published_or_final_version / Environmental Management / Master / Master of Science in Environmental Management

Studying the effectiveness of environmental policies is of primary importance to address the unsustainable use of resources that threatens the entire society. Thus, the aim of this paper is to investigate on the effectiveness of environmental policy instruments to decouple waste generation and landfilling from economic growth. In order to do so, the paper analyzes the case study of the Slovakian municipality of Palarikovo, which has drastically improved its waste management system between 2000 and 2012, through the utilization of differentiated waste taxes and awareness-raising and education campaigns, as well as targeting increased recycling and municipal composting. We find evidence of absolute decoupling for landfilled waste and waste generation, the latter being more limited in time and magnitude. These policy instruments could therefore play an important role in municipalities that are still lagging behind in waste management. More specifically, this policy mix was effective in moving away from landfilling, initiating recycling systems, and to some extent decreasing waste generation. Yet, a more explicit focus on waste prevention will be needed to address the entirety of the problem effectively. (author's abstract)

ABSTRACT Introduction: The Gauteng Province in South Africa is home to four large hospitals which generate enormous amounts of waste. However, no formal study has been done to asses the magnitude of this problem. Health care waste falls under a cluster of waste which is regarded as hazardous due to its composition and therefore ability to transmit disease. It has become an important type of waste mainly because of its ability to transmit HIV/AIDS, Hepatitis B and C among other infectious diseases. This study attempted to address the knowledge and practices of doctors and nurses, which are just some of the factors which influence health care waste management. Aims: The main aim of this study was to evaluate the current knowledge and practices of doctors and nurses regarding the management of health care waste. Methods: This was a descriptive cross sectional study. A self administered questionnaire was used to collect the data. A total sample of 128 doctors and nurses was drawn from the Johannesburg Hospital, an academic hospital in the Gauteng Province. Results: Although there was overall lack of awareness about the existence of the international, national, provincial and local documents (Act, Regulation, Manual, Code of Practice and Policies) regulating heath care waste management, the majority of the respondents (84%) knew about the existence of the Johannesburg Hospital’s policy on waste management. Generally, knowledge of nursing staff was significantly higher than that of doctors. Although some good practices such as use of gloves were reported, there is generally a lack of knowledge about key documents regulating health care waste, particularly among the doctors. Conclusion: This study was the first of its kind to be done at the Hospital. As the Hospital policy is more accepted and accessible to the health professionals than the other documents investigated in this study, it should be updated regularly to incorporate new changes. The Hospital should not only make that policy document more easily accessible and visible but also strive to reach doctors with training in health care waste management. Continuous monitoring and evaluation is also necessary to ensure that policies and procedures are followed.

Due to the pressure of recent legislative changes (eg: the EU Landfill Directive and the imposition of a Landfill Tax), composting as a waste disposal technique is now being viewed as the preferred alternative to the landfilling of organic waste. However, while composting has been practised in one form or another for 2500 years, the underlying principles behind the microbial ecology of composting, is poorly understood. In order to obtain an insight into the ecology and hence, the critical nature of the composting process, a number of low cost open-windrows containing urban botanical wastes were established. These windrows were subjected to microbial and physico-chemical analysis over the initial period of exothermically active composting (25 days). This study demonstrated that, whilst average temperatures within open windrows can reach in excess of 65 °C, the sustainability and range of these temperatures depended upon the windrow bulk density. Windrows with bulk densities of 600kgm*3 had a larger insulation factor and thus, were able to sustain high temperatures for longer periods. However, these windrows were more susceptible to the development of areas of low temperature (cold spots) at depths below 20cm. Windrows with bulk densities of 400kgm'3 had smaller insulation factors and therefore, lost heat at a faster rate than windrows with higher bulk densities. This loss of heat was observed to be the case with the windrow surface layers, but they exhibited fewer cool spots at lower levels. This study found that the average microbial population of windrow material was 2.29x1013 CFU kg*1 and that each microbial cell could generate between 6.33 and 8.56xl0*13 Mjkg*1. This resulted in the generation of between 1.13 and 1.70 Mjkg*1 °C*1 of heat energy. Contrary to the published literature, this study observed that temperatures above 65 °C did not result in the significant loss of ammonia from the windrow. However, high levels of ammonia did suppress the formation of nitrate within the windrows. Experiments investigating microbial population kinetics within the windrows indicated that observed changes were proportional to temperature up to 60 °C, when a reduction in population numbers was observed between 60 °C and 65 °C. However, between 60 °C and 70 °C population levels increased once again. It was also noted that at the start of the composting process, 13 different microbial species or genera could be identified. However, after 17 days of exothermic composting, this had been reduced to 2 genera, including a novel large bacterial species belonging to the genus Bacillus. This study also showed that samples of windrows exposed to temperatures above 55 °C for 48 hours did not eliminate mesophilic or psycrotrophic microbial populations as previously assumed by other workers, but only suppressed their metabolism during the high temperature period.

