Municipal recycling is driven by a variety of factors. Yet how these factors change over time is not well understood. I analyze a suite of contextual and program variable in multiple time periods, spanning 16 years, in the Commonwealth of Massachusetts. Based on the models run, I reach the surprising conclusion that most program variables have an insignificant effect on recycling rates. These findings can inform municipal officials and waste managers as they seek new ways to increase municipal recycling participation.

No description available.

Bioreactor landfills offer a sustainable way to achieve increased waste degradation along with benefits such as enhanced landfill gas (LFG) recovery, reduction in leachate pollution potential and rapid increase in landfill volumetric capacity. It also offers significant reduction in post closure management activities as leachate treatment, LFG impact on the environment and improves the potential for land reuse. The regulatory 30 year post-closure period is believed to account for attenuation of organics, metals and trace pollutants of adverse environmental consequences. Methodologies to improve the degradation rate and process are refuse shredding, nutrient addition, pH buffering, and temperature control along with moisture enhancement. Municipal Solid Waste (MSW) settlement and field capacity are of significant beneficial interest to achieve maximum utility of landfill volume and compute water requirements for rapid degradation using bioreactor concepts. Physical and biochemical Municipal Solid Waste (MSW) characteristics were investigated with specific emphasis on the Bio-Chemical methane potential (BMP) test. The impact of waste characteristics on its compressibility and moisture retention capacity was evaluated on a laboratory scale. Traditional in-situ waste compression models from literature were used to compare with the obtained laboratory data. / Master of Science

LULU (Locally Unwanted Land Use) and NIMBY (Never In My Back Yard) are often cited as two major hurdles to overcome for successful siting of a noxious facility. Among various types of waste in Korea, food waste has been posing a serious problem for its high rate of moisture and salt component (MOE 2001). This has necessitated siting of large scale composting facilities around the country. Although there has been an increasing number of studies on NIMBY towards siting of noxious facilities, one can hardly find a study on NIMBY attitudes toward a composting facility from an economic perspective. To analyze NIMBY attitude of residents in Cheju City, Korea toward hosting a composting facility, we base our theoretical analysis on the expected utility theory and subsequently use a MNLM (muitinomial logit model) for empirical analysis. This study consists of four major parts: theoretical analysis, data management, MNLM estimations, and interpretation. A theoretical model is constructed by maximizing expected utility: first, a two-choice model, then extending it to a three-choice model to incorporate residents' uncertain attitudes toward a composting facility, providing a theoretical basis for using MNLM model. Our empirical results show with statistical significance that the higher the income, the stronger the NIMBY attitude towards siting a composting facility. Further, it shows that the negative effect of economic benefits on NIMBY attitude is (marginally) stronger than the positive effect of environmental concern, which contrast with what is usually observed in US where the effect of environmental concern dominates over that of economic benefits. Socio-demographic variables included to have the economic variables controlled for are mostly insignificant. Further, from our empirical results is deduced that the residents gave uncertain responses are tilted towards accepting the composting facility.

