, and in some slum communities in Bangladesh, we have promoted barrel composting of organic waste. This has the dual benefit of producing compost locally which can be used for home gardening, and reducing the amount of waste that needs to be collected and disposed of elsewhere.

It can reduce the amount of organic waste coming in to the waste collection stream by about 20-30%. It requires community involvement in waste management system as well as frequent monitoring and troubleshooting. This process ensures source segregation of waste, a necessary condition for proper implementation of the 3R system (reuse, reduce and recycle).

Practical Action has distributed more than 2,000 compost bins in Sri Lanka. Especially in Galle, Kurunegala and Akkaraipattu cities where we have distributed about 1,500 home composting bins from 2006 to 2016. More than 65% of the bins are being regularly used.

Our experience shows that once a locality is provided with home composting, the volume of organic waste into the municipal collection system is reduced around 20-30%. However, this varies greatly by locations. If the local authority strictly monitors the compost bin usage and provides troubleshooting support, waste reduction can reach up to 30%.

Both Kurunegala and Galle municipal councils have upscaled the distribution of bins city-wide with the support of national government funding. This technology was taken up by the private sector and other municipal councils. It has been used widely in the country as a solution for reducing organic waste coming in to the waste collection system. For example, Kandy municipal council has adopted the technology with strict restriction on organic waste collection in the municipality collection system.

The Provincial Agriculture department in Kurunegala and the Coconut cultivation board in Akkaraipattu are both promoting organic agriculture with the usage of composting and are using Practical Action’s work as examples for expansion. The central government has provided seeds and fertilizer to city dwellers, including the urban poor, to promote home gardening.

This has been further expanded by Kurunegala municipal council which has distributed potted plants. Some of the vertical gardening structures promoted by Practical Action are now included in urban gardening models of the Western Province Urban Agriculture unit.

The post Solid Waste Management in South Asia – Practical Action’s Experience first appeared on BioEnergy Consult.

The truth is that everything makes a difference. The better each person looks after the Earth, the more the environment can sustain itself and recover. Here are a few small changes you can make in your own garden.

1. Look After Your Soil

A vegetable patch is one of the great delights of a garden. Growing your own produce is satisfying, sustainable, and delicious. However, soil that fosters crops year after year gets tired, just as we do when we work our jobs for too long without a break.

Regenerative agriculture is a farming practice that takes care of the soil used to grow crops. This is achieved by giving the soil a break once in a while. This can be done by rotating crops, so one patch of soil isn’t used for one especially labor-intensive crop each year, or by simply giving a field a year off.

You can do this on a smaller scale in your yard. If you’ve been using the same part of your garden as a vegetable patch for a few years, consider switching it out with another one. Refertilize the soil in your veg patch and give it time to rest. Let the worms improve it and perhaps grow some less intensive crops like wildflowers in that patch for a year. It’ll be ready to grow crops again the next year, and they’ll be all the better for being grown in rested, regenerated soil.

Also Read: Home Improvement and Eco-Conscious Plant Care

2. Get a Compost Bin

One of the easiest ways you can benefit the environment is by composting waste rather than throwing it away. Landfills have a devastating impact on the environment, and the less we put in them, the better.

Composting fruit and vegetable waste along with recyclable material like cardboard is a great start. It also means you’ll have a ready supply of high-quality compost to mulch through your soil once it breaks down, which regenerates the soil and helps you grow healthier plants!

3. Grow Plants That Attract Pollinators

Another excellent tip is to grow more wildflowers and pollinator-friendly plants. The best choices may surprise you – garden centers and bees don’t always agree on what the best plants are for your garden. Some wildflowers look slightly unkempt compared to neat hedgerows, but your local bee population will appreciate it. And the bees need help!

Likewise, it’s not just the pretty, dopey bumblebees that act as pollinators. Hoverflies and even wasps play a critical role in local ecosystems. We know – attracting wasps is a hard sell. But these insects are crucial to our environment’s survival. They’ll appreciate the help.

4. Avoid Pesticides and Weedkillers

Pesticides and weedkillers are terrible for the environment. Some organic options are less harmful, but ultimately, the less you can use these, the better.

There are exceptions. An ant infestation needs to be dealt with as soon as it appears. But if you can avoid spraying pesticides and weedkillers over your garden, it’ll be a happier place.

5. Nurture Fungi

If you see mushrooms growing in your yard, it’s a sign of a healthy ecosystem! Fungi break down dying plant matter, and they’re to be welcomed. Again, exceptions can be made – for example, if you have small children who might get a bit too inquisitive.

