Waste Management - ESCAP Repository

VATIS UPDATE: Waste Management May-Jun 2011 1

HighlightsTurning used plastic bottles into new ones

Rare earth recycling from batteriesDialyser recycling pilot project

Protein and fuels from wastewaterEndophyte degrades polyurethane

Inexpensive condensers for carbon scrubbing

Vol. 5 No. 104 May - Jun 2011ISSN 0971-5665

WWWWWasteasteasteasteaste ManaManaManaManaManagggggementementementementementVATIS UPDATE

APCTTASIAN AND PACIFIC CENTRE FOR TRANSFER OF TECHNOLOGY

2 VATIS UPDATE: Waste Management May-Jun 2011

The shaded areas of the map indicate ESCAP members and associate members

The Asian and Pacific Centre for Transfer of Technology (APCTT), a subsidiarybody of ESCAP, was established on 16 July 1977 with the objectives: to assist themembers and associate members of ESCAP through strengthening their capabilities todevelop and manage national innovation systems; develop, transfer, adapt and applytechnology; improve the terms of transfer of technology; and identify and promote thedevelopment and transfer of technologies relevant to the region.

The Centre will achieve the above objectives by undertaking such functions as:

Research and analysis of trends, conditions and opportunities;Advisory services;Dissemination of information and good practices;Networking and partnership with international organizations and key stakeholders; andTraining of national personnel, particularly national scientists and policy analysts.

Cover Photo

Electronic equipment comes out of the shredder ate-Scrap Destruction, New York, the United States.(Credit: Maxine Hicks for The New York Times, the

United States)


VATIS* UpdateWaste Management

is published 6 times a year to keep thereaders up to date of most of therelevant and latest technological

developments and events in the field ofwaste management. The Update is

tailored to policy-makers, industries andtechnology transfer intermediaries.

Website: http://www.techmonitor.net

Editorial BoardDr. Krishnamurthy Ramanathan, APCTT

Mr. Nanjundappa Srinivasan, APCTTDr. Satyabrata Sahu, APCTT

Dr. Krishnan Srinivasaraghavan, APCTT

Dr. Jurgen Porst, HAWA Project,Deutsche Gesellschaft für Internationale

Zusammenarbeit (GIZ) GmbHDr. D. B. Boralkar, Maharashtra Pollution

Control Board, India

ASIAN AND PACIFIC CENTREFOR TRANSFER OF TECHNOLOGY

Adjoining Technology BhawanQutab Institutional Area

Post Box No. 4575New Delhi 110 016, IndiaTel: (91) (11) 2696 6509

Fax: (91) (11) 2685 6274E-mail: [email protected]

Website: http://www.apctt.org

GIZ – Deutsche Gesellschaft fürInternationale Zusammenarbeit GmbH

Advisory Services on EnvironmentalManagement (ASEM)

A-33, Gulmohar ParkNew Delhi 110 049, India

Tel: (91) (11) 2661 1021/2652 8840Fax: (91) (11) 2653 7676

E-mail: [email protected]: http://www.asemindia.com

The designation employed andthe presentation of material in the

publication do not imply theendorsement of any product, process

or manufacturer by APCTT or GTZ.

This publication is supported byDeutsche Gesellschaft für Internationale

Zusammenarbeit (GIZ) GmbH, Germany.

This publication has been issued withoutformal editing

* Value Added TechnologyInformation Service

CONTENTSVol. 5 No. 104 May - Jun 2011

INININININ THETHETHETHETHE NEWSNEWSNEWSNEWSNEWS 44444India gets its e-waste management rules Sri Lanka steps up

e-waste collection Recycling projects in China get allowanceEnforcement of waste management law in Nepal Philippines collects

tonnes of bulbs and batteries Viet Nam gets its first hi-tech waste testingstation Help for Pakistan’s industrial waste management Privatizationof solid waste management in Malaysia Sustainability research awardfor Singapore universities India moves to control import of usedcomputers China’s new rules to regulate solid waste importation

PLASTICPLASTICPLASTICPLASTICPLASTIC WASTESWASTESWASTESWASTESWASTES 77777 Process turns plastic waste into fuel Innovative container recycling

process New method to recycle polystyrene Recycling technology forflexible laminates PET plastic decontamination recycling technology

Turning used plastic bottles into new ones

ELECTRONICELECTRONICELECTRONICELECTRONICELECTRONIC WASTEWASTEWASTEWASTEWASTE 99999Rare earth recycling from rechargeable batteries Pre-treatment of

waste PCBs for liberation of metals Oxygen torch waste reclamationsystem Printed circuit board recycling equipment

BIOMEDICAL/HEALTHCAREBIOMEDICAL/HEALTHCAREBIOMEDICAL/HEALTHCAREBIOMEDICAL/HEALTHCAREBIOMEDICAL/HEALTHCARE WASTEWASTEWASTEWASTEWASTE 1 01 01 01 01 0 Dialyser recycling pilot project Patented device for decontamination

of hospital waste Compositions for disinfecting biohazardous wasteWaste solidifying and anti-microbial composition

INDUSTRIALINDUSTRIALINDUSTRIALINDUSTRIALINDUSTRIAL WASTEWATERWASTEWATERWASTEWATERWASTEWATERWASTEWATER 1 11 11 11 11 1 Industrial effluent treatment technology Copper recovery from copper-

electroplating wastewater Multi-use disposable filter for industrialwastewater treatment Protein and fuels from wastewater Fuel cellproduces electricity from wastewater Sequencing batch biofilter granularreactor

BIOREMEDIATIONBIOREMEDIATIONBIOREMEDIATIONBIOREMEDIATIONBIOREMEDIATION 1 31 31 31 31 3 Endophyte degrades polyurethane An innovative bioremediation

agent Bioremediation of petroleum sludge On-site anaerobicbioremediation of chlorinated solvents Bioremediation of dissolvedhydrocarbons

AIRAIRAIRAIRAIR POLLUTIONPOLLUTIONPOLLUTIONPOLLUTIONPOLLUTION CONTROLCONTROLCONTROLCONTROLCONTROL 1 61 61 61 61 6 Activated carbon process for SOx/NOx removal Zeolite as gas

adsorbent in charcoal making Inexpensive condensers for carbonscrubbing New system for diesel particulate reduction Improvedcarbon sponges to strip CO2 from flue gas Removal of SO2 from coal-fired power plant exhaust Patent for greenhouse gas emissions control

Dry gas scrubbing and filtration

RECENTRECENTRECENTRECENTRECENT PUBLICATIONSPUBLICATIONSPUBLICATIONSPUBLICATIONSPUBLICATIONS 1 81 81 81 81 8

TECHTECHTECHTECHTECH EVENTSEVENTSEVENTSEVENTSEVENTS 1 81 81 81 81 8


IN THE NEWS

India gets its e-wastemanagement rulesIndia’s Ministry of Environment andForest (MoEF) has put the onus ofrecycling of electronic wastes (e-waste) on the producers in its firste-waste management rules. The E-waste (Management and Handling)Rules, 2011 recognises the liabilityof producers for reducing and recy-cling e-waste in the country. TheRules, which will come under theEnvironment Protection Act (EPA),will come into effect on 1 May 2012.

Under the new Rules, manufactur-ers of personal computers, mobilehandsets and white goods will berequired to come up with e-wastecollection centres or introduce ‘takeback’ schemes. Producers of elec-trical and electronic equipment willhave a breathing period of one yearto set up their collection centres.Producers will have to make consu-mers aware of the hazardous com-ponents present in the product andthe dos and don’ts for handling theequipment after its use.

The Rules hold bulk consumers suchas enterprises and government res-ponsible for recycling the e-wastegenerated by them. Bulk users haveto channelize their e-waste to au-thorized collection centres or to theproducers. They also have to main-tain records of e-waste generatedby them and make those recordsavailable to State Pollution ControlBoards or Committees.

The State Pollution Control Boardwill be required to prepare annualreports, based on the data receivedfrom consumers with regard to theimplementation of these rules, andsubmit the reports to the CentralPollution Control Board (CPCB) by30 September every year. CPCBwill have to prepare a consolidatedannual review, based on state-levelreports, on management of e-waste

and forward it to the government, to-gether with its recommendations, by30 December every year.

Source: www.business-standard.com

Sri Lanka steps upe-waste collectionThe Central Environment Authority(CEA) of Sri Lanka expects to col-lect 5,000 tonnes of e-waste by theend of 2011. Mr. Charitha Herath,the Chairman of CEA, revealed thatthe 14 organizations working withCEA have collected 3,000 tonnesof e-waste thus far – 1,000 tonnesmore than the quantity collected in2010. The main purpose of the ex-ercise is to get rid of the hazardouswaste that pollutes the environmentand causes serious illnesses.

Mr. Herath said that to manage theupcoming disastrous situation dueto improper management of elec-tronic waste, CEA has taken stepsto launch national level programmesfor managing e-waste in the coun-try. Some of the private companiesinvolved in selling and assemblingof electronic equipment in Sri Lanka– including Sri Lanka Telecom, Mo-bitel, Dialog, Etiselat, Hutch, LankaBell, Metropolitan, E-Wis, Virtusa,Geo Cycle and Green link – haveall joined hands with CEA in the e-waste collection drive.

