Application of Multivariate Reinforcement Learning Engine in Optimizing the Power Generation Process of Domestic Waste Incineration

Garbage incineration is an ideal method for the harmless and resource-oriented treatment of urban domestic waste.However,current domestic waste incineration power plants often face challenges related to maintaining consistent steam production and high operational costs.This article capitalizes on the technical advantages of big data artificial intelligence,optimizing the power generation process of domestic waste incineration as the entry point,and adopts four main engine modules of Alibaba Cloud reinforcement learning algorithm engine,operating parameter prediction engine,anomaly recognition engine,and video visual recognition algorithm engine.The reinforcement learning algorithm extracts the operational parameters of each incinerator to obtain a control benchmark.Through the operating parameter prediction algorithm,prediction models for drum pressure,primary steam flow,NOx,SO2,and HCl are constructed to achieve short-term prediction of operational parameters,ultimately improving control performance.The anomaly recognition algorithm develops a thickness identification model for the material layer in the drying section,allowing for rapid and effective assessment of feed material thickness to ensure uniformity control.Meanwhile,the visual recognition algorithm identifies flame images and assesses the combustion status and location of the combustion fire line within the furnace.This real-time understanding of furnace flame combustion conditions guides adjustments to the grate and air volume.Integrating AI technology into the waste incineration sector empowers the environmental protection industry with the potential to leverage big data.This development holds practical significance in optimizing the harmless and resource-oriented treatment of urban domestic waste,reducing operational costs,and increasing efficiency.

Synergism of solar-driven interfacial evaporation and photo-Fenton Cr(Ⅵ) reduction by sustainable Bi-MOF-based evaporator from waste polyester

The integration of interfacial solar steam generation and photocatalytic degradation technology has pro-vided a promising platform to simultaneously produce freshwater and degrade pollutants.However,con-structing low-cost,multi-functional evaporators for treating Cr(Ⅵ)-polluted water remains challenging,and the synergistic mechanism on Cr(Ⅵ)reduction is fuzzy.Herein,we propose the combined strategy of ball milling and solution mixing for the sustainable production of Bi-MOF microrod from waste poly(ethylene terephthalate),and construct Bi-MOF-based solar evaporators for simultaneous photo-Fenton Cr(Ⅵ)reduction and freshwater production.Firstly,the evaporator comprised of Bi-MOF microrod and graphene nanosheet possesses high light absorption,efficient photothermal conversion,and good hydro-philic property.Attributing to the advantages,the hybrid evaporator exhibits the evaporation rate of 2.16 kg m^(-2) h^(-1) and evaporation efficiency of 87.5%under 1 kW m^(-2) of irradiation.When integrating with photo-Fenton reaction,the Cr(Ⅵ)reduction efficiency is 91.3%,along with the reaction kinetics of 0.0548 min^(-1),surpassing many advanced catalysts.In the outdoor freshwater production and Cr(Ⅵ)reduction,the daily accumulative water yield is 5.17 kg m^(-2) h^(-1),and the Cr(Ⅵ)reduction efficiency is 99.9%.Furthermore,we prove that the localization effect derived from the interfacial solar-driven evap-oration enhances H_(2)O_(2) activation for the photo-Fenton reduction of Cr(Ⅵ).Based on the result of density functional theory,Bi-MOF microrod provides rich active centers for H_(2)O_(2) activation to produce active sites such as e-or-O_(2).This study not only proposes a new strategy to construct multi-functional solar evaporators for freshwater production and catalytic reduction of pollutants,but also advances the chem-ical upcycling of waste polyesters.