Final Thoughts

Your yard is the best place to start doing your bit for the environment. A few small changes make a big difference – nobody is too small to help!

The post 5 Small, Positive Environmental Differences You Can Make in Your Backyard first appeared on BioEnergy Consult.

War on Waste

Sustainable management of waste is a good opportunity for armed forces to promote environmental stewardship, foster sustainable development and generate goodwill among the local population and beyond. Infact, top military bases in the Western world, like Fort Hood and Fort Meade, have an effective strategy to counter the huge amount of solid waste, hazardous waste and other wastes generated at these facilities.

Waste management at military bases demands an integrated framework based on the conventional waste management hierarchy of 4Rs – reduction, reuse, recycling and recovery (of energy). Waste reduction (or waste minimization) is the top-most solution to reduce waste generation at military bases which demands close cooperation among different departments, including procurement, technical services, housing, food service, personnel. Typical waste reduction strategies for armed forces includes

• making training manuals and personnel information available electronically
• reducing all forms of packaging waste
• purchasing products, such as food items, in bulk
• purchasing repairable, long-lasting and reusable items

Due to large fraction of recyclables in the waste stream, recycling is an attractive proposition for the armed forces. However, environmental awareness, waste collection infrastructure, and modern equipment are essential for the success of any waste management strategy in a military installation.

Food waste and yard waste (or green waste) can be subjected to anaerobic digestion or composting to increase landfill diversion rates and obtain energy-rich biogas (for cooking/heating) and nutrient-rich fertilizer (for landscaping and gardening). For deployed forces, small-scale waste-to-energy systems, based on thermal technologies, can be an effective solution for disposal of combustible wastes, and for harnessing energy potential of wastes. In case of electronic wastes, it can be sent to a Certified Electronics Recycling and Disposal firm.

Key Aspect

Management options for military installations is dependent on size of the population, location, local regulations, budgetary constraints and many other factors. It is imperative on base commanders to evaluate all possible options and develop a cost-effective and efficient waste management plan. The key factors in the success of waste management plan in military bases are development of new technologies/practices, infrastructure building, participation of all departments, basic environmental education for personnel and development of a quality recycling program.

Military installations are unique due to more than one factor including strict discipline, high degree of motivation, good financial resources and skilled personnel. Usually military installations are one of the largest employers in and around the region where they are based and have a very good influence of the surrounding community, which is bound to have a positive impact on overall waste management strategies in the concerned region.

The post Waste Management Perspectives for Military first appeared on BioEnergy Consult.

Contributing Factors

Being the 6^th most populated country in the world; there is a lot of consumerism and with it a great deal of waste being produced. Like other developing countries, waste management sector in Pakistan is plagued by a wide variety of social, cultural, legislative and economic issues.  In the country, more waste is being produced than the number of facilities available to manage it. Some of the major problems are:

• There is no proper waste collection system
• Waste is dumped on the streets
• Different types of waste are not collected separately
• There are no controlled sanitary landfill sites. Opening burning is common.
• Citizens are not aware of the relationship between reckless waste disposal and resulting environmental and public health problems

As a result of these problems, waste is accumulating and building up on roadsides, canals, and other common areas and burning trash is common, causing hazardous toxins to be exposed thereby threatening human and environmental health. Among the already few landfill sites that are present, even fewer are in operation. Even within Pakistan’s capital, Islamabad, there are no permanent landfills to be found.

The waste on the roads allows for an ideal environment for various flies to thrive which effects both human health and the health of the environment for other species. The poor solid waste management in Pakistan has caused numerous diseases and environmental problems to rise.

Waste Management Situation in Lahore

In Lahore, the capital of Punjab and the second largest city in Pakistan, there are currently no controlled waste disposal facilities are formal recycling systems, though roughly 27% of waste (by weight) is recycled through the informal sector, Lahore does not have very high performing governmental management in the waste management situation. Instead, the City District Government Lahore established the Lahore Waste Management Company and left the responsibility of the Solid Waste Management in Lahore to them. Beginning in 2011, Lahore Waste Management Company strives to develop a system of SWM that ensures productive collection, recovery, transportation, treatment and disposal of the waste in Lahore.

Lahore Waste Management Company (LWMC) has over 10,000 field workers involved in waste collection and disposal. Though the LWMC is working in phases, 100% collection rates are not seen yet. Lahore currently only has three disposal sites which are no more than dumps, where illegal dumping and trash burning is common. However, there is some resource recovery taking place. It is estimated that 27% of dry recyclables are informally recycled within the city. Additionally a composting plant converts 8% of waste into compost.

