Hantering och generering av avfall är stora bidragande faktorer till den moderna tidens globala klimatförändringar och det tydliggjorts att företag besitter en viktig roll i miljömässig hållbarhet. Syftet med detta examensarbete var att undersöka Viking Lines avfallshanteringssystem, samt att identifiera och kartlägga vätske- och restavfallsströmmar i samband med dagliga aktiviteter ombord. Detta för att identifiera potentiella förbättringsområden och möjligheter att spara både utsläpp och ekonomiska resurser. Slutligen, att ge rekommendationer med målet att Viking Line ska klättra i avfallshierarkin. Denna rapport bygger på en litteraturstudie, interna dokument från ansvariga på Viking Line, samt på semistrukturerade intervjuer med fokus på företagets avfallshanteringssystem. Undersökningen, som ligger till grund för denna studie, genomfördes med hjälp av data som samlats in från fartyget vid namn Cinderella. Granskning påvisade att brännbart avfall, wellpapp, färgade glasförpackningar, klarglasförpackninga, deponi (osorterat underhållsavfall) och fragskrot var de sex största avfallsströmmarna, under 2019 och 2022. Vid undersökning av avfallsgenereringen från samtliga fartyg och motsvarande behandling, fann man att energiåtervinning var den vanligaste behandlingsmetoden för restavfall, vilket resulterade i ett poängvärde på 395 av 1000 vid tillämpning av ett poängsystem relaterat till avfallshierarkin.  Låg sorteringsgrad förhindrar ökad återvinning och därmed också en förflyttning mot toppen av avfallshierarkin. Det visade sig att passagerarna endast hade en begränsad eller icke existerande möjlighet att sortera avfall ombord. Tidigare försök i att öka sorteringsgraden bland passagerare har misslyckats och en möjlig förklaring till detta är brist på motiv, förståelse samt medvetenhet för syftet av sortering. För att öka medvetenheten är rekommendationen att utbilda i ämnet avfallshantering, visualisera de positiva effekterna av sortering och möjliggöra sortering genom att tillhandahålla tydliga instruktioner och god tillgänglighet av sorteringsstationer. Viking Line skulle också kunna undersöka innovativ teknik, design och hållbara material tillsammans med leverantörer och intressenter för att minska genereringen av avfall. / Waste management and waste generation are large contributors to global climate change and in modern times it has become evident that corporations play an important role in environmental sustainability. The purpose of this thesis was to investigate Viking Line’s waste management system and to identify liquid and residual waste streams associated with daily activities onboard. With the aim of identifying potential areas of improvement and opportunities to save both emissions and monetary resources. Finally, to give recommendations with the goal of enabling Viking Line to climb the waste hierarchy. This report is based upon a literature review, internal documents provided by responsible at Viking Line and on semi-structured interviews with focus on their waste management system. Investigation took place using data collected from their vessel named Cinderella. Through examination, it was found that combustible waste, corrugated cardboard, coloured glass packaging, clear glass packaging, landfill (unsorted mainteance waste) and frag scrap were the six largest waste streams, during 2019 and 2022. When investigating the waste generation from all vessels and corresponding treatment, it was found that energy recovery was the most common treatment method of residual waste, resulting in a scoring value of 395 out of 1000 when applying the waste hierarchy scoring system. Low degree of sorting is prohibiting increased recycling and a move towards the top of the waste hierarchy. It was found that the passengers have little to no opportunity to sort waste onboard. Previous attempts at trying to increase sorting among passengers were unsuccessful and one possible explanation is lack of motive, understanding and awareness for the purpose of sorting. To increase awareness, the recommendation is to educate on the topic of waste management, visualize the positive impacts from sorting and enable sorting by providing clear instructions and availability. Viking Line could also investigate innovative technology, design and sustainable materials with their suppliers and stakeholders to reduce waste generation.