Source: www.island.lk

Recycling projects inChina get allowanceAccording to the Ministry of Com-merce of China, about 18 recyclingprojects of renewable resources inWuhan city will get financial allow-ance from the local government. Theprojects include recycle bins, sortingand processing centres, dismant-ling centres, etc. The allowance is,in principle, not more than 50 per

cent of the total investment of thesubsidy object. A pilot project hasbeen launched at the beginning ofthis year by the Ministry of Com-merce and the Ministry of Finance,aiming to construct recycling sys-tems for renewable resources. Tencities will get large support from theproject and Wuhan is one of them.The city will receive 49 million yen(US$7.69 million) from the centralgovernment.

Source: www.steelguru.com

Enforcement ofwaste managementlaw in NepalNepal’s Ministry of Local Develop-ment (MoLD) is preparing to enforcethe Solid Waste Management Act,2011 in the country. A five-membercommittee that is already consti-tuted will draft a regulation for theimplementation of the Act, the SolidWaste Management and TechnicalSupport Centre (SWMTSC) reports.“We are working to implement theAct with an advocacy campaign,”informed Dr. Sumitra Amatya, theExecutive Director of SWMTSC,adding that the Nepal Law Commis-sion has decided to enforce the lawfrom 15 June 2011.

On 26 May 2011, Nepal’s Parliamentapproved the bill of Waste Manage-ment Act that provisions jail termof up to three months for those whodisrupt waste disposal. The Act,drafted three years ago, seeks to en-force waste segregation at homes,recognition of waste managementas one of the most urgent stateservices, public-private partnershipfor waste management, treatmentof hazardous waste by producersthemselves and environment protec-tion, among others.

Dr. Amatya said that SWMTSC islaunching a campaign for the stake-holders and the public through dif-


In the News

ferent media, including television andnewspapers, to raise awareness onthe new law.

Source:www.thehimalayantimes.com

Philippines collectstonnes of bulbs andbatteriesIn the Philippines, the Makati Citygovernment and private developersof Zuellig Building have collected1.58 tonnes of light bulbs and bat-teries – considered hazardous waste– in the first month of their publicawareness campaign to make thecity mercury-free or “Hg-free”. “Hg-free Makati” is a public awarenesscampaign that advocates propercollection and disposal of mercury-containing used electric bulbs andbatteries.

In a press briefing, Mr. Daniel Zuel-lig, Director of Bridgebury RealtyCorporation and developer of ZuelligBuilding, said the campaign is theircontribution to the business districtthat aimed to achieve an environ-mentally responsible and sustain-able future that benefits both itscitizens and the planet. “The safetyof our community and bettermentof the environment are top priorityfor the city of Makati. As Environ-ment Month comes to a close, weintend to continually encourage thepublic to make eco-friendly choiceson a daily basis,” said Makati CityMayor, Mr. Jejomar ‘Jun-Jun’ Binay.

To encourage the households andoffice building operators in Makati,specially designed recycling binsare installed in the Makati City Halland Zuellig Building. Used and un-broken light bulbs, fluorescent lighttubes, small batteries used for toysand home appliances, as well asmobile phone and laptop batteriesmay be deposited at any of thesepoints. Innovative Technology Envi-

ronmental Solutions, a waste man-agement facility accredited by thePhilippine Department of Environ-ment and Natural Resources, en-sures environmental compliance byusing a “bulb eater” to safely con-tain the mercury found in each ofthe bulbs and tubes. Other mate-rials such as glass and metal arethen recycled.

Source: www.mb.com.ph

Viet Nam gets itsfirst hi-tech wastetesting stationViet Nam’s first automatic sewagetesting station was opened recentlyin Binh Duong province to monitoreffluent discharged from industrialzones in the province. The stationcost 28 billion dong (US$1.4 million)to build. The Binh Duong Departmentof Natural Resources and Environ-ment has plans to install automaticsewage testing equipment in sixindustrial zones. The Departmenthas also named 15 enterprises thatwill have to get automatic wastetesting equipment so that environ-mental officials are able to monitordischarges around the clock.

According to Mr. Nguyen Van Kiem,the Department’s Deputy Director,the automatic station will help re-duce the number of enterprises thatset up waste water treatment sys-tems just to satisfy the demandsof inspectors, and do not operateand maintain them properly. It alsohelps reduce inspectors’ time andeffort, as they could check sewageoutput continuously without havingto make personal visits, he said.

The Department plans to proposethat the provincial People’s Com-mittee give technical guidance tofirms on how to install automaticsewage testing systems. It will ask50 more enterprises that dischargelarge quantities of wastewater to

install the testing equipment. Withthe automatic sewage testing sta-tion, the province expected to beable to closely monitor 60 per centof all wastewater being dischargedby firms, Mr. Kiem said.

Source: english.vietnamnet.vn

Help for Pakistan’sindustrial wastemanagementPollution Engineering Malaysia andCleaner Production Centre (CPC)Sialkot, Pakistan, have agreed tojoin hands to help the local indus-tries in waste management. Sialkotis home to mainly export-orientedtanneries, sports and surgical toolsindustries. Waste management willenable these industries to controlpollution and help them meet theenvironmental clauses of the globaltrade regime.

Under the agreement, Sialkot’s busi-ness community will receive tech-nical assistance from the Malaysiancompany on industrial wastewatertreatment, sewage treatment, solidwaste management, combined efflu-ent treatment plant, hospital wasteincineration, air emissions controland green energy. Clean productiontechniques are very effective andthere is a need to introduce andimplement these across Pakistanbecause 90 per cent of leather in-dustry consists of small and mediumenterprises (SMEs), which use con-ventional processing methods thatinvolve huge amount of pollutants,observed Mr. Muhammad Younas,Chairman of Pakistan Gloves Manu-facturers and Exporters Association.He added that cleaner productiontechniques would reduce pollutionby around 40 to 50 per cent in theleather industry and improve thequality of the product besides help-ing to save costs.

Source: www.thenews.com.pk


In the News

Privatization of solidwaste managementin MalaysiaThe privatization of solid waste man-agement in Peninsular Malaysia willbe completed on 1 September 2011when the Solid Waste and UrbanCleansing Management Act, 2007comes into effect. Datuk Chor CheeHeung, Housing and Local Govern-ment Minister, explained that as perthe Act, all solid waste collectionand urban cleaning services in Pen-insular Malaysia would be under thepurview of the three concessionairesoverseeing three zones.

Datuk Chor said the Act would en-force four key provisions: the sortingof waste at the source; reusing andrecycling of waste products; thetake-back system; and the depositrepayment system. “The Act will notonly mark the official privatizationof solid waste management, butmandatory good household wastemanagement practices.” The Act’sscope, he said, was limited to theprovision of household solid wastecollection services and public clean-ing services, including road, drainand beach cleanliness and garbageheaps. The move does not includebuilding or operation of solid wastedisposal facilities. Enforcement ofthe Act will be supervised by theSolid Waste and Urban CleaningManagement Corporation.

Source: www.waste-management-world.com

Sustainabilityresearch award forSingapore universitiesIn Singapore, 10 students from Nan-yang Technological University (NTU)and National University of Singa-pore (NUS) received cash awardsof US$10,000 each for being theiruniversity’s top five completed doc-

toral theses related to the environ-ment, sustainability and metropolisof the future. The award, given by theWorld Future Foundation (WFF), isthe highest cash award among stu-dent prizes given out at Singaporeuniversities.

One of the theses is on how anti-biotic residues could be removedfrom wastewater using activatedcarbon granules specially coveredwith a biofilm of microbes that canbreak down the antibiotic chemicalsinto harmless products. The tech-nology was developed by Ms. Sally,an NTU doctoral student. The devel-opment comes as global concernspersist over the possible negativeeffects of antibiotics on the aquaticecosystem and human health.

Another Ph.D. student, Mr. ManoKalaiarasan from NUS, studied howtraffic-generated fine particles andnitrogen dioxide can have a greatimpact on environmental quality andhealth of the population. The newfindings will enable town planners,policy makers and architects to bringabout better planning of townshipand designing of naturally ventilatedbuildings, which in turn reduce po-tential health risks of the residents.

Source: www.eco-business.com

India moves tocontrol import ofused computersIn India, the Customs Departmentwill ensure that used computers arenot imported without a nod from theMinistry of Environment and Forest(MoEF). The direction from CentralBoard of Excise & Customs (CBEC)assumes significance in the wakeof reports that e-waste such as usedcomputers, cathode ray tube (CRT),random access memory (RAM), andelectrical and electronic assembliesare being dumped in a big way inthe country.

“We must ensure that India doesnot become a destination for dump-ing junk electronic products,”saysCBEC. Import and export of hazard-ous wastes in India is regulated bythe Hazardous Waste (Manage-ment, Handling and Transboundary)Rules, 2008. India allows import ofelectrical and electronic assembliesfor direct re-use and not for recy-cling or final disposal. Besides, asper the rule, import of used compu-ters requires MoEF’s permission.

