Solid waste management needs, increasing pollution level by burning or dumping of waste, and the use of fossil fuels and depleting energy resources are a few of the problems of the decade that need to find answers. Disposal of lots of compound polymers-rich biomass waste is done worldwide by dumping on land or into water bodies or else by incineration or long-term storage in an available facility commonly. This kind of disposal instead becomes a reason to add the soil, water, and air pollution. A lot of multidisciplinary collaboration in different streams of science and technology has added to the efficiency of using such waste for use as an alternative energy form, like biogas and biohydrogen. The use of biogas plants for converting biological waste into methane using municipal solid waste (MSW) is known since a long time. Along with MSW, a lot of other agricultural waste and kitchen waste are also added every day to nature. But the complex components of such waste material like lignocellulosic wastes still don’t pass the test of qualifying as a resource for biogas and even more energy-efficient and cleaner biofuel, bio-hydrogen. It may be because of its complicated structure and a lot of parameters that affect its use for converting it into bio-hydrogen. This review is designed to analyze and compare these parameters for optimum lignocellulosic waste conversion, more specifically agriculture and food waste, into cleaner energy forms that would help to tackle the solid waste management and air pollution control more effectively.

For Russia, there is no alternative way of a civilized solution to the problem of municipal solid wastes (MSW): through combustion (energy utilization) to complex processing. The government of the Russian Federation in 2017 adopted some decisions aimed at thermal processing of MSW. The order defines the construction of renewable energy facilities on the basis of MSW with a total electric capacity of 280 MW in Moscow region and one object with an electric capacity of 55 MW in the Republic of Tatarstan. In Russia, only three plants where the energy potential of MSW is converted into electricity were built. The results of the operation experience of fluidized bed furnaces for MSW incineration at Rudnevo plant in Russia are done. The main problems were connected with ash properties, deposit formation, and corrosion of superheater tubes. Also, the data of mathematical modeling of dynamic behavior near gas burners, chemical composition and material balance of solids, and the influence of secondary air injection on NOx formation are given. A special test rig was designed for the investigation of the corrosion mechanism. Also, the main corrosion factors (temperature of the tube surface, rates of O2, HCl, SO2, and H2O in flue gas, contains chloride and alkali metals in deposits) were found during the tests. Experience of energy recovery from waste incineration of pulp and paper mill plants is presented. Considerable attention is paid to improving the efficiency of waste incineration and bed particle agglomeration. Special experiments were carried out to optimize the bed drain flow rate. The influence of secondary air supply improvement on mixing with the main flow and boiler efficiency is given. Semi-empirical three-zone method of engineering heat calculations for fluidized bed furnaces of biomass boilers was proposed to predict both the value of outlet furnace temperature and the value of fluidized bed temperature. The method based on empirical values and relationships of the share of heat release in fluidized bed zone.

Hydrogen is a kind of energy source with a characteristic of high calorific value and plasma is regarded as a good method of hydrogen production. Hydrogen produced from ethanol reforming using micro plasma can be utilized for portable applications. The study introduces water/carbon ratio, residence time, and ethanol mass flow rate as the parameters of experimental conditions, and makes ethanol conversion, gas production rate, gas product selectivity, energy consumption, and efficiency of hydrogen production per unit as the evaluation parameters of ethanol reforming reaction. The experimental results showed that (1) in the argon micro plasma: the maximum ethanol conversion of 25.3% was obtained at residence time?=?2.1 ms, ethanol mass flow rate?=?0.01 g/s and S/C?=?1.0, and the peak value of hydrogen production of 18.7 μmol/s was achieved at residence time?=?2.1 ms, ethanol mass flow rate?=?0.05 g/s and S/C?=?1.0; (2) in the air micro plasma: the maximum ethanol conversion of 37.4% was obtained at residence time?=?2.1 ms, ethanol mass flow rate?=?0.01 g/s and S/C?=?1.0, and the peak value of hydrogen production of 36.8 μmol/s was achieved at residence time?=?2.1 ms, ethanol mass flow rate?=?0.03 g/s and S/C?=?3.0. These experimental results showed that the microreactor can substantially reduce the volume of the device while producing a large amount of output.

The re-use of glycerol from biodiesel industry as an alternative lubricant for making high-performance briquettes is usual. However, the technical performance of this agro-industrial residue is not consistent. This study outlines, accordingly, the real risk of introducing glycerol into the co-briquetting of highly caloric by-products of energy-crops. The production of hybrid briquettes consisted of pressing mixtures of residues of sugarcane and sorghum with the liquid additive at 10, 20, and 30 wt.% in bench-scale hydraulic piston presser machine. Irrespective of the blend, briquettes containing the supplement at the highest level as part of their composition ended up being much more hygroscopic (20.10%) and less energetic (3.15 GJ m?3). The explanation for the negative impact of glycerol on the thermomechanical behavior of briquettes would be overconcentration of additive capable of effectively defying compacting biomass. The degree of compaction during co-briquetting has likely gone down quickly with a maximizing level of glycerol. As long as the additive is not able to lubricate the feedstock suitably, improbability of biomass particles to successfully bond together to form themselves into mechanically stable and energetically effective briquettes is large. Besides lower density (273.80 kg m?3) and higher relaxation (22.75%), briquettes with glycerol at 30 wt.% generally were aesthetically unpleasing. Practically, these products resisted no longer to handling, transportation, and storage. They lost their shape easily during emptying and shifting them, thus, releasing larger quantities of biomass to the environment. Preliminary evidence of high-viscosity glycerol capable of limiting safe and effective production of high-performance briquettes for heating and power exists.

