• Environmental Engineering Research
• /
• v.23 no.3
• /
• pp.323-329
• /
• 2018

The municipal solid waste (MSW) management system in one of the Class II Indian cities i.e. Rishikesh was studied and analysed to identify the key issues in solid waste management in the city. A total of 329 solid waste samples from 47 households were collected to characterize the household solid waste (HSW). The average (HSW) generation rate was 0.26 kg/c/d and it was composed of organic waste (57.3%), plastics (14%), paper (10.9%), and glass and ceramic (1.3%) and other materials (16.5%). There was an inverse relationship between household waste generation rate and family size (p < 0.05). The MSW management system practiced in Rishikesh is unsound. There is no waste segregation at source, no provisions of composting and no recycling by formal sector. The collection and transportation of waste is inadequate and inappropriate. Collected waste is dumped in open dumping site without scientific management. Following are some recommendations for developing a sustainable solid waste management system in Rishikesh city: (1) sensitize people for segregation at source; (2) promote reduction, reuse and recycling of wastes; (3) promote community based composting; (4) provision for 100% door to door collection and; (5) formalize the informal sectors such as rag pickers and recycling industries.

• Korean Journal of Environmental Agriculture
• /
• v.17 no.3
• /
• pp.234-238
• /
• 1998

Anaerobic degradation characteristics of dewatered liquid of household food waste including methane conversion efficiency and degradation kinetics were studied in an anaerobic batch reactor of 5 L volume. The ultimate methane production for dewatered liquid of household food waste tested was over 0.31L $CH_4/L{\cdot}dewatered$ liquid of household food waste. The kinetic constant of dewatered liquid of household food waste tested was $0.223d^{-1}/L$. The kinetic behavior of anaerobic degradation was described as a first order series reaction. The determinant of rate-limiting step(DR) that is balanced out from the rates of reaction steps was defined by the logarithmic difference of the maximum acidification rate and the maximum methanation rate. Anaerobic degradation characteristics of organic materials were evaluated by the value of DR. The DR of dewatered liquid of household food waste tested was 1.17.

• Journal of the Korea Academia-Industrial cooperation Society
• /
• v.9 no.1
• /
• pp.182-188
• /
• 2008

The compounds of recycled polyethylene(PE) and fly-ashes were prepared. Polymers used were sorted PE from mixed plastics of household waste and Low Density Polyethylene(LDPE) and Linear Low Density Polyethylene(LLDPE) recycled from the scrap of packaging film plants. Fly-ashes were from the power plant and from the household waste incinerator. The tensile strength of recycled LDPE and LLDPE compounds decreased and the flexural modulus increased with greater amount of the power plant fly-ash. Anthracite fly-ash gave rise to slightly higher tensile and flexural strength of the LLDPE mixtures than bituminous coal fly-ash presumably due to higher content of unburned carbon. The incinerator fly-ash introduced to household waste PE enhanced both tensile strength and flexural modulus of the compounds. When LDPE and household waste PE were used together, the synergistic effect of incinerator fly-ash to household waste PE was offset by reduced crystallization of LDPE due to the filler particle. The compounds of household waste PE and incinerator fly-ash might be applied to structural materials for such as sewage pipe, which reduces the waste treatment cost and conserve the environment and resources.

• Journal of the Korea Organic Resources Recycling Association
• /
• v.4 no.1
• /
• pp.23-31
• /
• 1996

The heavy metal concentration in mixed and separately collected household food waste, and their compost during the composting period was analysed. The mixed and separately collected food waste had Cd content of 8 mg/kg in spring and its content of 13 mg/kg in winter respectively. Its content was higher than by-product compost limit value(5 mg Cd/kg). Cd concentration in separately collected food waste in a house was higher in January, February, April and May than by-product compost limit value (5 mg Cd/kg). When Cd concentration in the initial composting material was higher than 5 mg/kg, its concentration in the compost of household food waste during the composting period was higher than by-product compost limit value, but it was not accumulated in the compost during the composting period. Fly ash was added to separately collected household food waste to adjust its moisture content for composting. Its addition had moisture conditioning and Cd concentration reducing effect in the compost. The average one month composted fresh compost from the mixed collected household food waste was matured in a pile out of doors for 7 months with turning the pile once a month and its heavy metal concentration was examined. Accumulation of the heavy metals in the compost did not occur during the composting period, because they were washed out during the rainfall.