Source: articles.economictimes.indiatimes.com

China’s new rules toregulate solid wasteimportationChina has tightened its supervisionover solid waste importation, withthe recent introduction of the Regu-lation on Managing Import of SolidWaste. The Regulation has banneddumping as well as treatment of solidwaste from overseas in China, andtransferring hazardous solid wastethrough China. It has also prohibitedimports of solid waste that cannotbe used as raw materials or posea serious risk to the environment.The regulation also stipulates thatenterprises engaged in processingimported solid waste should carryout daily monitoring to prevent pol-lution during the processing.

The regulation was jointly issued bythe Ministries of Environmental Pro-tection and of Commerce, NationalDevelopment and Reform Commis-sion, and General Administrationsof Customs and of Quality Super-vision, Inspection and Quarantine.A notice posted on the website ofthe Ministry of Environmental Pro-tection says that in 2010, Chinaimported over 40 million tonnes ofsolid waste that could be used asraw materials.

Source: www.chinadaily.com.cn


PLASTIC WASTES

Process turnsplastic waste into fuel

A Canadian company, JBI Inc., hasdeveloped a process that utilizeswaste plastics as a feedstock andturns them into fuel. JBI’s Plastic-2Oil process starts with a varietyof unwashed post-commercial andindustrial non-recyclable plastics,which are fed through a shredderand a granulator. The system canhandle up to 816.5 kg of input at atime. The waste plastic material isthen heated in a process chamber,after which it proceeds into the mainreactor. There, a proprietary reusa-ble catalyst helps crack the plastic’shydrocarbons into shorter hydrocar-bon chains, which exit the reactorin a gaseous state. Those gases arecaptured, compressed and stored.

Gases containing petrol and dieselcan be condensed and separated,and the resulting liquid fuel then tem-porarily stored in tanks. Methane,ethane, butane and propane “off-gas” out of those tanks, and are sub-sequently compressed and storedthemselves. Butane and propaneliquefy upon compression, allowingthem to be separated and stored,while the others are used to helppower the system. Emissions thatescape into the atmosphere aresaid to be less than those that wouldbe produced by a conventional gasfurnace.

The entire process, for one full load,reportedly takes less than an hour.According to JBI, about 90 per centof the plastic’s hydrocarbon con-tent is captured and converted intofuel. Approximately two per cent ofthe feedstock is left over as waste,which can be removed while thesystem is operating. It can then bedumped in a landfill or burned forfuel, as it has a good heating value(24,656 kJ/kg). Contact: JBI Inc.,1783 Allanport Road, Thorold, Onta-rio, Canada L0S 1K0. Tel: +1 (905)384 4383; Fax: +1 (905) 384 0076.

Source: www.gizmag.com

Innovative containerrecycling processThe United States Army recentlycompleted a project that resultedin recycling more than 3 million kilo-grams of steel. In September 2003,Chemical Materials Agency (CMA)of the Army began operating theContainer Decontamination Facilityat Pine Bluff Arsenal to decontami-nate containers that were stored atthe arsenal. Although empty, the725 kg steel containers once heldhazardous materials and requireddecontamination to eliminate possi-ble residual chemical agent prior torecycling.

Initial efforts to decontaminate thecontainers by rinsing them did notsucceed, as the residual chemicalagent proved difficult to remove, anda new approach had to be found.When faced with producing an addi-tional 2.5 million litres of hazardousliquid waste to rinse the containers,the CMA personnel designed a mag-netic induction heating process todecontaminate up to 10 containerssimultaneously. This not only gen-erated significantly less waste butalso thoroughly decontaminated thecontainers so they could be pro-cessed through a commercial re-cycling plant.

The process employed an electrical-ly energized copper coil, wrappedaround the container, to generatea magnetic field that was absorbedby the iron in the container. This in-creased the container temperatureto about 540°C, where it was heldfor 60 minutes. Heating to 540°Cdestroyed all chemical agents. Thedecontamination process also fea-tured a carefully designed pollutionabatement system to capture anyresidual material vented from thecontainers.

Source: www.reuters.com

New method torecycle polystyreneSwitchable Solutions Inc. of Canadasays it is attempting to change theway plastic is recycled through apilot plant prepared to test a newprocess of reusing the polystyreneused to make coffee cups, packingmaterial and food trays. The com-pany’s industrial-scale pilot plant willbegin operation in around a year’stime and should be able to recycleabout 2,000 tonnes of polystyreneper year in a complex process thatthe firms says is considerably moreenvironmentally friendly than themethods practised at present.

Polystyrene is much more difficultto recycle than other materials be-cause it contains a high amount ofair and is often contaminated withfood waste as well as chemicals,says Mr. Philip Jessop, a chemistryprofessor from Queen’s Universityin Ontario, Canada, who is also theman behind the new technology. Mr.Jessop stresses that most currentrecycling methods require heat sol-vents in order for them to work, whilehis solvent, which is reusable, onlyneeds exposure to ambient tem-perature conditions, in addition tocarbon dioxide and oxygen.

Source: www.recycle.co.uk

The Plastic2Oil plant in Niagara Falls,New York, the United States


Plastic Wastes

Recycling technologyfor flexible laminatesEnval, an environmental technologysolutions company located in theUnited Kingdom, is constructing itsfirst commercial-scale plant for therecycling of plastic and aluminium-based laminates. Enval’s patentedtechnology is said to offer a genuinerecycling route for flexible laminatepackaging that to date has not beenrecyclable. The technology separa-tes the material into its constituentcomponents, producing clean alu-minium ready for introduction intosecondary aluminium supply chainand hydrocarbons that can be usedas fuel or chemical feedstock. Thecompany says that the process iseconomically and environmentallyfeasible and offers a much morebeneficial outcome for waste thatwould otherwise be sent to landfillor incinerated.

The technology is based on micro-wave-induced pyrolysis that allowsthe waste to be treated in the ab-sence of oxygen. Unlike incineration,pyrolysis takes place without thecombustion of the waste, avoidingthe production of toxic emissionsor greenhouse gases. Furthermore,since the process uses microwaveenergy as the source of heat, Envalsays the process can be carbon-neutral. The Enval process opensthe way for packaging systems suchas pouches for drinks and pet food,aseptic drink cartons and laminatetubes to be completely recycled.

Source: www.greenerpackage.com

PET plasticdecontaminationrecycling technologyThe BePET™ system from BepexInternational LLC, the United States,allows the decontamination of PETflakes to high standards, while at

the same time controlling the finalproduct intrinsic viscosity (IV) re-quirement, regardless of incomingfeed IV level. The system allows IVto be adjusted up, down, or main-tain at the input level without lossof throughput. The BePET flake-to-flake rPET decontamination systemexceeds the United States Food andDrug Administration (FDA) guide-lines for categories C through H at100 per cent recycled PET content.

The modular component design ofthe BePET system allows for easyintegration with upstream and down-stream post-consumer resin PETbottle process operations. A totalcontrol system provides full auto-mation for seamless processing andreduced labour costs. The BePETprocess is claimed to be stable, ef-ficient and reliable – with no high-cost/high-maintenance vacuum orextrusion decontamination needed.Additionally, the proprietary designis said to promote uniform plug flowand minimize the potential for shortcircuiting. Contact: Bepex Interna-tional LLC, 333 N.E. Taft Street, Min-neapolis, MN 55413, United Statesof America. Tel: +1 (612) 331 4370;Fax: +1 (612) 627 1444.

Source: www.bepet.com

Turning used plasticbottles into new onesTwo Japanese companies have suc-ceeded in developing a new systemthat recycles used PET bottles intohigh-quality material suitable for newbottles. Suntory Holdings Ltd. andKyoei Industry Co. said that the newproduction process can minimizethe quantity of petroleum used andalso cut carbon dioxide emissions.The system for recycling used PETbottles is based on a method thatremoves impurities that get embed-ded on the inner surface of usedplastic bottles but are too small tosee with the naked eye.

Used PET bottles are first sortedin Kyoei’s plant before subjectingthem to a total of 25 processes,including crushing them into smallpieces and washing with alkalinefluids, to remove contaminants fromthem. Thereafter, Kyoei employs amachine that generates a “vacuumcondition very close to that of thestratosphere”. As a result, chemi-cals and other substances are fullyremoved from the resin, which thengets recycled into a high-qualitymaterial that is suitable for makingnew bottles.

Suntory’s plant has started usingthe recycled resin on a test basis.The plant uses 50 per cent of Kyoeiresin and 40 per cent of other re-cycled materials to produce two-litre PET bottles for oolong tea. Sun-tory test-produced about 10 tonnesof recycled plastic bottles to con-firm the safety of the material, andthen tested them on such points aswhether the taste or fragrance of adrink remains unchanged, even afterstorage in bottles for several monthsat extremely high temperatures, andwhether the bottles show cracks ordents. After the recycled bottlescleared these standard tests, thecompanies have put the bottles tocommercial use.

Source: www.yomiuri.co.jp

Bales of used PET bottles awaitingtransportation to Kyoei’s recycling

plant


ELECTRONIC WASTE

Rare earth recyclingfrom rechargeablebatteriesUmicore, with its headquarters inBelgium, and Rhodia, located inFrance, have jointly developed aprocess for recycling rare earth ele-ments from nickel metal hydride(NiMH) rechargeable batteries. Thenew recycling process combines thecapabilities of Umicore’s proprietaryUltra High Temperature (UHT) bat-tery recycling process with Rhodia’srare earth refining competence. Theprocess can service the full rangeof NiMH batteries, from the onesfor portable applications to thosefor hybrid electric vehicles.

