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The main objective of this project was to evaluate the possibility of reducing the quantity of fibre wasted at one of many hydrocyclone (centrifugal) cleaning processes in a paper mill. It was found that the application of elutriation water to both the tertiary and quaternary cleaners was essential to minimise the fibre discharged to the sewer, and the pressure of this elutriation water had a dramatic effect of reducing the fibre wastage. Accordingly, it has been shown that 150–160 kPa as the optimum pressure range to apply elutriation water to minimise the product grade fibre wasted whilst sending undesired shive fibre to the sewer. Also, monitoring of the press uhle box wastewater revealed that the paper mill has the potential to make substantial cost savings by reducing the waste stream. Further investigation is necessary to determine the types of fibre that are being wasted, and the viability of a screen to recycle the wasted fibre to the process. However, these fibres may be unsuitable to reuse in the process and alternative uses must be found.

In a circular economy, extended producer responsibility (EPR) is a regulatory approach that accounts for all environmental costs associated with a product throughout its life cycle. When considering the EPR, the regulator must (1) design an integrated framework for different stakeholders and (2) provide effective policies to create financial incentives to accelerate the circular system. Recycling funds and subsidies are the most prominent financial strategies that can either encourage or curtail the flows of recycled products. In Indonesia, a few companies provided recycling bonus s to their customers as incentives to increase the recycling rate. However, the recycling rate was not as effective as expected by the enterprise because recycling was practiced by a limited number of companies, rendering it economically unviable. The enterprises hope the government could develop a recycling fund system. In order to develop the recycling fund system, a system dynamic model was proposed and simulated to optimize the recycling funds and subsidies based on decentralized reverse supply chains. Although it is not a novelty model; however, the research show a very significant results for the government in Indonesia. This enabled a more precise, well-planned, and sustainable decision-making process for the EPR. In addition, by utilizing the system dynamic model with different scenarios in a real case study (aseptic paper packaging waste), we found that the capacity of the recycler could become the reference for the funds to be paid by the importer-producer group, wherein the recycling rate will increase with an increase in the recycling fund.

Purpose The aim of this work is to quantify the greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions savings potential in magazine paper production through the application of the innovative manufacturing strategies using advanced sheet structure design and fibre modifications. Methods The study applies Life Cycle Assessment (LCA) methodology to two different magazine paper products: supercalendered (SC) paper and light-weight coated (LWC) paper. A cradle-to-gate approach is used aiming to assess the environmental benefits gained through the implementation of new manufacturing strategies in both products. The functional unit of the system was defined as the production of one square meter of finished paper for printing magazines. Conventional and new production processes have been compared. Results and discussion The strategies applied to SC paper resulted in reduction of GHG emissions by 22.9%, with a total of 10.7 gCO2eq emissions saved per square meter of SC paper. In the case of LWC paper, GHG emissions are reduced by 20.3%, which are equal to a total of 19.7 gCO2eq saved per square meter of LWC paper. The influence of certain methodological approaches -functional unit, electricity mix and avoided impacts- in the final results is also discussed in the paper. Conclusions The manufacturing strategies implemented show a remarkable potential for reducing GHG emissions. Taking into account that the pulp and paper industry is a very energy-intensive sector and one of the main GHG emitters, the potential of the strategies for the improvement of the environmental performance of the papermaking processes is significant.

Recycling and recovery of materials from used products is one of the major avenues to reduce material throughput. Ideally, all materials are anticipated for being reused by the economy an infinite number of times. In reality, recovery of secondary materials may be difficult because of high costs, or because of degraded quality compared with virgin materials. The search for potential reduction of throughput in material cycles should be based on a knowledge of the limits to repeated cycles. To gain understanding of recycling limits, we developed a method to estimate the actual reduction potential for each throughput in a material's multi-cycle life. First, we investigated the material flow system of paper in Taiwan, and developed a supply chain network of paper flows. Systematic elaboration of the flows revealed where paper can be recycled and where paper can be lost. Second, we estimated the reduction potential with a material input–output Markov chain model, which maps the distribution and loss of materials on the supply chain processes. The model estimated the quantities and the life pathways of recycled materials across continuous life-cycles. An indicator was used to quantify the total performance of the material across repeated life-cycles. This method offers an opportunity to examine practices that approach the limit of reduction. This case study shows that the use and separation of paper waste after discarding may need to be reformed to extend the life-cycles of the material.

Recycling wastewater of the pulping and paper-making industry are widely considered for clean production, which heavily rely on the timely and accurate monitoring in paper-making wastewater treatment processes. A novel predicting model based on genetic-deep belief network algorithm was proposed to improve the predictive accuracy and reliability for process monitoring. Considering the deep belief networks (DBN) as a deep learning model is aiming to describe the relationship among variables in a complex process modeling, genetic algorithm (GA) was employed to reduce the input variables dimensionality, simplify the network structure and overcome the dynamic characteristic difficulties of process data in monitoring. Compared with DBN and back propagation neural network (BPNN), the GA-DBN effectively achieved a better predictive accuracy than other tests models in complex wastewater treatment processes. The value of the coefficient of determination of GA-DBN model is increased by 1.71–1.86% and 5.21–9.32%, respectively. The GA-DBN model can be structured with fewer variables or samples to describe the complex paper-making wastewater treatment process, obtaining the better model performance and predictive accuracy.

