Enhanced biodegradation of high-density polyethylene microplastics: Study of bacterial efficiency and process parameters.

As global microplastic (MP) pollution intensifies, sustainable and effective remediation methods are gaining interest due to the growing environmental and health implications. Microorganisms are demonstrating remarkable capabilities to degrade these polymers, offering a promising solution for reducing MP contamination. The aim of this study was to utilize bacteria for the degradation of high-density polyethylene (HDPE) MPs, specifically Comamonas testosteroni NCIMB 8955, Bacillus firmus NCTC 10335 and Paenibacillus macquariensis NCTC 10419.

Evidencing the importance of the functional unit in comparative life cycle assessment of organic berry crops.

LCA methodology provides the best framework to evaluate environmental impacts in agriculture systems. However, the interpretation of LCA results, in particular when the objective was to compare different production systems, could be affected by the selection of the functional unit (FU). That is why an accurate definition of the FU, in agreement with the function considered for the systems analysed, is essential.

A standard analytical approach and establishing criteria for microplastic concentrations in wastewater, drinking water and tap water.

The ubiquitous presence of microplastics (MPs) in natural water bodies reflects the global issue regarding these micropollutants. The main problem of MPs lies on the difficulty of removing these particles from water during wastewater and drinking water treatments. The release of MPs to the environment in treated wastewater contributed to the dispersion of these micropollutants, which enhances the harmful effect of MPs on fauna and flora.

Cocoa Bean Shell: A By-Product with High Potential for Nutritional and Biotechnological Applications.

Cocoa bean shell (CBS) is one of the main solid wastes derived from the chocolate industry. This residual biomass could be an interesting source of nutrients and bioactive compounds due to its high content in dietary fibres, polyphenols and methylxanthines. Specifically, CBS can be employed as a raw material for the recovery of, for example, antioxidants, antivirals and/or antimicrobials.

Microplastics in Sewage Sludge: A review.

Microplastics (MPs) represent a serious problem for the environment and for this reason they have been studied in many articles, especially their presence in aquatic environments and soils. MPs have been found in wastewater and sewage sludge from municipal wastewater treatment plants (WWTPs). Most part of the published works have focused on the detection and elimination of MPs in the water line and several reviews have been published in the last years.

Contribution of household dishwashing to microplastic pollution.

At household level, clothes washing has been recognised as an emitter of microplastics (MPs) into the environment and it is supposed that dishwashing is also a source of MPs, although little attention has been paid so far. In this work, the emission of MPs released from dishwashing procedures at household level has been studied. The effect of different parameters such as time, temperature and type of detergent has been analysed.

Approach to a fungal treatment of a biologically treated landfill leachate.

White-rot fungi (WRF) have the ability to synthetize extracellular enzymes that could degrade recalcitrant pollutants. The aim of this work was to evaluate the use of P. chrysosporium to treat a biologically and physically pre-treated landfill leachate which high load of refractory compounds (COD>1000 mg/L, BOD<50 mg/L) in order to reduce COD and colour.

Towards food circular economy: hydrothermal treatment of mixed vegetable and fruit wastes to obtain fermentable sugars and bioactive compounds.

Due to processing activity, fruits and vegetables generate notable amounts of wastes at the processing, retail, and consumption level. Following the European goals for reducing food wastes and achieving a circular economy of resources, these biowastes should be valorized. In this work, hydrothermal hydrolysis at different conditions (temperatures, times, waste/water ratio, pH values) were tested to treat for first time; biowastes composed of mixed overripe fruits or vegetables to maximize the extraction of fermentable sugars that can be used as substrates in bioprocesses.

Environmental advantages of coproducing beef meat in dairy systems.

Beef meat, one of the more environmentally costly animal-based foods, can be produced in two general ways, as the main product on specialised farms or as a co-product on dairy farms. In this study, two cases (a semi-confinement dairy farm (A) and a pasture-based dairy farm (B)) have been analysed by means of LCA to evaluate the environmental impacts associated with the coproduction of beef meat. In both cases, purchased feed production was found to be the main cause of environmental impacts in most of the categories considered.

Assessment of the environmental impacts associated with vineyards and winemaking. A case study in mountain areas.

Mountain wines produced in specific mountain areas and following singular practices have gained popularity over the last few decades. During this time, the environmental impacts associated with the food and beverage manufacturing sector have become a question of interest. However, the environmental impacts derived from the production of this peculiar wine have scarcely been studied until now.

Physico-chemical pre-treatments of anaerobic digestion liquor for aerobic treatment.

Centrifugation of anaerobically digested sewage sludge gives rise to a solid phase, which could be employed as a fertilizer, and a liquid fraction (ADL), which should be treated before being spilled out. This is not an easy task because this liquor is characterized for presenting high COD (~16000 mg O/L), high ammonium content (~4000 mg/L) and low biodegradability (BOD/COD ~0.2).

Approaching the environmental problem of microplastics: Importance of WWTP treatments.

The undeniable presence of microplastics (MPs) in soil, air and, especially, in the aquatic environment has revealed them to be an emerging pollutant. One of the main sources contributing to the release of these microplastics into the environment is wastewater treatment plants (WWTPs). During the treatment of wastewater, these microparticles undergo incomplete retention, which leads to their discharge in huge amounts into water masses.