The process will help recover rareearths from NiMH batteries that willbe treated at Umicore’s new batteryrecycling plant in Hoboken, Belgium.After the separation of nickel andiron from the rare earths, Umicorewill process the rare earths into ahigh-grade concentrate that will berefined and then formulated into rareearth materials at Rhodia’s plant inLa Rochelle, France. A typical NiMHbattery contains around 7 per centof rare earth elements such as ce-rium, lanthanum, praseodymium andneodymium. This equates to about1 g of rare earth for a AAA battery,60 g for a household power tool bat-tery and 2 kg for a hybrid electricvehicle battery.

Source: www.recyclingportal.eu

Pre-treatment ofwaste PCBs forliberation of metalsKorea Institute of Geoscience andMineral Resources, the Republic ofKorea, has secured a United Statespatent on a method for liberating andrecovering valuable metals contain-ed in printed circuit boards (PCBs)from obsolete electronic equipment.

The method liberates metals andplastic laminate in crushed PCBsusing an organic solvent and thenseparates and recovers the libera-ted metal components employingan electrostatic separation process.The invention is claimed to minim-ize the pre-process steps, reduceprocess equipment space and re-cover 99.99 per cent of the metals.

Preferably, the organic solvent usedis N,N-dimethylformamide, methylethyl ketone, tetrahydrofuran, strip-oxy or a combination of these, andmore preferably N,N-dimethylfor-mamide. To separate the metal andnon-metal components, 70-120 g ofcrushed waste PCB pieces are putinto 1 litre of the organic solvent andstirred well at a temperature of 110°-140°C and at 800-1,200 rpm for 30-120 minutes.

Source:www.freepatentsonline.com

Oxygen torch wastereclamation systemMr. James R. Akridge, an inventorbased in United States, has filed anapplication for patenting a processand system for removing metalsfrom waste, particularly e-waste.The process generally includes thesteps of dissolving at least some ofthe metals from the waste in nitricacid (dissolution reagent) and thencausing those metals to precipitateas metal oxides and/or metal nitra-tes. The process and system mayalso reclaim and reuse the nitrousoxide liberated from nitric acid dis-solution of components of the waste,thus regenerating nitric acid.

The invention uses nitric acid to dis-solve most metals (excluding goldand platinum, which can still be re-claimed utilizing the process of theinvention) and destroys or cleansnon-metallic components that areplaced in the nitric acid bath. The

insoluble but clean material (suchas plastic and glass) not dissolvedby the nitric acid can be separatedby filtration or other suitable pro-cess and reused or disposed. Theinvention is claimed to avoid the highinstallation cost of the Ostwald pro-cess for producing nitric acid. Potas-sium/sodium permanganate maybe used for the re-oxidation of thesolvent decomposition products toregenerate nitric acid.

Fluorescent lighting tubes can alsobe recycled by this method. Whenthe light bulb is placed in the nitricacid bath, the resulting solution con-tains metal phosphorus, glass andmercury. Phosphorus and mercurycan be precipitated and reused andthe cleaned glass can be filteredfrom the nitric acid bath and reused.Contact: Mr. James R. Akridge,4435 South Paseo Melodioso, Tuc-son, AZ 85730, United States ofAmerica.

Source: www.sumobrain.com

Printed circuit boardrecycling equipmentHenan Province Sanxing Machin-ery Co. Ltd., China, offers equip-ment for recycling printed circuitboards (PCBs) from discarded homeappliances, computers and otherelectronic products to extract thereusable metals. The PCB recyclingequipment employs advanced me-chanical grinding and high-voltageelectrostatic separation. The energysaving process (reportedly 50 percent energy saving) is claimed tohave a high metal separation rateand to yield metals of high purity.Contact: Mr. Aiqing Zhang, HenanProvince Sanxing Machinery Co.Ltd., Xigang Industrial Park, Zheng-shang Road, Zhengzhou City, He-nan, China 450042. Tel: +86 (371)67842763; Fax: +86 (371) 67842730.

Source: bridgat.com


Dialyser recyclingpilot projectIn the United States, DaVita Inc.,a leading kidney care services pro-vider, is leveraging the expertise ofWM Healthcare Solutions Inc. andBecton, Dickinson & Company (BD)to launch a dialyser recycling pilotproject in 106 DaVita dialysis clinicsin Southern California. This project,with the potential to offset around159 tonnes of dialysis waste, is ex-pected to be the first of its kind inNorth America.

The dialyser recycling pilot projectbuilds on business solutions devel-oped by BD and WM through theBD ecoFinity™ Life Cycle Solutionprogramme, which DaVita is alsolaunching in the 106 pilot facilities.With the BD ecoFinity programme,single-use medical sharps devices,such as needles and syringes, arecollected on site, then treated andprocessed by WM to recover allreusable materials. BD then usesthe recycled plastic to make newBD container products. The dialy-ser recycling pilot follows a similarprocess: WM will treat and recoverrecyclable materials from the dia-lysers, and then BD plans to usethe recycled plastic to make newBD products for other applications,creating a closed-loop waste recov-ery solution of recyclable materials.

Source: www.marketwatch.com

Patented device fordecontamination ofhospital wasteSeries 125-Ecosteryl, from AMB -Ecosteryl in Belgium, is a medium-sized equipment – average of 250tonnes per year depending on thetype of waste – designed for decon-taminating hazardous waste in situin hospitals. The process consistsof grinding the waste and heating

the ground material by microwavessystem at 100°C. The automatic andcontinuous system is 100 per centecological system without producingany emission or effluent. Followingtreatment with Ecosteryl, the con-taminated hazardous waste falls inthe same category as householdgarbage and can be transported tolandfill or bunt in conventional inci-nerator. The system is approved byPasteur Institute, France, and re-cognized by the French Ministry ofhealth.

The main features of 125-Ecosterylare:

• Processing capacity of up to 175kg/h;• Computerized monitoring and fullrobotic process control;• Continuous control of deconta-mination efficiency;• No emissions of water, steam,odour, rejects or radiation;• Very fine and dry final output; and• No need for specially trainedmanpower.

Contact: AMB - Ecosteryl, AvenueWilson 622, B - 7012 Mons, Bel-gium. Tel: +32 (65) 822 681; Fax:+32 (65) 824 798; E-mail: [email protected].

Source: www.ecosteryl.net

Compositionsfor disinfectingbiohazardous wasteBASF Corporation, based in theUnited States, has secured a UnitedStates patent on the use of poly-vinylpyrrolidone-iodine complexesin combination with gelling agentsto produce disinfectants, which notonly physically stabilize biohazard-ous and infectious liquid wastes butalso kill pathogens contained in thewastes. The gelling agents includesuper absorbent polyacyrlates.

In one aspect of the invention, thepreferable concentration of the com-position in a liquid waste is in therange of 0.3 to 4 per cent by weight.The composition provides superiorgelling and solidifying properties atlow pH, for instance, less than orequal to 4. The composition is saidto kill pathogens such as bacteriaand viruses that are hazardous tohumans and animals. Surprisingly,it provides a 6 log kill (microbial) in24 hours, sometimes just in about4-6 hours.

Source:www.freepatentsonline.com

Waste solidifyingand anti-microbialcompositionViatro Corporation from the UnitedStates is patenting a chemical com-position that both solidifies a liquidmedical waste, such as blood andother body fluids, and reduces thenumber of infectious organisms init for subsequent disposal. Solidifi-cation of medical waste ensures itscontainment, makes waste handlingeasier, prevents cross-contamina-tion through spills, and minimizesleakage during transportation of thewaste to disposal location.

The chemical compositions that arepresently available for solidifying li-quid medical waste do not containagents to reduce the number of in-fectious organisms in the waste. Thechemical composition from Viatroreduces the number of infectiousorganisms during the solidificationprocess. The composition consistsof a solidifying agent, a microbicidalagent, a buffering agent and mayinclude agents to enhance releaseof bioactive components. Contact:Viatro Corporation, #6779 EngleRoad, Cleveland, OH 44130, UnitedStates of America.

Source: www.ongreen.com

BIOMEDICAL/HEALTHCARE WASTE


INDUSTRIAL WASTEWATER

Industrial effluenttreatment technologyOrège, a French company that hasdeveloped and patented wastewatertreatment technologies for processindustries, has received an 8 millioneuro investment. Climate ChangeCapital Private Equity (CPE) basedin the United Kingdom, a 200 millioneuro fund dedicated to investmentsin clean technology companies, hascontributed 6 million euros of theinvestment. The patented SOFHYSand patent-pending SLG wastewatertreatment technologies from Orègeare said to be capable of treatingcomplex industrial effluents as wellas sludge.

SOFHYS is a patented reactor com-bining an oxidation process usingboron-doped diamond electrodeswith hydrodynamic functionalities.It is claimed to be able to treat dis-solved non-biodegradable pollutantssuch as hydrocarbons, BTEX (ben-zene, toluene, ethylbenzene andxylene), amines and organosulphurcompounds. Biodegrading is throughbreaking down long organic chainsinto smaller chains.