Due to production technologies such as blasting, transportation, and loading, large quantities of dust are produced in surface mines. This dust not only pollutes the environment but also restricts the development of coal mining enterprises. This work aims to use waste paper as raw material for the efficient extraction of cellulose, in which waste materials can be converted to useable materials. This work can broaden the sources of raw materials and provide new methods for the efficient preparation of dust suppressants. As a matrix, sodium carboxymethyl cellulose is a novel crust-dust suppressant that is synthesized by graft copolymerization with polyvinylalcohol and N-vinylpyrrolidone in this study. The results of experiments revealed the high purity of sodium carboxymethylcellulose prepared in flotation for 20 min, the degree of substitution DS > 0.8, and the viscosity of 2% aqueous solution>300 mPa s, which can satisfy the requirements of the experiments. The microscopic reaction and structure of the product are analyzed by infrared spectrometry, scanning electron microscopy and thermogravimetry, and the microscopic mechanism of a crust-dust suppressant is investigated. The reaction process and structural characteristics of the product were analyzed by infrared spectroscopy and scanning electron microscopy, and the product reaction process and final structure were deduced. Thermogravimetric experiments showed that the product had strong thermal stability and ensured the performance of the product during use. This paper reveals the combination of dust suppressants and coal via molecular dynamics simulation. The product performance experiments show that the product has a high shell strength of 98 HA, satisfactory freeze-thaw resistance and high temperature resistance, permeability higher than 15 mm/min, and dust suppression rate of approximately 88% when the wind speed reaches 15 m*s−1 and it can degrade without pollution. In general, the product can effectively suppress coal dust and other forms of dust.

Remediation of contaminated soil can be performed by using various techniques, which must be adequately tailored for each specific case. The aim of this research is to critically evaluate the potential use of red mud and paper ash and a combination of the two as immobilization additives for the remediation of contaminated soil from one of the most polluted sites in Slovenia. The proposed procedure involves the preparation of geotechnical composites made from contaminated soil and mixed with 25 wt% of immobilization additives and an optimal quantity of water to achieve consistency, at which maximum compaction according to the Proctor Compaction Test procedure can be achieved. The results reveal a positive, time-dependent trend for the immobilization of potentially toxic elements in the composite with paper ash, because of the formation of the new hydration products with potentially toxic elements. In a composite containing only red mud, potentially toxic elements were immobilized by sorption mechanisms with no general time-dependent trends. The composite with a combination of additives demonstrates the remediation characteristics of both red mud and paper ash. Using this approach excavated contaminated soil, red mud and paper ash can be successfully recycled in the proposed composites, which can be beneficially used in situ for rehabilitation of contaminated sites. Nevertheless, mobilization of some potentially toxic elements at high pHs may represent a limiting factor and has to be taken into the consideration when a combination of red mud and paper ash is used as immobilization additive.

Indonesia’s internationally- and domestically-significant pulp and paper industries source their feedstock from tree plantations. A suite of regulatory (Indonesian Sustainable Production Forest Management Certification and Timber Legality Verification) and market instruments (forest certification) have been introduced to promote sustainability and legality of production from tree plantations, and some producers have also adopted other voluntary sustainability measures. This study investigates sustainability and legality compliance by actors in an Indonesian pulp and paper value chain as a case study of environmental innovation. Results are based on primary fieldwork along segments of the value chain, and analysis of audit reports and other publicly-available information. The value chain sources fibrewood from tree plantation concessions and pallet wood from a variety of suppliers. Audit reports suggest high levels of compliance with sustainability and legality requirements, but our research suggests that these reports might not reflect some area of poor performance and non-compliance. We identify weaknesses in the design of regulatory systems, and in auditing and monitoring processes, as the principal reasons for these deficiencies. Drawing on relevant theory and on practice elsewhere, we suggest that compliance and sustainability can be improved by addressing key areas of regulatory silence, by shifting auditing to be more performance-than paper-based, by strengthening independent monitoring from civil society, by increasing the frequency of witness auditing from the National Accreditation Board, and by fostering synergies between regulatory instruments and voluntary forest certification. These changes would improve the effectiveness of regulatory and voluntary instruments to promote cleaner production in Indonesian pulp and paper value chains.

The article summarizes the achievements of the Cleaner Production (CP) project in China's pulp and paper industry from the perspective of industry and environmental regulators. Analyses of CP options have revealed that technology updates, equipment-related modifications, reuse and recycling were predominant improvement opportunities. Black liquor (BL) was identified as the top environmental problem facing China's non-wood paper industry. Insights about major bottlenecks that have hindered cleaner production within the paper industry are presented. The article explores the means of sustaining CP, both at the mill and at the national levels, with an emphasis upon the internal and external mechanisms fostering the continuous implementation of CP. Based on the analyses of CP activities in the paper industry, suggestions for further action are presented.