Solid Waste Management is one of the essential services provided by local bodies to keep the urban areas clean. Often it is poorly rendered as it is unscientific, out-dated and inefficient. With the rapid increase in population, livening standards, the generation rates of solid waste are increasing drastically. The landfill waste includes both organic and inorganic wastes as it is not often effectively segregated before disposal. The problem is acute in developing countries such as India. Bangalore city, with a population of about 10.18 million and more than 2000 industries, generates about 4,500 TPD of municipal solid waste. Of this Presently, various municipal solid waste processing units in Bangalore can handle only about 2100 TPD of waste. Mavallipura landfill developed and operated by M/s. Ramky Environmental Engineers, located 40 km away from Bangalore, is being used for disposing of about 1000 TPD, the installed capacity being only 600 TPD of waste. There are also a few dumps in around Bangalore due to historical reasons and insufficient capacity of various designated landfills. To reclaim the old dump sites/closed landfill sites for infrastructural development, it is necessary to know their geotechnical characteristics. Within the Landfill, the characteristics of the waste may change with depth due to degraded wastes as it has been dumped over a period of time. The physical parameters, chemical properties as well as the geotechnical behaviour of the waste change with depth. MSW is known to be a heterogeneous material of varying constituent types and dimensions, containing elements that degrade with time. To consider MSW as a geo-material to support the foundation of structures such as buildings and pavement, an analysis of the bearing capacity of the foundation and further long-term settlement of MSW is essential. The MSW samples are retrieved from a Mavallipura landfill site, Bangalore and analysed for important geotechnical properties such as compaction characteristics, shear strength, permeability, compressibility behaviour and dynamic properties of MSW using ultrasonic and cyclic triaxial tests. This research thus aims to provide valuable information about landfill sites for reclamation, closure and infrastructural development after the closure of landfills. Scanty data are available on the geotechnical properties of waste from landfill sites with varying degrees of degradation. This landfill site is selected as there is a huge environmental concern regarding the soil and groundwater contamination in the area and also can represent a typical landfill scenario in tropical regions. Quantification, quality assessment, consequent treatment and management of leachate have become a monstrous problem world over. In this context, the present study envisages to study the physicochemical and biological characterization of representative urban municipal landfill leachate and nearby water bodies and attempts to figure out relationships between the various parameters together with understanding the various processes for chemical transformations. The analysis shows intermediate leachate age (5-10 years) with higher nutrient levels i.e. 10,000 - 12,000 mg/l and ~2,000 - 3,000 mg/l of carbon (COD) and nitrogen (TKN) respectively. Elemental analysis and underlying mechanisms reveal chemical precipitation and co-precipitation as the vital processes in leachate pond systems resulting in accumulation of trace metals in these systems. The microbial analysis also correlated with specific factors relevant to redox environments that show a gradient in nature and the abundance of biotic diversity with a change in leachate environment. Finally, the quality and the contamination potential of the sampled leachate were performed with the help of potential leachate index (LPI) analysis and water quality index (WQI) analysis for surrounding water bodies (namely surface pond and open well) of Mavallipura landfill site. A geotechnical testing program has been drawn to evaluate the engineering properties of municipal solid waste samples retrieved from a landfill at Mavallipura at various depths through augur within the landfill dumped area. Laboratory studies included are composition, moisture content, particle size analysis, compaction, permeability, direct shear test, consolidation, triaxial compression test. For the laboratory tests, we had considered maximum particle sizes of less than 4.75 mm only. Standard Proctor Compaction tests yielded a maximum dry density of 7.0kN/m3 at 50% optimum moisture content. The permeability of MSW results shows in the range of 4x10-4 cm/sec. Compression index of MSW is 0.46980 and recompression index of MSW is 0.09454. Results obtained from the rectangular hyperbola method