The main goal of my thesis is to map the legal regulation of municipal waste management in the Czech Republic. The reason for the study of the legal regulation is to establish whether the regulation has sufficient instruments to treat the municipal waste in compliance of the waste management hierarchy that is grounded in the European Union's Waste Framework Directive. The thesis also deals with the different concept of the municipal waste in Czech and European legislation. It mentions the differences that would be carried out to the field of municipal waste by the planned legislation.

Waste generation is an unavoidable product of man’s activities, however, sustainable management of such waste is a challenge faced in many countries today. Nigeria, a developing country in Africa, has been in a quandary of how to efficiently manage the municipal solid waste its population generates. Many states in the country lack adequate plans and infrastructure required for efficient and sustainable management of municipal solid waste. For Lagos, the most populous and popular state in Nigeria, the problem is further compounded by its rather large and still increasing population. In this research, Lagos is taken as a case study; the extant trend for solid waste handling in households, trends in the formal and informal sector as regards solid waste management from household collection to final disposal are focused upon. Many countries, particularly the developed ones, have employed options in the waste management hierarchy for sustainable management of their municipal solid waste and the blend of options employed is usually highly dependent on local factors. Following the waste management hierarchy, possible options for sustainable municipal solid waste management in Lagos are discussed. It is concluded that waste reduction, reuse, recycling and composting are potential management options for the state. Landfilling will remain an important option for final disposal but reliance on this method could be significantly reduced if management options are exploited to the maximum in a sustainable solid waste management structure.

In order to satisfy the global requirement for transport fuel sustainably, renewable liquid biofuels must be developed. Currently, two biofuels dominate the market; bioethanol for spark ignition and biodiesel for compression ignition engines. However, both fuels exhibit technical issues such as low energy density, poor low temperature performance and poor stability. In addition, bioethanol and biodiesel sourced from first generation feedstocks use arable land in competition with food production, and can only meet a fraction of the current demand. To address these issues it is vital that biofuels be developed from truly sustainable sources, such as lignocellulosic waste resources, and possess improved physical properties. To improve and control the physical properties of a fuel for specific application, one must be able to tailor the products formed in its production process. All studies within this thesis, therefore, have the aim of assessing the fuels produced for their variability in physical property, or the aim of directing the process considered to specific fuel molecules. In Chapter 2, spent coffee grounds from a range of geographical locations, bean types and brewing processes were assessed as a potential feedstock for biodiesel production. While the lipid yield was comparable to that of conventional biodiesel sources, the fatty acid profile remained constant irrespective of the coffee source. Despite this lack of variation, the fuel properties varied widely, presumably due to a range of alternative biomolecules present in the lipid. Though coffee biodiesel was produced from a waste product, the fuel properties were found to be akin to palm oil biodiesel, with a high viscosity and pour point. The blend level would therefore be restricted. In Chapter 3 the coffee lipid, as well as a range of microbial oils potentially derived from renewable sources were transformed into a novel aviation and road transport fuel through cross-metathesis with ethene. Hoveyda-Grubbs 2nd generation catalyst was found to be the most suitable, achieving 41% terminal bond selectivity under optimum conditions. Metathesis yielded three fractions: an alkene hydrocarbon fraction suitable for aviation, a shorter chain triglyceride fraction that upon transesterification produced a short chain biodiesel fuel, and a multifunctional volatile alkene fraction that could potentially have application in the polymer industry. Though there was variation for the road transport fuel fraction due to the presence of long chain saturates, the compounds fell within the US standard for biodiesel. The aviation fraction lowered the viscosity, increased the energy density, and remained soluble with Jet A-1 down to the required freezing point. Oleaginous organisms generally only produce a maximum of 40% lipid, leaving a large portion of fermentable biomass. In Chapter 4, a variety of ethyl and butyl esters of organic acids – potentially obtainable from fermentation – were assessed for their suitability as fuels in comparison to bioethanol. One product, butyl butyrate, was deemed suitable as a Jet A-1 replacement while four products, diethyl succinate, dibutyl succinate, dibutyl fumarate and dibutyl malonate, were considered as potential blending agents for diesel. Diethyl succinate, being the most economically viable of the four, was chosen for an on-engine test using a 20 vol% blend of DES (DES 20) on a chassis dynamometer under pseudo-steady state conditions. DES20 was found to cause an increase in fuel demand and NOx emissions, and a decrease in exhaust temperature, wheel force, and CO emissions. While fermentation is generally directed to one product, producing unimolecular fuels, they do not convert the entirety of the biomass available. An alternative chemical transformation is pyrolysis. In Chapter 5, zeolite-catalysed fast pyrolysis of a model compound representative of the ketonic portion of biomass pyrolysis vapour – mesityl oxide – was carried out. The aim of this study was to understand the mechanistic changes that occur, which could lead to improved bio-oil yields and more directed fuel properties of the pyrolysis oil. While HZSM-5 and Cu ZSM-5 showed no activity for hydrogenation and little activity for oligomerisation, Pd ZSM-5 led to near-complete selective hydrogenation of mesityl oxide to methyl isobutyl ketone, though this reduced at higher temperatures. At lower temperature (150-250 °C), a small amount of useful oligomerisation was observed, which could potentially lead to a selective pyrolysis oligomerisation reaction pathway.