Current Situation Analysis and Suggestions for Solid Waste Management Practices among Households in Freetown

Freetown which is the capital city of Sierra Leone is facing challenges with population growth, urbanization, and industrialization, leading to an increase in municipal solid waste (MSW) generation. The study aims to evaluate MSW generation, composition, and disposal methods, as well as the impact of collection fees, policy implementation, and women’s participation in municipal solid waste management (MSWM). The study used both qualitative and quantitative methods for data collection and analysis. The study administered 393 structured questionnaires in three selected sections to collect data on variables such as family size, education, level of knowledge, etc. The study used door-to-door data collection to determine the rate of solid waste generation, composition, and disposal in 66 households from two of the selected sections and 34 households from the other section to evaluate the current situation of MSWM practices among households in Freetown. The study used a descriptive statistic to analyze the data collected using Origin-Pro9 and MS Excel software. The findings showed that with a 4.2% urban growth rate, Freetown had a population of 1,467,543 in 2023, generating 851 tons of MSW per day, with organic waste accounting for 78% of the total MSW generated. Plastic waste generation also increased from 7.6% in 2020 to 13% in 2023. The study emphasizes the need to sustain the MSWM system by prioritizing solid waste collection fees, policy enforcement, and women’s participation in the MSWM sector. It further suggests and provides recommendations for developing an efficient and sustainable MSWM system in Sierra Leone, including knowledge transfer from countries like China and the US.

Determination and Evaluation of the Rate of Solid Wastes Generation in Health Care Centers in Montevideo, Uruguay

Decree 586/009 establishes the main guidelines related to the management of Health Care Wastes (RAS). For this reason, it is used as a reference in the definition of any methodological proposal that intends to address all the aspects related to Intra-institutional Management of Residues generated in Health Care Centers (CAS) in Uruguay. In the first instance, this paper presents an application case based on the experience of previous work in a CAS in Montevideo. Providing special importance to the Evaluation of rates of sanitary waste removal rates in the hospital centers, which were determined based on historical data for the period from 2008 to 2011, referring to rates of removal of contaminated, common and recyclable sanitary waste. Based on the analysis of these data, information on their behavior is obtained, such as: number of common waste removed per day in the period, evolution of the monthly average of the daily rate of removal of common waste, evolution of the average daily waste removal rate from month to month in the period, average daily waste removal rate for each month of the year in the period considered, average daily rate of common waste removal for each day of the week, evolution of the monthly average of the daily rate of removal of contaminated waste, evolution of the monthly average daily withdrawal rate of contaminated waste in the period and mean of the daily rate of removal of contaminated waste for each month of the year in the period considered. Finally, the conclusions of this article present the procedure to perform a weighing campaign, which should be carried out to determine the common and contaminated waste generation rates in each of the main services of the CAS.

Household Solid Waste Generation and Composition: A Case Study in Palapye, Botswana

The purpose of this case study was to conduct a case study in the generation rate, composition, and characterise solid wastes from low, middle and high income households during weekdays and weekends in Palapye, Botswana. The study was conducted through sampling and analysis of the wastes from sampled households from each of the three categories. Palapye village does not have an engineered solid waste management system in place;hence the study can be used as a starting point. The village is rapidly urbanising with many shopping complexes coming up which will generate high amounts of solid wastes of different compositions. The lowest generation rate was 0.038 kg/capita/day from low income households during weekends and the highest was 0.364 kg/capita/day generated from high income households during weekends. The composition of the wastes was dominated by food wastes ranging from 46.44% to 80.78% with low income households generating the highest percentage during weekdays. The average moisture contents of samples from low, middle and high income households were 71% ± 0.0%, 66.3% ± 1.25% and 74.3% ± 2.2% respectively during weekdays compared to 77% ± 0.0%, 66.5% ± 3.5% and 69.3% ± 3.3% during weekends. The average moisture contents from low, middle and high income households were 71% ± 0.0%, 66.3% ± 1.25% and 74.3% ± 2.2% respectively during weekdays compared to 77% ± 0.0%, 66.5% ± 3.5% and 69.3% ± 3.3% during weekends. The results can be used as part of the waste management planning purpose by the Administrative Council of the area.

