Efficient management of e-wastes

Electricals and electronic equipments that have reached its utilization period are disposed by the consumer are considered as e-waste. The categories of e-waste range from household appliances to machines used in offices and consumer goods. The rise in problem is due to scarcity of proper place for disposing the e-wastes. Hence, the wastes are disposed in open landfills by the consumers which lead to direct reaction of the e-waste with the environment. The release of harmful toxins and chemicals by the e-wastes causes hazardous effects on living beings. Several processes are introduced in recycling and recovering the harmful metals present in the electronic equipments. The most important reasons for e-waste recycling are waste removal as well as recovery of valuable materials present in the waste. Developed countries such as USA and UK follow some strict rules and regulations about managing the increasing amount of e-wastes, whereas India still needs to have a rigid law for the e-waste management. Prior recycling and recovering the important metals from electronic wastes, it is crucial to ascertain the amount of the metal present in the e-waste. Plastics followed by metals are the main components found in electronic wastes. Hazardous metals such as copper, lead and cadmium are predominant in almost all kinds of e-wastes. Determination of the components present in the electronic wastes guides for the proper path to be followed for recovering the components from the wastes. The review deals with status of e-waste across the world and methods of recovery and management.     

Development of a laboratory scale air plasma torch and its application to electronic waste treatment

Expansion in electrical and electronic equipment trade has led to significant increase in electronic waste which should be dealt with special priority due to its potential negative impact to the public health and the environment. Thermal plasma technology offers a very promising alternative of hazardous waste treatment for the near future. In this study, a laboratory scale apparatus for generating high temperature plasma flame was presented. Design of a 20 kW plasma torch system was based on a non transferred direct current arc discharge with air as a medium gas. In this investigation, measurements of temperature distribution were performed. It was shown that high temperature flames can be generated, comparable to those reported in the literature. The gas temperature was found to increase with an increase in power input. The flame temperature was found to further increase from 1210 K to 1480 K when a small amount of added fuel gas. Assessment of electronic waste treatment using the air plasma system in a batch operation was also carried out. It was shown that the system was able to convert the electronic waste into combustible gas and inert solid residues. High mass loss rate of bulk electronic waste was demonstrated.     

Producing abjection: E-waste improvement schemes and informal recyclers of Bangalore

This article focuses upon informal e-waste recyclers who subsidise the environmental costs of Bangalore’s information technology boom. It illustrates how improvement schemes devised by development agencies, to make Bangalore’s e-waste disposal practices more sustainable, reproduced the effects of bourgeois environmentalism and effectively cast off informal recyclers from having a substantial role in the city’s emerging regime of e-waste management. Being cast out and rendered superfluous has been a deeply degrading experience for Bangalore’s informal recyclers. In order to foreground this experience I draw upon the notion of abjection and show how informal recyclers are constituted as abject residents who must be confined to collecting and processing waste from the most marginal frontiers of the city’s e-waste circuits.     

Legal geographies of e-waste legislation in Canada and the US: Jurisdiction,responsibility and the taboo of production

Electronic waste (e-waste) is thought to be the fastest growing segment of the overall solid waste stream in many countries. Between 2003 and 2010 more than half of all Canadian provinces and US states passed legislation specifically to govern the disposition of e-waste. The purpose of this research is to investigate the legal geographies of this legislation. The principle findings are that the work of jurisdiction around e-waste in Canada and the US places financial responsibility for waste management on consumers not producers. Thus, contra the explicit intent of e-waste legislation, a regime of extended consumer, rather than producer, responsibility is emerging and waste generated as a result of design and manufacturing decisions remains taboo. But the implications of the legislative governance of e-waste go beyond questions of regulatory success or failure. At stake in the legislative governance of e-waste is the assembling of the social in a legal way that generates distributions of action that are democratized only so long as they limit public decision making to waste already produced and marketized only so long as they extend the ability of manufacturers, e-waste recyclers, and paramarket organizations to appropriate value. The work of jurisdiction around e-waste suggests jurisdiction can be more multiple, distributed, and patchy than prevailing theory allows.     