• Biotechnology and Bioprocess Engineering:BBE
• /
• v.8 no.3
• /
• pp.205-209
• /
• 2003

Solubilization of domestic household waste through Steam explosion with Subsequent ethanol production by the microbial saccharifitation and fermentation of the exploded product was studied. The effects of steam explosion on the changes of the density, viscosity, pH, and amounts of extractive components in artificial household waste were determined. The composition of artificial waste used was similar to leftover waste discharged from a typical home in Japan. Consecutive microbial saccharification and fermentation, and simultaneous microbial saccharification and fermentation of the Steam-exploded product were attempted using Aspergillus awamori, Trichoderma viride, and Saccharomyces cerevisiae; the ethanol yields of each process were compared. The highest ethanol yield was obtained with simultaneous microbial saccharification and fermentation of exploded product at a steam pressure of 2 MPa and a steaming time of 3 min.

• Proceedings of the Korea Water Resources Association Conference
• /
• 2020.06a
• /
• pp.119-119
• /
• 2020

Globally, the demand for food and water resources are increasing rapidly with the growing concerns of meeting the projected population upsurge, specifically by 2050. The global population is projected to hit 9.8 billion in 2050 while the food demand is expected to increase by 77% from the 2007 base year. Moreover, the already scarce water resources, especially in the food-producing regions, expected to be significantly affected as food production already accounts for over 70% of the global water resources. However, the estimated food demand encapsulated the actual demand for both human consumption and animal feed in addition to the exuberant food waste at the consumption stage of the supply chain, notably in the developed countries. Managing the food consumption demand and food waste can have across-the-board benefits on water resources and other associated food production impacts. This study assessed the water-saving potentials through food waste in Korean households using the food waste data obtained from the direct weighing analysis. The household food waste collection and characterization were carried out during the summer (July), fall (September), and winter (December) seasons of 2019. The water footprint related to the food waste within Korean households was based on the water footprint concept, i.e. indirect water use. The results of our estimation showed that an average Korean household wasted 6.15 ± 4.36 kg daily, amounting to 12.53 ± 11.10 m3 of water resources associated with the waste. On the per capita basis, an average of 0.024 ± 0.017 kg/capita/day of food was wasted resulting to 0.049 ± 0.044 m3/capital/day of water resources wasted. The food waste types that accounted for the principal share in the water footprint were beef, soybean, rice and pork with values 30.7, 10.1, 9.6, and 7.5%, respectively. Considering that the production of meat and meat products are water intensive and the agricultural water use in Korea is largely for rice production, addressing the food waste of these two important agricultural products can be a hotspot for water saving potential in the country. This study therefore provides an insight to addressing the water scarcity in the country through reducing household food waste.

• Proceedings of the Korea Water Resources Association Conference
• /
• 2021.06a
• /
• pp.148-149
• /
• 2021