SLG is a physico-chemical systemto separate physical phases – solid,liquid and gas – at standard pres-sures and temperatures and can beused on different industrial sludge,sediments and colloidal wastewater.The technology de-waters sludge bybreaking colloids, thereby decreas-ing the volume of sludge to be dis-posed of by a factor of two to three.It also de-pollutes toxic sludge suchas those containing hydrocarbonsor metals. Compared to traditionalde-watering technologies, the SLGreactor has low energy consump-tion. The resulting water from thetreatment process can be reusedfor industrial purposes or releasedback into the environment.

Source: www.theengineer.co.uk

Copper recovery fromcopper-electroplatingwastewaterScientists led by Mr. C. Peng at theKey Lab of Marine EnvironmentalScience and Ecology, Ocean Uni-versity of China, have developed alaboratory-scale process that com-bines electrolysis and electrodia-lysis for treating copper-containingwastewater. They determined thefeasibility of the process for copperrecovery as well as water reuse, andstudied and optimized the effectsof three parameters – voltage, ini-tial copper ion (Cu2+) concentration,and water flux on the recovery ofcopper and water.

The results showed that about 82per cent of copper could be recov-ered from high-concentration waste-water (HCW, >400 mg/l) by meansof electrolysis, at the optimal condi-tions of voltage 2.5 V/cm and waterflux 4 l/h, while 50 per cent of dilu-ted water could be recycled fromlow-concentration wastewater (LCW,<200 mg/l) by electrodialysis, at theoptimal conditions of voltage 40 Vand water flux 4 l/h. However, be-cause of the limitation of energyconsumption, LCW for electrolysisand HCW for electrodialysis werenot effective, and the effluent waterof electrolysis and concentratedwater of electrodialysis needed fur-ther treatment before discharge. Toaddress this, the combination pro-cess of electrolysis+electrodialysiswas developed to realize the recov-ery of copper and water simultane-ously from both HCW and LCW.

The results of the electrolysis+elec-trodialysis process demonstratedthat almost 99.5 per cent of copperand 100 per cent of water could berecovered, with energy consump-tion of electrolysis ~3 kWh/kg andelectrodialysis ~2 kWh/m3. Scan-ning electron microscope (SEM) and

energy-dispersive X-ray spectro-scopy (EDX) analyses showed thatthe purity of recovered copper wasas high as 97.9 per cent. Contact:Mr. C. Peng, The Key Lab of MarineEnvironmental Science and Ecol-ogy, Ministry of Education, OceanUniversity of China, Songling Road#238, Qingdao, Shandong Province266100, China. E-mail: [email protected].

Source: www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov

Multi-use disposablefilter for industrialwastewater treatment

AbTech Holdings Inc., the UnitedStates, has completed testing ona new product for the treating haz-ardous contaminated wastewater.The multi-use “Smart Sponge 55”is designed as a self-contained, dis-posable drum filter system (18.9 l).AbTech says that there are manyadvantages to the new product. Aseach filter system is self-contained,there is no human contact with thespent filter material. The entire treat-ment unit can be disposed of in anappropriate disposal site as a solidwaste once all the water is drainedout of the unit.

Quick couplings are provided on theunit that takes only seconds to dis-connect a spent unit and connecta new unit. This feature makes itideal for conditions where workerexposure to hazardous materials isof concern. Other major advantagesare that there is no need to decon-taminate used equipment at the

AbTech’s Smart Sponge 55


Industrial Wastewater

end of the project – filter drums aresimply properly disposed of. Thecapital cost of the AbTech treat-ment unit is reportedly insignificantwhen compared to the operatingcosts of large fixed systems.

Source: www.wateronline.com

Protein and fuelsfrom wastewaterAn industrial plant that turns waste-water into protein for animal feedand biofuels is opening in Glouces-tershire, the United Kingdom. Thepilot facility, run by Aragreen andBath University, will use sewage pro-vided by Welsh Water to grow algae,which will then be processed intoa saleable product. The companyhopes that by treating water for uti-lity companies in the process of pro-ducing the algae – as well as usingwaste carbon dioxide (CO2), low-energy lighting and other technol-ogy – it will lower the costs enoughto make the process commerciallyviable.

Besides trialling a scaled-up ver-sion of techniques used in the lab,the pilot plant will also test differenttypes of algae to find ones that ef-ficiently remove phosphates andnitrates from water while producingsufficient amounts of protein. “Thekey challenge is producing algae ata cost that makes it viable to sell,”Mr. Jerome Vaughan, Aragreen’sfounder, said. The main cost centresare electricity in terms of the light-ing required to substitute sunlight,the nutrients required to feed thealgae and the CO2, he added.

The plant will take wastewater andfeed it into photo-bioreactors withcapacity for 4 m3 of liquid, wherepulsing LED lights will encouragealgal growth. The algae will then beconcentrated by a factor of four orfive employing a filtering system thatcopies the way some marine ani-

mals feed in coral reefs. Thereafter,a series of belts are passed throughthe liquid. The algae stick to thefibres of the belts and are extractedfrom the culture, ready to be driedout.


Fuel cell produceselectricity fromwastewaterEnergy Technology Ventures fromthe United States – a joint ventureof GE, ConocoPhillips and NRGEnergy – is providing capital to anIsraeli company, Emefcy, that hasdesigned and developed a systembased on microbial fuel cell (MFC)to directly produce electricity fromwastewater. The Emefcy processtransforms wastewater treatmentfrom an energy-, cost- and carbon-intensive process into an energy-generating, carbon-reducing one.The primary application for the sys-tem is for wastewater treatment inthe food, beverage, pharmaceuticaland chemical industries.

Emefcy will use the investment tocontinue development of its tech-nology into full-scale commercialimplementation. Its MFC systemenables direct production of energyin the form of electricity or hydro-gen from wastewater, replacing theneed for traditional electricity in thetreatment of wastewater.


Sequencing batchbiofilter granularreactorTextile wastewater is difficult to treatbecause it usually contains con-siderable amounts of different pollu-tants, which are often recalcitrant,toxic and inhibitory. Therefore, com-plex treatment schemes based on

the sequence of steps are usuallyrequired for an effective treatment.This drives up the cost of treatment.In Italy, a team of researchers ledby Ms. Adriana Maria Lotito from theDepartment of Water Engineeringand Chemistry, Politecnico di Bari,has developed an innovative sequen-cing batch biofilter granular reac-tor (SBBGR) technology exhibitingseveral characteristics appropriatefor reducing the cost of treatmentof textile wastewater.

To determine the suitability of thisSBBGR technology, two lab-scalereactors were operated – one treat-ing mixed municipal-textile waste-water and the other a pure textileeffluent. Results have demonstra-ted that mixed wastewater can besuccessfully treated with very lowhydraulic retention times (less than10 hours). Furthermore, SBBGRwas shown to be an effective pre-treatment for textile wastewater fordischarge into sewer systems. Theeconomic evaluation of the processshowed operative costs of 0.10 euroand 0.19 euro per cubic metre ofmixed wastewater and textile waste-water, respectively. Contact: Ms.Adriana Maria Lotito, Department ofWater Engineering and Chemistry,Politecnico di Bari, via Orabona 4,70125 Bari, Italy.

Source: www.irsa.cnr.it

The MultilateralEnvironmental Agreements

Regional EnforcementNetwork

The project aims to initiate an inte-grated regional cooperation amongcountries in North East, South andSouth East Asia that will enable theparticipating countries to gain bettercontrol over their import and exportof chemicals by promoting regionalcooperation for the control of theirtrans-boundary movement. For fur-ther information, access:

http://www.mea-ren.org


Endophyte degradespolyurethane

Undergraduate students from YaleUniversity, the United States, havediscovered organisms that can de-grade plastics. The endophytes dis-covered by Yale undergraduates,who participated in the RainforestExpedition and Laboratory course,as growing within fungus on Ama-zon rainforest plants can degradepolyurethane – a finding that maylead to innovative ways to reducewaste in the world’s landfills.

Students taking the course searchfor and collect endophytes – organ-isms, especially fungi or bacteria,that live inside a plant in a parasiticor mutualistic relationship – foundin rainforest plants and then testthem for biological activity. Studentsanalyse the endophytes that showbiological activity to see whetherthey might have other uses. On a2008 trip to Equador, Ms. Pria Anandof Class of 2010 decided to see ifthe endophytes she collected couldbe used in bioremediation. In a rudi-mentary test, she showed a chemi-cal reaction taking place when anendophyte she found was exposedto polyurethane. Mr. Jeffrey Huang,a student of the same class, ana-lysed endophytes collected to findthose that broke down chemicalbonds most efficiently.

Then, Mr. Jonathan R. Russell fromClass of 2011 discovered that one

family of endophytes identified byMr. Huang showed the most promisefor bioremediation. Mr. Russell wenton to identify the enzyme that brokedown polyurethane most efficient-ly. While other agents can degradepolyurethane, the enzyme identifiedby Yale students holds a particularpromise because it also degradesplastic in the absence of oxygen –a prerequisite for bioremediation ofburied trash. A new group of under-graduates are analysing the newlydiscovered endophytes collectedduring recent rainforest trips to seeif they can also degrade more in-tractable plastics like polystyrene.

