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Invasive alien plant species (IAPS) are one of the biggest challenges in European ecosystems, displacing local vegetation, destroying agricultural land, and causing billions of dollars of damage to the European economy every year. Many of them are removed daily and mainly burned. In this work, we investigated the possibilities of using plants as feedstock for paper production. Papers made from three invasive alien plants, i.e., Knotweed, Goldenrod, and Black locust, were studied and compared with commercial office paper. The study included testing of: (1) structural properties—basic physical properties, grammage, thickness, density and specific volume, moisture content, and ash content, (2) physical and dynamic mechanical properties—tensile strength, Clark stiffness, viscoelastic properties, (3) colorimetric properties of prints, (4) effect of UV light on ageing, and (5) study of cellulose fiber structure and morphology by microscopy. The results suggested that the paper produced can be used as commercial office paper, considering that the paper is slightly dyed. Such papers can also be used for special purposes that present a natural style and connection to nature. The papers produced can also be used for printing documents that are meant to be kept.

This paper shows the result of a study on the extent of cocaine contamination in Real banknotes in circulation in the state of Rio de Janeiro (Brazil). A study of the percentage of contaminated banknotes was made, as well as a study on the contamination of banknotes based on different values, and a study of contamination depending on the region where the banknote was collected. The idea of this last study was to verify if the peculiar characteristics of the region of study (in particular, the city of Rio de Janeiro) influence the amount of cocaine in the banknotes. Some regions have higher consumption/drug trafficking of cocaine than others. Also, some contaminated banknotes confiscated directly from drug dealers and users were analyzed. Also, is showed in this paper all the optimization of the available analytical techniques for making the measurements possible.

The water demand for human activities is rapidly increasing in developing countries. Under these circumstances, preserving aquatic ecosystems should be a priority which requires the development of quality criteria. In this study we perform a preliminary prioritization of the risky substances based on reported ecotoxicological studies and guidelines for the Biobio watershed (Central Chile). Our specific aims are (1) reviewing the scientific information on the aquatic pollution of this watershed, (2) determining the presence and concentration of potential toxic substances in water, sediment and effluents, (3) searching for quality criteria developed by other countries for the selected substances and (4) prioritizing the most risky substances by means of deterministic ecotoxicological risk assessment. We found that paper and mill industries were the main sources of point pollution, while forestry and agriculture were mostly responsible for non-point pollution. The most risky organic substances in the water column were pentachlorophenol and heptachlor, while the most relevant inorganic ones were aluminum, copper, unionized ammonia and mercury. The most risky organic and inorganic substances in the sediment were phenanthrene and mercury, respectively. Our review highlights that an important effort has been done to monitor pollution in the Biobio watershed. However there are emerging pollutants and banned compounds—especially in sediments—that require to be monitored. We suggest that site-specific water quality criteria and sediment quality criteria should be developed for the Biobio watershed, considering the toxicity of mixtures of chemicals to endemic species, and the high natural background level of aluminum in the Biobio.

Some Parties (Countries) to the UNFCCC decided to include the carbon uptake by harvested wood products (HWP) in a new general accounting framework after 2012 (post Kyoto). The analysis aims to make a comparison between the cascaded use of HWP and the use of wood for energy. We combine the new HWP framework with an assumed increased 50 million m3harvest level in Canada and evaluate the impact of the GHG emissions over a 100-year period. Our reference case assumes all harvested wood is an immediate CO2emission (IPCC default) and no substitution effects, i.e. annual GHG emissions of 41 million tonnes CO2eq. In our wood utilization scenario's, harvested trees are allocated (in varying shares) to three end-products: construction wood, paper products and pellets for power production. In comparison with our base case, a combination of fossil fuel substitution, material substitution and temporary carbon uptake by HWP leads to significant decreases in GHG emissions. All scenario's show annual GHG emission between 18 and 21 million tonnes CO2eqexcept for triple use without recycling (at least 24 million tonnes CO2eq). We conclude that GHG emissions of our scenarios are substantially lower than IPCC default. However, it is difficult to incorporate one single method to account for GHG uptake and emissions by HWP, due to end use efficiency and recycling options. Further GHG allocation over individual countries is not straightforward and needs further research. © 2013 Elsevier Ltd.

BACKGROUND: The development in the deinking process has made recycled fiber a major part of the raw material for pulp and paper industry. Enzymes have revolutionized the deinking process obtaining brightness levels surpassing conventional deinking processes. This study explores the deinking efficiencies of bacterial alkalophilic laccase (L) and xylanase (X) enzymes along with physical deinking methods of microwaving (MW) and sonication (S) for recycling of old newsprint (ONP). METHODS AND RESULTS: The operational parameters viz. enzyme dose, pH and treatment time for X and L deinking were optimized statistically using Response Surface Methodology. Laccase did not require any mediator supplementation for deinking. Deinking of ONP pulp with a combination of xylanase and laccase enzymes was investigated, and fiber surface composition and morphological changes were studied using X-ray diffraction, fourier transform infrared spectroscopy and scanning electron microscopy. Compared to the pulp deinked with xylanase (47.9%) or laccase (62.2%) individually, the percentage reduction of effective residual ink concentration (ERIC) was higher for the combined xylanase/laccase-deinked pulp (65.8%). An increase in brightness (21.6%), breaking length (16.5%), burst factor (4.2%) tear factor (6.9%), viscosity (13%) and cellulose crystallinity (10.3%) along with decrease in kappa number (22%) and chemical consumption (50%) were also observed. Surface appeared more fibrillar along with changes in surface functional groups. A combination of physical and enzymatic processes (S-MW-XL) for deinking further improved brightness (28.8%) and decreased ERIC (73.9%) substantially. CONCLUSION: This is the first report on deinking of ONP with laccase without any mediator supplementation. XL pretreatment resulted in marked improvement in paper quality and a new sequence being reported for deinking (S-MW-XL) will contribute further in decreasing chemical consumption and making the process commercially feasible.