<p>Biodegradation of untreated cotton, linen, and hemp textiles as three substrates – measured through biogas production – was studied to compare digestion yield and the ability of anaerobic sludge as inoculum to utilize the sugars in these textiles without pretreatment. Digestion of these textile substrates was carried out over a 26-day study, with daily sampling of biogas production, to measure biogas production rate and accumulation. The flasks were maintained at 37 °C and 150 RPM with a substrate to inoculum ratio (SIR) of 0.5 g sugars from substrate g-1 VSinoculum from anaerobic sludge. Biogas samples were analyzed through gas chromatography (GC) to determine general biogas composition produced by each textile. Biogas production was notable after the four-day mark; with first peaks occurring on day five (hemp, cellulose), day seven (cotton), and day nine (linen). Production of biogas in the control largely outperformed trials with no added substrate, but overall the methane fractions of the gas was lower than expected, indicating that pretreatment is likely necessary for more complete biodegradation of natural textiles. </p>

El presente articulo tiene como objetivo revisar producciones científicas vinculado con el manejo de residuos sólidos en gobiernos regionales, provinciales y de distritales; la metodología de tipo y diseño cuantitativo comprendió procesos exploratorios y descriptivos; el uso de métodos teóricos; y, como muestra se tomó 10 artículos confiables y originales lo cual fueron publicados entre los años 2016 y 2023. Para el análisis y procesamiento de datos se utilizó la técnica que corresponde a un análisis documental y como instrumento una matriz lógica. Los resultados de dicho artículo manifiestan que la mayoría de las investigaciones científicas están relacionados en la gestión, manejo y mitigación de los residuos sólidos municipales; con propuestas de modelos sistémicos innovadores, políticas públicas y tecnologías perdurables ; y con respecto a las conclusiones de mayor importancia quecomprenden una evaluación diagnóstica en la cual se concluye el escaso e insuficiente conocimiento sobre el mal manejo de los residuos sólidos municipales en cada gobierno local , asimismo, lo cual se conocen lineamientos teóricos prácticos para minimizar la contaminación del medio ambiente sobre el entorno de los gobiernos regionales, provinciales y distritales para garantizar la sostenibilidad ambiental, mejor calidad económica, y mejorcalidad de vida. / The objective of this article is to review scientific productions linked to solid waste management in regional, provincial and district governments; The quantitative type and design methodology included exploratory and descriptive processes; the use of theoretical methods; and, as a sample, 10 reliable and original articles were taken, which were published between the years 2016 and 2023. For the analysis and processing of data, the technique that corresponds to a documentary analysis and a logical matrix as an instrument was used. The results of said article show that the majority of scientific research is related to the management, handling and mitigation of municipal solid waste; with proposals for innovative systemic models, public policies and lasting technologies; and with respect to the most important conclusions that include a diagnostic evaluation in which the scarce and insufficient knowledge about the poor management of municipal solid waste in each local government is concluded, likewise, which theoretical and practical guidelines are known to minimize the environmental pollution on the surroundings of regional, provincial and district governments to guarantee environmental sustainability, better economic quality, and better quality of life.

Published Article / The waste management practices used at red-meat abattoirs in the Free State province for disposal of condemned products generated in abattoirs and the problems associated with the different waste disposal methods were investigated. Problems caused by various products generated at abattoirs. such as abattoir waste water, blood, stomach contents, manure, whole carcasses, fetuses and all products unsuitable for human consumption requiring disposal were identified. Recommended solutions took into account the most effective handling manner, causing minimum environmental pollution, reducing any health risks to communities, and converting condemned products into value-added by-products by changing certain waste management processes / strategies. The handling of waste, specifically of condemned products, at 78 red meat abattoirs was analysed.