Source: www.physorg.com

An innovativebioremediation agentIn Thailand, Higrimm Environmental& Research Co. Ltd., has launched“KEEEN”, an innovative bioremedi-ation agent that not only removesoil spills but also undergoes a self-remediation process prior to dis-charge. Higrimm, an expert on In-dustrial Ecology Management in theindustrial sector, had collaboratedwith Thailand’s National Centre forGenetic Engineering and Biotech-nology (BIOTEC) and the NationalScience and Technology Develop-ment Agency (NSTDA) in the dev-elopment of the new bioremediationagent.

KEEEN disintegrates or oxidizes oilmolecules and other contaminantsin spills and heavy stains and thusrenders the site clean. It can alsoremediate unpleasant odours gen-erated during industrial productionprocesses. It caters to the specificdemands in wastewater treatment,oil tank degassing/cleaning, oil spillclean-up, odour removal in indus-trial production, on-site contamina-tion remediation, sanitary treatment,testing and diagnostics. KEEEN isoffered in 10 compositions to suit

the specific requirements of differ-ent industries. Contact: Higrimm En-vironmental & Research Co. Ltd.,111 Thailand Science Park, Incu-bator Wing Building, Room No. 310,3rd Floor, Paholyothin Road, KlongNeung, Klong Luang, Pathumthani12100, Thailand. Tel. +66 (2) 5647200, 564 7979, 747 080; Fax: +66(2) 564 7979, 747 2027; E-mail: [email protected].

Source: www.nstda.or.th

Bioremediation ofpetroleum sludgeIn India, Bharat Petroleum Corpo-ration Limited (BPCL), together withfour individual inventors, has appliedfor patenting a process and compo-sition for bioremediation of petrole-um sludge. The process invented isreported to be time-saving and cost-effective and to achieve 97 per centdegradation of oily sludge throughenhanced and environmentally safebioremediation. The compositionprovided, called Oil Zapper, com-prises bacterial consortia, poultrymanure and a nutrient mixture, im-mobilized with corn cob powder inthe ratio of 3:1.

The biodegradation process for oilysludge consists of: providing a pithaving a substantially imperviouslining; adding soil having at least10 per cent of moisture content intothe pit; spreading oily sludge overthe soil; and contacting the sludgewith Oil Zapper. The bacterial con-sortia consist of the following micro-organisms Acinetobacter bauminii,Alcaligene odorans, Bukhardica ce-pacer, Pseudomonas aeruginosaand S-30 in equal proportions. Con-tact: Bharat Petroleum CorporationLimited, Corporate R&D Centre, Plot2A, Udyog Kendra, Behind YamahaMotors, Surajpur Industrial Area,Greater Noida 6, India. PIN 201 306.

Source: www.sumobrain.com

BIOREMEDIATION

Endophyte shows bioactivity whenexposed to polyurethane


On-site anaerobicbioremediation ofchlorinated solventsAnaerobic bioremediation is an ef-fective method for degrading per-chloroethylene (PCE), dichloroeth-ylene (DCE), trichloroethylene (TCE)and other chlorinated solvents andcontaminants in groundwater andsoil. Anaerobic bioremediation pro-cesses can also be used for othercontaminants such as hexavalentchromium and pesticides. Whilemany electron donor substrate pro-ducts are available today (sodiumlactate, molasses, edible oils, etc.),the lack of effective application anddelivery methods has often providedmarginal results and/or extendedremediation timeframes. Addressingthese issues, Etec LLC, the UnitedStates, developed a series of auto-mated delivery systems that speedup in situ anaerobic bioremediationrates and ensure complete degra-dation on a site-wide basis.

Extracted groundwater is amendedwith a soluble electron donor sub-strate and nutrients by Etec’s ISD™equipment platform, which then in-jects this treatment water back intothe sub-surface. This consistentrecirculation of electron donor-rich,nutrient-rich treatment water satis-fies several critical requirements ofanaerobic bioremediation, including:

Constant delivery of a readily de-gradable electron donor substrateto reduce native terminal electronacceptor mass and promote highlyreductive conditions (i.e. sulphate-reducing or methanogenic) that en-courage anaerobic bioremediationacross a large plume area;

Continuous and constant move-ment of the injected treatment waterthrough the contaminated soil andgroundwater for ensuring optimumcontact with contaminants (PCE,TCE, DCE, etc.);

Hydraulic plume control and thesimultaneous production of locali-zed groundwater gradients whichdeliver amended treatment water tospecific zones within a plume area;and

Explosive microbial growth withinthe pore space. After discontinuinggroundwater circulation, this bio-mass will begin to “rot”, providinga long-term substrate to supportongoing anaerobic bioremediation.

Contact: Etec LLC, 6635 NE 59thPlace, Portland, OR 97218, UnitedStates of America. Tel: +1 (971) 2223580; E-mail: [email protected].

Source: www.etecllc.com

Bioremediationof dissolvedhydrocarbonsEssem High Tech Pvt. Ltd. of Indiahas a joint venture with Bio PetroClean (BPC) of Israel to utilize thelatter’s unique mixture of naturallyoccurring bacteria and advancedtechnology to remove both dissol-ved and emulsified hydrocarbonsfrom water, soil, oil storage andtransportation tanks. BPC effecti-vely treats produced water for saferelease to the environment, offeringeffective on- and off-site treatmentwhile substantially reducing costs.

The Automated Chemostate Tech-nology (ACT) is claimed to be much

simpler, more effective, significantlyless costly and easy to implementthan comparable technologies. Allthe recoverable oil is recovered inAPI (American Petroleum Institute)standard tanks before ACT is ap-plied. The process functions on theprincipal of using specifically con-cocted bacterial cocktail togetherwith an innovative chemostate tech-nology to create a sludge-free en-vironment. No flocculant or chemicalis used in the entire process. ACTis a fully automated system with avariety of online sensors that feedthe control unit with information onvarious parameters, such as totalpetroleum hydrocarbon (TPH), totalorganic carbon (TOC), nitrogen, dis-solved oxygen, temperature, etc.The controller continuously main-tains an optimum process balancebetween the bacterial growth, flowrate, additives and organic com-pound degradation.

As ACT does not use any chemicalor flocculant, the turbidity factor isquite low but filters are used to fur-ther clarify the output water. Thesefilters will also arrest dead bacteriathat could escape with the treatedwater. Contact: Essem High TechPvt. Ltd., C-032A Supermart-I, DLFPhase-IV, Gurgaon 122 002, India.Tel: +91 (124) 426 2612; Fax: +91(124) 426 2615; E-mail: [email protected].

Source: www.iswardas.0fees.net

Bioremediation

A State-of-the-Art Report on Bioremediation,Its Applications to Contaminated Sites in India

This report highlights bioremediation mechanisms that have the potentialto be applied to a variety of contaminated sites in the India. The uniquefeatures of this report are elaborate illustrations, glossary of terms usedin the area of bioremediation and frequently asked questions about bio-remediation. For more information, contact:

Dr. G.V. SubrahmanyamAdvisor, Ministry of Environment & Forests

Paryavaran Bhawan, CGO ComplexLodhi Road, New Delhi 110003, India

Tel: +91 (11) 24364594; Fax: +91 (11) 24364594E-mail: [email protected]


Activated carbonprocess forSOx/NOx removalMs. Monica Zanfir and colleaguesat the H2 and Energy R&D facility ofPraxair Inc., the United States, haveexamined the efficacy of near-zeroemissions technology that Praxairis developing. One key element ofthis technology is the removal ofsulphur oxide (SOx) and nitrogenoxide (NOx) from the flue gas thatresult from the combustion of sul-phur and nitrogen compounds con-tained in the coal used in coal-firedpower plants. The technology dev-eloped employs activated carbonto catalytically convert the SOx andNOx to their superior oxides SO3 andNO2, which are further adsorbed onthe activated carbon material andremoved from the gas phase.

This process takes advantage ofcompression requirements of thecarbon dioxide (CO2) purificationprocess and is conducted at highpressures. High pressure enhancesthe oxidation and adsorption pro-cesses. Once the activated carbonbecomes saturated with contami-nants, it can be easily regeneratedby simply washing it with water. Inthis stage, the adsorbed oxides re-act with water to form sulphuric acid,sulphurous acid, nitric acid and ni-trous acid. In this manner, the SOxand NOx contaminants are capturedin the liquid phase. Wastewater canbe minimized by recirculating thewaste acid solution. The simplicityand good performance of this tech-nology make it attractive and easyto implement, the researchers say.

The single-bed bench unit tests withsynthetic flue gas at elevated pres-sures and ambient temperaturesshowed that activated carbon isable to remove both SOx and NOxindividually or together. The pro-cess showed better performance at

ambient temperature (~20°C) thanat temperatures above the ambient.Moisture had a beneficial effect onthe retention of SOx. Higher operat-ing pressure (220 psig vs. 50 psig)significantly improved the processperformance, particularly for NOxremoval. The process achieved si-multaneous removal of SOx andNOx from flue gas with the removalefficiency greater than 99 per centfor SOx and greater than 96 per centfor NOx. Contact: Ms. Monica Zanfir,H2 and Energy R&D Department,Praxair Inc., 150 East Park Drive,Tonawanda, New York, NY 14150,United States of America. E-mail:[email protected].

