The project aims to create a general awareness of our personal impact on our planet, while meeting the value based requirements of the client. Working within an existing context and land use creates the challenge of integrating a sustainable design proposal into this context which is preconceived as being less desirable. Eskom requires a value based conference facility within the selected culturally significant structures of the Pretoria-West power station. An analysis of the existing buildings on the selected site and its surrounding context has been undertaken within the documentation. This is to fully understand the implications of placing a design concept within the context, allowing the opportunity to respond to these implications. Energy has been conceptualised within the proposed urban framework. This energy goes beyond just proposing urban activity hubs and explores the energy within the connection lines between these hubs. This process has been inspired by the Curitiba urban precedent within this document and the associated need within a South African context. The concept aims to involve the "hierarchical" groups of our society, with this process involving people who would normally not partake in the urban energy being created within and around the proposed awareness facility. This process will undoubtedly create conflict between these groups. This conflict is the tool used to provoke thought and raise awareness. The boundaries of the sustainable approach within this proposal extended beyond just the technical requirements of the building. It deals with social, environmental and economic factors that influence the concept as a whole, within its urban environment. Although the trial and error process has lead to constant change, from the concept through to the details of the project, the result is a high quality conference facility, that supports sustainability, within a waste sorting environment. The design synthesis, although unpredictable, will provoke thought and allow an environment where people can empower themselves - on multiple levels. / Dissertation (MArch (Prof))--University of Pretoria, 2005. / Architecture / unrestricted

Darbo tikslas: Įvertinti Kauno miesto gyventojų atliekų rūšiavimo motyvacijų sąsajas su Eko taškų įkūrimu. Uždaviniai: Įvertinti Kauno miesto gyventojų motyvaciją bei įpročius rūšiuoti atliekas. Nustatyti Kauno miesto gyventojų motyvacijos bei įpročių rūšiuoti atliekas sąsajas su Eko taškų įkūrimu. Metodika: Tyrimas buvo atliktas 2013 m. lapkričio – 2014 m. vasario mėnesiais. Anoniminės anketos būdu apklausti 271 Kauno miesto gyventojai. Statistinė duomenų analizė buvo atlikta naudojant statistinį programinį paketą SPSS v20. Surinktų duomenų skirtumų patikimumas buvo vertinamas chi kvadrato (χ2) kriterijumi. Statistinė išvada laikyta patikima, kai p < 0,05. Rezultatai. Kauno miesto gyventojų rūšiavimo motyvacijos veiksniai: ekonominės naudos (patogumo) - 48 proc., aplinkos apsaugos (vertybiniai) - 33 proc. ir socialinio priklausomumo (bendruomeniškumo) – 19 proc. (p<0,05). Daugiausia gyventojai atskiria: stiklo taros (99,3 proc.), makulatūros (62,3 proc.) ir PET gėrimų taros (55,7 proc.) (p<0,05). Eko taškais naudojasi - 62,8 proc. visų rūšiuojančių stiklo tarą, 54,3 proc. – rūšiuojančių PET gėrimų tarą. Rūšiavimui sudarytas galimybes vertino puikiai 79,9 proc. makulatūrai šalinti naudojančių Eko taškus, o specialiuosius konteinerius tik 19,0 proc., 86,4 proc. stiklo tarai šalinti naudojančių Eko tašką, o specialiuosius konteinerius tik 33,3 proc. (p<0,05). 70,8 proc. kiekvieną dieną ir 78,9 proc. kiekvieną savaitę atskiriantiems stiklo tarą, 78,2 proc. kartą į savaitę... [toliau žr. visą tekstą] / Aim of the study. To evaluate interfaces between waste sorting motivations of Kaunas city residents and the establishment of Eco points. Objectives: To evaluate waste sorting motivations and habits of Kaunas city residents; to determine the interfaces between Kaunas residents’ motivations and habits related to waste sorting and establishment of the Eco points. Methodology: The study has been started on November, 2013 and completed February, 2014. 271 of Kaunas city residents were interviewed by Anonymous questionnaires. Statistical analysis was performed using statistical software package SPSS v20. The reliability of the collected data differences was evaluated by chi-square (χ2) criteria. Statisted result is reliable if the p-value< 0.05. Results. Waste sorting motivation factors of Kaunas city residents: economical benefits (convenience) - 48%, environmental protection values – 33%. and social belonging (community factor) – 19% (p < 0.05). Mostly residents sort this waste: glass containers (99.3%), waste paper (62.3%) and PET beverage containers (55.7%) (p < 0.05). Conditions for waste sorting were evaluated as perfect by: 79.9% of those who sort waste-paper by using Eco points and only 19.0% of those who sort waste-paper by using special containers; 86.4% of residents who sort glass containers by using Eco points and only 33.3% of those who sort glass containers by using special containers (p < 0.05). 70.8% of respondents sorted glass containers every day and 78.9% were... [to full text]