In order to see if, and how, future aid efforts can be improved and better contribute to a more sustainable and resilient society this essay is about how management of solid waste generated in emergency situations work and what effects the waste have on public health. This is investigated using information collected from secondary sources and interviews with three persons who have knowledge and experience in the subject. Health and sustainability are of importance in the guidelines that deal with management of waste in disaster situations. However, there are no documentations of real experiences of disaster waste impacts on human health. Even so the waste might contaminate drinking water and increase the amount of disease-carrying vectors in the area. Previous conditions in the country, low priority of waste and information to the public are some of the main features preventing optimal function of a sustainable and healthy waste management. / För att se om och hur framtida biståndsinsatser kan förbättras och i större utsträckning bidra till ett mer hållbart och motståndskraftigt samhälle handlar denna uppsats om hur hanteringen av katastrofavfall fungerar och vilka effekter detta avfall har på människors hälsa. Detta undersöks med hjälp av information som samlats in från sekundärkällor samt intervjuer med tre personer som har kunskap och erfarenhet i ämnet. Hälsa och hållbarhet är av betydelse i de riktlinjer som behandlar hantering av avfall i katastrofsituationer. Trots att inga verkliga erfarenheter av katastrofavfalls effekter på människors hälsa finns dokumenterade kan avfallet förorena dricksvatten och öka mängden smittspridande vektorer i området. Tidigare förhållanden i området, låg prioritet av avfall och dålig information till allmänheten är några av de viktigaste funktionerna som förhindrar optimal funktion av en hållbar och sund avfallshantering.

A hierarquia do gerenciamento de resíduos sólidos apresenta-se como a melhor opção global em termos ambientais ao prever práticas de redução na fonte e processos de recuperação material e energética anteriores à disposição final. Suas diretrizes foram incorporadas pela Política Nacional de Resíduos Sólidos, redefinindo responsabilidades e estratégias em gerenciamento de resíduos sólidos. Aplicada aos resíduos sólidos urbanos (RSU), a hierarquia envolve, além do aspecto ambiental, a análise de viabilidade econômica, aspectos sociais, aspectos de saúde pública, a análise de viabilidade técnica e a motivação política, tornando contextual a tomada de decisão para implementação de estratégias nesse sentido. Dessa forma, esta pesquisa teve como objetivo avaliar a preferência de especialistas por cenários orientados à hierarquia do gerenciamento de RSU em São Carlos/SP utilizando a Metodologia Multicritério de Apoio à Decisão. Inicialmente, foram identificadas, através da revisão da literatura, ações e/ou métodos de tratamento de RSU voltados à hierarquia do gerenciamento de RSU. Posteriormente, foram identificados os critérios de decisão por meio da construção de mapas cognitivos com 6 atores de reconhecida experiência em gerenciamento de RSU no contexto do município. Os mapas cognitivos também restringiram as alternativas de decisão àquelas passíveis de serem empregadas pelo poder público municipal. Com base na avaliação dos mapas, foram selecionados 10 critérios de decisão e construídos 11 cenários (ações potenciais) contemplando as alternativas, compondo o modelo multicritério de apoio à decisão. Os critérios de decisão englobaram aspectos econômicos, ambientais, de saúde pública e sociais. Os cenários foram construídos considerando estratégias de recuperação material (compostagem e reciclagem), recuperação energética (biogás e incineração) e