Food waste has increasingly become a global issue of concern among the researchers and policymakers due to its significant environmental and economic impacts, and other associated unsustainable use of resources, including water resources. While food wastage occurs at each stage of the supply chain with food loss at the upstream and food waste at the downstream, the impacts of food waste occurring at the consumption side are enormous due to the accumulated added values. In this study, the embedded water resources, greenhouse gas emissions, and economic loss of household food waste were investigated. The primary granular data of household food waste was collected through direct sampling from 218 selected households of the Buk-gu community in Daegu, South Korea from July 2019 to May 2020. The water footprint, which was based on the water footprint concept, i.e., indirect water use, and GHG emission potential factor for each of the food items were adopted from the literature, while the retail prices and disposal cost were used to assess the economic cost of wasted food items. The water footprint, GHG emission associated with environmental impacts, and the economic cost of 42 major identified wasted food items were conducted. The findings showed that an average of 0.73 ± 0.06 kg/household/day edible food waste was generated among the sampled households, with leafy vegetable, watermelon, and rice responsible for 10, 9, and 4%, respectively, of the total weight of the 42 food wasted items. The water footprint and environmental impact of the household food waste resulted in 0.46 ± 0.04 m³ and 0.71±0.05 kg CO2eq, respectively. Beef, pork, poultry, and rice accounted for 52, 9, 5, and 4% of the total water footprint, while beef, pork, rice, tofu/cheese had 52, 8, 6, and 6% of the total emissions, respectively, embedded in the food wasted. Furthermore, the average estimated economic cost associated with wasted food items was 3855.93±527.27 Korean won, with beef, fish, and leafy vegetable responsible for 21, 13, and 10%, respectively, of the total economic cost. A combined assessment using water-environmental-economic nexus indicated that animal-based food had the highest footprint impacts, with beef, pork, and poultry indicating high indices of 0.3, 0.08, and 0.06 respectively, on a scale of 0 to 1, compared to corn and lettuce with lowest impacts of 0.02. Other food items had moderate impact values ranging from 0.03 to 0.05. This study, therefore, provides insight into the enormity of environmental and economic implications of household food waste among Korean households.

• Resources Recycling
• /
• v.25 no.1
• /
• pp.31-39
• /
• 2016

Small household appliances such as electric rice cooker, a vacuum cleaner, an electric fan, etc. are diverse and complex due to the materials and components and waste streams from the manufacturing processes. In the present study, physical characterization of small e-wastes was analyzed on major items including electric rice cooker after manual dismantling. Small household appliances is an important potential source of waste plastic, however, recycling plastics from small e-waste is still unusual. The present communication gives results of separation processes on black plastics and the limitations of these sorting processes in used small household appliances.

• Environmental Engineering Research
• /
• v.20 no.4
• /
• pp.363-369
• /
• 2015

This study aims to characterize solid household waste and to present physicochemical characteristics of fresh leachate before landfilling in Kasba Tadla city, Morocco. Obtained results show that household waste produced in 2013 were about 11,787 tons, or 0.27 tons/capita/year. These wastes were composed essentially of organic materials (74%), paper (8%), plastics (9%), metals (1%), and glass (0.5%). However, monthly produced leachate ranges from a maximum of $130.92m^3$ during summer and a minimum of $21.88m^3$ in winter. Moreover, leachate treatment using Upflow Anaerobic Sludge Blanket technique was accompanied by a decrease in electrical conductivity, certainly related to leachate-sediment chemical exchanges. Otherwise, the same acidity reduction phenomenon occurs when pH value increased from 4.49 to 6.17 after 24 hours, confirming the system response since the early stages of treatment. In addition, temporal evolution of the treatment efficiency in terms of COD highlighted a very important reduction which reached 94% after 5 days with an average temperature of $25^{\circ}C$.

• Asia-Pacific Journal of Business
• /
• v.13 no.3
• /
• pp.389-400
• /
• 2022

Purpose - This study empirically analyzes the effects of food delivery service use frequency and the proportion of single-person households on the generation of MSW (Municipal Solid Waste). Additionally, the study analyzes MSW increase during the COVID-19 period. Design/methodology/approach - The study uses annual information on MSW and related characteristics of 228 Si, Gun, and Gu, which are administrative districts of Korea, from 2015 to 2020. Panel fixed effect model is employed for estimations. Findings - The study finds that food delivery and single-person household have significant effects only on recyclable and standard garbage bag MSW, respectively, not on all produce types of MSW. Additionally, it is estimated that, during the COVID-19 period, the increasing effect of food delivery is intensified while single-person households diminish its increasing effect. Lastly, the study confirms that the marginal effect on the increasing effect of MSW generation by the number of household members. Research implications or Originality - The estimated results are expected to provide useful information for the related policies. In particular, it is necessary to focus more on recyclable MSW concerning the developing delivery culture, and regarding changes in the family structure, focus more on the number of household members than single-person households.