Thesis (doctoral)--Universität, Göttingen, 1999.

Thesis (M. Phil.)--University of Hong Kong, 2002. / Includes bibliographical references (leaves 162-174).

Thesis (Ph. D.)--University of Texas at Austin, 2001. / Vita. Includes bibliographical references (leaves 117-121). Available also in a digital version from Dissertation Abstracts.

Om människor fortsätter med det konsumtionsbeteende som råder idag kommer jor-den resurser ta slut. Den fossila råvaran petroleum används vanligtvis vid framställ-ning av polyester och polyamid. Petroleum har en 100 000 årlig process, vilket är en ofantlig skillnad i förhållande till den takt som det förbrukas. Därför har eventuella möjligheter att återskapa en ny filament av återvunnet syntetiskt blandmaterial un-dersökts i detta arbete. Det finns befintliga metoder för att återvinna polyester och polyamid som homogena material. Dock vid återvinning i en gemensam process av materialen får den slutliga produkten en försämrad kvalité. Mekanisk och kemisk återvinning fungerar för att framställa syntetiska filament men i dagsläget kan endast den kemiska ge likvärdig kvalité på det återvunna filamentet i förhållande till den jungfruliga. Det har hittats ett flertal separationsmetoder som antas kunna tillämpas till bland-materialet. Olika egenskaper såsom densitet, polaritet och laddningsmöjligheter kan utnyttjas för att separera polymererna. Polyester och polyamid antas kunna separe-ras, dock görs inte detta på industriell basis troligtvis på grund av kvantitet, resurser och pris. / If people continue with the present consumption behaviour, the earth´s resources will run out. The fossil raw material petroleum is normally used in the manufacture of polyester and polyamide. Petroleum has a 100 000 annual process, which is a huge difference compared to the rate at which it is consumed. Therefore, any opportunities to recreate a new fibre from recycled synthetic bland materials are studied in this work. There are existing methods to recycle polyester and polyamide as homogeneous ma-terials. However, the recovery in a joint process get the final product a degraded quality. Mechanical and chemical recycling makes it possible to produce new syn-thetic filaments, but in the current situation, the chemical will provide comparable quality of the recycled filament in relation to the virgin. Several separation methods can be applied to the blend material. Various properties such as density, polarity and charging possibilities can be used to separate polymers. Polyester and polyamide are assumed to be separated, however, is not done on an industrial basis, probably because of the quantity, resources and money.

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

published_or_final_version / Architecture / Master / Master of Landscape Architecture

Electrical and electronic goods production is one of the fastest growing markets in the world. More new electronic goods appear every year. If the electronic waste cannot be managed and recycled properly, more and more electrical and electronic waste (WEEE) would be generated in the future. In fact, improper WEEE treatment causes tremendous harmful effect to the environment and finally affects our health. More effort was put in WEEE recycling worldwide. In recent years, the government, NGOs and other responsible parties worked very hard in Hong Kong WEEE recycling. However, Hong Kong is still lagging behind in terms of WEEE recycling compare with other countries. In Hong Kong, large quantities of WEEE are shipped to developing countries, which are non-ethical. Some of them would also go to landfills in Hong Kong, which causes serious land contamination. Even if the electronic waste is collected, the collectors may not follow the EPD guidelines to recycle the waste. Therefore, it is important to let people know the environmental impact of WEEE, the proper WEEE recycling channels and the importance of WEEE recycling so as to raise their awareness towards WEEE issues. There are few research findings about household WEEE recycling in Hong Kong, especially the household attitude and behavior towards WEEE recycling. The result in this dissertation can fill this knowledge gap. In this study, questionnaires will be used to find out the WEEE generation pattern and recycling frequency in households, the prefer disposal methods for household WEEE and the household attitudes and behavior towards WEEE recycling. Besides, some WEEE recycling facilities will be visited to identify difficulties in WEEE recycling. Finally, possible ways will be suggested to tackle the difficulties of WEEE recycling. / published_or_final_version / Environmental Management / Master / Master of Science in Environmental Management

Recently, food waste issue has been raised by many environmental friendly organizations, there are approximately 3,584 tons food waste produced in Hong Kong every day. Food waste originates from commercial and industry (C&I) sector and domestic sector that about 11% and 28% respectively of the municipal solid waste (MSW) generated in Hong Kong. Food waste leads to many pollution problems, as food waste contains a lot of moisture, during the decomposing process, the food waste will release landfill gas and leachate, it will contaminate environment of nearby area of landfills. Furthermore, every day about 9,000 tons MSW will be disposed to landfills, based on the government information, the landfill of Tseng Kwan O will be saturated on 2015, while the other landfills in Tuen Man and Ta Kwu Ling will be saturated in 2017 and 2019 respectively, and MSW will become a big issue for Hong Kong. Currently, Hong Kong has only one Pilot Composting plant in Kowloon bay to recycle 500 tons food waste daily from C & I sectors. And for households sector, only a few housing estates have on-site composting machines to recycle the food waste, most of the domestic food wastes are disposed to landfills. To encourage the on-site food waste recycling within housing estates, the ECF has launched a funding program “Food waste Recycling Projects in Housing Estates” in 2011. ECF believed that providing subsidy as an incentive would attract more estates to implement on-site food waste composting and reduce the quantity of food waste in household side. The “Food waste Recycling Projects in Housing Estates” has launched for two years, so far not many housing estates implement the on-site food waste composting, this research will study the effectiveness of on-site food waste composting in reducing households’ food waste and whether the incentive mechanism is the best tools to enhance the households’ participation in food waste recycling. / published_or_final_version / Housing Management / Master / Master of Housing Management