Bioremediation as a promising strategy for microplastics removal in wastewater treatment plants.

Microplastics (MPs) attract ever-increasing attention due to environmental concerns. Nowadays, they are ubiquitous across ecosystems, and research demonstrates that the origin is mainly terrestrial. Wastewater treatment plants (WWTPs) are a major source of MPs, especially fibres, in water masses.

Overview on GHG emissions of raw milk production and a comparison of milk and cheese carbon footprints of two different systems from northern Spain.

Milk production has been estimated to contribute 3-4% of anthropogenic greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions. However, the carbon footprint associated with raw milk can vary, depending on a variety of factors, such as the geographical area, species of cow and production system. In this study, a global overview of research published on the carbon footprint (CF) of raw cow milk is provided.

Environmental impact of cheese production: A case study of a small-scale factory in southern Europe and global overview of carbon footprint.

The environmental performance of a small-scale cheese factory sited in a NW Spanish region has been analysed by Life Cycle Assessment (LCA) as representative of numerous cheese traditional factories that are scattered through the European Union, especially in the southern countries. Inventory data were directly obtained from this facility corresponding to one-year operation, and the main subsystems involved in cheese production were included, i.e.

Microbial diversity on commercial eggs as affected by the production system. A first approach using PGM.

A novel DNA-based technique (PGM) has been employed for first time to analyse commercial eggs with the advantage of allowing an exhaustive identification of the microbiota present. Eggs from two different production systems, i.e.

Treatment of supermarket vegetable wastes to be used as alternative substrates in bioprocesses.

Fruits and vegetables have the highest wastage rates at retail and consumer levels. These wastes have promising potential for being used as substrates in bioprocesses. However, an effective hydrolysis of carbohydrates that form these residues has to be developed before the biotransformation.

Eggshell waste as catalyst: A review.

Agricultural wastes are some of the most emerging problems in food industries because of their disposal cost. However, it is also an opportunity for the bioeconomy society if new uses for these residual materials can be found. Eggshells, considered a hazardous waste by UE regulations, are discarded, amounting hundreds of thousands of tonnes worldwide.

The effect of the synthetic route on the structural, textural, morphological and catalytic properties of iron(iii) oxides and oxyhydroxides.

A variety of iron(iii) oxides and oxyhydroxides were synthesised and characterised using three distinct methods of preparation: microemulsion, precipitation and sol-gel. The results clearly showed that the structure, textural properties, crystal morphology and catalytic performance of the phases obtained were highly dependent on the chemical routes used for the synthesis. Precipitation and microemulsion methods allowed obtaining mesoporous nanostructured iron(iii) oxides with mean particle sizes of 4 nm (amorphous hematite) and 7 nm (ferrihydrite), which exhibited a high surface area (291.

Life cycle assessment of introducing an anaerobic digester in a municipal wastewater treatment plant in Spain.

Anaerobic digestion (AD) is being established as a standard technology to recover some of the energy contained in the sludge in wastewater treatment plants (WWTPs) as biogas, allowing an economy in electricity and heating and a decrease in climate gas emission. The purpose of this study was to quantify the contributions to the total environmental impact of the plant using life cycle assessment methodology. In this work, data from real operation during 2012 of a municipal WWTP were utilized as the basis to determine the impact of including AD in the process.

Impact of leachate composition on the advanced oxidation treatment.

Advanced oxidation processes (AOPs) are gaining importance as an alternative to the biological or physicochemical treatments for the management of leachates. In this work, it has been studied the effect of the characteristics of the leachate (content in humic acids, landfill age and degree of stabilization) on the wet oxidation process and final quality of the treated effluent. A high concentration of humic acids in the leachate had a positive effect on the COD removal because this fraction is more easily oxidizable.

Simultaneous oxidation of cyanide and thiocyanate at high pressure and temperature.

Thiocyanate and cyanide are important contaminants that frequently appear mixed in industrial effluents. In this work the wet oxidation of mixtures of both compounds, simulating real compositions, was carried out in a semi-batch reactor at temperature between 393 K and 483 K and pressure in the range of 2.0-8.

Wet oxidation of real coke wastewater containing high thiocyanate concentration.

Coke wastewaters, in particular those with high thiocyanate concentrations, represent an important environmental problem because of their very low biodegradability. In this work, the treatment by wet oxidation of real coke wastewaters containing concentrations of thiocyanate above 17 mM has been studied in a 1-L semi-batch reactor at temperatures between 453 and 493 K, with total oxygen pressures in the range of 2.0-8.

Effect of intermediate compounds and products on wet oxidation and biodegradation rates of pharmaceutical compounds.

Kinetics of pure compounds in batch agitated reactors are useful data to clarify the characteristics of a given reaction, but they frequently do not provide the required information to design industrial mixed continuous processes because in this case the final and intermediate products interact with the reaction of interest, due to backmixing effects. Simultaneously, the presence and transformations of other compounds, frequent in industrial wastewater treatments, adds more complexity to these types of interactions, whose effect can be different, favorable or unfavorable, for chemical or biological reactions. In this work, batch laboratory reactor data were obtained for the wet oxidation and biodegradation of four phenolic compounds present in a pharmaceutical wastewater and then compared with those collected from industrial continuous stirred tank reactors.