Source: aiche.confex.com

Zeolite as gasadsorbent incharcoal makingResearchers led by Mr. Yayat ImanSupriyatna at the Mineral Proces-sing Division of Indonesian Instituteof Sciences (LIPI) have examinedthe efficacy of utilizing zeolite fromLampung province as an adsorbentof gas emitted during the charcoal-making process. The experimentstarted with the preparation of 80mesh zeolite, which was then mould-ed into pellets. Titanium oxide (TiO2)is incorporated into these pelletsin various concentrations (0 per cent,5 per cent, 10 per cent, 15 per centand 20 per cent) using bentonite asthe adhesive. The zeolite-TiO2 pel-lets were then activated by heatingat 200°C and placed on an adsorberdevice in the kiln prepared for woodcharcoal-making.

A gas analyser (Autochek SmokeDiesel Meter NFR 10-025) was usedto analyse gas emissions from thecharcoal-making process. Resultsof the experiment showed that thezeolite-TiO2 pellets adsorbed car-bon monoxide (CO), carbon dioxide

(CO2) and nitrogen oxides (NOx).Zeolite with 10 per cent TiO2 show-ed the highest reduction in CO2 gasemission (28.17 per cent), whilethe highest NOx gas reduction wasobtained by zeolite with 20 per centTiO2. Contact: Mr. Yayat Iman Supri-yatna, Mineral Processing Division,Indonesian Institute of Science –LIPI, Gedung Widya Sarwono, Jl.Jend. Gatot Subroto No. 10, Jakarta12710, Indonesia. E-mail: [email protected].

Source: www.ijens.org

Inexpensivecondensers forcarbon scrubbingChemists have cooked up some in-expensive compounds that capturecarbon dioxide (CO2), reports a re-cent study. Added to smokestackscrubbers, such porous materialsmight limit emissions of CO2 andmethane, linked to global warming.Carbon sequestration – soaking thecarbon out of smokestacks beforeit reaches the atmosphere and stuf-fing it underground – is viewed bymany as an option for addressingclimate change, if it can be doneeconomically and cost-effectively.

Scanning electron microscope imageof PECONF

The “inexpensive and commerciallyavailable” ingredients reported by ateam led by Mr. Paritosh Mohantyof Lehigh University in Bethlehem,the United States, may represent astep towards improved smokestack

AIR POLLUTION CONTROL


screens for carbon, where about 15per cent of the exhaust from a coal-fired power plant is CO2. The teamcondensed two chemicals, hexa-chlorocyclotriphosphazene and di-aminobenzidine, to make a gel thatwhen dried formed into a “porouselectron-rich framework” materialthat absorbs CO2. A variety of sor-bent materials are currently underinvestigation for CO2 capture, notesthe study, porous materials being apromising group of such sorbents.

Under testing, the new material –hierarchically porous electron-richcovalent organonitridic framework(PECONF) – absorbs methane andCO2 almost as well as more expen-sive sorbents and works well at lowpressures, while remaining stableat up to 400°C. The combination ofchemistry, cost and stability makethese materials interesting candi-dates for CO2 capture applications,concludes the study.

Source: content.usatoday.com

New system for dieselparticulate reductionResearchers at Hino Motors Ltd.,Japan, led by Mr. Hiroshi Hirabaya-shi have developed and evaluateda new diesel particulate active re-duction (DPR) system for medium-duty commercial vehicles. The newsystem is basically a deNOx cata-lyst combined with a conventionalDPR system to achieve emissionstandards as per Japan Post New-Long-Term (JPNLT) emissions regu-lations. The system consists of acatalyst converter (called “New DPRCleaner”), a fuel dosing injector,nitrogen oxide (NOx) sensors, aswell as temperature and pressuresensors. The New DPR Cleaner wasconstructed from a Front DieselOxidation Catalyst (F-DOC), a ca-talyzed particulate filter (Filter) anda Rear Diesel Oxidation Catalyst(R-DOC).

A newly developed HydrocarbonSelective Catalyst Reduction (HC-SCR) catalyst was employed foreach catalyst aiming to reduce NOxemissions with diesel fuel suppliedfrom the fuel dosing injector. Whilethe total volume of the catalyst wasincreased, the compact and easy-to-install catalyst converter was re-alized through the optimization of theflow vector and flow distribution init by means of Computational FluidDynamics (CFD) analysis. The emis-sions reduction effect of the NewDPR Cleaner was demonstratedwith the results from the engine ex-periments under steady-state andtransient conditions. In addition, thecatalyst durability was evaluated bythe long endurance test.

Source: subscriptions.sae.org

Improved carbonsponges to stripCO2 from flue gasMr. Jeffrey Long, a chemist at Law-rence Berkeley National Laboratoryin the United States, is leading adiverse team of scientists whosegoal is to quickly discover materi-als that can efficiently strip carbondioxide (CO2) from a power plant’sexhaust, before it exits the smoke-stack and contributes to climatechange. The scientists are bettingon metal-organic frameworks, a re-cently discovered class of materialsthat has a record-shattering internalsurface area. A sugar cube-sizedpiece, if unfolded and flattened, willhave an area larger than a footballfield. The crystalline material canalso be tweaked to absorb specificmolecules. The idea is to engineerthis incredibly porous compoundinto a voracious sponge that gob-bles up CO2. Carbon capture is thefirst step in the climate change mi-tigation strategy of ‘carbon captureand storage’, which involves pump-ing compressed CO2 captured from

large stationary sources into un-derground rock formations that canstore it for geological time scales.

Today’s carbon capture materials,such as liquid amine scrubbers, sap30 per cent of the power generatedby a power plant. To overcome this,scientists are seeking alternativesthat can be used again and againwith minimal energy costs. Promis-ing materials such as metal-organicframeworks come in millions of vari-ations, only a handful of which areconducive to capturing carbon. Mr.Long and his colleagues hope tofind quickly materials that only con-sume 10 per cent of a power plant’senergy.

The scientists hope to discover thisdream material within three years.To do this, they will create an auto-mated system that can synthesizehundreds of metal-organic frame-works simultaneously, and screenthe most promising candidates forfurther refinement. “Our discoveryprocess will be up to 100 times fas-ter than current techniques,” saysMr. Long. The team will create astate-of-the-art production line. Arobot will automatically synthesizehundreds of metal-organic frame-works and X-ray diffraction will offera first-pass evaluation in the searchfor pure new materials. Magneticresonance spectroscopy will thenferret out the materials with the poresize distribution best suited for car-bon capture. Then, high-throughputgas sorption analysis will tell theteam whether a material can cap-ture CO2 from flue gas.

Source: www.sciencedaily.com

Removal of SO2 fromcoal-fired power plantexhaustCansolv Technologies Inc., Canada,has entered into an agreement withGuodian Longyuan Environmental

Air Pollution Control


Air Pollution Control

Engineering Co. Ltd. (GDLY), China,to license a Cansolv SO2 Scrub-bing System for a new 1.2 GW coal-fired power plant to be built soonby China’s Guodian Corporation atDuyun in Guizhou province. TheSO2 Scrubbing System, a proprie-tary technology of Cansolv, will beemployed to remove sulphur diox-ide (SO2) from the power plant’s fluegas. The Cansolv system is a re-generable technology that capturesgreater than 99.9 per cent of SO2emissions. This patented technol-ogy employs an aqueous aminesolution (Cansolv Absorbent DS) toachieve high selective absorptionof SO2 from a large variety of gasstreams. The by-product is water-saturated SO2 gas, which is recov-ered by steam stripping and can beconverted to sulphuric acid.

By selecting the regenerable Can-solv system, GDLY can avoid morethan one million tonnes per year oflandfill produced from conventionalnon-regenerable systems, whichutilize a once-through absorbentthat cannot be reused and there-fore generates effluent streams. Aregenerable desulphurization tech-nology can reuse the absorbent,such as Cansolv Absorbent DS, byrecycling it through the system overand over, resulting in less wasteand cost savings without the needto restock. Cansolv Absorbent DSeliminates high-cost consumablereagents and related transportationcosts. The capital costs are lowerowing to its high capacity and sel-ectivity. It also ensures minimal ef-fluent emissions from the process,besides avoiding environmental le-gacy obligations and costs. Con-tact: Cansolv Technologies Inc.,400, de Maisonneuve Ouest, Suite200, Montreal, Québec, CanadaH3A 1L4. Tel: +1 (514) 382 4411;Fax: +1 (514) 382 5363; E-mail:[email protected].

Source: www.marketwatch.com

Patent forgreenhouse gasemissions controlAn invention by the Finnish nuclearphysicist Mr. Matti Nurmia for con-trolling the greenhouse effect hasreceived patent. Instead of storingpower plants’ greenhouse gases,mostly carbon dioxide (CO2), emis-sions, the new method will neutralizethem. The process, developed aboutthree years ago, works as follows:CO2 from the power stations is di-rected to the neutralization facilitywhere it is washed and turned intoa bubbly liquid. This is then filteredthrough feldspar minerals, or othersilica material suitable for neutrali-zation, which turns the CO2 in theliquid into harmless bicarbonate.This bicarbonate can be releasedsafely as it is. In addition, the pro-cess also yields valuable metals asby-products, which can be used inthe electronics industry. Aluminiumcompounds are also produced andthese can be used to manufacturealuminium.

