The steady growth of the rubber industry requires attention regarding the waste management and the methods applied in recycling and in the reclaiming processes. The ok in this thesis responds to the demand for an efficient recycle method for EPDM rubber waste. A solvent free chemical activation method to recycle EPDM rubber waste which provides high-quality recycled products, despite of the high amount of recycled particles used as a substitute of the raw material, was developed. The process needed to be both environmentally sustainable and applicable on an industrial scale without requiring special equipment. The final aim of this project was to use the activated particles in the production of seals and sealing systems on an industrial scale. In order to achieve this, the recycling of EPDM rubber waste particles by means of chemical activation using low molecular weight polymers (liquid polymers) was investigated. These liquid polymers are highly compatible with the waste rubber particles from the EPDM rubber and also suitable for sulphur vulcanisation. In comparison with other methods used for recycling of rubber and when considering environmental and economic aspects, chemical activation at the surface particle using low molecular weight polymers offers great recycling potential. In order to demonstrate the potential of the activated particles as a substitute for the raw material, aspects were investigated including: (1) characterization of the EPDM rubber waste particles; (2) optimization of the ratio between the waste rubber particles and the low molecular weight polymers; (3) investigation of the influence of various amounts of curing system; (4) study of the effect of the diene and ethylene percentage contained by the low molecular weight polymer used for activation of the particles; (5) investigation of the influence of the amount of activated particles used as substitute of the raw material; (6) study of the type of curing system used and (7) application of the process on an industrial scale.

The cycling of nutrients is a fundamental process in streams and rivers, and scientists are increasingly recognizing the importance of animal communities to nutrient dynamics in these ecosystems. Despite growing evidence that animal excretion (i.e. urine) can supply limiting nutrients to primary producers in small streams, the importance of excretion is uncertain in large rivers. Accordingly, I used three estimation approaches based on past and new excretion rate data to determine nitrogen (N) and phosphorus (P) excretion inputs from insect communities in four large rivers (discharge > 10 cubic meters per second) in North America, and I compared these rates to both the total demand for nutrients by primary producers and background nutrient levels. Additionally, I compared the ratio of excreted nutrients (N:P) to water nutrient limitation (N-limitation or P-limitation) to understand whether excretion by insects could serve as a potential source of limited nutrients to free-floating primary producers in large river ecosystems. Across all three estimation approaches, total insect community N excretion rates ranged from 18.9 to 1070.1 μg N m-2 hr-1, while community P excretion rates ranged from 16.3 to 378.7 μg P m-2 hr-1. Across all rivers and estimation approaches, community N and P excretion was equal to 0.7 to 32.4% and 0.1 to 6.0% of total N and P demand, respectively. Additionally, excreted N and P was equivalent to 0.5 to 62.3% and 0.2 to 5.5% of background N and P levels, respectively. Excreted N:P ratios suggested that excretion may serve as an important pathway in the alleviation of nutrient limitation for some primary producers in large rivers, although additional research will be required. Compared to smaller stream ecosystems, in which animal excretion can supply >50% of total N demand, and also match > 100% of background N levels, insect excretion appears to play a smaller role in nutrient dynamics of large rivers, although excretion may contribute significantly in rivers with high animal biomass and low background nutrient levels, as for N in the North Platte River in this study.