Compaction characteristics of municipal solid waste (MSW) are the important parameters in the landfill design. Well compacted MSW increases the placement efficiency and thus reduces the space requirement for landfills. The composition of MSW, degradation, and compactive efforts are the key factors that control the compaction characteristics of MSW. This paper presents the laboratory investigation of compaction characteristics of fresh and aged MSW at a wide range of compactive efforts. Fresh MSW (S1), Windrows sample (S2) of an age of 2 months, 5-year-old MSW (S3), 10-year-old MSW (S4), and 15-year-old MSW (S5) were collected from the working phase of the solid waste management site, Vilholi Nasik, (MH) India. Compaction was carried in 1000 mL capacity mold under four different energy levels, i.e., 552 (E1), 1125 (E2), 2682 (E3), and 5364 (E4) kJ/m3. The results showed that the maximum dry density (γdmax) was observed less in the S1 sample at the standard compactive effort. As the age of the sample increase from fresh to 5 years, γdmax was more with lesser optimum moisture content (wopt) because of the completion of the biodegradation process. No further change in compaction characteristics was observed once the biodegradation process was finished. The study shows that the particle size of MSW gets reduced as the age of the sample increased. This reduces the particle size of MSW is one of the contributing factors to increasing γdmax. When compactive energy is changed from E1 to E4 the γdmax increased and wopt decreased for all the samples. A normalized wopt and compaction energy correlation is proposed in this study. The correlation can get compaction characteristics of fresh and aged MSW at any compactive effort.

Rapid economic growth and production patterns have increased plastic consumption, plastic waste generation, and environmental pollution burden on both land and water habitats across the globe. The use of PET (polyethylene terephthalate) bottles in packaging has increased tremendously and accounts for a significant proportion of the plastic waste generated in Nigeria, along with its environment and economic cost. Achieving sustainable development goals of sustainable cities and communities, responsible consumption and production, ensure access to safe water and sanitation has necessitated the need for an efficient PET bottle waste management system. This study analyzed the PET bottle system in Nigeria and proposes an integrated PET bottle model/system for sustainable waste management, resource conservation, improved environmental sanitation, and economic development in Nigeria. Also, the need for the adoption of a holistic and indigenous approach in the formulation of the national policy on plastic waste management is emphasized, as it will encourage the citizens’ participation and financial investments in waste management.

The rock processing residue (RPR) waste is used for part of the ceramic products. The present work deals with the unused waste useful for making ceramic materials and save the area and the dump space. The residues are initially analyzed with the chemical and spectroscopic method. The residues are mixed with clay of proportions 0–50 wt% in steps of 10%. The prepared specimens are characterized with Fourier transform infrared (FTIR), X ray fluorescence (XRF) for chemical, mechanical, and physiochemical properties, such as density, compressive strength, weight loss on ignition and porous nature, which are measured through the selective instrument. The thermal stability of the product was tested by firing at 950 °C. This says the rock residues are useful for making ceramic and related materials with high concentrations.

There is a lack of information about medical waste management in Iraq. This study aims to monitor and evaluate the current situation of medical waste management in Baghdad as it represents the capital and the biggest populated city in Iraq. About 32% of hospitals are located in Baghdad. Ten state-owned hospitals in Baghdad with the biggest bed capacity were investigated. The study used structured interviews with staff in charge of waste management in the sampled hospitals to collect data. The results showed that the generation rate of medical waste in the ten hospitals was 0.5 kg/(bed·day). The study also found that there were insufficient, ineffective, and improper isolation, collection, storing, processing, and safe disposal of medical wastes in the sampled public hospitals of Baghdad. The study recommended that the Iraqi Ministry of Health takes extensive and quick effective measures to better monitor and evaluate medical waste management and provide ongoing training to personnel responsible for waste management in the hospitals.

There is an increase in annual waste generation due to urbanization, industrialization, and population growth. The waste management crisis in developing countries and its complexity from region to region has inspired extensive research work in this area. Poor management not only results in environmental hazards, but it also causes significant socio-economic losses. Due to the absence of comprehensive studies on waste to energy (WTE) assessment, this study assesses and reports the merits of alternative technologies for converting WTE in small and medium-size districts. Quantitative analysis for waste collection data in this study uses a pilot study approach to provide useful insights and waste classification. A cantonment district of Pakistan (Wah Cantt) has been used as a case study for performing a technological and economic assessment of energy generation through the use of thermal and biological treatment processes. A mathematical modeling approach has been adopted for generating an economic value of each technology through which this waste can be processed. Further, the levelized cost of energy (LCOE) based assessment has been performed to provide a methodological framework for selecting the most feasible WTE technology in a small or medium-size district. Based on the model results, anaerobic digestion appears to be the most sustainable technology due to the organic nature of waste in Wah Cantt, land legislation, and availability of area to install a waste plant. Considering all the waste collected, the district can generate approximately 14.4 MW of energy through thermal treatment, 19,110 m3 of daily biogas through anaerobic digestion, and 5 million tons of fertilizer through composting. Hence, if a proper supply chain is established for converting a portion of Pakistan’s annual waste generation, a significant amount of waste energy potential can be restored.