Characterization of phosphorus (P) in organic amendments is essential for environmentally sustainable fertilization of agricultural soils. The sequential chemical extraction (SCE) technique commonly used for P characterization does not provide any direct molecular information about P species. Studies were conducted to characterize P species in organic amendments and amended soils at a molecular level. The SCE was used to fractionate P in organic amendments including biosolids, hog, dairy and beef cattle manures, and poultry litter. The extracts were analyzed for total P and P species using inductively coupled plasma - optical emission spectroscopy (ICP-OES) and solution 31P nuclear magnetic resonance (NMR) spectroscopy, respectively. The relative proportions of P species in intact organic amendments and residues after each extraction, and calcareous soils amended with organic amendments and monoammonium phosphate (MAP) were estimated using the synchrotron-based P 1s X-ray absorption near edge structure (XANES) spectroscopy. The solution 31P NMR provided a detailed characterization of organic P in the non-labile NaOH and HCl fractions of organic amendments, but was limited in characterizing the labile fractions of most of these organic amendments due to their proneness to alkaline hydrolysis. The XANES analysis, however, identified the actual chemical species constituting the labile P that was only characterized as inorganic P or orthophosphates by sequential extraction and solution 31P NMR. In the amended Vertisolic and Chernozemic soils, XANES analysis estimated ‘soluble and adsorbed P’ as the dominant P species. For the Vertisolic soil, both the unamended and soil amended with biosolids and MAP contained hydroxyapatite (HAP). In addition, soil amended with biosolids, hog and dairy manures contained β-tricalcium phosphate (TRICAL), a more soluble CaP than HAP. TRICAL was found in all amended soils except in that amended with hog manure, while HAP was present in appreciable amount only in the control. Overall, the combination of techniques used in these studies improved the understanding of P species in organic amendments and amended soils that would not have been possible with any individual technique. Technological advances in P analysis should therefore be combined with conventional chemical extraction techniques to determine the fate of P in the environment.

The author poses a question whether the current legal regulation of waste is proper. The question is answered by analyzing five issues: variety of the concepts of waste (waste can be perceived in distinct manners and the current concept aggravates the solution of two principal waste problems – danger to the environment and danger to human health); non-systematic use of terms (improper terms are used in Lithuanian legal acts); the jurisprudence of Lithuanian courts in explaining the concept of waste (the courts do not perceive waste properly); the twofold term of the municipal/household waste in Lithuanian legal acts (municipal/household waste is regulated by using the same term, thus it is not clear for which waste persons are taxed); the application of the municipal levy for waste management (the current model does not encourage to preserve the environment). The author concludes that the variety of the concepts of waste, the disagreements among the scholars on the question, the difficulties encoutered by the courts and non-ameliorating status of the environment show that it should be reasonable to discard the current legal regulation of waste. The two principal problems posed by waste and unsuccessfully solved by the current legal regulation are determined principally by the objects which are not in any possesion. Then waste should be perceived as an object which is not in a possesion and the legal regulation should be orientated in making all the objects to have a possesor. / Disertacijoje keliamas klausimas, ar esamas atliekų tvarkymo teisinis reguliavimas yra tinkamas. Į šį klausimą atsakoma analizuojant penkis atliekų tvarkymo teisinio reguliavimo probleminius aspektus: (1) atliekų sampratų įvairovę (atliekas galima suvokti labai įvairiai, o dabartinė atliekų samprata apsunkina dviejų pagrindinių atliekų keliamų problemų – pavojingumo aplinkai ir žmogui - sprendimą); (2) nesusistemintą terminiją (teisės aktuose vartojami netinkami terminai); (3) Lietuvos teismų praktiką aiškinant atliekų sąvoką (teismai atliekas suvokia netinkamai); (4) dvilypę komunalinių atliekų sąvoką (komunalinės atliekos teisės aktuose suvokiamos dvejopai, todėl neaišku, už kokių konkrečiai atliekų tvarkymą asmenys yra apmokestinami); (5) vietinės rinkliavos už komunalinių atliekų surinkimą ir atliekų tvarkymą taikymą (rinkliava neskatina asmenų tausoti aplinkos). Daroma išvada, kad atliekų sampratų įvairovė, teisės mokslininkų nesutarimai, ką laikyti atliekomis, teismų patiriami sunkumai nagrinėjant atliekų bylas ir negerėjanti aplinkos padėtis rodo, kad būtų tikslinga atsisakyti esamo atliekų teisinio reguliavimo. Dvi pagrindines atliekų problemas, kurias siekiama išspręsti esamu atliekų teisiniu reguliavimu, iš esmės kelia tik nevaldomi objektai. Tuomet atliekomis reikėtų laikyti tik tuos objektus, kurie nėra valdomi, o teisiniu reguliavimu siekti, kad visi objektai būtų valdomi.