The action research methodology and several of its methods have previously been highlighted and described by the authors as a fitting and rigorous framework approach for complex waste management systems.  This was in response to criticism of the ex ante selection of traditional empiric systems analysis tools to provide decision support and ‘sustainable improvement’ in such complex systems which often involve strong human and political factors.   Several of the action research methods described have recently been utilized in a case study around mineral (aggregate) construction and demolition waste in the Stockholm region.  These methods were integrated through a series of workshops and work areas undergone together with project members from several private and public sectors.  Leaving the problem fuzzy (loosely defined) in the beginning; utilizing convergent interviewing, rich pictures and focus groups allowed the researchers and partner stakeholders to identify not one but several problem areas within the system of focus.  Indicator creation and a dialectic processes were then used to identify qualitative and quantitative aspects of salience around these problem areas.  These resulting indicators were strengthened through a process of verification.  Each indicator was then analyzed by what was deemed to be appropriate and transparent means.  It is argued that this approach may create better communication, transparency, and understanding by the stakeholders.  These factors in turn allowing stronger stakeholder ownership of the process and assisting in more informed decisions and help to provide stability for desired change. However the process was not without its drawbacks such as intense communication and time requirements. / QC 20120110 / Project BRA

This three-paper dissertation explores how broader (and often unchallenged) changes to political economy at multiple geographic and economic scales impact long-standing ‘informal’ practices of waste recovery and recycling in Hanoi, Vietnam. This research is based on a survey of 575 informal waste collectors and 264 waste intermediaries as well as 73 in-depth interviews. Paper I engages in a critique of methodological disclosure in current academic writings on informal waste-recovery activities and discusses the methodological difficulties of researching informal populations. My aim in this paper is to highlight that the lack of methodological disclosure in waste-recovery literature is problematic because it compromises the academic rigour of this field and impedes the reliability of researchers’ policy recommendations as well as to initiate a dialogue with the aim of improving methodological rigour in waste-recovery literature. Paper II examines urbanization processes in contemporary Vietnam and how these changing spaces accommodate labour, and in turn support livelihoods. I argue that Vietnam’s globalizing economy and urban transition have been a catalyst for the growth of the informal waste collector population in Hanoi, as well as a partial player in the gendering of the industry. Paper III explores how one particular segment of the informal waste-recovery trade, waste intermediaries, is impacted by Hanoi’s rapid urban change. I demonstrate in this paper that 1) waste intermediaries simultaneously gain and lose as a result of Hanoi’s urban transition; and 2) the underlying forces of urban spatial change in different areas of the city are quite distinct, which will have an impact on the future of waste-recovery in Hanoi. The key findings of this dissertation are: 1)A more thorough engagement with methods and a broader approach to understanding waste-recovery actors (through an engagement with political economy at multiple geographic and economic scales) will produce a more context-appropriate and compassionate understanding of this group of urban actors. 2)The livelihoods of informal waste-recovery workers are both directly and indirectly impacted by shifts in political economy, albeit in Hanoi these impacts (both positive and negative) vary by sex and sub-occupation (with respect to waste collectors), and scale of business and location in the city (with respect to waste intermediaries).

In today’s fiercely competitive environment, the goal of any enterprise is to make money now and in the future (Goldratt, 1992). In order to fulfill this goal, an enterprise should eliminate waste embedded in the value stream. Industrial engineers frequently play a key role in reducing cost. The philosophy of many in lean manufacturing is that the things that can’t be measured can’t be properly managed (Womack & Jones, 1996). This thesis presents a method to incorporate an environmental index into the value stream and thereby increase the opportunities for waste minimization. The proposed method of incorporation of the environmental index is explained in detail using a hypothetical case study. How to calculate the environmental index, the present state and future state maps of the value stream are explained in detail. The two major steps presented by this method are: Identify environmental wastes and incorporate the identified wastes into the value stream map. For determining the method among given alternatives, this thesis uses the Waste Stream Prioritization Method WSPM) (TNRCC, 1998). It also provides an activity based model (IDEF0) to present the method for incorporating the environmental index / Thesis (M.S.)--Wichita State University, College of Engineering, Dept. of Industrial and Manufacturing Engineering. / "December 2005."