are compared with Casagrande and Taylor methods to prove that this method is reliable equally, and results are reasonably accurate. Based on direct shear tests, the MSW sample exhibited continuous strength gain with an increase in shear strain (16%) to define strength. The cohesion of MSW was 10kPa and friction angle is 34°. Based on the elastic constants results obtained from the direct shear test found to be very soft material. In the triaxial test, the MSW sample exhibited continuous strength gain with an increase in axial strain. The frictional component is increased due to sliding and rolling of fibrous particles over one another resulting in the development of apparent cohesion due to antiparticle bonds within the MSW material. Landfills are an integral part of waste management, and disastrous consequences can happen if seismic vulnerability of these landfills is not considered. Dynamic properties of MSW are required to perform seismic response analysis of MSW landfills, but there is no good understanding of the dynamic shear strength of MSW in literature. A comprehensive laboratory cyclic triaxial testing program has been taken up to determine the properties at different densities, confining pressures and shear strains. MSW degrades with time, and its shear modulus and damping are expected to vary with time and degradation. For the density of 6 kN/m3 the dynamic shear modulus values for MSW varied from 0.68 MPa to 5.38 MPa and damping ratio varied from 20% to 40% for MSW. For the density of 7 kN/m3 the dynamic shear modulus values for MSW varied from 1.8 MPa to 7.5 MPa and Damping ratio varied from 23% to 40% for MSW. For the density of 8kN/m3 dynamic shear modulus values for MSW varied from 2.46 MPa to 8.00MPa and damping ratio varied from 16% to 33% for MSW. Also, the ultrasonic testing method was used for determining the dynamic properties at low strains. The Ultrasonic test results indicated that with an increase in density of the sample and with decreased void ratio, the pulse propagation velocity (Vp) increases. With an increase in the density, the shear wave velocity and elastic constants (elastic modulus and shear modulus) increase. The elastic constant values obtained from the ultrasonic test are higher compared to values obtained from unconsolidated-undrained triaxial tests. Also, the carbon stored in the buried organic matter in Mavallipura landfill is estimated. Total organic carbon increases steeply with an increase in depth and is significantly high at a depth of 6 m. Subsurface properties cannot be specified but must be analysed through in-situ tests. The in-situ testing that are carried out in a landfill are boring, sampling, standard penetration test (SPT), dynamic cone penetration test (DCPT) and plate load tests (under static and cyclic condition). A correlation between corrected SPT ‘N’ values and measured using shear wave velocities has been developed for Mavallipura landfill site. Results show that the corrected SPT- N values increase with depth. Corrected N-values are used in the landfill design, so they are consistent with the design method, and correlations are useful. The results obtained from the dynamic cone penetration tests shows lower value when to compare with standard penetration test. The unit weight profile with depth ranged from a low unit weight of 2.48 kN/m3 near the surface to a highest value of approximately 9.02 kN/m3 at a depth of 6 m. The highest temperatures for landfills were reported at mid-waste elevations with temperatures decreasing near the top. The bearing pressure-settlement curves for plate size 75cm and 60cm presented similar behaviour while the plate size of 60cm curve presents a lesser settlement of 70mm, compared to with plate size of the 75cm curve with the settlement of 80mm and failure mode could be classified as punching shear. The cyclic plate load test with plate size of 60cm and 75cm were carried out on the soil cover. The elastic constants were found to be 73.87 and 96.84 kPa/mm and for 60 and 75cm plates respectively. Geophysical testing may not be as precise but has the benefit of covering large areas at small costs and sometimes can locate features that might be missing by conventional borings. Multichannel analysis of surface waves (MASW) is an indirect geophysical method used in the landfill for the characterization of the municipal solid waste site. The Mavallipura landfill was surveyed up to the length of about 35m at the top level. A series of one-dimensional and two-dimensional MASW surveys used active seismic sources such as sledgehammer (5kg) and propelled energy generator (PEG-40) was used. This hammer was instrumented with geophones to trigger record time. All the testing has been carried out with