The research presented in this dissertation focuses on the waste management techniques currently used by Chevron-Escravos Nigeria Limited (CENL), as background knowledge of the existing waste disposal system practiced by the company. Investigation has shown that more than four tons (4tons) of organic food waste that CENL generates daily is being disposed of by using incineration and landfilling of the resulting residues. The high recoverability and economic values in form of nutrients and stored energy is not being considered. The main dissertation problem was to develop an alternative means of promoting the economic and environmental recoverability of these huge amounts of organic wastes, by developing a disposal technique other than the current incineration and landfill methods. The mechanism considered to achieve this objective was laid out in the customized organic waste converter or processor that provides one of the baselines for this dissertation. It also presents a procedural description of converting organic food waste to bio-feeds and feedstock of high quality. This alternative processing and utilization of organic food waste was carried out to provide information about tradeoffs to the current practice of incineration and landfill management systems. This was done to guide decision making and to serve as a framework within which the plausibility of the proposed solution could be examined. A comparative analysis of the two scenarios of waste to feed and waste to incineration system, the environmental impact, economic viability, and opportunity cost of recycling organic food waste produce of animal bio-feed was assessed by using: • Life cycle analysis (LCA) • By-products Breakeven Sale Product (BBSP) model. The BBSP model evaluates the opportunity of recycling the organic food waste in production of animal bio-feed to waste incineration. The outcome of the dissertation indicates that incineration is an important contributor to human and environmental toxicity and global warming. The proposed solution (recycling approach) balances the socio-economic, political and environmental safety by producing renewable, clean and eco-friendly feed and by-products. It was also concluded that there are alternative possibilities for the utilization of industrial organic food waste, where both the energy and nutrients are completely utilized, rather than the norms of conversion through chemical, biological, and thermal or other forms of energy fuels), which typically utilizes only one of these (calorific contents) categories at a time. The above mentioned utilization can be achieved by transforming the current waste disposal system. By introducing an alternative model for the recycling of plant and animal nutrients and the utilization of energy, renewable energy can be saved, human health and the environment can be protect and a sustainable economy can be maintained. In summary, it was demonstrated that there is huge capital losses and environmental contamination due to the current waste management practices. Recycling of OF W for feed production would be cost effective method that contributes towards protecting the environment achieving economic sustainability. / Thesis (M.Ing. (Development and Management Engineering))--North-West University, Potchefstroom Campus, 2009.

Characterization of phosphorus (P) in organic amendments is essential for environmentally sustainable fertilization of agricultural soils. The sequential chemical extraction (SCE) technique commonly used for P characterization does not provide any direct molecular information about P species. Studies were conducted to characterize P species in organic amendments and amended soils at a molecular level. The SCE was used to fractionate P in organic amendments including biosolids, hog, dairy and beef cattle manures, and poultry litter. The extracts were analyzed for total P and P species using inductively coupled plasma - optical emission spectroscopy (ICP-OES) and solution 31P nuclear magnetic resonance (NMR) spectroscopy, respectively. The relative proportions of P species in intact organic amendments and residues after each extraction, and calcareous soils amended with organic amendments and monoammonium phosphate (MAP) were estimated using the synchrotron-based P 1s X-ray absorption near edge structure (XANES) spectroscopy. The solution 31P NMR provided a detailed characterization of organic P in the non-labile NaOH and HCl fractions of organic amendments, but was limited in characterizing the labile fractions of most of these organic amendments due to their proneness to alkaline hydrolysis. The XANES analysis, however, identified the actual chemical species constituting the labile P that was only characterized as inorganic P or orthophosphates by sequential extraction and solution 31P NMR. In the amended Vertisolic and Chernozemic soils, XANES analysis estimated ‘soluble and adsorbed P’ as the dominant P species. For the Vertisolic soil, both the unamended and soil amended with biosolids and MAP contained hydroxyapatite (HAP). In addition, soil amended with biosolids, hog and dairy manures contained β-tricalcium phosphate (TRICAL), a more soluble CaP than HAP. TRICAL was found in all amended soils except in that amended with hog manure, while HAP was present in appreciable amount only in the control. Overall, the combination of techniques used in these studies improved the understanding of P species in organic amendments and amended soils that would not have been possible with any individual technique. Technological advances in P analysis should therefore be combined with conventional chemical extraction techniques to determine the fate of P in the environment.

