Degradation of paper-based boxes for food delivery in composting and anaerobic digestion tests.

This study evaluated the fate of food delivery boxes when subjected to biological treatments, reproducing at the lab-scale the conditions of full-scale plants. Four paper-based boxes were composted: two made of paper only, one coupled with polylactic acid (PLA), and one with a barrier coating. One paper only box and the box with PLA were also investigated for their anaerobic degradability with biochemical methane potential (BMP) and semi-continuous tests.

Life cycle assessment and cost analysis of an innovative automatic system for sorting municipal solid waste: A case study at Milan Malpensa airport.

With the recent advancement in artificial intelligence, there are new opportunities to adopt smart technologies for the sorting of materials at the beginning of the recycling value chain. An automatic bin capable of sorting the waste among paper, plastic, glass & aluminium, and residual waste was installed in public areas of Milan Malpensa airport, a context where the separate collection is challenging. First, the airport waste composition was assessed, together with the efficiency of the manual sorting performed by passengers among the conventional bins: paper, plastic, glass & aluminium, and residual waste.

Life cycle assessment applications to reuse, recycling and circular practices for textiles: A review.

To understand which are the best strategies for textile waste management and to analyse the effects on the environment of applying circular economy practices to textile products, a review of 45 publications where life cycle assessment (LCA) is applied to these topics has been carried out. The separate collection of textiles, followed by reuse and recycling brings relevant environmental benefits, with impacts related to reuse resulting lower than those of recycling. At the opposite, when mixed municipal solid waste is addressed to energy recovery, the textile fraction is the second most impacting on climate change, right after plastics, while for landfill disposal impacts textiles directly follow the more biodegradable fractions.

Evaluation of the anaerobic degradation of food waste collection bags made of paper or bioplastic.

The amount of compostable bioplastics collected with the food waste is constantly growing, particularly due to the bags used for collection. According to the Italian legislation, compostable bioplastics must be accepted by all biological treatment plants, including aerobic and anaerobic facilities. Anyway, the compostability standard requires only the assessment of the aerobic degradability, while it is generally not required to test the behaviour under anaerobic conditions.

Life cycle assessment of the food waste management with a focus on the collection bag.

The organic fraction (mainly food waste) is typically the most abundant of the separately collected waste streams. The research aims at investigating the influence of different types of collection bag on the environmental performances of the food waste management chain in Italy. A comparative life cycle assessment (LCA) between two alternative systems based on paper or bioplastic collection bags was carried out.

Life cycle costing of energy recovery from solid recovered fuel produced in MBT plants in Italy.

The Environmental Life Cycle Costing (LCC) methodology was applied to assess the costs of the processing in Italy of municipal Residual Waste (RW) in Mechanical-Biological Treatment (MBT) plants aimed at the production of Solid Recovered Fuels (SRFs), delivered to dedicated waste-to-energy (WTE) plants or to co-combustion. Two different functional units were defined to consider two different perspectives: 1 tonne of residual waste in input of the MBT plant, and 1 MWh of exergy produced by the energy valorisation of the streams delivered by the MBT plant. Four strategies were analysed that differ for the type of MBT (single stream or separated streams) and the destiny of the SRF (dedicated WTE plant or cement kiln).

Bioplastics and waste management.

Pollution of the marine environment due to plastic materials is one of the most severe environmental problems humanity has to face in the 21st century. The strategy devised until now to address this issue is mainly based on two pillars: (1) increasing the interception of discarded plastic wastes by waste management systems; and (2) substituting the traditional "petro-based" polymers with biodegradable ones. Many issues on the overall sustainability of the second option by the waste management system must still be clarified.

Packaging waste prevention in the distribution of fruit and vegetables: An assessment based on the life cycle perspective.

In recent years, alternative food supply chains based on short distance production and delivery have been promoted as being more environmentally friendly than those applied by the traditional retailing system. An example is the supply of seasonal and possibly locally grown fruit and vegetables directly to customers inside a returnable crate (the so-called 'box scheme'). In addition to other claimed environmental and economic advantages, the box scheme is often listed among the packaging waste prevention measures.

Life cycle assessment of waste prevention in the delivery of pasta, breakfast cereals, and rice.

Waste prevention is the top priority of the European waste management strategy. In fact, as indicated in the latest Waste Framework Directive, the best option to deal with waste is not to generate it at all. In this framework, the distribution of loose dry food products through self-dispensing systems (so-called "loose distribution") is being considered worldwide as a practice to reduce the generation of packaging waste.

Case study of an MBT plant producing SRF for cement kiln co-combustion, coupled with a bioreactor landfill for process residues.

The paper describes the performances of the energy recovery pathway from the residual waste based on the production of a Solid Recovered Fuel (SRF) to be exploited via co-combustion in a cement kiln. The SRF is produced in a single stream Mechanical-Biological Treatment plant, where bio-drying of the waste is followed by mechanical refining in order to fulfil the quality requirements by the cement kilns. Peculiar of this MBT is the fact that sorting residues are disposed in a nearby landfill, managed according to a bioreactor approach, where landfill gas is collected for electric energy recovery.

Materials recovery from waste liquid crystal displays: A focus on indium.

In the present work the recovery of indium and of the polarizing film from waste liquid crystal displays was experimentally investigated in the laboratory. First of all, the polarizing film was removed by employing a number of different techniques, including thermal and chemical treatments. Leaching of indium was then performed with HCl 6N, which allowed solubilisation of approximately 90% In (i.

Packaging waste prevention activities: A life cycle assessment of the effects on a regional waste management system.

A life cycle assessment was carried out to evaluate the effects of two packaging waste prevention activities on the overall environmental performance of the integrated municipal waste management system of Lombardia region, Italy. The activities are the use of refined tap water instead of bottled water for household consumption and the substitution of liquid detergents packaged in single-use containers by those distributed 'loose' through self-dispensing systems and refillable containers. A 2020 baseline scenario without waste prevention is compared with different waste prevention scenarios, where the two activities are either separately or contemporaneously implemented, by assuming a complete substitution of the traditional product(s).

Hypericum perforatum and neem oil for the management of acute skin toxicity in head and neck cancer patients undergoing radiation or chemo-radiation: a single-arm prospective observational study.

Background: Radiation dermatitis is common in patients treated with combined radiotherapy and chemotherapy for head and neck malignancies. Its timely and adequate management is of uttermost importance for both oncological outcomes and global quality of life. We prospectively evaluated the role of hypericum perforatum and neem oil (Holoil®; RIMOS srl, Mirandola, Italy) in the treatment of acute skin toxicity for patients undergoing radiotherapy or chemo-radiotherapy for head and neck cancer.

High temperature abatement of acid gases from waste incineration. Part I: experimental tests in full scale plants.

In recent years, several waste-to-energy plants in Italy have experienced an increase of the concentration of acid gases (HCl, SO2 and HF) in the raw gas. This is likely an indirect effect of the progressive decrease of the amount of treated municipal waste, which is partially replaced by commercial waste. The latter is characterised by a higher variability of its chemical composition because of the different origins, with possible increase of the load of halogen elements such as chlorine (Cl) and fluorine (F), as well as of sulphur (S).