redução na fonte (cobrança de taxas, consumo consciente e incentivo à reutilização). Para avaliação da importância dos critérios utilizou-se a metodologia Delphi, associada ao Analytic Hierarchy Process, envolvendo 18 especialistas que também avaliaram o desempenho dos cenários segundo os objetivos de cada critério. Dentre os critérios, obtiveram as maiores importâncias relativas aqueles relacionados à saúde pública e à recuperação material, sendo os de mais baixa importância relativa os critérios de recuperação energética e de geração de créditos de carbono. O julgamento do modelo multicritério pelos especialistas subsidiou a aplicação dos Métodos Multicritério de Apoio à Decisão Compromise Programming, Cooperative Game Theory, ELECTRE II e PROMETHEE II, disponíveis para apoio à decisão no software MCDA-FEC (UNICAMP). Seus resultados mostraram que os cenários preferidos foram aqueles que conjugaram estratégias de recuperação material e energética, sendo menos preferidos aqueles que previram apenas a incineração, com ou sem recuperação energética. / Waste management hierarchy presents the best global option in environmental terms as it foresees ways of source reduction, material and energy recovery processes, and establishes the final disposition as the last desired option. Its policies were incorporated by the \"Política Nacional de Resíduos Sólidos\", conditioning resolutions for solid waste management strategies in Brazil. Besides the environmental aspect, applied to municipal solid wastes hierarchy involves evaluation of costs, social impacts, public health criteria, analysis of technical viability and political motivation, contextualizing the decision-maker related to the implementation of strategies in this direction. Thus, this study aimed to evaluate specialists preference for scenarios that were oriented to MSW management hierarchy in Sao Carlos/SP using the Multicriteria Decision Aid methodology. Strategies and/or MSW treatment methods associated with hierarchy\'s policies were initially identified through literature revision. Afterwards, decision criteria were identified through the construction of cognitive maps with 6 experienced people of accepted importance for the MSW management in the city\'s context. Cognitive maps also restricted decision alternatives to those susceptible of being taken by public law in the county. Ten decision criteria were selected and eleven scenarios were constructed based on the alternatives, composing the decision support model for multi-criteria analysis. Decision criteria included economical, environmental, public health and social aspects. Scenarios were composed of material recovery strategies (composting and recycling), energy recovery (biogas and incineration) and source reduction (fee collection, environmental education and reuse incentive). For criteria importance evaluation, Delphi methodology (associated to Analytic Hierarchy Process) was used involving 18 specialists that also evaluated scenarios performance according to each criterion objective. Regarding the criteria, those related to public health and material recovery obtained the highest relative importance, and the lowest relative importance were obtained by criteria of energy recovery and generation of carbon credits. The information obtained by specialists model evaluation supported the application of Multicriteria Decision Aid methods Compromise Programming, Cooperative Game Theory, ELECTRE II and PROMETHEE II, available for decision support in MCDA-FEC software. Its results show that the most preferable scenarios are those conjugate material and energy recovery strategies, and those that use the incineration process are less preferable, with or without energy recovery system.