In general, the governance over the Waste Management in Lahore is hardly present. Though there are current projects and plans taking place, by the Lahore Waste Management Company for example, in order to achieve a productive and sustainable system in the city it is necessary for all service providers (formal, private, and informal) to take part in decisions and actions.

Current Activities and Projects

According to the United Nations Environment Program, there are six current activities and plans taking place towards an efficient waste management system. These current activities are as follows:

• Solid Waste Management Guidelines (draft) prepared with the support of Japan International Cooperation Agency (JICA), Japan.
• Converting waste agricultural biomass into energy/ material source – project by UNEP, IETC Japan.
• North Sindh Urban Services Corporation Limited (NSUSC) – Assisting the district government in design and treatment of water supply, sanitation and solid waste management
• The URBAN UNIT, Urban Sector Policy & Management Unit P & D Department, Punjab. Conducting different seminars on awareness of waste water, sanitation & solid waste management etc.
• Lahore Compost (Pvt.) Ltd. only dealing with the organic waste with the cooperation of city district government Lahore, Pakistan. The company is registered as a CDM project with UNFCCC.
• Different NGOs are involved at small scale for solid waste collection, and recycling.

Additionally, in November 2013 a German company, agreed to invest in the installation of a 100 megawatt power plant which generates energy from waste from Lahore. Progress is being made on the country’s first scientific waste disposal site in Lakhodair. With this in mind, the Lahore Waste Management Company considered other possible technologies for their Waste-to-Energy project. They opened up applications for international companies to hire as the official consultant for LWMC and their project. The results of the feasibility study results showed that the power plant has the potential to process 1035 tons of municipal waste daily, and generate 5.50 megawatt electricity daily.

The Way Forward

Although SWM policies do exist, the levels at which they are implemented and enforced lack as a result of the governmental institutions lacking resources and equipment. These institutions are primarily led by public sector workers and politicians who are not necessarily the most informed on waste management. For improvements in municipal solid waste management, it is necessary for experts to become involved and assist in the environmental governance.

Due to the multiple factors contributing to the solid waste accumulation, the problem has become so large it is beyond the capacity of municipalities. The former director of the Pakistan Council of Scientific and Industrial Research, Dr. Mirza Arshad Ali Beg, stated, “The highly mismanaged municipal solid waste disposal system in Pakistan cannot be attributed to the absence of an appropriate technology for disposal but to the fact that the system has a lot of responsibility but no authority.” Laws and enforcement need to be revised and implemented. The responsibility for future change is in the hands of both the government, and the citizens.

Waste practices in the Pakistan need to be improved. This can start with awareness to the public of the health and environment impacts that dumped and exposed waste causes. It is imperative for the greater public to become environmentally educated, have a change in attitude and take action.

The post Solid Waste Management in Pakistan first appeared on BioEnergy Consult.

China’s three primary methods for municipal waste management are landfills, incineration, and composting. Nevertheless, the poor standards and conditions they operate in have made waste management facilities generally inefficient and unsustainable. For example, discharge of leachate into the soil and water bodies is a common feature of landfills in China. Although incineration is considered to be better than landfills and have grown in popularity over the years, high levels of toxic emissions have made MSW incineration plants a cause of concern for public health and environment protection.

Prevalent Issues

Salman Zafar, a renowned waste management, waste-to-energy and bioenergy expert was interviewed to discuss waste opportunities in China. As Mr. Zafar commented on the current problems with these three primary methods of waste management used by most developing countries, he said, “Landfills in developing countries, like China and India, are synonymous with huge waste dumps which are characterized by rotting waste, spontaneous fires, toxic emissions and presence of rag-pickers, birds, animals and insects etc.” Similarly, he commented that as cities are expanding rapidly worldwide, it is becoming increasingly difficult to find land for siting new landfills.

On incineration, Zafar asserted that this type of waste management method has also become a controversial issue due to emission concerns and high technology costs, especially in developing countries. Many developers try to cut down costs by going for less efficient air pollution control systems”. Mr. Zafar’s words are evident in the concerns reflected in much of the data ­that waste management practices in China are often poorly monitored and fraudulent, for which data on emission controls and environmental protection is often elusive.