Life cycle assessments carried out to assess paper recycling have arrived at different conclusions, partly due to methodological differences in the inventory analysis. Important methodological issues include the definition of system boundaries, allocation, assumptions and choice of data. Forestry, electricity production, recycling and final waste management are important parts of the wood-fibre life cycle. This overview demonstrates the significance of different methodological problems, presents various solutions and offers recommendations. The starting point in an efficient and accurate assessment is the decision at hand, rather than the life cycle of the product investigated. To obtain the environmentally optimal wood-fibre system, recycling should ideally be assessed in connection with other waste management, forestry and energy policies.

Microbial fuel cell (MFC) is considered to be a sustainable technology for cellulosic waste treatment and energy recovery; however, studies on cellulose-degrading exoelectrogens are scarce. Giant panda gut microbiota may provide potential cellulose-degrading exoelectrogens due to consumption of high-fiber diet. In this study, strain LZ-P1 isolated from giant panda gut simultaneously showed cellulose-degrading and electricity-generating characteristics. 16S rRNA gene sequence revealed 99% homology with Cellulomonas iranensis. Results showed that the strain generated 1.08 U/mL endoglucanase and 180 mV electricity when cellulose was used as the sole carbon source. Genome sequence confirmed that strain LZ-P1 possessed complete cellulose degradation and extracellular electron transfer pathways. Proteomic analysis further confirmed that the enzymes involved in cellulose-degradation and extracellular electron transport were remarkably up-regulated, including endoglucanases, riboflavin biosynthesis protein, and cytochrome C oxidase. When strain LZ-P1 was applied to MFC-mediated paper recycling wastewater treatment, a maximum power density of 44.05 mW/m2 and 8.72% coulombic efficiency were recovered in 72 h. Therefore, strain LZ-P1 would be a potential candidate for cellulosic waste management and energy recovery.

Pulp and paper solid waste (PPSW) originating from paper industry, was experimented for the production of fumaric acid (FA) through submerged and solid state fermentation by utilizing the filamentous fungus Rhizopus oryzae 1526 . Physicochemical characterization, pH and moisture content analysis of PPSW was carried out. Pre-treatment of PPSW by size reduction resulted in particles of different size ranges (1.7 mm x ≤ 3.35 mm, 850 μm x ≤ 1.7 mm, 300 μm x ≤ 850 μm, 75 μm x ≤ 300 μm and 33 μm x ≤ 75 μm). In submerged fermentation with all particle size ranges, a maximum of 23.47 ± 0.70 g/L of FA was obtained with 33 μm x ≤ 75 μm under the fermentation conditions of 30 °C, 200 rpm, 5% pre-cultured inoculum ( v/v ) and at 48 h. Viscosity measurement and analysis of by-product of the fermented broths were performed. Microwave-phosphoric acid mediated hydrolysis of 33 μm x ≤ 75 μm particle size produced hydrolysate with maximum glucose (11.2 ± 0.8 g/L) and xylose (20.22 ± 0.85 g/L) contents. Submerged fermentation with this hydrolysate confirmed the utilization of xylose for both FA production and fungal growth. Solid state fermentation with 75 μm x ≤ 300 μm particle size resulted in highest FA production (41.45 g/kg dry weight) after 21 days. Scanning electron microscopy revealed the morphological features of the fungus grown on the particles. The results of the present study confirmed the utilization of PPSW as a source of carbon and trace elements by the fungus R. oryzae 1526 and also the bioconversion into FA during fermentation. FA being a high value platform chemical, its bioproduction from the low cost PPSW, is a value addition approach.

Generation of fines and ultra-fines is a concept that mining and metallurgical sectors can never shy away since the beginning of coal exploration. These coal fines and ultra-fines are what coal mines regarded as waste material without economic value until the present moment. Poor technologies in the past led to stockpiling of large quantities of fines and ultra-fines. Increase in mechanization in the coal mining industry has also led to the generation of large quantities of coal fines and ultra-fines. Several techniques in the mineral processing sector have been explored to beneficiate the coal fines and ultra-fines. The explored beneficiating technologies include enhanced gravity separation, oil agglomeration, flotation, flocculation, spirals, water only cyclone and dense medium cyclone. These beneficiating technologies have their own limitations when treating fine and ultrafine coal. Major limitations were operation cost and separation efficiency. However, many researchers have improved these beneficiation technologies in terms of cost and separation efficiencies producing clean coal product that meet the end user product specifications. This paper reviews recent developments in beneficiation technologies of coal fines and coal ultra-fines.