This three-paper dissertation explores how broader (and often unchallenged) changes to political economy at multiple geographic and economic scales impact long-standing ‘informal’ practices of waste recovery and recycling in Hanoi, Vietnam. This research is based on a survey of 575 informal waste collectors and 264 waste intermediaries as well as 73 in-depth interviews. Paper I engages in a critique of methodological disclosure in current academic writings on informal waste-recovery activities and discusses the methodological difficulties of researching informal populations. My aim in this paper is to highlight that the lack of methodological disclosure in waste-recovery literature is problematic because it compromises the academic rigour of this field and impedes the reliability of researchers’ policy recommendations as well as to initiate a dialogue with the aim of improving methodological rigour in waste-recovery literature. Paper II examines urbanization processes in contemporary Vietnam and how these changing spaces accommodate labour, and in turn support livelihoods. I argue that Vietnam’s globalizing economy and urban transition have been a catalyst for the growth of the informal waste collector population in Hanoi, as well as a partial player in the gendering of the industry. Paper III explores how one particular segment of the informal waste-recovery trade, waste intermediaries, is impacted by Hanoi’s rapid urban change. I demonstrate in this paper that 1) waste intermediaries simultaneously gain and lose as a result of Hanoi’s urban transition; and 2) the underlying forces of urban spatial change in different areas of the city are quite distinct, which will have an impact on the future of waste-recovery in Hanoi. The key findings of this dissertation are: 1)A more thorough engagement with methods and a broader approach to understanding waste-recovery actors (through an engagement with political economy at multiple geographic and economic scales) will produce a more context-appropriate and compassionate understanding of this group of urban actors. 2)The livelihoods of informal waste-recovery workers are both directly and indirectly impacted by shifts in political economy, albeit in Hanoi these impacts (both positive and negative) vary by sex and sub-occupation (with respect to waste collectors), and scale of business and location in the city (with respect to waste intermediaries).

The main objectives of this study were: to provide a review of key concepts and issues relevant to solid waste management in developing countries; to analyse and evaluate the hotel solid waste management (HSWM) program in Bali, Indonesia; and to suggest recommendations and areas for further research. The following data collection methods were used in this study: review of documents and literature, interviews, surveys and field observations. Tourism in host regions such as Bali can bring both positive and negative impacts. One aspect of tourism that can have an impact on local communities is solid waste management (SWM). Improper SWM can lead to pollution and deterioration of the aesthetic appeal of tourist destinations. Conversely, solid waste can be a resource to the local community, providing opportunities for business development and the achievement of social, political and environmental objectives. Planning for SWM is complex, involving the consideration of multiple and interconnected issues. Therefore, in addressing SWM issues, it is appropriate to use an integrated approach that recognises the various stakeholders, activities and perspectives involved. In addition, concepts such as appropriate technology, cleaner production, life cycle assessment and environmental management systems can be useful for improving how solid waste management is approached. A local environmental non-governmental organisation (NGO), waste hauler and hotels in Bali developed a program to improve the management of solid waste from hotels. The history, planning, management and stakeholders involved with the development of this program are described in this study. Various issues pertaining to the achievement of social, environmental and economic objectives are investigated to provide a view of program realities and the range of challenges faced by program participants. Conclusions and lessons learned from the case study are presented and links between concepts in the literature and findings from the case study are discussed. Recommendations concerning topics such as planning, management, stakeholder involvement, health and safety, data management and source separation are suggested and future research directions are outlined.

Waste is anything which is considered to be no longer useful to anyone. In reality, it actually possesses the ability to be the raw material for several other processes and applications. Improper handling of wastes could result in several environmental hazards such as air pollution, soil erosion, methane emissions, low birth rate and others. In developing countries, proper handling of wastes is one of the important topics to be focussed from an environmental perspective. This thesis aims to propose an improved waste collection system in Gaborone through investigating the current waste management practices in Gaborone from different perspectives. Several stakeholders were interviewed for gathering information related to the present waste legislations, waste collection, treatment, and disposal methods. A composition study was also conducted along with the other research teams in order to support the objective of this thesis. The results shows that the current waste management practices has certain flaws which the management has to overcome in order to avoid the environmental impacts caused by the waste generation in Gaborone. Basic Recycling and treatment facilities are absent in Gaborone. The local government do not have any updated plans for the proper handling of wastes. The obtained results are critically analysed to showcase the existing flaws in the waste management practices, and using the state of the art knowledge in waste management the research team suggests an improved waste collection system for Gaborone considering the economic and environmental conditions.