Background: Swedish textile waste management ecosystem is recognized to be a multi-actor ecosystem as opposed to a single-actor scenario whereas actors tend to perform their activities single-handedly and in a fragmented manner. Participating actors, each play a significant role in handling and treating the textile waste but this fragmented system renders certain drawbacks. The main treatment of textile waste in Sweden is incineration which addresses environmental damages. This in particular is more worrying when textiles are used as a fuel. This highlights the necessity for the actors to perform in a network and expand their collaboration, thus move more efficiently towards development of a sustainable innovation and find an alternative for the current treatment of textile waste. Purpose: This study strives to investigate the challenges and at the same time opportunities of implementation of a collaborative business model for sustainable innovation. This has been achieved through taking benefits of value mapping tool and actor-mapping. The core values of actors have been identified which was continued by identification of their shared and conflicting values. Methodology: Pre-study was conducted in order to design and develop two mappings, “main actors mapping”, “actor’s activity mapping” which helped the authors and the interviewees to gain a better realization of the Swedish Textile Waste Management ecosystem through visualization. The process of data collection occurred through semi-structured interviews with Open-ended questions which resulted to rich detailed responses from the interviewees. Seven organizations as the representative of Swedish textile waste management ecosystem were reached and studied. The outcomes of the interview were analyzed by the aid of value mapping tool and led the authors to formulate the answer to the research question. Interview findings: Interview findings presents the outcome of the collected data in accordance with the purpose of the study and the answer to the proposed research question. Consequently, this chapter provides a description of the Activity classification in TWM eco-system in Sweden as an outcome of the pre-study, continued by expanding on the results of Actors mapping &amp; their activities in TW eco-system and Activity mapping in relation to actors’ interactions, which were achieved by the aid of value mapping tool. This chapter is concluded by providing actors perspectives regarding the formation and the suitability of a collaborative business model for sustainable innovation on the basis of mapped values within textile waste scenario in Sweden. Analysis&amp; Discussion: This study tends to present rich and comprehensive picture in a descriptive manner in regards with participating actors, their activities, collaboration and value-orientations within Swedish textile waste scenario and propose a solution to the identified short-comings of the system by investigating the potentials of a collaborative business model for sustainable innovation. The literature review confirm and support the interview findings and addresses the need for further dialogue and collaboration among actors while highlighting the need from moving from ego-centric business model to multi-actor business model. This chapter is concluded by the response to the research question.

More than half of the world’s population lives in urban areas and this figure is expected to increase. The worldwide trend is in the direction of urbanization. Building sustainable cities is one of the sustainable development goals (SDGs) initiated by United Nations Sustainable Development Solutions Network. In the anthropocene of human induced climate change, what makes a city sustainable? This paper takes Beijing as the case study, uses building smart infrastructures and lowering ecological footprints as the main thread, uses a mixed research method of questionnaires, interviews and site survey, and discusses four aspects -- transportation, waste management, green spaces and energy saving buildings -- from employees’ perspectives of how to a build a sustainable city. This paper also discusses the relations between smart infrastructure and the resilience of a city, and relations between lowering ecological footprints and a green city, and draws a conclusion that a resilient and green city is a sustainable city. We can build a sustainable Beijing only through vigorously developed public transportation, well managed waste, the development of diversified green spaces, and buildings that efficiently use natural resources as energy supplies.

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

published_or_final_version / Zoology / Doctoral / Doctor of Philosophy

In order to deal with the mounting issue of Municipal Solid Waste (MSW) in a way that is in line with sustainable development and Integrated Solid Waste Management (ISWM) a systems approach is necessary.This approach can practically be integrated into the MSW decision-making process through Life Cycle Thinking(LCT) and environmental systems analysis tools such as Life Cycle Assessment (LCA). This paper is written within the context of the RECO Baltic 21 Tech (RB21T) project which aims to improve waste management practices in 12 countries in the Baltic Sea Region. The main aim of this paper is to investigate the extent to which LCA is used as decision-support in MSW management in Sweden, Estonia and Lithuania. The use of LCA is examined on a national level as well as on a local or regional level based on relevant literature and a set of interviews conducted in each country. According to the results the use of LCA as decision-support in MSW management is very limited in Estonia and Lithuania whilst it is already a well-established tool in Sweden. Most of the LCA efforts in the Baltic States have been conducted in connection with foreign projects and investments,such as RB21T. Although an actual LCA might not always be applied in Sweden, LCT is prevalent in MSW management both on a national and local level. In order for LCA to be better integrated into MSW management this paper argues that there is a need for increased knowledge, data, more user-friendly LCA-tools andstrengthening regional partnerships for further transfer of knowledge between countries.