By-product utilisation has been recognised as a promising cleaner technology has attracted intense attention from both academic and industrial fields in the last decade. Industrial society is currently experiencing constraints imposed by our resource system by improving existing processes or finding newer way of waste utilisation. Waste and by-product streams from existing industrial sector (e.g. paper and pulp industry, meat industry) could be used as renewable resources for production of useful artefacts. This article mainly features recent research progress towards the utilisation of by-product in leather processing. This study was carried out to evaluate the propriety of using by-product black liquor from paper and pulp industry as filler in leather processing. Chemical modification of the black liquor has been performed to sustain a good compatible between the chemicals and also to improve the diffusion of black liquor into the leather substrate. The modification of black liquor was done by means of pH adjustment. Effect of filling nature of black liquor on strength property, softness nature, related morphological changes, and the dyeing property of the leather samples were thoroughly investigated. The results reveal that chemical composition of black liquor modulated by the pH adjustment was found to have a strong influence on the overall performance of the leather substrate.

Increasing energy prices and market volatilities force energy intensive industries to implement energy management systems in order to ensure competitiveness. In this paper, we focus on the strategic level of energy management, specifically, on the analysis of the internal and external conditions that form the basis for strategic development. For this, we selected the case of the Austrian paper and pulp industry. We applied a hybrid method by combining an analysis of strengths, weaknesses, opportunities and threats with an analytic hierarchy process which was based on a survey of expert opinion. The results show that cost-related factors predominate. According to our analysis, the four most important factors are all directly linked to energy costs, energy efficiency, and the energy market. Experts pay little attention to environmental issues or to energy market volatilities. Apart from that, the combination of an analysis of strengths, weaknesses, opportunities and threats with an analytic hierarchy process promises to be a valuable tool for strategic energy management. This is especially true for energy intensive companies and/or sectors, since it enables decision makers to take strategic decisions based on a systematic understanding of the main issues.

Integrated water treatment plants in recycled paper and board mills produce significant amounts of excess biological sludge. Disposing of it is becoming increasingly expensive, as land filling is no longer an option. One possible solution is to reuse it internally for manufacturing paper. Recycling it in the process would reduce both the cost associated with sludge treatment and the amount of recovered paper to be purchased. However, this strategy deteriorates the mechanical properties of the paper to some extent. This detrimental effect can be compensated for by surface sizing. This paper examines the conditions in which it may be profitable for a mill to replace a proportion of recovered paper with biological sludge, depending on the cost of sludge disposal, surface sizing and the recovered paper itself. The effect of biological sludge reuse on the drainability of the papermaking suspension is studied as well. The consequences in terms of microbiological contamination of the paper and board are also reported. In the present situation, bio-sludge reuse is not cost-efficient. However that may change in the near future, as the cost of sludge disposal and the price of starch increase.

The limited water supply of the Metropolitan Area of Mexico City has become a challenge for local companies. The region's aquifer is listed as closed due to pressure on the water supply as a result of growth in manufacturing as well as increased domestic water use. The environmental, economic and legal benefits of a cleaner production scenario studied were highly encouraging; implementation of cleaner technologies reduces water extraction by up to 16 times. While initial investment is high, the internal rate of return rate is approximately 35% per year, implying a three year return on initial investment. Under this scenario, the business complies with environmental regulations, avoiding great amounts of water extraction and future wastewater discharge, thus conserving this vital resource. This study proves what Silvo et al. (2009) states that In the longer run the combination of the Integrated Pollution and Prevention Control permit approach with other regulatory and voluntary policy instruments taking into account the results of system assessments such as Life Cycle Assessment could potentially produce eco-efficient solutions. Thus, for this industry, cleaner production pays off in the long run.

In this study, we developed and demonstrated an integrated closed eco-system for pollution reduction and prevention in rice-paper producing and livestock farms in a small-scale craft village which is located in a dry region of Vietnam with a lack of available surface water sources. The system is developed on the basis of material and energy exchange potentials between the wastewater and exhaust gas flows, and the use of available firewood ash as material for absorption. Two operation modes were presented aiming at a complete treatment of wastewater and exhaust gases as required by the Vietnamese national standards, and the recovery of valuable components in the system (N, P) for obtaining value-added products (such as fertilizer, irrigation water, etc.). In addition, the maximization of potentials on existing natural conditions at the local family, the avoidance of chemicals used in the system etc. have also helped to lower the investment and operation costs of the treatment facilities. The application of this system also contributes to the “greening” of the rice production chain in the Mekong Delta, Vietnam and is an example for a local closed cycle economy. Several public activities have also been conducted at the demonstration site (at the local family) with the purpose of maintaining and multiplying the system's effectiveness among the local public community.

The pollution of water resource and shortage of clean water have become increasingly severe, developing an urgent demand of reliable, efficient yet low-cost material for everyday water purification. In the present work, a superhydrophobic paper tissue-based SiO2/PDMS composite has been prepared for both oil absorption and water-in-oil emulsion separation. The fabrication process is quite simple since it takes the full advantage of tissue that has naturally strong capillary force of which allows the material to absorb oil from water much more rapidly and completely (>99.9%) even under harsh conditions. The study has shown the novel material is exceptionally efficient in separating water-in-oil emulsion under gravity but no need of extraneous pressure. A variety of emulsions has been proven with high flux (>2,000 L m−2 h−1) and high separation efficiency (>99.4%). It is believed that this study has proposed a highly reliable and efficient, low cost strategy in both oil absorption and water purification, which shed light on water treatment of both civil use and industry.