geophone spacing of 1m and recorded surface wave arrivals using the source to first receiver distance as 5m with recording length of 1000 millisecond and the recording sampling interval of 0.5 milliseconds (ms) were applied. Results shows that the PEG-40 hammer can generate the longest wavelength with a maximum depth of penetration. The shear wave velocity varies from 75 to 155 m/s with an increase in depth of about 27.5m. Based on the site characterization at the landfill site, it was found that the Mavallipura landfill site can be categorized as very loose, and it is still in a continued stage of degradation. Shear wave and P-wave velocity profile for eight major locations in the study area were determined and variation of waste material stiffness corresponding to the in-situ state with depth, was also evaluated. Also, MASW survey has been carried out to develop dispersion curve on another landfill site at Bhandewadi, Nagpur. MASW system consisting of 24 channels geode seismograph with 24 geophones of 4.5Hz capacity is used in this investigation. The seismic waves were created by sledgehammer with 30cmx 30cmx2cm size hammer plate with ten shots. These waves were captured by the geophones/receivers and further analyzed by inversion. The results indicated that near surface soils(less than 3m depth) approximately the to 5mm, and with 85% of dry weight basis of waste particles with sizes less than 10mm, the shear wave velocity varies from 75 to 140 m/s (frequency ranges from 30 to 23Hz). With the increase in 6.5m depth, the shear wave velocity ranged from 140 to 225m/s (frequency ranges 23 to 13Hz). Overall, the results of the study showed that seismic surveys have the potential to capture the changes in dynamic properties like shear wave velocity and Poisson’s ratio of the depth of MSW landfill to infer the extent of degradation and provide dynamic properties needed for seismic stability evaluations. Based on the in situ and laboratory results of this study and a review of the literature, the unit weight, shear wave velocity, strain-dependent normalized shear modulus reduction and material damping ratio relationships for Mavallipura landfill are developed and also validated using semi-empirical methods. Finally, seismic response analysis of Mavallipura landfill has been carried out using the computer programs like SHAKE 2000 and DEEPSOIL. Results show that the unit weight is increased with depth in response to the increase in overburden stress. The proposed material damping ratio and normalized shear modulus reduction curve lie close to the profile given in the literature for landfills composed of waste materials with 100% particles sized less than 20mm. Peak spectral acceleration at 5% damping value is 0.7g for 0.07 sec in SHAKE 2000 and peak spectral acceleration at 5% damping value is 0.63g for 0.04 sec in DEEPSOIL. Amplification ratio is 6.11 at 1.1l Hz in SHAKE2000 and 4.65 at 2.67Hz in DEEPSOIL. Peak ground acceleration (PGA) for the landfill site, it is observed PGA has decreased from 0.3g to 0.15g in DEEPSOIL and PGA has decreased from 0.33g to 0.15g in SHAKE2000. The studies presented in the thesis brought out the importance of characterization of municipal solid waste leachate regarding metabolism and treatment/degradation of Mavallipura landfill leachate. For municipal solid waste of with sizes ranging from 0.08 coefficient of permeability being about 10-4 cm/sec, the compression index was about 0.47. A more reliable method of calculating the coefficient of consolidation has been recommended. Correlations between shear wave velocity and SPT-N values has been developed for the Mavallipura landfill site. The results showed that the dynamic cone penetration tests values are lower than indicated by standard penetration tests. The cyclic plate load tests carried out with plate sizes of 75cm and 60cm showed that elastic constants of 96.84 kPa/mm and 73.87kPa/mm respectively. MSW properties evaluated in this thesis are compared with those of soft clays. The MSW properties showed higher values (strength and SBC) and lower values of compressibility, compared with those of soft clays. Thus foundation improvement on MSW is less challenging than foundations on soft soils. Also stabilization of MSW with other solid wastes such as fly ash can be considered as an economical option. Based on detailed studies the importance of unit weight, shear wave velocity, strain-dependent normalized shear modulus reduction and material damping ratio relationships for landfill waste have been developed. Based on the site characterization, the waste landfill has been categorized as very loose material, which is still in a degradation process. SHAKE2000 software shows higher PGA value comparing with DEEPSOIL.