Recycling is one of the most significant action we can do to reduce the environmental impactof waste. More efficient use of natural resources and the reduced greenhouse gas emissions is two major environmental benefits. The people that live on this planet have a key role in increasing recycling by sorting their household waste. Therefore, residents must take a responsibility for their consumption and the use of the planets resources. People's attitudes tosort waste is therefore essential for understand recycling behaviour and intensions. This study aims to examine waste recycling behaviour, with a focus on attitudes and factors that affect the recycling behaviour among residents in Kiruna, the northern most municipalityof Sweden. 97 inhabitants in the central part of Kiruna participated in the survey. It was found that lack of recycling stations and curbside collection were factors that affected people to recycle. The study also showed that the residents had a positive attitude to recycle because ofthe level of knowledge about the benefits of recycling.

Darbo tikslas išanalizuoti atliekų rūšiavimo bei tvarkymo situaciją Lietuvoje, atlikti gyventojų nuomonės vertinimą, nustatyti jos kitimo tendencijas 2010 m. – 2012 m. laikotarpiu. Tyrimas atliktas remiantis moksline literatūra, sukauptais statistikos duomenimis ir vykdytos gyventojų nuomonės apklausos duomenimis. Pastaruoju metu augant vartojimui, pakuočių kiekiui, pirkimo-pardavimo kultūrai krypstant prie smulkių daiktų vienkartinio įpakavimo, po ekonominės krizės vėl atsigaunant statyboms, gamybai neišvengiamai susiduriama su dideliu susidarančių atliekų kiekiu šalyje. Visuose sektoriuose Lietuvoje kasmet susidaro apie 4,5 mln. t. atliekų: iš jų gyventojų komunalinių atliekų šiek tiek daugiau nei 1 mln. t., gamybos, pramonės, žemės ūkio, transporto ir kitų ūkinių veiklų apie 3 milijonai tonų. Nustatytų aplinkos apsaugos pažeidimų atliekų sektoriuje skaičius didėja 2002 m. jų buvo šiek tiek virš tūkstančio, o 2009 m. viršijo du tūkstančius, Vienam gyventojui tenkančių mišrių komunalinių atliekų kiekiai taip pat pasižymi didėjimo tendencija, apie 300 kg 2004 metais ir 330 kg 2012 metais (per aštuonis metus išaugo trisdešimčia kilogramų). Atsižvelgiant į emigraciją ir dar statistiškai neįtrauktą realų gyventojų kiekio sumažėjimą, mišrių komunalinių atliekų kiekis susidarantis vienam gyventojui per metus gali būti žymiai didesnis. Atlikus išsamią literatūros ir surinktų anketinių duomenų analizę nustatytos pagrindinės priežastys kodėl Lietuvos visuomenėje komunalinių... [toliau žr. visą tekstą] / Work purpose is to analyse the situation of waste sorting and management in Lithuania and accomplish the assessment of residents’ opinion, identify trends in 2010 – 2012 years period. The research has been conducted on the ground of scientific literature, collected statistical data and the data of accomplished residents’ interrogation. Nowadays when consumption and the number of packing is increasing, purchase and sale culture is turning to the usage of disposable packing of small items, when after the economic crisis construction and manufacture are reviving again, we inevitably face a huge amount of waste appearing in the country. Every year in all sectors of Lithuania about 4, 5 million tons of waste are accumulated: where domestic household waste work out slightly more than 1 million tons, whereas manufacturing, industrial, agricultural, transport and other waste work out about 3 million tons. The number of breaches of environment protection in waste management sector is increasing. In 2002 there were slightly more than a thousand of such breaches, whereas in 2009 the number exceeded two thousands. The number of domestic household domestic household domestic household domestic household waste which falls on one resident has increasing tendency and figures up to 300 kg per person in 2004 and 330 kg per person in 2012. Within eight years the amount increased by thirty kilos. Considering the emigration and real statistically undocumented decrease of the number of residents... [to full text]