This study deals with the development of geopolymers synthetized from industrial waste containing aluminosilicates. Geopolymers are inorganic polymers formed by the activation of amorphous aluminosilicates (Al2O3.SiO2), which react in a strongly alkaline medium. Bottom ash (SiO2/Al2O3 = 3.3–4.5) was used as source of aluminosilicate and sodium hydroxide (NaOH = 5, 10 and 15 M) and sodium silicate (Na2SiO3, SiO2/Na2O = 1.58) were used as alkaline medium. Calcined paper sludge was used to increase the reactivity of the partially crystallized bottom ash. The solid waste was characterized by XRF and XRD and the geopolymer samples were characterized by XRF, XRD, SEM, FTIR and compressive strength tests. The best results were obtained with a solution of 15 M NaOH and sodium silicate and a mixture of 2:1 bottom ash and calcined paper sludge.

In the policy-making process concerning energy and environmental issues, cooperation between government and firms is a means to create a more efficient energy and environmental policy. Intermediary organizations can play an important role in this policy-making process. Aim of this study is to get insight into the role of one specific intermediary organization: the industry association. In this paper, we focus on the Dutch paper and board industry. Important policy themes for this industry are waste water, waste, and energy efficiency. We distinguished four types of governmental policy instruments: top-down regulation, interactive regulation, negative economic instruments, and positive economic instruments. We analyzed the role of the industry association in the policy-making process for all of these four instruments. The results clearly show different (relative) roles of the industry association in different steps of the policy-making processes and for different types of instruments.

Product-oriented policies gain more and more attention in environmental policies. In this framework, we studied cases (here presented only housing and computers and paper) in a life cycle perspective in order to determine their environmental impacts (in terms of GHG emissions, resource use and waste production) over the period 1990–2010. We also evaluated their potential for improvement up to 2010 by applying product-oriented strategies. We identified clear technical (theoretical) potential for improvement, especially for housing, packaging and computers and paper in offices. We then carried out a Delphi-based survey among stakeholders in order to investigate potential measures.

An Environmental Management Accounting (EMA) framework is applied to the 2000 year-end financial report for the Mackenzie Paper Division paper mill owned and operated by Abitibi-Consolidated Inc. of Montreal, Quebec. A conventional reading of the obvious environmental costs from this financial report is Cdn$2,196,838. This figure is derived from an analysis of effluent treatment costs and other line item environmental costs. There is no “environmental account” category that breaks out either costs or the mass balance of inputs and outputs. For the most part, environmental costs are rolled up into overhead accounts such as administration, infrastructure and materials accounts. Application of the EMA framework is based on assigning environmental costs to one of four categories for which a tentative breakdown is as follows: (1) waste and emission treatment costs ($3,348,902); (2) prevention and environmental management costs ($270,109); (3) material purchase value of non-product output costs ($946,799); and (4) processing costs of non-product output ($2 92,943). There is also a category called Environmental Revenues, of which none were reported. Conservative estimates thus place the total environmental costs at $4,858,753. What is significant about this result is that the environmental costs under EMA are at least twice as much as would normally be reported. This supports the view that environmental costs are much higher than generally considered and makes it clear that many important environmental costs as well as benefits are “hidden” in other accounts. More studies of a similar design are required to confirm the validity of the EMA methodology reported here.

In the present study, the application of life cycle assessment (LCA) for the comparison of two egg packages, from polystyrene and recycled paper, is presented. The input and output streams of mass and energy are examined and the environmental impacts associated with the two systems are analyzed. The application of LCA by using EcoIndicator 95 has made possible the comparison of the environmental impacts of two egg packages. The results of this LCA study are discussed and reveal that the PS packages contribute more to acidification potential, winter and summer smog, while recycled paper egg packages contribute more to heavy metal and carcinogenic substances impact. Nevertheless, it seems that paper eggcups have less environmental impact than the polystyrene ones with the assumption that the accuracy of the results is confined by the credibility of European databases used for primary data.

The 17th European Roundtable on Sustainable Consumption and Production (ERSCP 2014) is being built upon successful previous ERSCP conferences, such as the ones in Istanbul (Turkey), Bregenz (Austria), and Delft (Netherlands). The objective of the 17th ERSCP is to provide a platform to stimulate, develop, and disseminate information about new initiatives aimed at fostering the implementation of sustainable consumption and productionwithin local and regional sustainable development initiatives. The Roundtable will have a special focus upon the urgency for developing serious efforts to speed up the transition to post fossil carbon societies in light of numerous climate change challenges.