The research presented in this dissertation focuses on the waste management techniques currently used by Chevron-Escravos Nigeria Limited (CENL), as background knowledge of the existing waste disposal system practiced by the company. Investigation has shown that more than four tons (4tons) of organic food waste that CENL generates daily is being disposed of by using incineration and landfilling of the resulting residues. The high recoverability and economic values in form of nutrients and stored energy is not being considered. The main dissertation problem was to develop an alternative means of promoting the economic and environmental recoverability of these huge amounts of organic wastes, by developing a disposal technique other than the current incineration and landfill methods. The mechanism considered to achieve this objective was laid out in the customized organic waste converter or processor that provides one of the baselines for this dissertation. It also presents a procedural description of converting organic food waste to bio-feeds and feedstock of high quality. This alternative processing and utilization of organic food waste was carried out to provide information about tradeoffs to the current practice of incineration and landfill management systems. This was done to guide decision making and to serve as a framework within which the plausibility of the proposed solution could be examined. A comparative analysis of the two scenarios of waste to feed and waste to incineration system, the environmental impact, economic viability, and opportunity cost of recycling organic food waste produce of animal bio-feed was assessed by using: • Life cycle analysis (LCA) • By-products Breakeven Sale Product (BBSP) model. The BBSP model evaluates the opportunity of recycling the organic food waste in production of animal bio-feed to waste incineration. The outcome of the dissertation indicates that incineration is an important contributor to human and environmental toxicity and global warming. The proposed solution (recycling approach) balances the socio-economic, political and environmental safety by producing renewable, clean and eco-friendly feed and by-products. It was also concluded that there are alternative possibilities for the utilization of industrial organic food waste, where both the energy and nutrients are completely utilized, rather than the norms of conversion through chemical, biological, and thermal or other forms of energy fuels), which typically utilizes only one of these (calorific contents) categories at a time. The above mentioned utilization can be achieved by transforming the current waste disposal system. By introducing an alternative model for the recycling of plant and animal nutrients and the utilization of energy, renewable energy can be saved, human health and the environment can be protect and a sustainable economy can be maintained. In summary, it was demonstrated that there is huge capital losses and environmental contamination due to the current waste management practices. Recycling of OF W for feed production would be cost effective method that contributes towards protecting the environment achieving economic sustainability. / Thesis (M.Ing. (Development and Management Engineering))--North-West University, Potchefstroom Campus, 2009.

Integrated organic waste management, based on the door-to-door collection and decentralised processing of organic waste for urban agriculture, can be conceptualised as a socio-ecological process of re-circulating environmental amenities for social equality and environmental sustainability. In this thesis, a framework for participatory integrated waste management is presented, based on the findings of an empirical study carried out in the Brazilian city of Diadema, in 2008. The results reveal that the capacity exists for the collection and processing of organic waste, while civil society is sufficiently mobilised to ensure a reliable supply of good quality food waste. The quantity and quality of the resulting fertiliser helps enhance community food security through direct production for self-provision, reciprocal distribution networks, and increased income generation. Barriers include conflict over land and insecure political support. Such insecure support is characterised by the paradox of Brazilian politics, whereby rhetorical support for social policies contrasts their neoliberal implementation. This thesis addresses the ways in which the national political paradox affects the potential for integrated organic waste management in Diadema, paying particular attention to the need for combined social and environmental policies, the political culture of project implementation, the rhetoric of public participation versus neoliberal policy enforcement, and the contested nature of deliberative decision-making spaces. The thesis concludes with suggestions for progressive policy reform, such as a remuneration agreement with the recyclers and firm land tenure arrangements with the gardeners.

The Institute of Resource Ecology (IRE) is one of the eight institutes of the Helmholtz-Zentrum Dresden – Rossendorf (HZDR). The research activities are mainly integrated into the program “Nuclear Waste Management, Safety and Radiation Research (NUSAFE)” of the Helmholtz Association (HGF) and focused on the topics “Safety of Nuclear Waste Disposal” and “Safety Research for Nuclear Reactors”. Additionally, various activities have been started investigating chemical and environmental aspects of processing and recycling of strategic metals, namely rare earth elements. These activities are located in the HGF program “Energy Efficiency, Materials and Resources (EMR)”. Both programs, and therefore all work which is done at IRE, belong to the research sector “Energy” of the HGF. The research objectives are the protection of humans and the environment from hazards caused by pollutants resulting from technical processes that produce energy and raw materials. Treating technology and ecology as a unity is the major scientific challenge in assuring the safety of technical processes and gaining their public acceptance. We investigate the ecological risks exerted by radioactive and nonradioactive metals in the context of nuclear waste disposal, the production of energy in nuclear power plants, and in processes along the value chain of metalliferous raw materials. A common goal is to generate better understanding about the dominating processes essential for metal mobilization and immobilization on the molecular level by using advanced spectroscopic methods. This in turn enables us to assess the macroscopic phenomena, including models, codes, and data for predictive calculations, which determine the transport and distribution of contaminants in the environment.