Source: www.goodnewsfinland.com

Dry gas scrubbingand filtrationCertain gas filtration applications,mostly related to thermal processsystems (waste incineration, melt-ing furnaces, etc.) contain also gas-eous pollutants such as hydrogenchloride, hydrogen fluoride, sulphurdioxide, dioxins and furans, etc. thatcan be very dangerous for the envi-ronment. These hazardous gaseshave to be eliminated, together withthe dust particles. The Dutch firmVentilex B.V., with over 40 years ofexperience in providing industrialdrying solutions, is offering dry gasscrubbing and filtration systems toeliminate gaseous pollutants andsolid pollutants. The Ventilex sys-tem is based on the dry absorption

of the gaseous components by aspecially selected absorbing agent(dry scrubbing product), which isinjected into the gas stream in aspecial designed reactor, followedby filtration using a jet-bag fabricfilter. Typical dry scrubbing absor-bents are: activated charcoal, lime,sodium bicarbonate, zeolite or acombination of some of these.

When hot gas filtration is needed,the most economic and efficientsolution is to first cool down the hotgas to a temperature that is com-patible with standard filter fabricsand then filter the gas using a jet-bag fabric filter. This method offersdifferent advantages compared tostraight “hot” gas filtration, such as:smaller air volume after cooling,standard and economic filter fabricscan be used, low energy consump-tion and eventual energy recoveryon gas cooler. Ventilex designs thegas cooler considering all possibleoperating problems, such as dustsettlement in the heat exchanger,abrasion by the dust and corrosionrisk by condensation of acid gascomponents. Contact: Ventilex B.V.,Europaweg 8, P.O. Box 158, 8180AD Heerde, The Netherlands. Tel:+31 (578) 698200; Fax: +31 (578)698282; E-mail: [email protected].

Source: www.imtech.eu

ISO 14000: EnvironmentalManagement

This CD contains the full collectionof ISO 14000 generic environmentalmanagement standards. For moreinformation, contact:

International Organization forStandardization

ISO Central Secretariat1, ch. de la Voie-Creuse

CP 56, CH-1211 Geneva 20Switzerland

Tel: +41 (22) 749 0111Fax: +41 (22) 733 3430E-mail: [email protected]


TECH EVENTS

03-04 Nov 4th Environmental Technology andBandung Management Conference (ETMC)Indonesia Contact: Dr. Edwan Kardena,

4th EMTC Secretariat,Faculty of Civil and EnvironmentalEngineering,Institut Teknologi Bandung,Jl. Ganesha 10, Bandung 40132,Indonesia.Fax: +62 (22) 253 0704;E-mail: [email protected].

15-18 Nov 6th World Recycling ForumHong Kong Contact: ICM AG,China Schwaderhof 7,

5708 Birrwil, Switzerland.Tel: +41 (62) 785 1000;Fax: +41 (62) 785 1005;E-mail: [email protected];Website: www.icm.ch.

22-25 Nov ENVIRO ASIA 2011Singapore Contact: Conference & Exhibitions

Management Services Pte. Ltd.,1 Maritime Square,Singapore 099253.Tel: +65 6278 8666;Fax: +65 6278 4077.

201202-04 Apr 5th International Battery ExpoHyderabad and Recycling ConferenceIndia (IBRX India - 2012)

Contact: Conference Secretariat,Pearl Exhibitions Conferences &Conventions,1002, Rohit House, 3 Tolstoy Marg,New Delhi 110 001, India.Tel: +91 (11) 2335 1630;Fax: +91 (11) 2332 7955;E-mail: [email protected];Website: www.bfi.org.in.

13-15 Jun INDO WASTE 2012Surabaya Contact: PT Napindo Media Ashatama,Indonesia Jl. Kelapa Sawit XIV, Blok M1 No.10,

Kompleks Billy & Moon,Pondok Kelapa,Jakarta 13450, Indonesia.Tel: +62 (21) 865 0962;Fax: +62 (21) 865 0963;E-mail: [email protected].

01-04 Jul WASTE MET ASIA 2012Singapore Contact: Mr. James Boey

Project Manager,Singex Exhibition Ventures Pte. Ltd.,Singapore.Tel: +65 6403 2182;Fax: +65 6822 2214;E-mail: [email protected]: www.wastemetasia.sg.

RECENT PUBLICATIONS

Bioremediation: Biotechnology,Engineering and EnvironmentalManagementThis book presents topical research data in the studyof bioremediation from across the globe. Topics dis-cussed include the bioremediation of nitro-toluenesand their derivatives; the interaction of copper andchromium with yeasts for potential application onpolluted environmental clean-ups; advances in thebioremediation of perchlorate; biosurfactants in thebioremediation of metals; the use of S. cerevisiaecells in bioremediation; nitrogen sequestration by saltmarshes; bioremediation of chromium-contaminatedsoils by actinomycetes; and bioremediation usingmarine algae.

Advances in Cleaner Production:Volume 1This volume includes contributions from researchersfrom various countries for the development of cleanerproduction (CP). Divided into three sections, the bookaddresses national experiences for the implement-ation of CP programmes, research related to the met-rics used to assess the effects of CP initiatives inthe production sector, and discussions that emergebefore and after the implementation of the programmes.

For the above publications, contact: Nova SciencePublishers, 400 Oser Avenue, Suite 1600, Haup-pauge, NY 11788-3619, United States of America.Tel: +1 (631) 231 7269; Fax: +1 (631) 231 8175; E-mail: [email protected].

Hazardous Waste Managementand Pollution PreventionThis publication, aimed at engineers and techniciansfrom a wide range of abilities and backgrounds, pro-vides an excellent introduction to mastering the man-agement of hazardous waste materials as well aspreventing contamination of the environment. Infor-mation is also contained on the legal and regulatoryaspects of pollution, handling of hazardous wastematerials within your plant, reducing the amount ofhazardous waste produced, and ways to save moneythrough preventing personal injury and preventing orlimiting the effects of accidental pollution.

Contact: IDC Technologies, 2nd & 3rd Floor, No. 23Anna Salai, Saidapet, Chennai 600 015, India. Tel:+91 (44) 3061 8525.


PUBLICATIONS from APCTT

PERIODICALS(Free access at www.techmonitor.net)

Asia Pacific Tech Monitor (6 issues/year) (e-version)

VATIS Update (6 issues/year) Biotechnology (e-version) Non-conventional Energy (e-version) Food Processing (e-version) Ozone Layer Protection # (e-version) Waste Management (e-version)

Indian Rupees* US Dollars*BOOKS (India, Bhutan

and Nepal)

Managing Innovation for the New Economy: Training Manual, 2002 1,000.00 50.00Volume 1: How to Guide & Quick reference materialsVolume 2: Articles & LecturesRegional Capacity-building for the Adoption of ISO-14000 and 600.00 30.00Transfer of Environmentally Sound Technology: Training Manual, 2000Small Rural Industries in the Asia Pacific Region: Enhancement of 600.00 30.00Competitiveness of Small Rural Industries in a Liberalized EconomicEnvironment and the Impact of Poverty Alleviation, 2000Technology Transfer and Technological Capacity-building in Asiaand the Pacific

Volume 1: Big Countries and Developed Economies, 1999 600.00 30.00 Volume 2: ASEAN, NIEs, SAARC and the Islamic Republic 600.00 30.00

of Iran, 1999 Volume 3: Least Developed and Pacific Island Countries and 600.00 30.00

Economies in Transition, 1999 Volume 4: Emerging Issues in Regional Technological Capability- 600.00 30.00

building and Technology Transfer, 1999Rural Industrialization as a Means of Poverty Alleviation: Report of 600.00 30.00the Regional Seminar on the Enhancement of Partnerships amongGovernmental, Non-governmental and Private Sector Entities for thePromotion of Rural Industrialization for Poverty Alleviation, 1999Institutional Development for Investment Promotion and Technology 500.00 25.00Transfer, 1999Ozone Depletion Substances Phase-out Technologies: Problems & 300.00 15.00Issues on Technology Transfer, Absorption and Generation, 1998Development and Utilization of S&T Indicators: Emerging Issues in 300.00 15.00Developing Countries of the ESCAP Region, 1998ODS Phase-out: A Guide for Industry, 1998 500.00 25.00Proceedings of the Consultative Meeting on Technology Management 800.00 40.00Education and Training for Developing Countries, 1997

Notes: Amount less than Rs 500 should be sent through a demand draft only. Otherwise, payment should be made by cheque/demand draft/UNESCO coupon in favour of the Asian & Pacific Centre for Transfer of Technology, payableat New Delhi.# Print version supported by the Ozone Cell, Ministry of Environment & Forests, Government of India, for distribution toa select target group.* Amount to be sent to APCTT with the order for covering costs and handling charges.

Waste Management - ESCAP Repository

Documents

Transcript of Waste Management - ESCAP Repository