Changes in moral benefits and socio-economic conditions point to the extension of standing to permit the judicial representation of the public interest in the environment. The suggestion that the enforcement of environmental law benefits from wide public participation in judicial proceedings sets the framework of research into standing for concerned citizens and environmental associations. English law gives an example of how private law procedures cannot incorporate the public interest in the environment. In public law, however, well-acclaimed environmental associations have standing to litigate environmental issues. United States law shifts from the 'environmentalism' of Congress legislation that gives any citizen standing to sue to the restrictive 'constitutionalism' of the Supreme Court, expressed mainly by the separation of powers doctrine. Under the judicial protection afforded by German law to individual rights, environmental associations are only exceptionally permitted as plantiffs, in ten out of sixteen Lander. In Greek law, the circle of potential plantiffs is wide due to the interpretation of the Constitution by the Courts to derive a right to the environment and accept environmental protection as a public interest. The European Court of Justice, because of the relevant Treaty of Rome provisions and the mainly economic nature of the European Community, defines standing by the individuality criterion, thus limiting it considerably. The common minimum features of these five legal systems result to observations as to the definition of standing, the variables of standing extent, the objections for its expansion and the role of judicial activism in the formulation of standing requirements.

Anaerobic processing has become recognized as a simple and energy-efficient means of treating and stabilizing many high strength organic industrial wastes and is also not subjected to the operating limitations of aerobic processes. The literature review presented in this thesis outlines the advances made in the understanding of the microbiology and biochemistry of the process and the considerable advances in reactor configurations in achieving high SRTIHRT ratios. The efficacy of the anaerobic process is dependent on maintaining a high biomass concentration in the reactor, which in tum is dependent on the performance of the solids separator. The anaerobic contact process employs gravity settling for solid-liquid separation but the poor settleability of the anaerobic sludge may result in a poor performance of the contact process. By employing a much more efficient separation process such as ultrafiltration (UF), the performance of the anaerobic system can be significantly improved. In this study, therefore, a new method of operating a completely mixed anaerobic digester using a crossflow UF membrane technique was investigated in order to control the concentration of active biomass in the reactor and to determine the extent of any other advantages that can be gained over other reactor configurations. The study was carried out in four stages. In the first stage the performance of an anaerobic contact digester using a crossflow UF membrane technique was investigated for brewery wastewater treatment. The results obtained from this stage showed that under steady-state conditions, at an influent substrate concentration of approximately 120 g COD/l (100 g BOD/I) with a hydraulic retention time of 4.2 days giving an organic loading rate of 28.5 kg COO/m3.d , overall COO and BOD removal efficiencies of 99% and almost 100% respectively were achieved and the system had not reached its maximum loading capacity. Throughout the operation, HRT was maintained in the range of 2.5-4.2 days, largely determined by the flux rate. Microbiological analyses including Microscopic Count, Plate Count, Most Probable Number and Specific Methanogenic Activity test confirmed that there was almost no biomass loss through the membrane which, in tum, resulted in the maintenance of a high stability of the system under load changes. The UF membrane showed a remarkable consistency throughout the study. retaining a high concentration of active biomass in the digester and demonstrating that fouling by anaerobic biomass will reach a limiting level. In the second stage of the study the effect of Mixed Liquor Suspended Solids (MLSS) on the kinetics of the membrane reactor was investigated. The results showed that the kinetic coefficients estimated from the four steady-state runs had slight variations from each other but which could be mainly due to the changes in the numbers and the dominant species throughout the operation of the system. The increase in the MLSS concentrations did not significantly affect the kinetics of the system, In the third stage of the study the Specific Methanogenic Activity (SMA) technique was used to determine the methane production capacity of the membrane reactor, thus allowing suitable OLRs to be applied and to assess the effects of MLSS concentration on the activity of acetoclastic methanogenic bacteria in the digester. The results showed that any deterioration in acetoclastic methanogenic capacity of the system can be improved by increasing the sludge wastage rate. Ratios of the actual methane production rate to the potential methane production rate of less than 0.7 were found to be satisfactory in order to run the system efficiently in terms of COD removal and methane yield. In the final stage of the study the possible effects that membrane systems may have on the microbial population in the reactor was investigated. Therefore, microscopic examinations have frequently been carried out in order to determine the effects of the new configuration on any variation in the morphology or on the properties of methanogens as well as any change in the number of non-methanogens throughout the operation of the membrane reactor. This investigation showed that the membrane system configuration did have an apparent effect on the dominant methanogenic species throughout operation of the membrane reactor. For example Methanococcus species were the most dominant group at the beginning of the start-up period, becoming the third most dominant group at the end of the study. As a result, studying the changes in the number of viable methanogens and the dominant species may help to determine a reason for the deterioration in performance of a digester.