Objectives: A health survey of three villages (upstream village Rantau Baru and two downstream villages, Sering and Pelalawan) in the vicinity of a pulp and paper mill along the Kampar river in the province of Riau, Indonesia was conducted to find whether exposure to the effluents from the mill was related to skin conditions and ill health. Methods: A cross sectional survey was carried out of children living in the three villages. Results: Common skin conditions such as dermatitis, fungal infections, insect bites, and miliaria were found. No significantly increased risk of dermatitis or any illness in general was found with increasing levels of exposure to river water for downstream villages when compared with the upstream village. However, there was an increased risk of diarrhoea in Sering especially with drinking water directly from the river (prevalence rate ratio (PRR) 4.9, 95% confidence interval (95% CI) 0.4 to 63.9). An increased risk was also found within the upstream village Rantau Baru (PRR 2.3, 95% CI 0.9 to 5.8) and downstream village Sering (PRR 1.4, 95% CI 0.4 to 5.2) when children who drank water directly from the river were compared with those who never did. Analysis of the river water also showed physical and chemical variables within the acceptable range except for faecal coliforms (6 MPN/100 ml) found in the sample taken from Sering. Conclusions: The effluent from the mill is unlikely to be causing skin conditions and ill health. Diarrhoea may be due to faecal coliform contamination of the water because all raw sewerage is deposited in the river. Community health outreach programmes are being implemented based on these findings.

ÖZET Çevre sorunları, özellikle son yirmi yıldır artan bir ilgi ile dünya kamuoyunun gündemine girmiştir ve çözüm yollan için hemen her alanda öneriler ortaya konulmuştur. Tüm insanlar az ya da çok çevre sorunlarının oluşumundu pay sahibidir. Ancak Endüstri tasarımcıları toplumda ve üretim sürecinde üstlendikleri rol gereği, çevre sorunlarının oluşumunda ve çözümünde etkin güce sahiptir. Atıkların kontrolü, çevre sorunları içerisinde en önemlisidir. Geridönüşüm programlan için en yaygın malzeme kağıttır. Atık kağıdın geridönüşümü, ekonomik olduğu kadar ekolojik yarar da sağlar. Geridönüşümün başarısı, atıkların iyi tasarlanmış bir organizasyonla toplanması, depolanması ve ayrıştırılmasına bağlı olduğu kadar, geridönüşüme uygun tasarımlanmış ürünlere de bağlıdır. Aynca geridönüşmüş malzemeye uygun kullanımlar da son derece önemlidir. SUMMARY Environmental problems have accelaretadly become an important issue for the govermental bodies and world wide public opinion especially for the last twenty years. Many ideas and solutions have been established by almost all fields. Each of us as human beings living on this world have responsibilities relating to the environmental problems. But the industrial designers can also be held responsible for the environmental problem as well as finding solution to this problem. The controlling the garbages is one of the most important environmental problems. Recycling seems to be the most rational solution to that problem. Paper is the most recycled material among the recyclable garbages. The succes of recycling depends on well designed organization for gathering and resorting as well as good designs with recycable properties. Another important aspect for recycling is the appropriate usage of the recycled materials. ÖZET Çevre sorunları, özellikle son yirmi yıldır artan bir ilgi ile dünya kamuoyunun gündemine girmiştir ve çözüm yollan için hemen her alanda öneriler ortaya konulmuştur. Tüm insanlar az ya da çok çevre sorunlarının oluşumundu pay sahibidir. Ancak Endüstri tasarımcıları toplumda ve üretim sürecinde üstlendikleri rol gereği, çevre sorunlarının oluşumunda ve çözümünde etkin güce sahiptir. Atıkların kontrolü, çevre sorunları içerisinde en önemlisidir. Geridönüşüm programlan için en yaygın malzeme kağıttır. Atık kağıdın geridönüşümü, ekonomik olduğu kadar ekolojik yarar da sağlar. Geridönüşümün başarısı, atıkların iyi tasarlanmış bir organizasyonla toplanması, depolanması ve ayrıştırılmasına bağlı olduğu kadar, geridönüşüme uygun tasarımlanmış ürünlere de bağlıdır. Aynca geridönüşmüş malzemeye uygun kullanımlar da son derece önemlidir. SUMMARY Environmental problems have accelaretadly become an important issue for the govermental bodies and world wide public opinion especially for the last twenty years. Many ideas and solutions have been established by almost all fields. Each of us as human beings living on this world have responsibilities relating to the environmental problems. But the industrial designers can also be held responsible for the environmental problem as well as finding solution to this problem. The controlling the garbages is one of the most important environmental problems. Recycling seems to be the most rational solution to that problem. Paper is the most recycled material among the recyclable garbages. The succes of recycling depends on well designed organization for gathering and resorting as well as good designs with recycable properties. Another important aspect for recycling is the appropriate usage of the recycled materials. 120