A Situational Assessment of Socioeconomic Factors Affecting Solid Waste Generation and Composition in Freetown, Sierra Leone

The generation of solid waste has become an increasing environmental and public health problem, especially in developing countries. These problems associated with the generation of solid waste are part of social changes where households play an important role. Invariably, these social changes influence the size, structure and characteristics of given households. This paper presents the findings of a study carried out in Freetown municipal area in Sierra Leone to assess socioeconomic factors affecting household solid waste generation and composition in Freetown, Sierra Leone. Structured questionnaires were administered with respect to these socioeconomic factors in four (4) selected constituencies of the city. These are the most populated constituencies that generated 70% of the total quantity of solid waste in the city. Therefore, they are suitable samples of the study area. The rate of waste generation was determined by using door- to-door approach in five (5) selected households from each constituency through sorting and weighing of solid wastes respectively. The dependent variables were solid waste generation and composition, and the independent variables were family size, education, income levels among others. The data obtained were subjected to statistical analysis to determine relationships between independent variables and dependent variables through correlation. The results showed that the solid waste generation and composition in Freetown was significantly affected by average family size, employment status, monthly income, and number of room(s) occupied by households. In general, the paper adequately suggests new insights concerning the role of socioeconomic factors in affecting the generation and composition of household solid waste.

Estimation of the Solid Waste Generation and Recycling Potential of the Hotel Sector: A Case Study in Hue City, Vietnam

This study examined the solid waste generation and recycling potential of the hotel sector in Hue City, Vietnam. The authors conducted waste measurement, waste composition, and questionnaire surveys for 45 target hotels over ten consecutive days. The waste generation rates (WGRs) by rooms, beds, guests, and workers were assessed by hotel class using the following three waste categories, considering informal waste collection: general waste (GW), separated recyclables (SRe), and separated food residue (SFR). The 5-star hotels exhibited the highest WGR per room at 1.61 kg/room/day, while 1-star hotels exhibited the lowest per-room WGR (0.39 kg/room/day). Spearman Rank correlation test revealed that hotel class and per-room, per-bed, and per-guest WGRs were significantly positively correlated (p < 0.01). The major components of GW were food waste (40.9% to 57.4%), paper (10.1% to 20.3%), and plastic (10.7% to 15.5%). The recycling and composting potentials remaining in the GW were 19.3% to 38.5% and 38.0% to 57.9%, respectively. Based on the WGRs and waste composition determined in this study, the estimated total amount of waste generated was 6.88 tons/day (6.26 to 7.62 tons/day, 95% CI), of which 4.37 (64%), 2.13 (31%), and 0.38 tons/day (6%) were GW, SFR, and SRe, respectively. The recycling and composting potentials remaining in GW were 0.94 (13%) and 2.57 tons/day (37%), respectively. High-class hotels should be considered as the highest priority targets for a “reduce, reuse, recycle” (3R) promotion campaign in the future, with estimated recycling and composting potentials of 0.27 (4%) and 1.10 tons/day (16%), respectively.

Generation, Characterization and Management Practices of Household Solid Wastes in Cowfield, Paynesville City, Liberia

The success of any waste management system requires accurate and up-to-date data on quantity, composition of waste. Waste generation data from household are needed to address issues relating to municipal solid wastes such as management method, performance improvement, policy, regional and local planning, administrative, cost accounting, design and operation of landfill facilities and environmental quality. This study was conducted to provide empirical data on generation rates, quantity and composition, management practices, challenges and strategies from urban household. Waste collection, weighing, questionnaires survey and field observation were methods used during the study. Waste was collected and weighed from 60 households using multi-stage sampling technique for seven days. Questionnaires were analyzed using Statistical Package for Social Sciences version 20 and Excel. A total of 1125.2 kg of waste was recorded. The average household waste generation was 3 kg per day with per capita generation rate of 0.41 kg/cap/day. The compositional analysis showed that Organic (53%), Plastic (11%), Textile (6%), Metal (2%), Glass (1%), Paper and Cardboard 4% and others (22%). Solid waste management practices are very rudimentary. Burning (53.7%) and Open Dumping (30%) were found to be the most commonly used method of disposal with very limited collection service (33.3%) and segregation. The most challenges faced by households were communal disposal area (66.7%) and waste service providers (21.7%) storage bins (11.6%). Waste to energy (48.3%) and compositing (23.3%) were the most considered option for waste management by the respondents.