Similarly, given that management of MSW involves the collection, transportation, treatment and disposal of waste, Zafar explains why composting has also such a small number relative to landfills for countries like China. He says, “Composting is a difficult proposition for developing countries due to absence of source-segregation. Organic fraction of MSW is usually mixed with all sorts of waste including plastics, metals, healthcare wastes and industrial waste which results in poor quality of compost and a real risk of introduction of heavy metals into agricultural soils.”

Given that China’s recycling sector has not yet developed to match market opportunities, even current treatment of MSW calls for the need of professionalization and institutionalization of the secondary materials industry.

While MSW availability is not an issue associated with the potential of the resource given its dispersion throughout the country and its exponential increase throughout, around 50 percent of the studies analyzed stated concerns for the high moisture content and low caloric value of waste in China, making it unattractive for WTE processes.

Talking about how this issue can be dealt with, Mr. Zafar commented that a plausible option to increase the calorific value of MSW is to mix it with agricultural residues or wood wastes. Thus, the biomass resources identified in most of the studies as having the greatest potential are not only valuable individually but can also be processed together for further benefits.

Top Challenges

Among the major challenges on the other hand, were insufficient or elusive data, poor infrastructure, informal waste collection systems and the lack of laws and regulations in China for the industry. Other challenges included market risk, the lack of economic incentives and the high costs associated with biomass technologies. Nevertheless, given that the most recurring challenges cited across the data were related to infrastructure and laws and regulations, it is evident that China’s biomass policy is in extreme need of reform.

China’s unsustainable management of waste and its underutilized potential of MSW feedstock for energy and fuel production need urgent policy reform for the industry to develop. Like Mr. Zafar says, “Sustainable waste management demands an integration of waste reduction, waste reuse, waste recycling, and energy recovery from waste and landfilling. It is essential that China implements an integrated solid waste management strategy to tackle the growing waste crisis”.

Future Perspectives

China’s government will play a key role in this integrated solid waste management strategy. Besides increased cooperation efforts between the national government and local governments to encourage investments in solid waste management from the private sector and foster domestic recycling practices, first, there is a clear need to establish specialized regulatory agencies (beyond the responsibilities of the State Environmental Protection Administration and the Ministry of Commerce) that can provide clearer operating standards for current WTE facilities (like sanitary landfills and incinerators) as well as improve the supervision of them.

Without clear legal responsibility assigned to specialized agencies, pollutant emissions and regulations related to waste volumes and operating conditions may continue to be disregarded. Similarly, better regulation in MSW management for efficient waste collection and separation is needed to incentivize recycling at the individual level by local residents in every city. Recycling after all is complementary to waste-to-energy, and like Salman Zafar explains, countries with the highest recycling rates also have the best MSW to energy systems (like Germany and Sweden).

Nevertheless, without a market for reused materials, recycling will take longer to become a common practice in China. As Chinese authorities will not be able to stop the waste stream from growing but can reduce the rate of growth, the government’s role in promoting waste management for energy production and recovery is of extreme importance.

The post Waste-to-Energy Sector in China: Perspectives first appeared on BioEnergy Consult.

Date palm is considered a renewable natural resource because it can be replaced in a relatively short period of time. It takes 4 to 8 years for date palms to bear fruit after planting, and 7 to 10 years to produce viable yields for commercial harvest. Usually date palm wastes are burned in farms or disposed in landfills which cause environmental pollution in dates-producing nations.

The major constituents of date palm biomass are cellulose, hemicelluloses and lignin. In addition, date palm has high volatile solids content and low moisture content. These factors make date palm residues an excellent biomass resource in date-palm producing nations.

A wide range of physico-chemical, thermal and biochemical technologies exists for sustainable utilization of date palm biomass. Apart from charcoal production and energy conversion (using technologies like combustion and gasification), below are few ways for utilization of date palm wastes:

Conversion into fuel pellets or briquettes

Biomass pellets are a popular type of alternative fuel (analogous to coal), generally made from wood wastes and agricultural biomass. The biomass pelletization process consists of multiple steps including pre-treatment, pelletization and post-treatment of biomass wastes. Biomass pellets can be used as a coal replacement in power plant, industries and other application.

Conversion into energy-rich products

Biomass pyrolysis is the thermal decomposition of date palm biomass occurring in the absence of oxygen. The products of biomass pyrolysis include biochar, bio-oil and gases including methane, hydrogen, carbon monoxide, and carbon dioxide.

Depending on the thermal environment and the final temperature, pyrolysis will yield mainly biochar at low temperatures, less than 450 ⁰C, when the heating rate is quite slow, and mainly gases at high temperatures, greater than 800 ⁰C, with rapid heating rates. At an intermediate temperature and under relatively high heating rates, the main product is bio-oil.

