Hunting for valuables from landfills and assessing their market opportunities A case study with Kudjape landfill in Estonia
Landfill mining is an alternative technology that merges the ideas of material recycling and sustainable waste management. This paper reports a case study to estimate the value of landfilled materials and their respective market opportunities, based on a full-scale landfill mining project in Estonia. During the project, a dump site (Kudjape, Estonia) was excavated with the main objectives of extracting soil-like final cover material with the function of methane degradation. In total, about 57,777 m3 of waste was processed, particularly the uppermost 10-year layer of waste. Manual sorting was performed in four test pits to determine the detailed composition of wastes. 11,610 kg of waste was…
Field-portable X-ray fluorescence spectrometry as rapid measurement tool for landfill mining operations: comparison of field data vs. laboratory analysis
Landfill mining applied in reclamation at the territories of old dump sites and landfills is a known approach tended to global economic and environmental benefits as recovery of metals and energy i...
Valorization of Marine Waste: Use of Industrial By-Products and Beach Wrack Towards the Production of High Added-Value Products
Biomass is defined as organic matter from living organisms represented in all kingdoms. It is recognized to be an excellent source of proteins, polysaccharides and lipids and, as such, embodies a tailored feedstock for new products and processes to apply in green industries. The industrial processes focused on the valorization of terrestrial biomass are well established, but marine sources still represent an untapped resource. Oceans and seas occupy over 70% of the Earth’s surface and are used intensively in worldwide economies through the fishery industry, as logistical routes, for mining ores and exploitation of fossil fuels, among others. All these activities produce waste. The other sou…
FeOOH-modified clay sorbents for arsenic removal from aqueous solutions
The presence of arsenic (As) in natural and anthropogenic soils causes severe pollution of groundwater due to its harmful carcinogenic effects. The present work describes the research activities for searching of appropriate innovative sorbents based on clay material for As sorption using iron oxy-hydroxide modification. Natural and manufactured clay was chosen for comparison of modification efficiency in order to obtain best sorption results for As(V). The results of pilot testing were obtained and the sorption was studied as a function of initial arsenic concentration. Obtained results indicate that modification of clay with Fe compounds significantly improves the sorption capacity of a ne…
Comparison of adsorption equilibrium models and error functions for the study of sulfate removal by calcium hydroxyapatite microfibrillated cellulose composite.
In the present study, the adsorption of sulfates of sodium sulfate (Na2SO4) and sodium lauryl sulfate (SLS) by calcium hydroxyapatite-modified microfibrillated cellulose was studied in the aqueous solution. The adsorbent was characterized using elemental analysis, Fourier transform infrared, scanning electron microscope and elemental analysis in order to gain the information on its structure and physico-chemical properties. The adsorption studies were conducted in batch mode. The effects of solution pH, contact time, the initial concentration of sulfate and the effect of competing anions were studied on the performance of synthesized adsorbent for sulfate removal. Adsorption kinetics indica…
Paradigms on landfill mining: From dump site scavenging to ecosystem services revitalization
For the next century to come, one of the biggest challenges is to provide the mankind with relevant and sufficient resources. Recovery of secondary resources plays a significant role. Industrial processes developed to regain minerals for commodity production in a circular economy become ever more important in the European Union and worldwide. Landfill mining (LFM) constitutes an important technological toolset of processes that regain resources and redistribute them with an accompanying reduction of hazardous influence of environmental contamination and other threats for human health hidden in former dump sites and landfills. This review paper is devoted to LFM problems, historical developm…
A comparative study for the removal of methylene blue dye by N and S modified TiO2 adsorbents
Successful removal of methylene blue (MB) dye from aqueous solutions using nitrogen and sulfur modified TiO2(P25) nanoparticles has been demonstrated in this study. The modified adsorbents were characterized using various analytical methods, such as X-ray diffraction (XRD), scanning electron microscopy (SEM) and energy-dispersive X-ray spectroscopy (EDS). The adsorption potential of S-TiO2, N-TiO2 and TiO2(P25) type adsorbents was tested for the removal of MB dye. The kinetic studies indicated that the adsorption of MB dye followed the pseudo-first order model, while desorption processes followed the second order model. The adsorption capacity of the adsorbent proved to be increasing as a f…
An overview of the methods used in the characterisation of natural organic matter (NOM) in relation to drinking water treatment
Natural organic matter (NOM) is found in all surface, ground and soil waters. During recent decades, reports worldwide show a continuing increase in the color and NOM of the surface water, which has an adverse affect on drinking water purification. For several practical and hygienic reasons, the presence of NOM is undesirable in drinking water. Various technologies have been proposed for NOM removal with varying degrees of success. The properties and amount of NOM, however, can significantly affect the process efficiency. In order to improve and optimise these processes, the characterisation and quantification of NOM at different purification and treatment processes stages is important. It …