Comparative Study on Distributed Waste Pyrolysis Cold Emission Energy Station and Incineration Power Generation

The proper terminal disposal of organic solid waste such as domestic waste is a worldwide issue.Landfill covers a large area,with limited capacity,and a single landfill will be filled one day;incineration is costly to build and operate.These methods all need to transfer and centralized treatment,and secondary pollution is difficult to control,against the purification law of the nature."NIMBY effect"is very serious,and the social cost of treatment is increasing,becoming a heavy financial burden."The Distributed Waste Pyrolysis Cold Emission Energy Station"developed by Hunan Zhongzhou Energy-Saving Technology Co.,Ltd.overcomes these disadvantages and constructs a more appropriate environmental economic industrial chain for the treatment of organic solid waste such as urban and rural household waste.Based on its technical characteristics,this paper compares it with waste incineration power generation project in the aspects of secondary pollution control,treatment effect,energy utilization,investment and operation economy,etc.

An empirical analysis of comprehensive benefits of waste power generation

With the rapid development of economy, the scale of city has become more and more large. Meanwhile, the population also grows rapidly. Although the standard of living condition has been improved greatly, industry and domestic waste not only infl uence the quality of life by polluting the environment, but also become a signifi cant obstacle factor for economic development. waste power generation or waste-to-energy(WTE) is using the heat which is from garbage incinerator to generate electricity. This method can solve the problem of waste and generate the social benefi t, but by using the power on the internet to generate the economy benefit. In this paper, combined the method of FAHP and TOPSIS, a quotas system is set up to evaluate the social and economic benefi ts of the WTE project in Xiamen. Some advice is proposed for the Xiamen WTE project.

Lagos State Hospital Waste Management Practices: A Descriptive Overview with Stakeholders’ Role and Key Recommendations

Background: Waste generation and its disposal is an essential issue in the sustainability of the environment and the planet’s future. Waste management is essential across sectors, likewise the health sector. Therefore, there is a need to employ extra care and attention to handling waste generated from healthcare facilities to avoid the dangers of poor biomedical waste management. We carried out this study to examine the waste management practice in healthcare facilities in Lagos State. Methods: The study was a descriptive survey carried out in one-thousand two hundred and fifty-six (1256) healthcare facilities in Lagos State. Nine hundred sixty-nine (969) of these facilities are located in urban areas, while two hundred and eighty-seven (287) are rural. The facilities studied are government/public health facilities (15.45%), private-for-profit facilities (82.88%), NGOs, Mission/Faith-Based medical facilities (1.67%). The data collected were analyzed using descriptive statistics. Specifically, we utilized bar charts, frequency, and percentage. Result: The result shows that 98.4% (1236) of the studied facilities are registered with the Lagos State Waste Management Authority (LAWMA), while 1.6% (20) are not registered. 98.5% (191) of the 194 government-owned facilities, 98.5% (1025) of the 1041 private-for-profit facilities, and 98.2% (20) of the 21 NGOs/faith-based health facilities are registered with Lagos State Waste Management Authority. The result also shows that 94% of the healthcare facilities studied in Lagos State use color-coded waste bags to segregate waste at the point of origin. 58.7% of the facilities use red-colored bags, 33.3% use yellow-colored bags, 10.7% use black-colored bags, and 1.3% use brown biohazard bags for segregating Infectious waste. Also, 34.2% of the health facilities in Lagos state use red-colored bags, 36.9% use yellow-colored bags, 11% use black-colored bags, and 4.1% use brown-colored bags to segregate their hazardous waste. Conclusion: Some healthcare facilities in Lagos State do not follow the recommended guidelines for medical waste segregation. Waste generated is not appropriately segregated at the point of origin into the recommended colored bags/bins in some facilities. Thus, a policy and procedure regulating healthcare waste are mandatory. It is important to regularly train healthcare workers on proper waste management practices and encourage staff to read and apply WHO rules in managing healthcare waste. Healthcare personnel should realize that hazardous material is a potential cause of a public disaster.