Bio-oil can be upgraded to either a special engine fuel or through gasification processes to a syngas which can then be processed into biofuels. Bio-oil is particularly attractive for co-firing because it can be more readily handled and burned than solid fuel and is cheaper to transport and store.

Conversion into biofertilizer

Composting is the most popular method for biological decomposition of organic wastes. Date palm waste has around 80% organic content which makes it very well-suited for the composting process. Commercial-scale composting of date palm wastes can be carried out by using the traditional windrow method or a more advanced method like vermicomposting.

The post Utilization of Date Palm Biomass first appeared on BioEnergy Consult.

However, I have never yet heard of any Nigerian politician making waste management a feature of his or her manifesto during the election campaign process. Having said that, a few of Nigeria’s political leaders deserve to be commended for coming to terms with the fact that waste has to be managed properly, even if such issues were far from their minds when they entered political office.

Legislation and Framework

Nigeria does have a waste legislation framework in place. Its focus has been on the most toxic and hazardous waste: partly in response to some major pollution incidents in the 1980s, the government took powers in relation to Hazardous Waste in 1988. In the same year, the Federal Environmental Protection Agency was established – and was subsequently strengthened by the addition of an inspectorate and enforcement department arm in 1991, with divisions for standard regulation, chemical tracking and compliance monitoring. These laws have since given rise to regulations and guidelines pertaining to environmental and waste management issues.

Under our laws, waste management in each state is the duty of the local governments that fall within it, but few are taking an active approach to implementing and enforcing the sensible measures that the regulations require. A small number of states have taken over this task from local government, and Delta State’s decision to do this has led to significant new investment in waste management.

One of the fruits of that investment is the Delta State Integrated Waste Management Facility at Asaba for treating both household and clinical waste generated locally. It was developed when the Delta State government decided to put an end to the non-sustainable dumping of waste in Asaba, the state capital.

Integrated Waste Management Facility at Asaba

It is described as an integrated waste management facility because it includes a composting department, a recycling department and a (non-WTE) incineration department. Trucks carrying waste are weighed in as they come into the facility. From the weigh bridge, they move to the relevant reception bay – there are separate ones for household and clinical wastes – to tip their load, and are then weighed again on the way out.

Medical waste is taken directly for incineration, but household wastes are sent along conveyors for sorting. Recyclables and compostable materials are, so far as possible, separated both from other waste and from one another. Each recyclable stream ends up in a chamber where it can be prepared for sale. The compostable materials are moved to the composting section, which uses aerated static pile composting.

The remaining waste is conveyed into the three incinerators – moving grate, rotary kiln and fixed end– for combustion. The resulting ash is recycled by mixing it with cement and sharp sand and moulding it into interlocking tiles. The stacks of the three incinerators are fitted with smoke cleaning systems to reduce emissions. The process produces wastewater, which is channelled to a pit where it is treated and reused. Overall, 30% of the waste is composted, 15% recycled and 55% incinerated.

There are many examples of sophisticated waste infrastructure being built in developing countries, but failing because the necessary collection systems were not in place to support them. To ensure that this problem is avoided at Asaba, the Delta State government is working with a group known as the Private Sector Participants (PSP).

Each member of this group has trucks assigned to them and has been directed to collect household waste from different parts of the city, for delivery to the facility for treatment. The arrangements made by each PSP are different: some collect from outside individual properties, and some from communal sites; most collect waste that is found in the streets; and while each is subsidised by the state, households also have to pay towards the cost.

Before the Asaba waste management facility was developed, most of the wastes generated in Asaba were disposed of at a dumpsite just adjacent to the Delta State Airport. This created a pungent odour, as well as visual disamenity for people nearby. A great deal of remediation work is now taking place at the dumpsite, which is vastly improving the local environmental quality.

War on Waste

Of course, although this is an improvement there remains more to do. First on the list is education. People do not know how sustainable waste management can impact positively in their lives, reducing their exposure to toxins as well as improving their surroundings. Nor do they understand that recycling a beverage can or a plastic bottle will cost less than producing one from virgin materials and will have a lesser environmental impact. There remains a good deal of cultural change and environmental education that is needed before people will stop throwing waste and litter on the streets – but there are few countries where, to some extent, the same would not be true.

Next is the lack of infrastructure. Nigeria has 36 states and a federal capital, yet the facility in Asaba is the first publicly commissioned one of its kind in the country; there are also some privately owned incinerators that a few companies in Port Harcourt use to treat wastes from vessels (ships), hospitals and industries. Lagos state and Abuja are relatively advanced, simply by virtue of having put in place a few managed landfills, but they are still far from having the level of facility that Asaba can now boast.