Presentaremos una idea innovadora tomando en cuenta las necesidades del mercado y aportando lo necesario para mejorar la sociedad actual. Nuestra idea se basa en obtener los pallets de exportación e importación en desuso, ya que, Perú es un gran actor principal en el comercio internacional pero tiene un gran déficit de reutilización de pallets. Nos respaldamos con el hecho de que en el Callao (Hub exportador - importador) y en otros puertos, existe una gran cantidad de pallets que no se usan, los cuales terminan en ese estado porque los dueños (exportadores - importadores) no poseen la suficiente información o el planeamiento necesario para destinar este tipo de recursos a otro fin. Profundizando más sobre el motivo de nuestro proyecto, otro rubro en el cual nos enfocamos fue en el de “upcycling”, ya que la práctica de generar valor agregado a productos reciclados se encuentra en un estado inicial en el Perú y aún no se aprecia a su totalidad el gran bien que puede causar dicha práctica. Por último, nos enfocamos al producto específico de muebles, porque consideramos que el mercado de muebles en el Perú es muy repetitivo y caro, lo cual el público no ha venido apreciando a través del tiempo, pero ahora puede ser distinto gracias nuestro proyecto “Recipallet”. / We will present an innovative idea taking into account the needs of the market and contributing on what is necessary to improve today's society. Our idea is based on obtaining export and import pallets in disuse, since Peru is a major player in international trade but has a large deficit of pallet reuse. We support the fact that in Callao (Hub exporter - importer) and in other ports, there is a large amount of pallets that are not used, which end in that state because the owners (exporters - importers) do not have enough information or the necessary planning to allocate this type of resources for another purpose. Deepening more about the reason for our project, another area in which we focused was the "upcycling", since the practice of generating added value to recycled products is in an initial state in Peru and is still not appreciated. Finally, we will focus on the specific product of furniture, because we consider that the furniture market in Peru is very repetitive and expensive, which the public has not appreciated over time, but now it can be different thanks to our project "Recipallet" / Trabajo de investigación

Magister Commercii - MCom / South Africa is faced with a triple threat of poor economic growth, poverty and unemployment. Concurrently, the production of waste is increasing predominantly among urban areas. If catered for, the informal recycling sector has the potential to create a notable amount of opportunities for improving livelihoods and generating jobs. Street Waste Pickers (SWPs) are identified as individuals who collect recyclable waste material from households or industrial firms with the aim of selling them to recycling firms. This study aims to identify the barriers and challenges for job creation along the value chain of plastic recycling that SWPs face in the urban regions of Cape Town. In the absence of national database on the informal recycling sector, this study utilises primary data collection methods in the form of semi-structured interviews and questionnaires. The findings in this study indicate that the informal recycling economy is predominantly male-dominated. This is particularly due to the labour-intensive nature of the activities in this sector. Furthermore, the informal recycling economy possesses little to no barriers of entry. This is substantiated by the slight difference found in the comparison of earnings by race, age and educational attainment. These results reveal that initiatives to absorb these individuals could potentially curb the large amount of unskilled unemployed citizens of South Africa and simultaneously help decrease the level of unemployment in the country.

京都大学 / 0048 / 新制・課程博士 / 博士(農学) / 甲第18339号 / 農博第2064号 / 新制||農||1023(附属図書館) / 学位論文||H26||N4846(農学部図書室) / 31197 / 京都大学大学院農学研究科応用生物科学専攻 / (主査)教授 左子 芳彦, 教授 澤山 茂樹, 教授 菅原 達也 / 学位規則第4条第1項該当 / Doctor of Agricultural Science / Kyoto University / DFAM

京都大学 / 0048 / 新制・課程博士 / 博士(エネルギー科学) / 甲第21882号 / エネ博第383号 / 新制||エネ||74(附属図書館) / 京都大学大学院エネルギー科学研究科エネルギー社会・環境科学専攻 / (主査)教授 石原 慶一, 教授 東野 達, 教授 酒井 伸一 / 学位規則第4条第1項該当 / Doctor of Energy Science / Kyoto University / DFAM