从土地财政与土地金融分析中国土地制度走向

土地财政与土地金融折射土地制度与土地政策。现行征地制度是从计划经济演化而来,政府经营土地制度则是城市土地使用制度改革的结果。这两个制度的结合,形成土地财政和土地金融。现行土地制度导致的土地利用粗放、土地资源浪费严重、透支未来收益、社会分配不公等弊端日益显露。土地制度的未来走向,应适应社会主义市场经济的要求,赋予农民完全的土地财产权;政府最终必须退出土地直接经营活动。彻底改革现行征地制度和政府经营土地制度,必须进一步解放思想。     

Resolving the landfill siting impasse: modelling technocratic and indigenous perspectives using GIS multicriteria approach

Increase in waste generation calls for an effective waste management as this has become a necessity for environmental sustainability. Several methods are adopted in managing waste, which include waste reduction, reuse, thermal treatment, recycling and landfilling. The landfill method is recognised as the most used of all the waste management methods in developing countries such as Ghana. However, the selection of a suitable landfill site is very difficult and tedious. This is because it involves a consideration of many factors such as environmental, topographic, economic, socio-cultural and civil engineering. This research sought to identify a suitable landfill site by applying GIS multicriteria and weighted overlay approach in the Bongo District of Northern Ghana. The analysis relied on criteria and weights provided by the technocrats and the indigenes in the district as a way of demonstrating how landfill siting impasse can be resolved by incorporating the various stakeholders. The results obtained provided clear areas for landfill sites in the study area from the technocratic and the indigenous perspectives. However, the technocratic perspective failed to include an important cultural criterion, sacred groves, as a factor. The indigenous perspective also compromised on the factor related to nearness to residential areas, and is equally not sufficient on its own. The optimal landfill sites, which meets the expectations of both the technocrats and indigenes, was identified. This perspective has produced technically favourable and socio-culturally acceptable landfill site. However, it is recommended an environmental impact assessment (EIA) be conducted to identify the full environmental and social cost of the site. It is concluded that in landfill site selection much attention be given to cultural factors in the same way as the technical factors.     

From “cartoneros” to “recolectores urbanos”. The changing rhetoric and urban waste management policies in neoliberal Buenos Aires

This study contributes to the existent literature on neoliberal urban governance examining the process-based character of this formation. I maintain that neoliberal governance is a fluid and evolving formation which is continuously being constructed and reconstructed beneath a rhetorical veneer of inevitable emergence and permanence. In this context, this work examines the interconnections between neoliberal urban ascendancy, changing rhetoric and urban waste management policies, and waste pickers (cartoneros), in a case study setting, Buenos Aires. Since 2002, the neoliberal urban governance in Buenos Aires (its institutions, programs and policies) has mobilized different rhetoric and policies to negotiate the waste pickers’ “disturbing” and “dirty” presence in the streets. In that process, the waste pickers, originally marginalized and stigmatized by the neoliberal discourse, have been regulated and disciplined into legal and “well behaved” workers. I would argue that, regulating this activity does not entail giving the waste pickers an opportunity to become central actors in the future of urban waste management in the city. Rather, it is compatible with the logic of the local neoliberal urban projects, focused on disciplining the city’s physical and social landscape as new opportunities for growth and development continue to emerge.     

配电网GIS的一种开发模式探讨

开发配电GIS主要有3种组织: GIS厂商及GIS二次开发商、配电自动化厂商、电力系统单位.分析了他们在开发中的优势与劣势, 提出一种把配电GIS系统分层, 由GIS厂商开发配电GIS平台, 自动化厂商及电力系统单位在该平台上进行2次开发的模式.论述了配电GIS平台的功能范围及海量数据管理、拓扑关系管理、设备库、按设备分层的拓扑关系模型、组件技术等关键技术, 并介绍了这种模式的一个实例.      