A Região Metropolitana de São Paulo (RMSP) é uma das dez maiores regiões metropolitanas do mundo e a maior do Brasil. Cerca de vinte mil toneladas de Resíduos Sólidos Urbanos (RSU) são gerados diariamente na região, sendo dispostos em aterros distantes dos centros urbanos. Nesse contexto, o planejamento intermunicipal tornou-se essencial para integrar os sistemas de gestão de RSU e fomentar iniciativas regionais de valorização dos resíduos. O objetivo dessa pesquisa foi realizar o diagnóstico da gestão de RSU dos municípios que constituem a RSMP e avaliar potenciais formas de integração da gestão de RSU no âmbito da sub-região Sudeste da RMSP, constituída pelos municípios Diadema, Mauá, Ribeirão Pires, Rio Grande da Serra, Santo André, São Bernardo do Campo e São Caetano do Sul. Como método, realizou-se pesquisa bibliográfica sobre planejamento e gestão de RSU, Regiões Metropolitanas, governança metropolitana, RMSP, assim como a investigação de modelos e seleção de um modelo matemático (System Dynamics), aplicado na avaliação técnica e econômica de potenciais formas de integração da gestão de RSU na sub-região Sudeste da RMSP. Como resultado, mostrou-se, de forma quantificada, que não beneficiar os RSU gerados na sub-região e manter a reciclagem incipiente dos municípios, em longo prazo, perpetua a lógica de encontrar novos locais para a disposição dos resíduos em aterros. Por outro lado, a cooperação intermunicipal para a viabilização de usinas de tratamento de RSU mostrou-se eficaz na redução dos resíduos que vão para disposição final. Já a reciclagem não se configurou uma solução eficaz no âmbito regional segundo as condições de contorno consideradas, pois depende da coleta seletiva eficiente, que, por sua vez, prescinde de maior conscientização ambiental e adesão por parte da população. Verificou-se, ainda, que municípios com geração similar de RSU possuem melhor potencial de integração e podem viabilizar novas infraestruturas regionais em consórcios exclusivos para a gestão dos RSU. / The Metropolitan Region of São Paulo (MRSP) is one of the ten largest metropolitan regions in the world and the largest in Brazil. Around 20,000 tons of Municipal Solid Waste (MSW) are generated daily in the region, being disposed in landfills far from urban centers. In this context, inter-municipal planning has become essential for integrating MSW management systems and promoting regional valorization initiatives. The objective of this research was to perform a diagnosis of the management of MSW in the municipalities which are included in the Metropolitan Region of São Paulo and evaluate potential forms of integrating MSW management in the Southeast sub-region of MRSP, constituted by the municipalities of Diadema, Mauá, Ribeirão Pires, Rio Grande da Serra, Santo André, São Bernardo do Campo and São Caetano do Sul. As method, a bibliographic research was carried out on planning and management of municipal solid waste, metropolitan regions, metropolitan governance, MRSP, as well as the investigation of models and selection of a mathematical model (System Dynamics), applied in the technical and economic evaluation of potential ways of integrating MSW management in the Southeast sub-region of MRSP. Results showed, in a quantified way, that not benefiting the MSW generated in the sub-region and maintaining the incipient recycling of the municipalities, in the long term, perpetuates the logic of finding new places for waste disposal in landfills. On the other hand, the inter-municipal cooperation for the feasibility of MSW treatment plants proved to be effective in reducing waste that goes to final disposal. Recycling did not provide an effective solution at the regional level according to the boundary conditions considered, because it depends much on efficient selective collection, which, in turn, depends on environmental awareness and population adherence. It was also verified that municipalities with a similar generation of MSW have a better integration potential and can make possible new regional infrastructures in exclusive consortia for the MSW management.