This document is submitted in partial fulfillment for the degree: Master of Architecture [Professional] at the University of the Witwatersrand, Johannesburg, South Africa, in the year 2014. Supervised by Professor Diaan van der Westhuizen / High levels of unemployment are a reality in many of the urban areas of South Africa. Poverty and hardship compel many of the unemployed to venture into the urban informal economy in order to survive. The South African government have found new ways of creating employment opportunities, one of which is within the recycling industry. There is an increased demand for minimizing mankind’s environmental footprint. Glass is a material that has been used for centuries and has the ability to be recycled infinitely without losing its quality (Marson, n.d). This together with the need for glass amongst consumers and the endlessly recycling nature of glass makes glass recycling a significant sustainable measure in considering environmental impacts (2011, 2012 Annual Review: Glass Recycling Company). Despite these properties, glass continues to be an undervalued material that can utilize low technology in its recycling process. This study aimed at investigating the formal and informal recycling economy within the city of Johannesburg by providing the opportunity for the Waste Reclaimers (Trolley Pushers) to be an integral part of the recycling process, specifically with glass. A further aim was to explore the tectonics of a factory to create a space where the Waste Reclaimers could gather, connect and engage with the product of glass. Lastly it aimed to provide a space where the general public could also engage in the product of glass recycling thereby creating awareness and promotion of recycling. The project proposed a glass recycling factory where the process of glass recycling culminates with the production of glass. The site selected for this research is located within the industrial part of the Newtown precinct. This has become a central recycling hub for the Waste Reclaimers of Johannesburg as it links private recycling centres within the city. Newtown is an area of flux, marked by a history of industrial and political disruption. This area represents change and opportunity for growth and life. A space recycled and regenerated throughout the history of Johannesburg. The reason for the choice of topic is that the evolution of recycling in Johannesburg has reached a point where municipalities need to acknowledge the informal sector as a valuable part of the recycling economy. The majority of the literature on recycling and the organization of the recycling process predominantly focuses on the collection of waste as means of job creation. An opportunity therefore presented itself to highlight the production, and craftsmanship of recyclable material. To clarify and further place the Waste Reclaimers within the existing waste management system, the theory of Phenomenology has been explored. It will focus on the phenomenological term of “Lifeworld” which describes a way of life where the individual’s aspiration, perceptions, experiences, beliefs and behaviour forms a holistic unity towards a fulfilling, meaningful, existence (Seamon, 2012). This exploration will give insight to how this building will provide the Waste Reclaimer a sense of identification and orientation within this system of the recycling industry. In order to better understand the complexity of the existing waste management system, the theory of Systems has been explored focusing on the principal of an open system as a way of broadening the lifeworld of the Waste Reclaimers Precedent studies of PFG Building Glass windscreen recovery facility; Zama City Waste; the comparison of factory tectonics between the Crystal Palace, Toledo Museum of Art Glass and the Crucible Glassblowing studio; the Glass Chapel and The Nelson-Atkins Museum of Art were used to inform the design. The network of the Waste Reclaimers was also documented in order to understand their routes and network across the city and the surrounding suburbs. The impact of the design found that the proposed space created opportunities for pause and transformation using light, space and process. The idea of transformation is process. Process is represented by a linear path with adjacent spaces of function and support. These spaces will transform according to their activities and associated light qualities. These spaces will thus become the medium through which people and activities change.