基于S-57标准的电子海图三维可视化

S-57是HIO“数字海道”测量数据传输的标准,已成为全球海道部门进行信息化管理的重要手段.随着三维建模及可视化技术广泛应用于海道信息化建设,如何利用S-57海道数据实现三维可视化是“数字海道”有待解决的问题.基于S-57标准建立海道数据三维可视化模型,利用空间插值技术,优化数字海道的三维地形数据,同时建立三维对象的实时数据交换接口,真实反映海域内船舶的航行状况及电子海图对象的空间信息,为船舶监控、海上营救和海事管理提供重要的参考依据.      

Drought triggers and declarations: science and policy considerations for drought risk management

This paper explores the value of triggers and declarations in the management of drought, bringing together two disciplinary perspectives, those of the public policy scholar and the climate scientist. These two perspectives highlight the complexity of the development and use of triggers in drought risk management by drawing on the experience of the United States, which has the most sophisticated system of drought triggers in the world, and that of Australia that has the most developed and longest standing national drought policy based on principles of risk management. The paper explores the advantages and disadvantages of triggers in managing drought, concluding that triggers are useful risk management tools at the individual level but become problematic and can lead to perverse outcomes when linked to some forms of government support programs.     

Site selection for hazardous wastes: A case study from the GAP area, Turkey

The increase in the popularity of using environmental design criteria in town and country planning has brought about the need to fully identify the principles to determine the best location of hazardous wastes to be landfilled. This environmental management issue has received considerable attention because of its applications in urban and rural infrastructure planning, industrial development planning as well as health, housing, transportation and agricultural schemes. This paper explains a method to determine how to locate suitable sites for hazardous waste landfilling area by using the site screening study. It demonstrates how the criteria such as geology, topography, land use, climate, earthquake and other related factors can be introduced into the overlayer technique to determine the suitable site selection in a region. The research was undertaken in the Southeastern Anatolia Project (known as GAP in Turkey) region where identifying the land resources is crucial for agricultural and water management purposes. The paper also explains the validity of the method employed on the site selection process for hazardous wastes. The introduced method may enable more accurate design procedure for planning in environmental management in future.     

Design and implementation of a smart solid waste collection system

Solid waste collection systems are very important in today’s urban environment. The last three decades witnessed the development in urban areas over rural ones in a process called urbanization. Growth of urbanization is much more in developing countries than in the developed countries to the extent that it became a trend characterizing several developed and even least developed countries. Unfortunately, it has been observed that the systems currently used in modern cities do not provide a service of sufficient efficiency and quality, despite their high running costs. As an alternative, a smart solid waste collection system with all subcomponents was developed and applied in a small city in Turkey. In addition to the conventional waste collection systems, this system included smart features and optimization algorithms for route planning. The study presents the design philosophy, feasibility and pilot implementation of a smart solid waste collection system which can be operated with high efficiency at low cost.     

Evaluation of outsourcing companies of waste electrical and electronic equipment recycling

An increasing number of companies have focused on reducing the amount of waste properly or gaining value from used products. Facilitating the reverse flow of used products from consumers to manufacturers is a difficult and expensive process depending on the product and transportation type and distance. Another alternative is to outsource these activities. Outsourcing management helps companies for better using of time, energy, labor, technology, capital, resources etc. Moreover, working with wrong partners effects manufacturers’ financial and operational situations. In order to get the best services, manufacturers usually invite several outsourcing companies for providing their tenders and then select the best offer. In this stage, using mathematical decision making techniques may help decision makers to get realistic results. In this paper the proposed methodology integrates two multi-criteria decision methods for ranking alternatives. This methodology is applied to a mid-sized firm operating in the field of electrical and electronic equipment. The results indicate that the most important criterion is cost for determining the best alternative. Besides, as it can be seen from the results, the best alternative for the manufacturer is the second alternative. These results propose a guideline for manufacturers for selecting the best alternative. From the results it can easily be seen that this approach shows its potential advantage in selecting suitable alternative due to its sound logic and easily programmable computation procedure.     