The present thesis proposes model for the analyses of stress-strain response of fiber reinforced soil and municipal solid waste (MSW). The concept of reinforcing soils by introducing tension resisting elements such as fibers is becoming widely accepted. Fiber inclusions are found to improve the post-peak behavior of the soil. Evaluation of the stress-strain response of the fiber-reinforced soil indicates that mobilization of the fiber tension generally requires a strain level higher than that corresponding to the peak strength of unreinforced soil. Further, geotechnical engineering properties of MSW such as compressibility, shear strength and stiffness are of prime importance in design and maintenance of landfills. It is also referred in literature that MSW tends to behave as fiber-reinforced soil due to the presence of various types of wastes in its matrix. However, it is not well understood how the stress-strain and strength characteristics vary with time as the biodegradation of waste continues in the landfill. Based on the experimental observations, in this thesis, an attempt is made for developing generalized constitutive models based on the critical state soil mechanics frame work for fiber reinforced soils and municipal solid waste. The proposed models consider the fiber effect in fiber reinforced soil and, time dependent mechanical and biodegradation effects in case of municipal solid waste, respectively. The proposed models are able to capture the stress-strain and pore water pressure response in both the cases. For better understanding, the present thesis is divided into following seven chapters. Chapter 1 is an introductory chapter, in which the need for use of the constitutive models is presented. Further, the organization of thesis is also presented. Chapter 2 presents a brief description of the available studies in the literature on fiber-reinforced soils and municipal solid waste. Various studies on fiber-reinforced soil included experimental results (both laboratory and field) and modeling methods. Experiments on fiber-reinforced soils were mainly carried out with triaxial compression tests, unconfined compression tests, direct shear tests, one dimensional consolidation tests, etc. Force equilibrium model, limit equilibrium model, statistical theory, regression based models are some of the models available in the literature for quantifying the strength of the fiber-reinforced soil. Further, various studies with regard to the engineering properties of municipal solid waste and their characteristic properties available in the literature are presented. They include different models proposed by various researchers for the prediction of stress-strain response, time dependent behavior and load settlement analysis of the municipal solid waste. Finally, based on the literature review, the scope and objectives of the thesis are presented at the end. Chapter 3 describes various types of soils, properties of soils and fibers used in the present study. A detailed description of the sample preparation and methods adopted in the experimental program are presented in this chapter. Chapter 4 presents the experimental results of triaxial compression tests and one dimensional consolidation test carried out on fiber-reinforced soils. Based on the experimental observations, a constitutive model for fiber-reinforced soil in the frame work of modified cam clay model is proposed. Further, the detailed derivation of proposed model and the discussion on evaluation of the input model parameters from triaxial and consolidation tests are presented. The predictions from the proposed models are validated with the experimental data. From the comparison of the results from the proposed model and experiments, it is evident that the proposed model is able to capture stress-strain behavior of fiber-reinforced soils. Chapter 5 presents the experimental studies on the behavior of municipal solid waste based on the triaxial compression and consolidation tests. Based on the experimental observations, a constitutive model for municipal solid waste in the frame work of modified cam clay model is proposed which considers the mechanisms such as mechanical creep and biodegradation. It also provides detailed description of the selection of the input parameters required for the proposed model. The experimental results in the form of stress-strain and pore water pressure response are compared with the prediction from the proposed model. In addition, the applicability of the proposed model is illustrated using detailed parametric studies of parameters of the model for various ranges. Chapter 6 presents a brief study of load settlement response on municipal solid waste using a case example. The constitutive model for municipal solid waste proposed in chapter 5 is used to study the time-settlement response of municipal solid waste and to compare the results with available published models considering different mechanisms. The major conclusions from the study are presented at the end. Chapter 7 presents a brief summary and conclusions from the various studies reported in the present thesis. vi

