Techno-environmental and economic assessment of color removal strategies from textile wastewater.

The textile industry is one of the most chemical-intensive processes, resulting in the unquestionable pollution of more than a quarter of the planet's water bodies. The high recalcitrant properties of some these pollutants resulted on the development of treatment technologies looking at the larger removal efficiencies, due to conventional systems are not able to completely remove them in their effluents. However, safeguarding the environment also implies taking into account indirect pollution from the use of chemicals and energy during treatment.

Three-dimensional evaluation of beaches of oceanic islands as reservoirs of plastic particles in the open ocean.

The quantification of plastic debris on beaches has been extensively used as an indicator of plastic pollution in the marine environment. However, most efforts have focused on surface layers, with few investigations looking deeper into the substrate, thus underestimating total standing stocks. Such information is crucial to improve our understanding of where plastic accumulates in the oceans.

Improving the sustainability of heterogeneous Fenton-based methods for micropollutant abatement by electrochemical coupling.

Advanced oxidation processes such as Fenton reaction-based processes have attracted great interest in recent years as a promising alternative for the removal of persistent pollutants in wastewater. The use of nanocatalysts in advanced oxidation processes overcomes the limitations of homogeneous Fenton processes, where acidic pH values are required, and a large amount of sludge is generated after treatment. Aiming at maximizing the catalytic potential of the process, different configurations include coupling photocatalysis or electrochemistry to Fenton reactions.

Environmental synergies in decentralized wastewater treatment at a hotel resort.

Climate change and water scarcity are clearly related environmental problems, making them global environmental issues. Accordingly, the water cycle management deserves a revision in its approach, integrating the concept of circular economy within an efficient and sustainable management of water resources and the design of wastewater facilities. In this sense, newly engineered decentralized facilities have emerged as a viable option for the treatment of segregated wastewater flows.

How decentralized treatment can contribute to the symbiosis between environmental protection and resource recovery.

Challenges associated with the sustainability of the water cycle pose new opportunities for resource recovery and greater environmental protection. While centralized wastewater treatment plants must evolve in their design and operation to adapt to a scenario of increasing demand for water, resources and energy, the decentralized approach emerges as an option to be considered in small communities or developing residential areas where bioenergy production can be improved through the recovery of organic matter in segregated streams or where the investment in the sewer network for connection to a centralized facility may be technologically or economically unfeasible. The main objective of this work is to evaluate the environmental and economic profile of a hybrid-decentralized configuration for the purpose of efficient wastewater management and resource recovery and its comparative evaluation with the centralized treatment scenario.