This study aims to provide additional research into how Swedish EFL textbooks support incidental vocabulary learning through reading texts, specifically for textbooks aimed at upper secondary school, expecting a greater emphasis on recycling mid- and low-frequency words. The study has investigated the lexical character of two textbooks, Echo English 5 and Echo English 7, as well as how they recycle lemmas and how well they recycle lemmas from the mid- and low-frequency bands. Incidental vocabulary learning is the process in which words are learned as a secondary objective when the focus of the learning task lies elsewhere. An important component of incidental learning is the frequency at which unknown words are encountered, with 10 encounters being a good benchmark for learning. As these textbooks are aimed at upper secondary school, it can be expected that most of the areas where learning can still be achieved lie within the mid- and low-frequency bands, that being everything below the 3000 most common word families. The study is corpus-inspired, and an online vocabulary profiler was used to compare the texts present in the textbooks to the BNC-COCA corpus to examine the lexical profile of the texts at large. The same was then done with a lemma tagged version of each text, and the level of recycling, as well as its character, was analysed. Similar to what previous research in this field has shown, no evidence has been found that the textbooks properly support incidental learning in the relevant frequency bands, even though the texts included are of an appropriate lexical difficulty level for students of upper secondary school.

The clothes and textiles sold in Sweden is mostly manufactured in countries outside of the EU. The production requires large areas of land and vast amount of water. The environmental impact is big during the production phase in terms of water usage, chemicals and transports. In general, the consumption of new textile is increasing in Sweden, but so is also reused textil. In 2016 the consumption of textile in Sweden was nearly 14 kg per person and year, which equals the weight of 14 t-shirts, 5 pairs of jeans, 7 hoodies and 2 coats. At the same time 5 kg textile per person and year is thrown in the the household waste and nearly 60 % of the thrown textile is in good condition and could be used again. The amount of clothes given to charity organisations is almost 4 kg per person and year but 70 % of the collected textile is exported. The collection and recycling of non-reusable textiles in Sweden today is low. Current recycling techniques are mainly energy recovery through incineration. The reasons for this has to do with limitations in the sorting and collection of consumer textile waste or limitation of optional recycling processes. In fact, there is no large scale industrial process to recycle textile into new textile, which leads to an open loop system where input of new materials is required. But there are upcoming technologies that meets the challenges today. This project explores the dynamics of current ways of treating textile waste. Through learnings from existing system, in combination with new technologies, alternative ways of structuring processes of production, consumption, usages and disposal is proposed with the aim of establishing a new relationship to contemporary urban production.

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Methods of reusing/recycling the more than 250 million automobile and truck tires which are worn out each year were investigated. The existing methods of reusing tires account for about 30 percent of the volume of scrap tires generated each year. These methods are, Retreading, Reclaiming (by reducing to ground up rubber and fiber), and Tire Splitting (stamp items out of sidewall and tread areas). Several possibilities for reusing/recycling the unused 70 percent were discovered. These methods are as follows: Destructive Distillation -- a method of recovering chemicals from tires by pyrolitic action. It is anticipated that eventually as much as 60 percent of all scrap tires may be reused by this method. Expanded Reclaimed Usage -- The use of crumb rubber as an asphalt additive will improve life and durability of highway paving as much as 300 percent. Artificial Reefs -- The tires are compressed and banded then dumped in the ocean to expand old or create new reefs. Carbon Black -- A method whereby the tire is carburized and the resulting carbon black used in new tire formulation. An investigation of the possibility of using one or more of the above methods for the East Central Florida area indicates that artificial reefs should provide the most useful, least cost method for disposal of scrap tires.

A study was made of the feasibility of implementing a system of Resource Recovery from the solid wastes of an urban county in Georgia. A review was made of the existing solid waste management practices and present generation rates. A projection of future waste quantities and composition was made. A review of the present state of the art of recovering resources from solid waste was made to determine what systems could be developed for the County. An analysis of the estimated costs during a test year for three alternative systems for disposal was made to determine a least cost alternative. In that no markets for a refuse derived fuel exist in the County and all costs which may be applicable to the landfill alternative cannot be defined in terms of current costs, the cost of Resource Recovery exceeds the costs of conventional landfilling. Recommendations are for the County to develop markets and make provisions for future development of a system to recover resources from their wastes. In the meantime they should pursue their present plan of disposing of their wastes in a Sanitary Landfill.