Submitted by Nadir Basilio (nadirsb@uninove.br) on 2017-05-22T19:30:47Z No. of bitstreams: 1 Natalia Aparecida Braconaro de Araujo.pdf: 2725958 bytes, checksum: b5ccaaa8f420f24bad22c65c7482b7ef (MD5) / Made available in DSpace on 2017-05-22T19:30:47Z (GMT). No. of bitstreams: 1 Natalia Aparecida Braconaro de Araujo.pdf: 2725958 bytes, checksum: b5ccaaa8f420f24bad22c65c7482b7ef (MD5) Previous issue date: 2016-12-15 / In addition to generating public health problems, the disposal of municipal solid waste [MSW] in coastal areas modifies the environment and can change the way people perceive it. Problems such as a lack of proper management of landfills, centralization of waste management actions, absence or low cost of taxes for waste collection and disposal, as well as low participation of population in waste reduction and recycling actions that make it unfeasible to maintain a waste management system. These issues, as well as a lack of technologies for waste separation and disposal, lead to a need for strategies that will help a city council in the choice and implementation of measures that are economically viable, have the capacity to self-sustain and involve all social spheres in its application. The objective of this research is to make a diagnosis about the MSW’s perception by residents of the city of Bertioga-SP, in order to assist in the city MSW management, in a way that increases the indexes of municipality recycling. Five groups of hypotheses about which factors influence the perception and social participation in MSW management were created. The data to test the hypotheses were obtained through a questionnaire created by the author of the research and applied to residents of Bertioga. These data were analyzed statistically, being the dissertative data analyzed by semantic analysis software. The results showed that access to the internet has direct influence at the acces to the information about the correct waste disposal (p=0,000), as was noted that citizens with more contact with neighbors or relatives tend to adopt better waste disposal practices (p=0,464). In the semantic analysis it was evident that the lack of communication between public cleaning companies and citizens, as well as failures in the logistics of waste collection had a negative influence on their participation in waste disposal actions.Despite this, positive actions were found in waste management, such as the use of cooking oil for the production of soap for residents. With analysis of the hypotheses, waste management strategies were elaborated, wich will be implemented by the RSU Energia Project, whose this research its part, to improve the MSW management and, later, for the improvement of the waste management of the entire Baixada Santista region. / Além de gerar problemas de saúde pública, o descarte de resíduos sólidos urbanos [RSU] em zonas costeiras altera o ambiente e pode alterar a forma como estes são percebidos pelas pessoas. Problemas como a falta de gestão correta de aterros sanitários, centralização das ações de gestão de resíduos, ausência ou baixo custo de taxas para coleta e disposição de resíduos, além da baixa adesão populacional a ações de redução e reciclagem do lixo são alguns dos principais fatores que inviabilizam a manutenção de um sistema de gestão e gerenciamento de resíduos. Estas questões, bem como a falta de tecnologias para disposição e separação dos resíduos, levam a necessidade de estratégias que auxiliem a prefeitura do município na escolha e implantação de medidas que sejam viáveis economicamente, possuam capacidade de se auto sustentar e envolvam todas as esferas sociais em sua aplicação. Pensando-se nessas questões, esta pesquisa tem como objetivo realizar um diagnóstico sobre a percepção dos RSU por moradores da cidade de Bertioga – SP, de modo a auxiliar na gestão de RSU do município, de forma a propor ações que aumentem os índices de reciclagem do município. Foram criados cinco conjuntos de hipóteses sobre quais fatores poderiam influenciar a percepção e participação social no manejo de RSU. Os dados para teste das hipóteses foram obtidos por meio de um questionário criado pela autora da presente pesquisa e aplicado aos moradores de Bertioga. Tais dados foram analisados estatisticamente, sendo as respostas dissertativas analisadas por um software de análise semântica. Os resultados revelaram que fatores como o acesso à internet influenciam diretamente no acesos às informações sobre o correto descarte de resíduos (p=0,000), assim como notou-se que cidadãos que possuem maior contato com vizinhos ou familiares costumam adotar melhores práticas de descarte de resíduos (p= 0,464). Na análise semântica, ficou evidente que a falta de comunicação entre as empresas de limpeza pública e os cidadãos, assim como falhas na logística de coleta de resíduos influenciaram negativamente na participação destes nas ações de descarte de resíduos. Apesar disto, foram encontradas ações positivas no manejo de resíduos, como o uso de óleo de cozinha para produção de sabão pelos próprios moradores. Com a análise das hipóteses, foram elaboradas estratégias de gestão e gerenciamento de resíduos, as quais serão implementadas pelo Projeto RSU Energia, do qual esta pesquisa fez parte, para melhorar a gestão municipal de RSU e, posteriormente, auxiliar na melhoria da gestão de resíduos de toda a região da Baixada Santista.