The Physico-Chemical Composition and Energy Recovery Potentials of Municipal Solid Waste Generated in Numan Town, North-Eastern Nigeria

Numan is an urban center in Adamawa State North-Eastern Nigeria. Its waste characteristics are similar to other places in sub-Saharan Africa. In this paper, the physico-chemical characterization of municipal solid waste generated in Numan Town was carried out to estimate the electrical power to be generated from it. The solid waste types were observed to comprise of polythene (27%), organic waste (24.1%), plastic (10.2%), textile (13.2%), paper (9.8%), glass (9.3%) and metals (6.4%). The moisture content as discarded and daily average solid waste generation rate are 16.49% and 0.583 kg/sec respectively. The chemical formula with and without water was determined as C923.28H1632.60O258.28N12.89S and C923.28H2099.70O494.16N12.89S respectively. The suitability of the municipal solid waste as a possible source of electrical power was also considered. The energy content of the solid waste on ash free dry-basis was determined as 20861.48 kJ/kg. The estimated power generation per day using incinerating plant at an assumed efficiency of 25% was 3031.5 kW.

Rational Design of High-Performance Bilayer Solar Evaporator by Using Waste Polyester-Derived Porous Carbon-Coated Wood

Wood-based bilayer solar evaporators,which possess cooperative advantages of natural wood and photothermal conversion coating including fast water transportation,low heat conduction,renewability,and high light absorbability,hold great promise for water purification.However,previous studies suffer from low evaporation rates and high cost of coatings,and lack a deep understanding how the porous structures of coating layer function.Herein,a novel bilayer solar evaporator is designed through facile surface coating of wood by low-cost porous carbon from controlled carbonization of polyester waste.The porous carbon bears rich oxygen-containing groups,well-controlled micro-/meso-/macropores,and high surface areas(1164 m^(2) g^(−1)).It is proved that porous carbon improves sunlight absorption and promotes the formation of numerous water clusters to reduce water evaporation enthalpy.Owing to these combined features,the bilayer solar evaporator exhibits high evaporation rate(2.38 kg m^(−2) h^(−1)),excellent longterm stability,and good salt resistance.More importantly,a large-scale solar desalination device for outdoor experiments is developed to produce freshwater from seawater.The daily freshwater production amount(3.65 kg m^(−2))per unit area meets the daily water consumption requirement of one adult.These findings will inspire new paradigms toward developing efficient solar steaming technologies for desalination to address global freshwater shortage.

Methane Generation and Capture of U.S.Landfills

Analysis of the U.S.EPA(Environmental Protection Agency)database of 2,549 MSW(Municipal Solid Waste)landfills showed that there were 1,164 operating landfills in which 348 million short tons(316 million metric tons)of waste were landfilled in 2017.In total,these landfills occupy about 370 million square meters of land so it is not possible to monitor the generation of LFG(Landfill Gas)generation accurately,or collect most of the LFG generated.This study was based on the hypothesis that,on the average,methane generation is proportional to the tonnage of wastes landfilled annually.The Landfill Methane Outreach Program of the EPA(EPA-LMOP)compiles annual operating data of all methane-capturing landfills.Our analysis of the 2018 data for 396 LMOP operating landfills showed that 210 million short tons of wastes were deposited and 5.06 million short tons of methane were captured,i.e.,an average capture of 0.024-ton CH4/ton waste.On the basis of the anaerobic reaction of the DOC(Degradable Organic Carbon)in landfilled wastes,the average rate of methane generation from all operating U.S.landfills was estimated to be 0.05 ton of CH4 per ton of annual capacity;this number corresponds to bioreaction of about one half of the total organic carbon in MSW.On this basis,the average rate of CH4 emission from the 396 LMOP landfills was estimated to be 0.026-ton CH4 per annual ton of deposition and the average efficiency of LFG capture,48%.Adding up all 1,164 operating landfills,their total emission of methane was estimated at 11.9 million metric tons of CH4.At CH4/CO2 equivalence of 25,this number corresponds to CO2-eq emissions of 270 million metric tons,i.e.,5.1%of the U.S.energy related carbon dioxide emissions.