An approach based on the characterisation of individual operations by water demands and sources has been utilised to study an operating integrated pulp and paper mill. The search for novel whitewater network configurations as a function of specified process constraints and objective functions was done by means of a genetic algorithm coupled with linear programming. Potential solutions are derived from an initial superstructure representation which embodies all possible source and demand connections by an evolutive process akin to natural selection and adaptation. Various objective functions were investigated. Innovative strategies have been identified and are being considered for implementation.

EcoDesign is a concept including human sustainability priorities together with business interrelations. Its main objective in the improvementof product development methods is to reduce environmenta ...

• Special Volume on “Transitions to Sustainable Consumption and Production within Cities”.

The increase in mining-related social conflict around the globe can only be partly attributed to broader societal factors such as communities becoming more assertive, empowered and connected. The aggressive growth strategies of mining companies have also been a contributing factor, as this has taken them into areas which are socially and politically more challenging and has increased the potential for conflict with other land users. While mining companies may have embraced the language of ‘trust’, ‘shared value’ and ‘partnership’, they remain locked into a business model that periodically threatens these values. Given the constraints of this business model, there has to be a practical focus on creating stronger external, as well as internal, drivers for companies to improve how they engage with communities and other stakeholders.

As an integral part of individual lives and one of the strongest inputs to global economies, tourism is affected by such social tensions and can play an important role in reducing them; therefore it offers an interesting challenge for serious discussions regarding tourism and regional sustainability. Tourism is traditionally associated with pleasure, leisure and escape from the ordinary world and is often contrasted with other, more serious economic activities such as manufacturing and extraction. As a result governments and planners often ignore tourism; furthermore, outside of the field of tourism academic research, the relationship between tourism and sustainability received too little attention considering that tourism can play an increasingly integral role in regional sustainable development processes.

Life Cycle Assessment (LCA) is a well-established and informative method of understanding the environmental impacts of consumer products across the entire value chain. However, companies committed to sustainability are interested in more methods that examine their products and activities' impacts. Methods that build on LCA strengths and illuminate other connected but less understood facets, related to social and economic impacts, would provide greater value to decision-makers. This study is a LCA that calculates the potential impacts associated with Bounty® paper towels from two facilities with different production lines, an older one (Albany, Georgia) representing established technology and the other (Box Elder, Utah), a newer state-of-the-art platform. This is unique in that it includes use of Industrial Process Systems Assessment (IPSA), new electricity and pulp data, modeled in open source software, and is the basis for the development of new integrated sustainability metrics (published separately). The new metrics can guide supply chain and manufacturing enhancements, and product design related to environmental protection and resource sustainability. Results of the LCA indicate Box Elder had improvements on environmental impact scores related to air emission indicators, except for particulate matter. Albany had lower water use impacts. After normalization of the results, fossil fuel depletion is the most critical environmental indicator. Pulp production, electricity, and fuels for product production drive fossil fuel depletion. Climate change, land occupation, and particulate matter are also relevant. Greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions by pulp, electricity, papermaking, and landfill methane from the disposed product, drive climate change impacts. Pulp provides significant offsets to balance climate change impacts due to sequestration of atmospheric carbon dioxide. Ninety-nine percent of land occupation is for the growth of the trees for pulp production. Papermaking, electricity, and pulp production cause the most potential particular matter formation.

Due to rapid deforestation, the paper industry is facing problems like shortage of forest based raw materials, cost increment and negative effects on the environment including increasing air, water and soil pollution. In India, agro residues utilized in stubble burning could be used as a sustainable fiber resource for papermaking, but the paper made from these possesses poor strength properties. Considering the multiple advantages of using agro residues and weak strength properties of the paper made from these, this study was conducted. The effect of blending hardwood pulp and agro pulp with cationic starch or chitosan at wet-end of papermaking with and without subsequent surface sizing using oxidized starch was explored. As a wet-end additive, chitosan dose of 0.5 kg/t was more promising than cationic starch dose of 5 kg/t with all pulps. Paper was produced from 85% agro and 15% hardwood pulp and 0.5 kg/t of chitosan at wet-end after surface sizing with oxidized starch. It improved the tear index, Taber stiffness, double fold and air permeance by 2.7%, 6.5%, 170%, and 300%, respectively with 18.4% decrease in Cobb60 as compared to paper made with 100% hardwood pulp. FTIR analysis was further done to evaluate the effect on crystallinity ratio and energy changes in hydrogen bonds in the papers of differently blended pulps after surface sizing. The study signifies the enhancement in strength and surface properties of paper made using agro pulp after addition of biopolymers at wet-end with and without surface sizing.