My thesis aims to clarify issues regarding waste sorting and the willingness of the population according to the type of their residence to sort waste. The theoretical part focuses on waste management in the Czech Republic and neighbouring countries. The main objective was to describe the waste management in the Písek region. I concentrated on the description of particular technologies, especially recycling. Another chapter describes the relationship of the population to waste sorting, as human behaviour and lifestyle are the main causes of environmental damage. Recycling may be the right way to decrease the negative impact of human society on the environment. The practical part presents the results of the quantitative research conducted by means of a questionnaire. According to the respondents´ answers, I was able to conclude the differences of waste separation between the town and village. From the total of 247 respondents, 80 % sort the waste, 16 % sometimes sort it, and 4 % never do so. The categories of respondents differ in the amount of waste sorting, however, the difference is not statistically significant (Chi Squared test = 2,075; s. v. = 4; p = 0,722). Depending on the type of residence, the highest percentage 87 % - of waste sorting occurs in the housing estate category and zero percentage of respondents in this category never sorts. I was also concerned with the difference in the degree of sorting of individual commodities depending on the type of residence. It is significant only in the amount of sorting hazardous waste (Chi Squared test = 18,5; s. v. = 4; p = 0,001). In the case of other commodities, the type of residence does not affect the amount of their separation. It is obvious that the type of build-up area affects the way of life of the population and thus the amount of waste they produce. In general, the degree of diversity in respondents´ waste sorting depends on their education, experience, life priorities and public awareness of waste management.

In this thesis we discusses the problem of waste management, which means the gathering, concentration, collection, purchase, sorting, transport, storage, treatment, recovery and disposal of waste, of course. This work actually focuses on the management of waste paper. This issue was also deals with waste management the reverse logistics.

As the environmental footprint of humans continue s to grow, and the amount of easily available resources keeps dwindling, many countries and institutions have turned towards the concept of circular economy as a way of diminishing their impact on the environment. Based in the idea of closing the resource loop by reducing the need for new resources, increasing efficiency, and reusing resources that are already extracted, many efforts have gone towards transforming our sys tem towards a circular economy. Unfortunately, recycling, identified as a vital part of the move towards circular economy, has been found to be less than optimal in many countries, despite efforts to improve the system. This study examines methods of improving environmental and recycling behaviour in the context of a university setting, the Blåsenhus campus of Uppsala University. Identifying barriers to remove and incentives to apply through a series of focus groups, this study then runs a trial period wher e measures are implemented. These include ads on the campus’ monitors, as well as posters indicating the benefits of recycling, as well as the impacts of failing to do so, information sheets clearly indicating how to recycle the most commonly misplaced ite ms, and the movement of certain bins to make recycling easier to access in relation to the burnables bins. The findings of this study are that the combined use of barrier removal along with the implementation of incentives, can be beneficial to the rates at which waste is recycled.

The aim of my diploma work is a study of economizing with packings and waste products in the selected area from the point of view of environment, economy and logistics. For my work I have chosen the towns with extended sphere of competence of the South Bohemian region and there I have analysed the problem. The production of waste in the monitored towns was similar when we checked the mixed waste per 1 000 inhabitants in 2008. It was about 252 tons. In comparison with it the amount of sorted waste was in the followed towns considerably different. People sorted out the most in Vimperk ? 80,30 t of waste and the least in Trhové Sviny ? 1,55 t of waste per 1 000 inhabitants. The South Bohemian region could fulfil one of the goals of The Plan of Waste Management. This goal is to lower 20 % of the weight share of waste stored on the waste dumps by 2010 comparing to 2000. The goal is being gradually fulfilled and it is likely to be kept.

There is a great need for reducing the extraction of limited resources of the Earth today. Oneway to achieve this, inter alia, is through increased recycling of material. The UN is activelytaking action on the matter, on a global level, and regionally the European Union hasdeveloped a directive on material waste. The Swedish construction sector is responsible forapproximately a third of the total generated waste, and measures regarding construction wasteshould thus be prioritized. Based on the abovementioned EU directive, the SwedishEnvironmental Protection Agency has developed a national action plan for waste, in whichconstruction and demolition waste is a focal point. JM AB is one of the leading corporationsin the Nordic countries in terms of housing development projects and one of their keyconcepts is sustainability. Not only does JM conduct its work in accordance with the currentrecommendations of both national and regional bodies, but in addition it has raised theambitions even further.JM is actively working to reduce the amount of landfill waste as well as the total amount ofwaste, and it has a good structure in place for doing so. An area of improvement with recyclingthat has now been identified is separation at source of combustible waste. Materials such aswood, plastics and corrugated cardboard can be separated from other combustible materials.This would not only increase the waste being recycled but also decrease the waste being burntfor energy extraction. The purpose of this thesis is to examine obstacles and possibilitieswithin the current recycling of combustible waste. The main ambition is for the results toprovide a foundation for the work of JM with regards to this, but hopefully other corporationsand actors within the construction sector will find the results useful and helpful as well.An internal survey was conducted and the questionnaire included both open questions andquestions with multiple-choice answers. Six employees at JM also participated in interviews.For added depth and more thorough analysis two waste contractors were also interviewed.Furthermore, a literature review was conducted and suggested that there is a strong need forchange in recycling within the entire construction sector. The review also showed that manysimilar problems exist in other construction companies.The survey, literature review and interviews lead to several action proposals of varying extentand complexity. Some of them are more specific, such as clearer signage on containers, newtank solutions, introduction of recycling instructions, and focus on recycling of wrappingplastics. Other proposals respond to more complex issues, such as a lack of commitment andsubstandard planning in the initial stages. What increases dedication and commitment is veryspecific for each individual. A shift in behavior relative to recycling, as well as increasedknowledge of combustibles, are both necessary. For this to happen a continuous effort isrequired, which in and of itself is a challenge, as well as clear leadership, division ofresponsibilities, and top down support within the corporate group.In a broader perspective, better cooperation from all actors within the construction sector isnecessary. An increased producer responsibility overall is required and improvements inwaste management alone is not sufficient. Producers should ensure that products andwrapping can be reused or recycled. This requires better and easier access to recycling, butalso a viable market for recycled material, and by extension manufacturers should be obligedto use more recycled material in their products.