Characterization of Household Solid Waste and Management in Tripoli City—Libya

Waste stream characteristics must be understood to tackle waste management problem in Tripoli city, Libya. It is recognized that information on both quantity and composition of generation waste is important for the effective planning of household waste handling infrastructure. So, this study is aimed to evaluating the generation, composition and density of household solid waste in Tripoli city, Libya. The study is carried out according to the Annex 2.1 of: WHO 1996. It was conducted during one week in summer, autumn and winter 2011/2012. The daily household solid waste generation assessment has been carried out for 150 Libyan families where 947 people in three main parts of Tripoli city have been chosen randomly. A questionnaire was prepared according to Buenrostro et al. 2001 and Raje et al. 2001 using door-to-door surveying. The result showed that the average of total generation quantity, daily generation rate, total volume and density were 1415 kg, 0.64 kg/person/day, 19.3 m3 and 74.4 kg/m3 respectively in Tripoli city. Household solid waste contains 36.3% organic matter and 32.5% recyclable materials (glass, paper, plastic, metals). The total generation quantity, daily generation rate, total volume and density were in Tripoli city agreed with those for African and Arabic countries. But the problem is that Tripoli suffers from insufficient municipal solid waste management and lack of sanitary landfills.

Effects of Solid Waste on Urban Warming in Warri Metropolis, Nigeria

This study examined the effects of solid waste on urban warming in Warri metropolis. To achieve this, the study generated data from field measurements of volume of waste generated and greenhouse gases. The data were collected from five (5) major waste dump sites in Warri metropolis. The data generated were analysed using bivariate correlation and multiple regression. Results obtained revealed that 25.1% of waste generated in Warri metropolis was found in the commercial areas of the metropolis while 4.3% of the waste generated was recorded in the low density Areas, 19.7% of the waste generated was found in the high density area (Okumagba, Ugborikoko, Enerhen village, Airport road and upper/lower Eredjuwa) and the remaining 51.9% was generated in the industrial, traditional and fringe zones of Warri metropolis. Warri metropolis has an urban bias of 4.16°C. There is a significant relationship between temperature and volume of waste generated at R value of 0.722. The temperature in Warri metropolis is significantly dependent on greenhouse gases emitted at P 0.05. It is therefore, recommended that programmes to sensitize and sustain the waste management concepts among communities through media be established.

Technical Analysis: Generation of Electricity by Pyrolysis of Plastics in a Canadian Environment

The study takes motivation from provincial and national issues regarding waste management and electricity production in Canada.Most sources include previous research relating pyrolysis’applications in different parts of the world.The research included 2-3 weeks of extensive reading of previous research and understanding the theory relating polymers.Research has been conducted to understand why polymers have the properties that they do.Thorough analysis about the chemical reactions relating polymers on a small and large scale is conducted.More research was conducted relating to socio-economic conditions of Canada and Singapore for application purposes.Findings of the research point to an addition the Canadian government can uphold i.e.,build more plastic pyrolysis plants in different regions for waste management.Our findings also suggest that the short term spending on such projects can yield long term benefits.This research is important because it will solve Canada’s non-recyclable waste problems,it will help bring in a new source of electricity and it will help increase the budget of municipalities in the long run.This paper is not just informative on polymers,but also will help readers understand issues regarding Canadian waste management and propose possible solutions.