SÖRAB:s återvinningsanläggning (ÅVA) i Hagby hanterar olika typer av avfall som t.ex. bygg- och rivningsavfall, textilier, grovavfall från hushåll, trädgårds-, elavfall samt farligt avfall. Vatten från behandlings- och lagringsytorna samlas upp, provtas och renas i anläggningens vattenreningsanläggning. Vid provtagning av processvattnet på anläggningen har poly- och perfluorerade alkylsubstanser (PFAS) påträffats. PFAS är ett samlingsnamn för flertalet syntetiskt tillverkade kemikalier och idag finns fler än 3000 olika PFAS-ämnen på världsmarknaden. PFAS har använts under många år i bl.a. brandsläckningsskum, impregneringsmedel samt vid tillverkning av teflon. Ämnena har tillverkats sedan 1950-talet men först under 00-talet uppmärksammades den miljöpåverkan som PFAS har. Syftet med projektresultatet är att förhindra eller reducera risken för ytterligare utsläpp av PFAS från föroreningskällan/föroreningskällorna. Målet var att undersöka och kartlägga vilka ytor/verksamheter som ger eller har gett upphov till PFAS i processvattnet samt ta fram förslag för hur föroreningskällan kan åtgärdas alternativt föreslå metoder för rening av slam och/eller vatten. Provtagning genomfördes på Hagby ÅVA genom stickprov i sju olika provpunkter under tre provomgångar med tre veckors mellanrum. Samtliga provpunkter vid samtliga provtagningar innehöll PFAS. Högsta halterna PFAS som påträffades i Hagby återvinningsanläggnings (ÅVA) processvatten synes i denna undersökning komma från de ytor där grovavfall, bygg- och rivningsavfall samt elektronikavfall sorteras och lagras. Då flödet på avrinningen från dessa ytor inte går att mäta på ett tillförlitligt sätt är det svårt att veta vilken yta som bidrar med störst mängd PFAS till vattenreningssystemet. Viss mängd PFAS kommer från vallen för inneslutna avfallsmassor som PFAS-halter från provpunkten visar. PFAS-halterna var konstanta vid samtliga provtagningar. Fortsatt kontroll av provpunkten behövs för att kontrollera att PFAS-halterna inte stiger, om så är fallet får vidare utredning av området genomföras. Förslag till åtgärd är att börja med att utreda hur bra reningsanläggningen, inklusive kolfiltret, på Hagby klarar av att rena PFAS från processvattnet. Frågor som behöver besvaras är hur mycket som släpps ut till recipienten och om PFAS/PFOS-halterna klarar riktvärdena. Ett annat förslag är även att slamsuga där det är möjligt samt undersöka om enskilda PFAS-källor kan identifieras och elimineras från ytorna. Metoder som anses lämpliga för rening av PFAS på Hagby är förslagsvis aktivt kol med ett ytterligare förfiltersteg med antracit eller sand för att förebygga igensättning av det befintliga kolfiltret på anläggningen. Förslag är att kontakta de anläggningar som använt sig av kombination av förfiltrering med antracit och kolfilter för att få information om erfarenheter av metoden, hur mycket PFAS-halter lyckats reduceras och kostnader för processen. En annan lämplig metod som har höga reningsgrader är jonbytarteknik (IEX). Försök behöver utföras specifikt för processvattnet på Hagby eftersom inga studier om rening av PFAS i vatten från ÅVA hittats i litteraturen. Nanofiltrering och omvänd osmos har hög effektivitet vid separering av PFAS. Nackdelen är att filtreringen inte är selektiv och att membranen riskerar att sättas igen vid behandling av processvattnet på Hagby ÅVA på grund av flera olika ämnen i vattnet. Fler metoder för behandling av PFAS är lovande som t.ex. elektrokemisk oxidation, biologisk behandling med kiselalger, plasmabehandling, ozonbehandling men är komplexa, dyra och behöver utvecklas samt effektiviseras för en möjlig uppskalning. / SÖRAB's recycling plant in Hagby handles various types of waste such as textiles, garden, electrical and hazardous waste. Water from the surfaces is collected, tested and purified in the plant's water treatment plant. When sampling the process water at the plant, poly- and perfluorinated alkyl substances (PFAS) have been found. PFAS is a collective name for the majority of synthetically manufactured chemicals and today there are more than 3000 different PFAS substances in the world market. PFAS has been used for many years in for example fire extinguishing foam, impregnating agents and in the manufacture of Teflon. The substances have been manufactured since the 1950s but the environmental impact of PFAS was first noticed in the 2000s. The purpose of the project result is to prevent or reduce the risk of further emissions of PFAS from the source of pollution/ pollutions. The aim was to investigate and map out the areas/ activities that give or have given rise to PFAS in the process water and to make proposals for how the source of pollution can be treated or to propose methods for the purification of sludge and/ or water. Sampling was carried out at Hagby recycling plant by sampling at seven different test points during three test runs at three-week intervals. All test points for all three sampling test runs contained PFAS. The highest levels of PFAS found in the process water of Hagby recycling plant appear in this study to come from the areas where construction, demolition and electronic waste are sorted and stored. Since the flow of the drainage from these surfaces cannot be measured reliably, it is difficult to know which surface contributes the greatest amount of PFAS to the water purification system. A certain amount of PFAS comes from the embankment for enclosed waste masses, as levels of PFAS from the test point show. Levels of PFAS were constant for all samples. Continued monitoring of the test point is needed to check that the levels of PFAS don not rise, if this is the case, further investigation of the area may be carried out Proposed action is to investigate how effective the treatment plant, including the carbon filter, at Hagby is to remove PFAS from the process water. Questions that need to be answered are how much is emitted to the recipient and whether levels of PFAS/PFOS can meet the guideline values. Another suggestion is also to remove sludge wherever possible and to investigate whether individual sources of PFAS can be identified and eliminated from the surfaces. Methods considered suitable for the purification of PFAS at Hagby recycling plant are activated carbon with an additional pre-filter step with anthracite or sand to prevent fouling of the existing carbon filter at the plant. Suggestion is to contact the plants that are using the combination of pre-filtration with anthracite and carbon filters to obtain information on the experience of the method, PFAS levels that have been successfully treated and costs for the process. Another suitable method is ion exchange technology (IEX). Experiments need to be carried out specifically for the process water at Hagby as no studies on purification of PFAS with water from recycling plants have been found in the literature. Nanofiltration and reverse osmosis have high efficiency in separating PFAS. The disadvantage is that the filtration is not selective and that the membranes run risk of fouling when treating the process water at Hagby recycling plant due to several different substances in the water. Several methods for treating PFAS are promising, e.g. electrochemical oxidation, biological treatment with silica algae, plasma treatment, ozone treatment but the methods are complex, expensive and need to be developed and made more efficient for a possible application in full scale.