Construction and Demolition (C&D) wastes are materials produced in the process of construction, renovation, or demolition of structures (buildings and roads). It also includes materials generated as a result of natural disasters (EPA, 2009). Preliminary estimates from the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) show that the nation generated more than 160 million tons of building related C&D wastes in 2003. Also, Pennsylvania Department of Environmental Protection (PADEP) estimated that in 2005, Pennsylvania disposed over 2.25 million tons of C&D wastes in its municipal and C&D landfills (PADEP, 2009).Though previous studies have shown that it is cost-effective and environmentally friendly for contractors or construction managers to recycle C&D wastes rather than disposing them in landfills, these previous studies, however, paid little or no attention to detailed cost of recycling C&D wastes in a particular geographical area or region as compared to the availability of market for recycled materials or monetary value of the recycled materials. Hence, the objective of this study was to develop a mathematical model that helps stakeholders in construction business to evaluate the potential cost of recycling C&D waste components in their geographical area or region, and the potential revenue from the recycled materials. The model developed in this thesis will enable private companies or individuals to identify, invest and participate in the recycling of C&D waste components that yield good profits in their region or area. It will also enable Government to identify, sponsor or provide incentives for the recycling of C&D waste components that yield no or less profit in order to reduce environmental pollution and generate jobs. A case study is conducted in Pennsylvania to test the model developed in this thesis and the test has been successful. Based on the mathematical model and logic structure for selecting C&D waste components for recycling, drywall, roofing shingles and wood are identified as the components whose recycling will yield good profit and thus may not need government's support or incentives. Moreover, C&D waste components such as concrete, brick, block and asphalt, have been identified as components whose recycling will not be profitable enough and therefore would require government's support or incentives. The result of the case study also shows that the quantity of non-ferrous metals in C&D wastes are very small and their recycling will not yield any significant profit. / Civil Engineering

The last few decades have seen an explosion in population growth and along with this growth we have also witnessed an increase in demand for products. Although our resources are limited, consumers' needs know no bounds. It is not surprising that we are also increasingly demanding more from our environment. It is therefore imperative that we make better use of our resources and reassess how we construe a product's lifecycle. Instead of a linear perspective, which typically follows a product's lifecycle from mining of raw materials to manufacturing, but then stops when products are trashed, we need to use a circular perspective, where we focus on the entire lifecycle of products, from not just manufacturing to usage, but also from usage to creation of new products through recycling. The focus of this dissertation is on understanding two important processes in the circular economy: that of usage and disposal. I focus on the role that consumers' product valuations play in these processes. In essay 1, I show that consumers value products made from recycled materials more than comparable regular products. I also document why this happens and demonstrate how this affects usage. In essay 2, I investigate the relationship between reuse and product disposal. The circular economy is based on what is now referred to as the 3R approach: reduce, reuse, and recycle. However, I show that consumers are more (vs. less) likely to trash products that they have used extensively (vs. rarely). This then leads to a conundrum: if we encourage consumers to reuse products extensively, it appears that they are more likely to trash them. It is therefore imperative that we understand this relationship better and find interventions to mitigate this negative relationship. / Doctor of Philosophy / The last few decades have seen an explosion in population growth and along with this growth we have also witnessed an increase in demand for products. To create a more sustainable world, it is imperative that we move towards a more circular economy, where we not only minimize waste, but also find ways to extract more use from our resources. One way to do this is to find ways to reuse products after they have reached the end of their lifecycle. The focus of this dissertation is on understanding two important processes in the circular economy: that of usage and disposal (essentially addressing questions about what to do with products that we no longer have a need for). I primarily focus on the role that consumers' product valuations play in influencing these processes. In essay 1, I study how consumers feel about products made from recycled materials. I find that consumers are willing to pay more for products made from recycled materials compared with products made from regular raw materials. The higher willingness to pay emerges because consumers value the process that transforms the recycled materials into brand new products. I also show that this valuation impacts use: consumers use products made from recycled materials more judiciously. In essay 2, I investigate the relationship between product usage and disposal. I find that when consumers use a product more extensively, they are more likely to trash the product compared with other forms of reuse, such as, disposing in the recycling bin, giving it to others, or reselling it. This effect emerges because when consumers use a product more frequently, they believe that the product has less value remaining for others, and a product that confers lower value to others should be trashed.