The backbone of Asaba’s progress is the state government’s commitment to put a proper waste management solution in place. We’ve seen the impact in the form of infrastructure, collections and remediation, and law enforcement work is starting to change people’s perception about waste management in Delta State. At the moment, plans are being concluded to setup another facility in Warri, Delta State’s industrial hub, which will be twice the size of the Asaba facility.?

My hope is that the progress made by Delta State will be a beacon for other states’ governments. The example we are providing of cleaner, hygienic, more environmentally responsible waste management, and the positive changes that is bringing about, should inspire new development elsewhere in the country, which could equal or even exceed Delta State’s results. So whilst Nigeria’s track record on waste may leave a lot to be desired, the path ahead could be a great deal more promising.

Note: The article is being republished with the kind permission of our collaborative partner Isonomia. The original article can be found at this link.

The post Waste Management Progress in Nigeria’s Delta State first appeared on BioEnergy Consult.

Starting in your home is a great way to begin working towards an eco-friendly lifestyle. A custom home builder in Cherry Hill New Jersey, said, “Making your home environmentally savvy can mean installing something as large as solar panels or it can mean something much smaller; like using reusable shopping bags at the grocery store and not buying plastic products. Either way, making your home eco-friendly is important.”

Reducing waste in your home is easy and will have an outstanding impact on the environment. Here are some quick and easy tips to keep in mind that will help you reduce waste in your home:

1. Start Composting

Starting a compost pile creates less trash by recycling leftover food that would otherwise go in the trash. The point of a compost pile is to put the leftover, and even expired, food back into the earth rather than letting it sit in the garbage or in landfills.

A compost pile is easy to start, all you need is a bin and some extra space. After you’re done eating something (as long as it isn’t meat, a milk product, or greasy processed food), you can put it in this bin and then incorporate it into your garden or yard every few weeks. Your food won’t go to waste and your garden/yard will get the nutrients it needs.

2. DIY Beauty and Household Products

Buying less plastic products is another great way to reduce waste in your home. However, most beauty and household products are packaged in plastic containers which makes reducing plastic in this way a major obstacle.

A possible solution to this issue is making your own beauty and household products like floor cleaner, and toothpaste. Making your own natural deodorant is also a great way to reduce waste generation.

Though buying the ingredients to make these products may create a small amount of waste, the ingredients are easier to buy in bulk so you will have to buy them less frequently and will be able to create ample amounts of beauty and household products.

Creating homemade products is also a great way to ensure you aren’t getting chemicals in your products that are damaging to the environment and will create waste or harmful toxins.

3. Meal Plan

Food waste is a huge issue in households. Often, between ¼ to ½  of a household’s weekly produce, meats, and milk products are thrown out at the end of the week. This is preventable with the incorporation of meal planning and meal prepping in your life. By starting a meal plan, you will only buy what you need and will be less likely to waste products because they expired.

This will generate less waste in terms of food that will end up sitting in a landfill but also in terms of plastic packaging waste that food is packaged in.

4. Repair Instead of Replace

This is an easy way to create little waste in your home that many people don’t think about. When something in your home breaks, whether it is a small kitchen appliance or something large like a heater or part of a couch, take the time to repair it instead of getting a new one. If you repair an item, the original one won’t make its way to a landfill and you will get more life out of your products.

If an appliance or piece of furniture is unable to be repaired, make an effort to recycle some of the important parts; or, if you are in the market to buy a replacement, look online for used products or go to a secondhand store. This will create less waste and will also save you money.

5. Cancel and/or Recycle Junk Mail

Easy and free, by canceling and recycling junk mail will immediately reduce waste in your home. Most people don’t even look at the junk mail and toss it right in the garbage can. Canceling subscriptions only requires a phone call or email and will significantly cut back the waste that is generated in your home.

If you receive junk mail that is not sent to you via subscription and you are unable to cancel it, make sure to at least recycle it.

Eliminating junk mail will also help with decluttering your coffee tables and countertops, an added benefit to helping the environment.

Bottom Line

There is always room for improvement when trying to improve your lifestyle in terms of creating less waste. These tips are a great way to start making an impact on saving the environment before it’s too late. Reduce the waste in your life with minimal effort and small, simple changes.

The post Top 5 Tips For Reducing Waste in Your Home first appeared on BioEnergy Consult.