Le tri automatique des déchets est un sujetcomplexe en raison de la diversité des objets et desmatériaux présents. Il nécessite un apport de donnéesvariées et hétérogènes. Cette thèse traite du problème defusion de données découlant d’un dispositif de troiscapteurs dont une caméra hyperspectrale dans ledomaine NIR. Nous avons étudié l’avantage d’utiliser lecadre des fonctions de croyance (BFT) tout au long de ladémarche de fusion en utilisant notamment la mesure deconflit comme un critère clé de notre approche. Dans unepremière partie, nous avons étudié l'intérêt de la BFTpour la classification multiclasse des donnéeshyperspectrales à partir d’Error Correcting OutputCodes (ECOC) qui consistent à séparer le problèmemulticlasse en un ensemble de sous-problèmes binairesplus simples à résoudre. Les questions de commentidéalement séparer le problème multiclasse (codage)ainsi que celle de la combinaison des réponses de cesproblèmes binaires (décodage) sont encore aujourd’huides questions ouvertes. Le cadre des fonctions decroyance permet de proposer une étape de décodage quimodélise chaque classifieur binaire comme une sourceindividuelle d'information grâce notamment à lamanipulation des hypothèses composées. Par ailleurs laBFT fournit des indices pour détecter les décisions peufiables ce qui permet une auto-évaluation de la méthoderéalisée sans vérité terrain. Dans une deuxième partietraitant de la fusion de données, nous proposons unedémarche ‘orientée-objet’ composée d’un module desegmentation et d’un module de classification afin defaire face aux problèmes d’échelle, de différences derésolutions et de recalage des capteurs. L’objectif estalors d’estimer une segmentation où les segmentscoïncident avec les objets individuels et sont labellisés entermes de matériau. Nous proposons une interactionentre les modules à base de validation mutuelle. Ainsi,d’une part la fiabilité de la labellisation est évaluée auniveau des segments, d’autre part l’information declassification interagit sur les segments initiaux pour serapprocher d’une segmentation au niveau « objet » : leconsensus (ou l’absence de consensus) parmi lesinformations de classification au sein d’un segment ouentre segments connexes permet de faire évoluer lesupport spatial vers le niveau objet. / Automatic waste sorting is a complex matterbecause of the diversity of the objects and of the presentmaterials. It requires input from various andheterogeneous data. This PhD work deals with the datafusion problem derived from an acquisition devicecomposed of three sensors, including an hyperspectralsensor in the NIR field. We first studied the benefit ofusing the belief function theory framework (BFT)throughout the fusion approach, using in particularconflict measures to drive the process. We first studiedthe BFT in the multiclass classification problem createdby hyperspectral data. We used the Error CorrectingOutput Codes (ECOC) framework which consists inseparating the multiclass problem into several binaryones, simpler to solve. The questions of the idealdecomposition of the multiclass problem (coding) and ofthe answer combination coming from the binaryclassifiers (decoding) are still open-ended questions. Thebelief function framework allows us to propose adecoding step modelling each binary classifier as anindividual source of information, thanks to the possibilityof handling compound hypotheses. Besides, the BFTprovides indices to detect non reliable decisions whichallow for an auto-evaluation of the method performedwithout using any ground truth. In a second part dealingwith the data fusion,we propose an evidential version ofan object-based approach composed with a segmentationmodule and a classification module in order to tackle theproblems of the differences in scale, resolutions orregistrations of the sensors. The objective is then toestimate a relevant spatial support corresponding to theobjects while labelling them in terms of material. Weproposed an interactive approach with cooperationbetween the two modules in a cross-validation kind ofway. This way, the reliability of the labelling isevaluated at the segment level, while the classificationinformation acts on the initial segments in order toevolve towards an object level segmentation: consensusamong the classification information within a segment orbetween adjacent regions allow the spatial support toprogressively reach object level