A widespread phenomenon on dumpsites in the developing world, subsistence waste picking is also a common practice at the city-owned Coastal Park Landfill (CPL) in Muizenberg. Poor unemployed people from the townships of Capricorn, Vrygrond and Hillview, situated at the foot of the tip “skarrel for scrap” every day. The word skarreling is an Afrikaans term meaning to rummage or scrabble, scuttle or scurry. Thus, if one talks of “skarreling for scrap”, it generally refers to poor peo-ple trying to eke out a living by looking for recyclables in the waste that can be put to personal use or turned into money.In the two decades since the transition to democracy, South Africa and the City of Cape Town (CCT) have formulated a number of framework and subordinate policies which express their commitment to sustainable development (SD). SD aims to achieve a balance between its three components, econom-ic, environmental and social sustainability. Thus, SD is not only about increased economic efficiency and stability, while at the same time reducing pollution and handling natural resources more thought-fully; it is also about promoting social equity by reducing poverty and empowering the poor. This study is guided by the assumption that waste pickers in developing countries play an important part in recycling efforts, and that recycling in turn is an integral component of SD, which is the guid-ing principle of South African policy-making. In an ideal scenario – as implicitly promised by the policies on SD – the management of solid waste should pursue the economic and environmental goals of SD by promoting recycling and should be aligned with the goal of creating sustainable livelihoods.However, the reality in the CCT is a different one. Landfill skarreling in the CCT, and particularly at CPL, is accompanied by conflict and a criminalisation of the skarrelaars. The CCT decided to phase out landfill salvaging in 2008, and subsequently has put a lot of effort into keeping skarrelaars away from its landfills. The implications of this decision – job losses for poor people and a potential in-crease in crime – have not been thought through. There is thus a dysfunctional triangular relationship around waste recycling in the CCT, leading to tensions between (1) the City’s commitment to SD; (2) its approach towards recycling (as part of solid waste management) in policy and practice; and (3) the livelihoods of the poor in adjacent townships. In the CCT the goals of SD are undermined by the City’s recycling strategies, with adverse effects for the livelihoods of the people who live off skarrel-ing.There are several causes for this disjuncture between policy and reality. The first has to do with igno-rance on the side of the policymakers. They seem to be badly informed about the extent and nature of skarreling, perhaps assuming that this activity is performed only by a few people who need quick cash for drugs. The second cause can be attributed to the neoliberal macro-policies pursued in South Africa, as well as to the global competition between cities for investment. This neoliberal urbanism leads cities like Cape Town to re-imagine themselves as “world (-class) cities”, in which poor waste pickers are perceived as a disturbing factor. In the CCT, this goes hand in hand with an approach reminiscent of the apartheid mindset, which saw the need to control poor, black (and potentially unru-ly) people.The dissertation therefore focuses on the core themes of sustainable development, (urban) neoliberal-ism, and informality in combination with a case study of the informal waste pickers at the chosen landfill site. Writing from a political studies angle, this study is framed as a policy critique: it argues that the policies around SWM ignore South African realities, and that the SD policies and their im-plementation lack coherence. Moreover, the conflict between the skarrelaars and the CCT at the CPL is rooted in inadequate national and local legislation which does not acknowledge the role of informal waste pickers in SWM and aims at excluding rather than including them. If waste pickers were sup-ported in their recycling efforts in both policy and practice, this would be a win-win situation for the state/city (economic benefits and less crime), the skarrelaars (regular employment and incomes) and the environment (less waste buried on landfills).The case study is primarily designed as a qualitative study, but also includes quantitative elements as it attempts a first quantification of the extent and nature of skarreling at the CPL site, one of only three operating dumpsites in Cape Town. The aim on the one hand is to estimate the contribution of the skarrelaars to waste reduction (and therefore to sustainability) in the City, especially since the waste they collect is not buried on the landfill, thereby prolonging the operational life span of the landfill. The other aim is to assess the role of the skarrelaars as an economic factor in the township, in particular the question of how important the incomes generated from skarreling are for their individu-al livelihoods and for the community as a whole. / Magister Artium - MA