A hierarquia do gerenciamento de resíduos sólidos apresenta-se como a melhor opção global em termos ambientais ao prever práticas de redução na fonte e processos de recuperação material e energética anteriores à disposição final. Suas diretrizes foram incorporadas pela Política Nacional de Resíduos Sólidos, redefinindo responsabilidades e estratégias em gerenciamento de resíduos sólidos. Aplicada aos resíduos sólidos urbanos (RSU), a hierarquia envolve, além do aspecto ambiental, a análise de viabilidade econômica, aspectos sociais, aspectos de saúde pública, a análise de viabilidade técnica e a motivação política, tornando contextual a tomada de decisão para implementação de estratégias nesse sentido. Dessa forma, esta pesquisa teve como objetivo avaliar a preferência de especialistas por cenários orientados à hierarquia do gerenciamento de RSU em São Carlos/SP utilizando a Metodologia Multicritério de Apoio à Decisão. Inicialmente, foram identificadas, através da revisão da literatura, ações e/ou métodos de tratamento de RSU voltados à hierarquia do gerenciamento de RSU. Posteriormente, foram identificados os critérios de decisão por meio da construção de mapas cognitivos com 6 atores de reconhecida experiência em gerenciamento de RSU no contexto do município. Os mapas cognitivos também restringiram as alternativas de decisão àquelas passíveis de serem empregadas pelo poder público municipal. Com base na avaliação dos mapas, foram selecionados 10 critérios de decisão e construídos 11 cenários (ações potenciais) contemplando as alternativas, compondo o modelo multicritério de apoio à decisão. Os critérios de decisão englobaram aspectos econômicos, ambientais, de saúde pública e sociais. Os cenários foram construídos considerando estratégias de recuperação material (compostagem e reciclagem), recuperação energética (biogás e incineração) e redução na fonte (cobrança de taxas, consumo consciente e incentivo à reutilização). Para avaliação da importância dos critérios utilizou-se a metodologia Delphi, associada ao Analytic Hierarchy Process, envolvendo 18 especialistas que também avaliaram o desempenho dos cenários segundo os objetivos de cada critério. Dentre os critérios, obtiveram as maiores importâncias relativas aqueles relacionados à saúde pública e à recuperação material, sendo os de mais baixa importância relativa os critérios de recuperação energética e de geração de créditos de carbono. O julgamento do modelo multicritério pelos especialistas subsidiou a aplicação dos Métodos Multicritério de Apoio à Decisão Compromise Programming, Cooperative Game Theory, ELECTRE II e PROMETHEE II, disponíveis para apoio à decisão no software MCDA-FEC (UNICAMP). Seus resultados mostraram que os cenários preferidos foram aqueles que conjugaram estratégias de recuperação material e energética, sendo menos preferidos aqueles que previram apenas a incineração, com ou sem recuperação energética. / Waste management hierarchy presents the best global option in environmental terms as it foresees ways of source reduction, material and energy recovery processes, and establishes the final disposition as the last desired option. Its policies were incorporated by the \"Política Nacional de Resíduos Sólidos\", conditioning resolutions for solid waste management strategies in Brazil. Besides the environmental aspect, applied to municipal solid wastes hierarchy involves evaluation of costs, social impacts, public health criteria, analysis of technical viability and political motivation, contextualizing the decision-maker related to the implementation of strategies in this direction. Thus, this study aimed to evaluate specialists preference for scenarios that were oriented to MSW management hierarchy in Sao Carlos/SP using the Multicriteria Decision Aid methodology. Strategies and/or MSW treatment methods associated with hierarchy\'s policies were initially identified through literature revision. Afterwards, decision criteria were identified through the construction of cognitive maps with 6 experienced people of accepted importance for the MSW management in the city\'s context. Cognitive maps also restricted decision alternatives to those susceptible of being taken by public law in the county. Ten decision criteria were selected and eleven scenarios were constructed based on the alternatives, composing the decision support model for multi-criteria analysis. Decision criteria included economical, environmental, public health and social aspects. Scenarios were composed of material recovery strategies (composting and recycling), energy recovery (biogas and incineration) and source reduction (fee collection, environmental education and reuse incentive). For criteria importance evaluation, Delphi methodology (associated to Analytic Hierarchy Process) was used involving 18 specialists that also evaluated scenarios performance according to each criterion objective. Regarding the criteria, those related to public health and material recovery obtained the highest relative importance, and the lowest relative importance were obtained by criteria of energy recovery and generation of carbon credits. The information obtained by specialists model evaluation supported the application of Multicriteria Decision Aid methods Compromise Programming, Cooperative Game Theory, ELECTRE II and PROMETHEE II, available for decision support in MCDA-FEC software. Its results show that the most preferable scenarios are those conjugate material and energy recovery strategies, and those that use the incineration process are less preferable, with or without energy recovery system.