Industrial productivity is often judged solely by the primary product's marketability, while opportunities for secondary products derived from process by-products are often overlooked. In paper mills, large volumes of moisture-rich paper mill residuals (cellulose sludge) are produced, for which commercial use is currently difficult. Port Hawkesbury Paper LP, Port Hawkesbury, Nova Scotia, produces over 7 t/hr of waste sludge with a seasonally-dependent dryness ranging from 25 to 38% (w/w). Various chemical or mechanical dewatering options exist; however, knowledge of the unique sludge composition and properties is essential to predicting how the product will react under each method. Sonication, Fournier rotary press technology, freeze/thaw cycling, and gravity drying were among the dewatering opportunities briefly explored outside of the chosen method, acidification. Notably, many industries utilizing dewatering technologies may not be producing value-added by-products, while geographic and climatic placement may limit processes which are possible for others. In the present study examining enhanced end-use value, further dewatering occurred through a comparative in situ experiment contrasting sulfuric acid and ferric sulfate acidification (direct acid injection into sludge). While both proton donors acidified the sludge and decreased moisture content, sulfuric acid was the more cost-effective option, yielding an ∼4% increase in dryness, with commensurate economic and environmental benefits.

Waste generation from groundnut and sugarcane industries are at high alarming rate due to their disposal constraint. These wastes are currently used as a raw material for the production of compost, fuel, alcohol, and paper. Cellulose and its derivatives are being used in many industries like paper, pharmaceutical, and energy owing to its physicochemical properties. Application of cellulose in the leather industry uses cellulose derivatives as finishing chemicals such as nitrocellulose, ethyl cellulose. In the current study, an attempt has been made to find the application of cellulose from groundnut husk and sugarcane bagasse as an auxiliary chemical in leather finishing. Cellulose is extracted from wastes by modified acid hydrolysis method to enhance the yield. Extracted cellulose has been characterized and compared with commercial cellulose sample. From the characterization studies, it confirms that extracted cellulose matched with commercial samples. Extracted cellulose used in leather finishing as an ingredient to upgrade the low-quality leathers, which primarily have grain damages. Cellulose with different concentration of plasticizer has been used in the base coat along with binders and pigments. Finished leathers have been characterized to understand the physical characteristics. From the various analysis, it ascertains that the cellulose has imparted fullness to the finished leather without impacting the aesthetic property. The study provides a better utilization of sugarcane bagasse and groundnut husk wastes in leather industry leading to effective waste management prototype.

[EN] Current wastewater treatment plants (WWTPs) paradigm is moving towards the so-called water resource recovery facilities in which sewage is considered a source of valuable resources. In particular, urban WWTPs are crucial systems to enhance phosphorus (P) recycling. This paper evaluates the implementation of a P-recovery system in Calahorra WWTP combining the operation of a new sludge line configuration coupled to a struvite crystallisation reactor at demonstration-scale. This new configuration consisted in the elutriation in the gravity thickener of the mixed sludge contained in the mixing chamber in order to reduce the phosphate load to the anaerobic digestion. The results indicated that the P available in the primary sludge overflow was nearly five times more than the obtained for the conventional configuration (1.88 vs. 0.39 gP/kg sludge treated), and the uncontrolled P precipitation inside the anaerobic digester was reduced by 43%. Regarding the total P entering the WWTP, 19% of the total P could be recovered with the new configuration proposed in comparison with 9% in the previous conventional configuration. The average recovery efficiency in the crystallisation plant was 86.9 0.4%, yielding a struvite recovery of 8.0 +/- 0.6 kg/d (0.67 +/- 0.04 kg/m(3) fed to the crystalliser). The potential struvite production with the new configuration would be around 41 kg/d (15 t/y) crystallising the thickener supernatant which could be increased up to around 103 kg/d (38 t/y) treating all the P enriched streams (thickener supernatant and centrate streams). The paper demonstrates that WWTPs can contribute to reduce P scarcity, resulting in environmental and economic benefits. (C) 2019 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved., This work was co-financed by the European Financial Instrument for the Environment (LIFE +) as part of the PHORWater Project (LIFE12 ENV/ES/000441). The authors also like to acknowledge the support received from Consorcio de Aguas y Residuos de La Rioja and from EDAR del Cidacos (Calahorra).

This paper reviews various aspects of the enzymatic transesterification method to convert used cooking oil to biodiesel. The goal of this paper is to provide a thorough overview from general biodiesel production processes, reaction conditions, challenges, and solutions for higher biodiesel production yield through introducing various microorganisms that are capable of producing the enzymes required to convert used cooking oil into biodiesel. The characteristics, composition, and advantages of the used cooking oil, as feedstock for biodiesel, is also discussed. In addition, the existing transesterification methods including homogeneous alkali-catalyzed, homogeneous acid-catalyzed, non-catalytic reaction under super-critical conditions, and enzyme-catalyzed reactions are explained. Furthermore, the advantages of the enzymatic method over other methods, and the enzymes, which are the key elements of such reactions, are discussed. Lipases are the most promising enzymes currently known for biodiesel conversion. The physiological and physical properties of microbial lipases, the catalytic mechanisms of the enzymes, various methods of enzyme immobilization such as adsorption, covalent and affinity binding, entrapment, and the whole-cell immobilization are also reviewed. At the end, three case studies demonstrating unique and efficient enzymatic transesterification approaches are presented.