Quantitative Assessment of Medical Waste Management in Hamad Medical Corporation—Qatar

A proper waste management system is very important in healthcare facilities because the overall benefit outweighs the cost. In the healthcare sector, hazardous health care waste (HHCW) consists of wastes that are potentially contaminated by dangerous agents. Identification and segregation of HHCW is harbinger for its proper management. The quantitative analysis study on HHCW had not been done in Qatar government hospitals. This study quantitatively analyzed the current practice for HHCW management in Hamad Medical Corporation (HMC), Qatar. The objective of this study is to provide a first comprehensive assessment of hazardous healthcare waste managements in Qatar and offers an opportunity to improve existing practice. This is a retrospective survey study carried out on secondary data collected from the department of occupational health and safety (OHS), HMC. OHS department collects and keeps records of hazardous wastes produced by HMC. Data on the HMC hospitals’ characteristics from 2017 to 2019 were retrieved from Planning and Statistics Authority’s website. World Health Organization (WHO) formula for calculating HHCW generation rate was used to calculate the rate for HMC. Data analysis results show a steady increase in HHCW generation rate in HMC, the generation rate was 2.6 Kg/patient bed/day, 2.8 Kg/patient bed/day and 3.1 Kg/patient bed/day for the years 2017, 2018 and 2019 respectively. There were also significant variations in HHCW generation rates between hospitals. The highest generation rate was 4.64 Kg/patient bed/day recorded for AWH and the lowest was 0.2 Kg/patient bed/day recorded for mental health and both hospitals contributing 23.18% and 0.29% respectively of HHCW in HMC.

Study on textile waste generation in the undifferentiated municipal solid waste stream in Guimarães,Portugal

Guimarães is a middle sized city and municipality located in northern Portugal.The municipality has committed to reducing the annual amount of undifferentiated municipal solid waste(MSW)from 371 kg/capita in 2021 to 120 kg/capita by 2030 under the Zero Waste Cities Certification process.In the municipality of Guimarães,one of the constant fractions of MSW composition is textile waste(TW),which the revised EU Waste Framework Directive requires separate collection by 1 January 2025.Therefore,two indicators of TW generation were analysed to identify waste collection routes with a high level of textile waste generation for the priority implementation of separate collection:TW composition in the undifferentiated MSW stream and TW generation per capita.Basic statistical analysis methods were used to process the source data of TW composition in the undifferentiated MSW stream.Cluster analysis was applied to the data set on TW generation per capita,considering the area typology(urban,rural or mixed)of collection routes.It was considered that 39%of the industrial sector of Guimarães consists of textile and clothing production and represents small-and medium-sized enterprises,which can affect TW generation in the undifferentiated MSW stream.Causal-comparative research was used to define the correlation between TW generation per capita and the economic activity of the textile and clothing industry in the municipality.As a result,applying a multi-disciplinary approach,a project of the Textile Waste Generation Map was presented.

Analysis of Health Workers’ Perceptions on Medical Waste Management in Tanzanian Hospitals

This paper presents the perceptions of health workers (HWs) on medical waste management (MWM) issues in Tanzanian hospitals. The perceived total waste generation rates were lower than the actual measurements. Administrators perceived lower rates than implementers. The results indicated three categories of medical waste which are given due attention, that is, sharps waste, pathological and infectious waste. Other wastes like radioactive, chemical, pharmaceutical, pressurized containers receive very little attention. Container colour coding and labelling was negligible, while improvised containers are still in use. Medical waste is transported within hospitals manually, with little efforts on mechanized transportation. Poor waste storage was observed, while the prominent medical waste treatment technologies are medium temperature incinerators. Off-site transportation of medical waste is practiced, where the waste is finally dumped or buried. The hospitals are currently utilizing public-private partnership schemes for MWM in only one aspect of off-site transportation. Three main problems which require high attention include: Weaknesses in hospital management, poor MWM infrastructure, and lack of skills and knowledge on MWM among HWs. Knowledge and awareness among HWs on health hazards associated with poor MWM is low (with exception of cholera, HIV and typhoid). Few PPE types are supplied and used in the hospitals, leading to poor diseases prevention. There is also low knowledge among HWs on administrative issues related to MWM in Tanzanian hospitals.