Waste management is a global phenomenon and all nations need to ensure that waste is handled in an environmentally friendly and healthy manner. Municipalities in South Africa generate a lot of solid waste which is disposed of in the landfill site. The life span of these landfill sites is shortened by all waste that gets disposed on site. The only mechanism that can be used to minimize the amount of waste disposed of in the landfill site is waste recycling. At Greater Kokstad Municipality (GKM) there are very few companies that are involved in recycling activities. The rate of unemployment in the area is high and recycling activities would provide employment opportunities. This study is based in Kokstad and emanates from the fact that there are large volumes of waste discharged at the Kokstad landfill site. It seeks to explore the experiences and challenges faced by waste pickers and recycling SMMEs in the GKM. Also to identify reasons that causes waste pickers and SMMEs not to use the opportunity created by large volumes of unused waste to establish self-employment or employment of large numbers of unemployed people. This study used a qualitative research method and a phenomenological research design. The researcher used focus groups and semi-structured one-to-one interviews based on question themes or an interview guide. Data gathered was analyzed using Tesch’s method of data analysis and thematic content analysis. The main findings of the study revealed vital information that can assist in shaping and planning recycling activities within Greater Kokstad Municipality. Findings also highlight the need to create an environment conducive to the implementation of effective recycling initiatives.

A incineração de resíduos sólidos urbanos tem sido cogitada como solução para problemas relacionados com a destinação final dos resíduos gerados em regiões metropolitanas. Este trabalho reve a situação dos resíduos sólidos na sub-região sudeste da Região Metropolitana de São Paulo e analisa a viabilidade de uma usina de incineração com geração de energia elétrica para tratamento dos resíduos sólidos coletados na região. E realizada uma revisão das tecnologias existentes e da emissão de poluentes atmosféricos, inclusive dioxinas e furanos , por incineradores de grande porte . Apesar de não ser atrativa financeiramente para as taxas de desconto usuais e as atuais taxas de tratamento e disposição final praticadas, a alternativa da incineração oferece diversas vantagens que devern ser analisadas em estudos comparativos aprofundados com as demais opções para a disposição de resíduos sólidos da Região Metropolitana de São Paulo. / MSW incineration has been considered a solution to the problems related to final disposal of waste generated in metropolitan regions. This work reviews the situation of MSW in the southeastern region of the Metropolitan Area of Sao Paulo and analyses the viability of an incineration plant with electric power generation for the treatement of MSW colected in that region. Existing technologies are reviewed alongside with the emission of atmospheric pollutants, including dioxins and furans, for large scale incineration plants. Besides not being financially attractive with market discont rates and present treatement and final deposition taxes collected, the alternative of MSW incineration presents several advantages that deserve being assessed in detail on a comparative basis with other options for disposal of MSW in the Metropolitan Region of Sao Paulo.

by Chan King Ming. / Bibliography: leaves 149-172 / Thesis (M.Ph.)--Chinese University of Hong Kong, 1984

Hoi-shan Kwan. / Thesis (M. Phil.)--Chinese University of Hong Kong. / Bibliography: leaves 104-115.

Digitized by Kansas Correctional Industries

Digitized by Kansas Correctional Industries

Digitized by Kansas Correctional Industries

Digitized by Kansas Correctional Industries