Urea formaldehyde (UF) resins are widely used as adhesives for wood-based composites. These thermosetting polymers have advantages of relative low price, fast curing speed, and relative good bonding performance. However, UF resin bonded composites are designed for interior applications due to its weak water resistance. Moreover, traditional prevalent ways for recycling wood-based composites face problems caused by UF resins. In this project, the reuse of cured UF resins was systematically studied. The verification and characterization of crystalline structures in cured UF resins were conducted. The results showed that the crystalline regions were accounted for nearly 14.48% in a typical 1.2 formaldehyde to urea (F/U) molar ratio UF resin. The details of the resin crystalline regions, such as grain sizes and interplanar spacing (d-spacing), were characterized. The crystalline structures, nevertheless, did not affect the UF resin hydrothermal hydrolysis in this study. The reuse of cured UF resin was started with a hydrothermal hydrolysis. Under 140 °C and 2 h of hydrothermal process, 20 mL of 30 w.t. % formaldehyde water solution was able to depolymerize up to 1.7 g of cured UF resin. The hydrolyzed formaldehyde solutions were directly used as normal formaldehyde solutions for UF resin synthesis. The synthesized resin (named as UUF resin) contained about 6 w.t. % of cured UF resin and presented similar chemical structures and bonding performance as normal UF resins. Hybrid resins made of UUF resin and polymeric 4-4 diphenyl methane diisocyanate (pMDI) were prepared. The pMDI was found evenly dispersed in the hybrid resins by using acetone as its solvent. These hybrid resins resulted in faster curing and stronger bonding performance than pure UUF resins. Furthermore, the hybrid resin was used in a new bonding design, which used southern pine wood radial section features. This design generated finger joint like bonding interfaces by hot pressing two resin coated wood radial sections. The bonding strength and bond line stability were enhanced by this design.

Removal of sediment by dredging causes excessive erosion and ecosystem disruption. The objective of this study is to consider recycled glass as a feasible, economical, and environmentally friendly alternative material for coastal replenishment. Recycled glass cullet possesses the same physical and chemical properties as natural quartz sand found on beaches. A field study conducted in Mississippi showed little variation across three depths. Analysis determined the sediment size ratio (or distribution) of beach sand and glass cullet. Results show the most common grain size of sand in Mississippi is 0.25 mm and the grain size of cullet is comparable. Analytical Spectral Data (ASD) assessed the compositional variation between the sediment and glass cullet. Comparative cost estimate shows glass cullet is indeed a feasible alternative aggregate to dredged sediment for beach replenishment and has the potential to protect shelf ecosystems from unnecessary dredging and create use for recycled glass. Keywords: glass, cullet, recycling, beaches, renourishment, analytical spectral device, feasibility