Compartments for the Management of Municipal Solid Waste

Recycling and reuse of waste artificial turf via solid-state shear milling technology

The strong 3-dimensional shear forces of solid-state shear milling technology allowed ultrafine milling of WAT to recycle and reuse it.

Characterization of food waste and bulking agents for composting

The characterization of food waste (FW) and locally available bulking agents (BA) are a prerequisite to optimizing compost recipes. This study measured the variation in FW characteristics (pH, dry matter (DM), carbon (C), wet bulk density and Total Kjeldahl Nitrogen (TKN)) produced by a restaurant and a community kitchen in downtown Montreal, Canada from May to August 2004. The project also measured the mass of FW produced by another restaurant and a group of 20-48 households, from June to August 2004. Locally available BA (hay, straw, pine wood shavings, cardboard, left over cattle feed and wheat residue pellets) were also characterized to formulate composting recipes based on the FW characteristics observed during a period representative of winter and summer conditions. Residential and restaurant FW characteristics varied significantly over the summer months, although the mass produced remained constant at 0.61 and 0.56 kg capita(-1)day(-1), respectively. In addition, the number of customers served by the restaurant increased by nearly 50% from June to August. The BA with the highest moisture adsorption capacity was found to be the wheat residue pellets, followed by chopped straw. Wheat residue pellets, chopped hay and left over cattle feed all presented a balanced C/N ratio. Wheat residue pellets and wheat straw, chopped hay and cardboard demonstrated neutral pH values. Based on the variable FW characteristics and monthly production rates, the formulation of recipes indicates that compost facilities must be flexible enough to handle seasonal variations of as much as 50% by volume.

Copper adsorption with Pb and Cd in sand-bentonite liners under various pHs. Part II. Effect on adsorption sites

The project examined the effect of Pb and Cd on Cu adsorption using sand liners containing 0, 5, and 10% sodium bentonite and exposed to metal solutions at three pH levels (3.7, 5.5, and 7.5). Aliquots of 2 g of liner material were exposed in duplicate, for 14 days, to solutions containing Cu alone or Cu with either Pb or Cd. Selective sequential extraction (SSE) was used to quantity the Cu adsorbed by each liner particle adsorption site (exchangeable, carbonate and hydroxide, oxides and residual). The results indicated that two main factors affected liner material behavior in adsorbing Cu, besides Cd and Pb competition: pH either above or below 6.5; liner cation exchange capacity (CEC) greater or equal and greater than the solution cation equivalence. In general, the liner carbonate and hydroxide fractions precipitated the greatest amount of Cu, under all environmental conditions while the exchangeable, oxide and residual adsorbed more or less the same amount. Lead, and to a lesser extent Cd, significantly increase the mobility of Cu, by competing especially for the exchangeable sites. While Cd also competed against Cu for oxide adsorption, Pb competes for calcium and hydroxide precipitation. Lead, and to a lesser extent Cd, competed especially for the exchangeable site where the adsorption is more dynamic, and less for the more permanent adsorption sites, involving precipitation, and electrostatic bonding.

Physical and chemical formations of lead contaminants in clay and sediment

A possible sink for divalent lead in the environment is clays such as montmorillonite that have cation exchange capacities. To assess the reaction, a calcium-montmorillonite was mixed with lead perchlorate solutions of varying concentrations and at various pH's. The recovered solids were studied by a variety of techniques (X-ray photoelectron and infrared spectroscopy, scanning electron microscopy, and atomic force microscopy) to determine what, if any, alterations occurred. The ion exchange of lead for calcium reduced the hydrated water in the clay, and evidence for proton-lead ion exchange at the edges of the sheets was observed. Evidence for a second, unexpected, reaction was also observed. Small spots (0.2 to 1 microm) of lead enrichment were observed on the surface of clay particles. They were also observed on clays recovered from the sediment of a Hungarian lake. The results show that lead ions are adsorbed onto montmorillonite by two processes: cation exchange and nano- and microparticle production. Cation exchange leads to the even distribution of the ions, while the production of spots causes the enrichment of lead ions. The production of these particles is not expected from the thermodynamic properties of the solution and cannot be observed in the absence of clay.