Flows,system boundaries and the politics of urban metabolism: Waste management in Mexico City and Santiago de Chile

In this paper we examine two central concepts of urban metabolism (‘system boundaries’ and ‘flows’), and explore how to approach them as a means to politicise urban metabolism research. We present empirical findings from two case studies of waste management, in Mexico City and Santiago de Chile, looking at: the materiality of waste flows, the actors involved in them, and how waste flows relate to issues of environmental justice. We argue that urban metabolism, as a methodology to understand urban sustainability, has the potential to produce knowledge to trigger urban transformations, and to analyse the social, political and environmental aspects of waste management in urban areas.     

Wasting the rural: Meat,manure, and the politics of agro-industrialization in contemporary China

This paper uses pork as a lens on China’s rural transformations. Taking the industrialization of pig farming in the reform era as a trace on broader processes of social and environmental change, it advances three arguments. First, the massive increase in pork production and consumption since 1978 has been propelled by an industrial meat regime. A party-state led and agribusiness-operated regime, it articulates modernist notions of meat-as-progress with the relentless drive for capital accumulation. Second, using Marx’s concept of metabolic rift, the paper examines how processes of concentration in the industrial meat regime are at the same time processes of separation. This dialectical approach highlights the contradictions inherent in ongoing attempts to disembed capitalist production from biological and social relations. Finally, while official party-state discourse conceptualizes “the rural” as a production base for surplus value, and/or as a site for preserving environmental integrity, the paper’s analysis reveals a further unofficial recasting of the rural: in the process of agroindustrialization, the rural is also a sink for offloading capitalist crises. Between the rivers of manure that flow from industrial livestock operations and contaminate rural waterways; the loss of soil nutrients and food calories in the inefficient conversion of grains and oilseeds into industrial meat; the erosion of agricultural knowledge and practice that accompanies the dispossession of China’s farmers; and the shifting values of pigs, pork, and manure, this is a system that “wastes” the rural in service of capital.     

Effect of Initial Azo Dye Concentration and Biomass Acclimation on Sludge Digestion and Dye Co‐treatment

The effect of a reactive azo dye (the hydrolyzed form of Reactive Orange 107, HRO107) on the digestion of municipal waste sludge (WS) was studied. The study also focused on the effect of acclimation of the anaerobic mixed culture on dye treatment. Anaerobic batch assays were carried out in serum bottles under mesophilic conditions. Unacclimated and acclimated anaerobic mixed cultures were used for the study. Both unacclimated and acclimated anaerobic cultures completely reduced HRO107 during WS digestion. Inhibitory HRO107 concentration was found to be 800 mg/L for unacclimated mixed culture. Acclimation increased the inhibitory concentration level from 800 to 3200 mg/L. Sulfanilic acid and four other unidentified dye reduction end products were detected at the end of the assays. The results of this study indicated that anaerobic municipal WS digesters have the potential to be a cost efficient and effective pre treatment method.     

Heavy Metal Pollution in Sediments from Aquatic Ecosystems in China

We conducted an analysis of heavy metals content, including As, Cd, Cr, Cu, Hg, Pb, and Zn in sediments from aquatic ecosystems in China measured in recent publications. Then, we evaluated the extent of heavy metal pollution in these ecosystems in seven different industrial districts in China (Dongbei, Huabei, Huazhong, Huanan, Huaxik, Xibei, and Huadong) with the potential ecological risk index. We found that Cd was the most concentrated pollutant, followed by Hg and As, while Cr, Cu, Pb, Zn were found in low concentrations in sediments from all types of aquatic ecosystem in China. Sediments collected from all seven industrial districts were heavily polluted, and the sequence, from most to least polluted was Dongbei>Huabei>Huazhong>Huanan>Huaxi>Xibei>Huadong. All four types of aquatic ecosystem were found to be seriously polluted and the sequence, from most to least polluted was: river>sea>lake>wetland. Specifically, Cd and Hg were the most serious pollutants in all four aquatic ecosystems, and As was also a serious pollutant in rivers. For the seven industrial districts studied the sea was the most polluted ecosystem in Dongbei, the river was the most polluted ecosystem in Huabei, Huanan, Huazhong, and the lake was the most polluted in Huadong, Huaxi, and Xibei.     

Source Based Characterization and Pollution Profile of a Baker's Yeast Industry

Baker's yeast industry has significant effects on environment due to significant water consumption and high strength wastewater production. Effluents from baker's yeast industry are characterized by high concentrations of biological oxygen demand (BOD₅), chemical oxygen demand (COD), total Kjeldahl nitrogen (TKN), total dissolved solids (TDS), sulfate, and dark brown color. The aim of this study is to provide a detailed quantitative and qualitative identification and characterization of the wastewater sources from different processes of a baker's yeast industry. It is identified that the most polluted wastewater components of the facility are coming from rotary drum filter and evaporation process. However, the highest pollution loads is identified as tank and equipment cleaning effluent due to very high flow rate from this source. The efforts should be on the way to minimize the water usage for the tank and equipment cleaning process, and to recycle less polluted waste streams back to the process.     