The research on the preparation of activated carbon co-activated by hydrothermal carbonization and pyrolysis was uncommon and less experiments used ultrasonic assisted impregnation. The synergistic effect of two catalysts had certain research value. There are still just a few studies on the performance prediction of activated carbon. In this paper, wheat straw, corn straw and sorghum straw were used as the raw materials. ZnCl2 and H3PO4 were used as the catalysts for the synergetic catalysis. Hydrothermal carbonization combined with pyrolysis was used to co-activate with the ultrasonic auxiliary impregnation method in order to prepare straw activated carbon. The straw activated carbon was characterized by different means and the principle of the method was analyzed. Then the performance prediction models of straw pyrolytic activated carbon using methylene blue number and iodine number as the main evaluation index based on Linear Regression, Support Vector Regression, Random Forest Regression were proposed and compared. The results indicated the three kinds of straw showed similar characteristics in the preparation of straw pyrolytic activated carbon whose specific surface area reached 1258.3927 m2/g, 1101.8430 m2/g and 1060.9723 m2/g respectively. The Random Forest Regression model was the most suitable. The n_estimators was set to 10. The evaluation indexes of the model were all good. It demonstrated the three kinds of straw were highly efficient precursor for the preparation of activated carbon used to remove dyes from wastewater. The preparation method in this paper combines the advantages of physical and chemical activation. The prediction model will accelerate the utilization of straw resources, realize the controllable and clean preparation of straw activated carbon and reduce environmental pollution.

Few studies have investigated the performance of anaerobic digestion (AD) to convert animal and agro-industrial wastes to organic fertilizers over a long-term field conditions. This paper studied three large-scale mesophilic digesters (D1–D3) over two years for their effects on feedstocks, which were dairy manure for D1 and D2 and co-digestion mixed manure and agro-industrial wastes for D3. Hydraulic retention times (HRT) were 9 d for D1, 12 d for D2, and 34 d for D3. Digester influent and effluent samples were taken every two months from the digesters and analyzed for pH, and concentrations of total solids (TS), ammonium nitrogen (NH4-N), total Kjeldahl nitrogen (TKN), total phosphorus (TP), and eight metals. The study revealed high variability in converting feedstock in the three digesters. Compared with their respective influent, the mean digester effluent pH decreased from 7.9 by 0.6 in D1 (p < 0.01) and by 0.3 in D2 (p < 0.01), but it increased from 6.1 by 1.8 in D3 (p < 0.01). The mean digester effluent TS increased from 3.4% by 0.1% (p > 0.05) in D1, but it decreased from 4.9% by 1.3% in D2 (p < 0.05) and from 12.3% by 4.8% in D3 (p < 0.01). All three digesters significantly increased NH4-N concentrations by 21.4–81.8% (p < 0.05), but insignificantly changed TKN and TP concentrations (p > 0.05). Effects of AD on all metal concentrations were mixed and were insignificant (p > 0.05) because of large concentration variations. However, study of a ratio quotient (qMg) using magnesium (Mg) as the reference discovered accumulation of NH4-N, copper, potassium, and sodium, but loss of TKN, TP, iron, manganese, zinc, and calcium during AD for D2 and D3. The impact of AD conversion was closely related with types of feedstock (on pH) and HRT (on TS and NH4-N). The results of this study can assist in developing strategies for cleaner production using AD in an environmentally sustainable manner.

World is facing challenges to reduce global environmental issues including waste management, green house gas emissions, pollution, deforestation and depletion of non renewable resources originated due to speedy industrial and urban development. To protect environmental resources, strict legislations are being made by the governments of developing and developed world. Due to such issues, pulp and paper industry is sarcastically facing shortage of forest based raw materials for paper production. Most of the mills have either start up with non wood based raw materials or recycled papers in place of conventional forest based resources. Rice straw, a lignocellulosic residue is abundantly available in wood short countries like India and China and can be utilized in pulp and paper industry. In present study it was found that rice straw consisted of cellulose (33.3 ± 0.47%), pentosan (27.3 ± 0.36%), lignin (13.0 ± 0.07%), ash (12.6 ± 0.11%) and silica (11.7%). The higher amount of carbohydrates and less lignin content in rice straw in comparison to hardwoods and softwoods can be made as a alternate raw material for pulp and paper mills. Out of soda and soda anthraquinone - methods for converting rice straw to pulp, -Later was found to be a better option as it gives high pulp yield (62.4%) and better strength properties of the pulp. The bleaching of soda--anthraquinone rice straw pulp with chlorine dioxide based bleaching sequence was found better over elemental chlorine based sequence as it improved the pulp strength properties and reduced the bleaching effluent load. The adsorbable organic halides - indicative of biorefractory, accumulative and toxic compounds were reduced by 66% when chlorine dioxide bleaching was used. Such approach of using agricultural waste as a raw material for making paper can prove to be valuable towards waste utilization, pollution control and for sustainable growth of industry.