Radioactive waste management policies in seven industrialized democracies*

This paper provides an inventory of radioactive waste management policies in seven industrialized democracies: the U.S., France, Japan, West Germany, Canada, the U.K. and Sweden. Collectively, these countries account for almost 75% of the world's installed nuclear power capacity and over 61% of its spentfuel production. Special emphasis is given to siting procedures for both high- and low-/intermediate-level waste repositories. Although several low-level repositories are operating or under construction, only West Germany has selected a site for high-level waste disposal, at Gorleben. It is expected that siting decisions will be highly conflict-laden in each country except for pro-nuclear France. The procedures for resolving potential siting conflicts are briefly reviewed. Sweden's strategy of siting its low-level repository near Forsmark offshore beneath the Baltic seabed minimizes conflict and may become attractive to other nations. Also, transnational agreements may eventually be sought as radioactive waste disposal is an international problem. This paper concludes with a comparative discussion of siting policies and their potential impacts.     

Radioactive waste management policies in seven industrialized democracies1

This paper provides an inventory of radioactive waste management policies in seven industrialized democracies: the U.S., France, Japan, West Germany, Canada, the U.K. and Sweden. Collectively, these countries account for almost 75% of the world's installed nuclear power capacity and over 61% of its spentfuel production. Special emphasis is given to siting procedures for both high- and low-/intermediate-level waste repositories. Although several low-level repositories are operating or under construction, only West Germany has selected a site for high-level waste disposal, at Gorleben. It is expected that siting decisions will be highly conflict-laden in each country except for pro-nuclear France. The procedures for resolving potential siting conflicts are briefly reviewed. Sweden's strategy of siting its low-level repository near Forsmark offshore beneath the Baltic seabed minimizes conflict and may become attractive to other nations. Also, transnational agreements may eventually be sought as radioactive waste disposal is an international problem. This paper concludes with a comparative discussion of siting policies and their potential impacts.     

Analysis of Canada’s Oceanography Research Situations and Latest Trends

Canada is a typical maritime country, fisheries economic prosperity and marine sustainable development have been the main management and research work. From two perspectives of research literatures and latest strategic plans, this paper studied the ocean research priorities and hot trends of Canada. The study found that the marine science and technology in Canada focuses on marine populations and ecosystems, protection of the marine environment and species, marine monitoring and data information, marine technology and management tools, Climate change and arctic research, deep-sea material energy and driving mechanisms. In the future, Canada will continue further study on arctic research, global warming, ecosystem monitoring, deep-sea exploration, marine new energy and new technologies. In summary, Canada’s research situations and development trends may provide a useful reference to China’s development of the marine industry.     

试析海南省城市地下空间开发利用规范管理

通过对我国地下空间开发利用相关法律条文的对比分析,结合各地地下空间开发管理经验,利用分层管理、系统管理理论,使用对比分析、实地调研的方法,在对建设用地使用权权利定性及权利协调合理性探讨基础上,提出海南城市地下空间开发规范管理利用建议。     

垦利县国土资源管理委员会集体会审系统建设初探

国土资源已成为社会经济发展的基础和根本支撑,如何科学合理的管理、利用资源,关系到整个社会的发展和未来。通过建立垦利县国土资源管理委员会集体会审系统,对土地出让的前期工作做了数字化、信息化,提出一个基于工作流技术和GIS技术的综合解决方案,利用现有的地理信息服务平台,建立会审系统为国土资源管理委员会的集体会审工作提供技术支撑并对出让地块加以管理。     

广西城镇生活垃圾适宜处理方法及卫生填埋选址地质问题初探

根据广西自然、社会经济、垃圾组成等具体情况和垃圾处理的技术经济性比较,结合国内外垃圾处理技术进展,广西绝大部分城镇生活垃圾在未来一段时间内适宜选择卫生填埋,但广西地质作用复杂,岩溶发育,崩塌、滑坡、泥石流等较为频繁,易引发工程地质、水文地质问题,选址需要结合地理信息系统,并加强工程地质勘察和水文地质勘察。