The purpose of this work is to analyze waste management act of law, which based on, the waste will be managed by economy subjects. Those subjects have to prepare the documents needed to realize waste management work. At first part of this work we are observing principles and priorities of waste management and trying to introduce with the act of law which regulates trash management in EU. Then I’m presenting the rules which are valid and which regulates waste management in Lithuania. Also I’m observing main requirements which are related with waste management (law of waste management, state strategic waste management plan and act of law of waste management). Indicating separates waste streams law and principles. In the second part I’m introducing conception of method. Observing method principles of preparation of maintaining documents. Researching law which indirectly influencing preparing waste management documents and analyzing method preparation of it. Also I’m observing law, which have directly influence to preparation of waste documents. Analyzing is it difficult to prepare documents for waste management and how to full fill forms which are present in the law.

The informal sector is described as groups of persons who act in parallel to official waste management systems without official authorisation. Such informal activities can result in risks as well as benefits both to the environment and involved stakeholders, which explains the continuing lively discussions in politics, science and society. Transhipments of waste electrical and electronic equipment (WEEE) are increasingly focused in Germany. In addition to informal exports via the port of Hamburg to countries such as China, Ghana or Nigeria, informal transports to Eastern European countries have been recognised for decades. This paper describes investigations regarding the characteristics, transhipped amounts as well as the eco-efficiency of informal sector activities originating from Eastern European countries, while thereby highlighting transhipments of used appliances to destination countries and a corresponding sale for reuse. Investigations reveal that a majority of informal collectors originate from Poland, Czech Republic, Hungary and Romania and are recognised across Germany. A high WEEE specialisation was determined, whereby average annual transhipped amounts are estimated at 77,000 tons. Collected materials are transhipped and partially sold for reuse. A case study considers the example of Polish informal collectors. The ratio between economic and environmental performance reveal that informal sector reuse activities in Poland achieve a higher environmentally sound performance in comparison to further usage of appliances under consideration. The informal collection of a television in Germany (and subsequent reuse in Poland) causes 8.34 kg less specific CO2 emissions per spend-costs (€) than the production, usage and further use in Poland. Conversely, a further use of a television in Germany only results in 2.2 kg less CO2 emissions per spend-costs (€). These results demonstrate that reuse as a result of informal sector activities can have a positive effect. Future electrical and electronic products available for reuse will have lower energy consumptions. A positive contribution to resource protection is thereby achieved while extending already short life cycles. Taking into account a dependency on collections with respect to their income, a pure ban of informal sector activities would therefore be socially counterproductive. A structured and controlled accomplishment of informal collection processes would open up new opportunities to enlarge the (already existing) concept of reuse at an international level.

The study took place in Vietnam at Hanoi University of Science in the framework of the DAAD (German Academic Exchange Service) – “An advancement of the German-Vietnamese University partnerships”. The research has been supported by the program: “Wastewater and Solid Waste Management in Provincial Centers” and belongs to its technical component. The present diploma thesis elaborates the current situation of sewage sludge management in Vietnam and is dealing with sludge characteristics from both domestic sewage treatment facilities and septic tanks. During the research, different treatment components and treatment facilities have been analyzed to carry out a comprehensive survey of sewage sludge types. In this thesis, a guideline (draft) was developed as a main result, which can be helpful to bridge the legislative gap for sewage sludge re-use in Vietnam. In conclusion, an integrated concept has been developed, which recommends the application of selected proceeding elements to treat sewage sludge and the further utilization of re-useable materials in agriculture in a controlled and environmentally-safe manner. / Die Diplomarbeit wurde im Rahmen des Deutsch-Vietnamesischem Auslandsaustauschprogramms an der „Hanoi University of Science“ verfasst. Dieses Vorhaben wurde unterstützt von dem DAAD (Deutschen Akademischen Austausch Dienst), und ist im technischem Bereich des Programms “Wastewater and Solid Waste Management in Provincial Centers“ einzugliedern. Die vorstehende Diplomarbeit beschäftigt sich mit dem aktuellen Klärschlammmanagement in Vietnam und liefert dabei detaillierte Resultate zu verschiedenen Klarschlammtypen aus kommunalen Abwasserbehandlungsanlagen. Bei den Untersuchungen wurden verschiedene Abwasser- und Klärschlammbehandlungsanlagen untersucht, um einen Überblick zu den gebräuchlichen Behandlungsmethoden in Vietnam zu erarbeiten. Zusätzlich wurden die institutionellen und rechtlichen Rahmenbedingungen überprüft. Der Entwurf einer Verordnung zur Verwertung von Klärschlamm in der Landwirtschaft wurde vorgelegt, um eine bestehende rechtliche Lücke in Vietnam zu schließen. Mit dieser Arbeit wurde ein integriertes Konzept entwickelt, welches mittels verschiedene verfahrenstechnische Elemente den Klärschlamm behandelt und darauffolgend das verwertbare Material in ausgewählten landwirtschaftlichen Flächen in einer kontrollierten und umweltschonenden Weise verwertet.