Determination of the Effect of Aeration Rate on Composting of Vegetable–Fruit Wastes

In this study, it was aimed to determine the effect of various aeration rates on composting to supply the optimum aeration rate for a successful and economic composting. For this aim, vegetable–fruit wastes (VFW) were composted at various aeration rates (0.37, 0.49, 0.62, 0.74, 0.86, and 0.99 L/min kg VS) and moisture, temperature, pH, electrical conductivity, C/N, and cellulose were investigated. Moistures of the reactor that had the highest aeration were generally lower than those of the others. Reactor that had the lowest aeration reached thermophilic phase earlier than the others and stayed more days. This situation was opposite for the reactor that had the highest aeration. pH variations with aeration rates were not significant. Although electrical conductivity did not differ significantly with aeration rates, at the beginning of the thermophilic phase it generally increased with the increase in aeration. The highest C/N reduction was observed in the reactor that had an aeration of 0.62 L/min kg VS. The final cellulose contents were close to each other. It could be said that aeration rates used were efficient on composting of VFW. Taking the C/N into account which is the parameter of the indicator of the stabilization in composting, it could be said that the optimum aeration rate for forced aerobic composting of VFW was 0.62 L/min kg VS.     

基于污染足迹模型的湖州市农业污染评估

太湖流域的水环境质量呈现严重恶化趋势,农业污染物的排放是太湖流域水体环境恶化的主要原因之一。农业污染物主要来源于种植业、畜禽养殖业和水产养殖业的生产过程,不同于以往分开论述三者对水环境的影响,本文基于全国第一次污染普查数据,运用污染足迹模型定量分析了湖州市农业面源(种植业、畜禽养殖业和水产养殖业)对水环境的影响。研究结果表明:(1)农业生产产生的污染物对水环境的影响排序为:磷>氮>有机物;(2)各农业生产类型对水环境的影响排序为:水产养殖业>种植业>畜禽养殖业;(3)湖州市各区县对水环境的影响也存在着明显的空间差异。通过对湖州市农业污染足迹评估,可以明确地提出哪种污染物类型、农业生产类型和区域是湖州市农业面源污染治理的重点。研究结果可以为太湖流域农业的可持续发展和水资源的可持续利用提供一定的参考价值。     

Polyfluorinated compounds in waste water treatment plant effluents and surface waters along the River Elbe, Germany

Polyfluorinated compounds (PFCs) were investigated in waste water treatment plant (WWTP) effluents and surface waters of the River Elbe from samples collected in 2007. Concentrations of various PFCs, including C₄–C₈ perfluorinated sulfonates (PFSAs), C₆ and C₈ perfluorinated sulfinates, 6:2 fluorotelomer sulfonate, C₅–C₁₃ perfluorinated carboxylic acids (PFCAs), C₄ and C₈ perfluoroalkyl sulfonamides and 6:2, 8:2 and 10:2 unsaturated fluorotelomercarboxylic acids were quantified. ∑PFC concentrations of the river water ranged from 7.6 to 26.4 ng L⁻¹, whereas ∑PFC concentrations of WWTP effluents were approximately 5–10 times higher (30.5–266.3 ng L⁻¹), indicating that WWTPs are potential sources of PFCs in the marine environment. PFC patterns of different WWTP effluents varied depending on the origin of the waste water, whereas the profile of PFC composition in the river water was relatively constant. In both kinds of water samples, perfluorooctanoic acid (PFOA) was the major PFC, whereas perfluorobutane sulfonate (PFBS) was the predominant PFSA.     

DC-resistivity mapping of internal landfill structures: two pre-excavation surveys

 Geophysical investigations using 2-D DC resistivity were carried out on old parts of two similar landfills, with waste of different ages. The data sets, which included high data density in both vertical and horizontal directions, were interpreted with 2-D smoothness constrained inversion. The landfills were excavated after the surveying. The objective was to test the capability of the resistivity method as a pre-characterization technique. The objectives were only partially fulfilled. First, the moisture content was the parameter that appeared to exert the dominant control over the resistivity distribution of the landfill. The most important potential information that can be recovered is, therefore, an indication of the waste piles hydraulics. Second, it was neither possible to estimate the amount of recoverable soils, nor to correlate the type of waste with the resistivity models. However, discrete anomalies were identified, and if specific materials are searched for, the resistivity models indicate possible places to search. Received: 23 July 1998 · Accepted: 20 October 1998