The food waste problem has recently been put in the spotlight in Hong Kong and around the world. Food waste is the largest part of the municipal solid waste in Hong Kong, which accounts for more than a third of all solid waste. In 2011, there was approximately 3,600 tonnes of food waste generated everyday, with two-thirds coming from households and one-third from the commercial and industrial sector. The capacities of the three strategic landfills in Hong Kong are going to be exhausted soon. Therefore, new policy strategies are needed to combat the food waste problem. A questionnaire was conducted with residents in the Tuen Mun district of Hong Kong, which focused on finding out their level of awareness of the food waste problem in Hong Kong; general behaviours of handling and generation of food waste; views and attitudes towards recycling food waste and perceived need for a household food waste recycling scheme in Hong Kong. The findings show that the majority of the respondents have a high level of awareness of the food waste problem in Hong Kong. However, the general behaviour of handling and generation of food waste does not seem to be in keeping with a reduction of food waste. There are a number of hindering factors that discourage food waste reduction and food waste recycling, such as the lack of food waste recycling facilities, hygiene and public health issues, and other social issues such as convenience. Nevertheless, the respondents agree that Hong Kong should introduce compulsory food waste recycling facilities for households in order to combat the food waste problem. With the vast amount of domestic food waste generated, the introduction of a household food waste recycling scheme has great potential to reduce food waste in Hong Kong. The obstacles of introducing household food waste recycling can be overcome by government provision of food waste recycling facilities, as well as maintaining a good hygiene standard. Full government provision of such facilities would increase the level of convenience, including financial convenience, and hence people would be more willing to participate in recycling and reducing their food waste. / published_or_final_version / Environmental Management / Master / Master of Science in Environmental Management

Food waste issue is not only concerned in Hong Kong, but for the worldwide in recent years. Landfilling is the major method treating large amount of food waste by the government in Hong Kong, and only small amount of food waste would be upcycled by the government’s pilot composting plant and the private food waste upcycling companies. This management system on food waste is not sustainable which would lead to different social and environmental problems. Several plans are conducted by the government on dealing with food waste; the most frequently heard project is the project of Organic Waste Treatment Facilities (OWTFs), which is aimed to build five to six OWTFs between 2014 and2024. Besides the government’s efforts on food waste issue, food backs, researches and upcycling food waste by the private parties are observed. Therefore, develop a sustainable food waste management in Hong Kong especially on upcycling would be the best choice to reduce food waste as well as to solve the landfill exhausting problem. The final aims of this study is to confirm the most suitable sustainable food waste management framework for Hong Kong and to develop a set of recommendations on food waste upcycling for stakeholders involved. This is achieved by reviewing related literature and international best practice; developing an universal sustainable food waste management framework; understanding the current situation in Hong Kong and identifying key issues through literature review and first hand data / information collections. Online survey and interviews are conducted. 174 people completed the online survey and 29 interviews are conducted on upcycling businesses, catering sectors, actual customers of those upcycling products and NGOs. 6 factors are recognized and discussed under the 4 – steps food waste upcycling process framework, which causing the differences in management options and outcomes: 1. Late starting point; 2. Low variety of food wastes management methods; 3. Concerns; 4. Availability of food waste industry and market; 5.Lack of promotions and 6. Lack of education and resources. “Research and Development on Upcycling Food Waste Fund” is suggested for researching and developing new value –added upcycled products, subsidies and incentives are also suggested to maintain the competitiveness of upcycled products and develop an upcycling market in Hong Kong. Internet promotions and interactions are highly recommended on promotion, consultation and education aspects. The recent campaign –Food Wise Hong Kong is a good example for food waste management and it should be kept and further focused on food donation, and finally to promote food waste separation. The proposed food waste management plans and projects are also reviewed, collecting food waste from catering sector would be a better method at the beginning. Quantity-based charging scheme that charge by rubbish bags is suggested, facilities in the current waste station are needed to improve. An amended food waste management framework for current Hong Kong is constructed at last, hoping that can lead to sustainable development. / published_or_final_version / Environmental Management / Master / Master of Science in Environmental Management