Nowadays, municipal solid waste (MSW) has got great attention from world-wide decision makers in the field of waste management. When they are making a MSW management decision, there are lots of factors that may influence their final decision for picking up an optimal alternative. In order to find out the influence factors in municipal solid waste management decision-making, incineration and anaerobic fermentation techniques are selected as example for comparison. Literature study and interview are used for collecting theoretical and practical information respectively. A list of theoretical influence factors is created, which integrates environmental, social and financial aspects of incineration and anaerobic fermentation. This list can help the decision-maker to have a better choice when they are choosing an alternative from MSW management methods. Practical information is achieved by interviewing the City of Stockholm Waste Management Administration. Differences are revealed between theory and the Stockholm case. The priority of each influence factor is discussed in this paper. Base on the decision between theoretical factors and the Stockholm case, the result shows that the theoretical factors are not completely sufficient for the practical use in the city of Stockholm. The list of theoretical influence factors should be extended by integrating more factors and more MSW management alternatives to meet different requirements in practical cases. There is no clear definition on which factor has the highest degree of influence for the decision-maker. The priority of influence factors is depended on the local condition and subjective choice of decision-maker. / www.ima.kth.se

The biochemical methane potential (BMP) of a substance is a measure of the volume of methane gas produced per unit mass of that substance, through the process of anaerobic biodegradation. As the socio-economic consequences of climate change have become more apparent, the ability to predict the long-term cumulative environmental impact of various human activities has become more necessary. Landfills can be a substantial source of methane (a greenhouse gas) to the atmosphere, and consequently BMP is an important tool for predicting the potential cumulative long-term impacts of a landfill to the environment. From a strictly economic perspective, the practice of landfill methane extraction for industrial uses is becoming much more common. In this case, BMP is an important tool for predicting the economic feasibility of such a project. Current methods for determining the BMP of municipal solid wastes (MSW) are both time-consuming and inconsistent. A review of literature on the topic yields many different descriptions of the test, with large variations in sample sizes, incubation times, procedures, etc. Most of these methods also require expensive, and specialized equipment. This thesis describes a simple approach to the BMP test that might be carried out in a variety of laboratory settings, such as an on-site lab equipped with basic, simple, and inexpensive equipment. The method relies on a much larger than typical sample mass to produce large volumes of gas that are measured for composition multiple times over the course of the test. The volume and composition data is then used to produce a cumulative methane potential curve which can be fitted to a first-order decay model in order to predict an ultimate BMP value. The taking of multiple measurements on large volumes of gas, allows for the use of a portable field instrument called the GEMTM2000 to measure gas composition. By fitting the data to a curve in order to determine ultimate methane potential, individual measurement errors are averaged out and the final result has a precision similar to more traditional BMP methods, which rely on bulky and expensive gas chromatographs. Testing has been conducted on MSW samples from 3 separate sites. The method used involved comparatively large samples of waste (~200 g) and no limit was set on incubation time. The use of large waste samples produces large quantities of gas that must be collected and analyzed often. The method provided favourable results, consistent within acceptable limits of variability when compared with other BMP methods. There is even some evidence suggesting that the use of large waste samples improves the accuracy of the test, despite the use of equipment which provides less precise measurements of gas concentration. Given the long duration required for testing, the results were also evaluated for possible correlations between loss on ignition data and specific gravity measurements; two simple tests that can be conducted rapidly. Both data sets show a rough correlation with BMP, and may be used to quickly estimate ultimate BMP values, but the loss on ignition relationship provides the better correlation. Lastly, initial steps were taken in the development of what has been dubbed the Biochemical CO2 Potential (BCP) test, taking advantage of the relatively quicker rate of aerobic degradation. There are preliminary indications that the BCP method may be a viable alternative to the BMP, but the data set so far is small and further research is required to confirm that hypothesis.