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Pseudoestrogene bisphenol A (BPA) can be important ingredient of thermochromic inks, increasingly used materials in thermal printing paper, security printing, advertising, design and as temperature indicators in medicine and food industry. BPA mass fraction in thermochromic inks can be up to several percent. Hence, disposal of items with thermochromic prints pose a risk of environmental pollution. In this work BPA mass fraction was monitored during anaerobic degradation of papers with thermochromic prints in soil in both matrices: papers and soil. The degradation conditions simulated deeper layers of waste at a landfill site. Six types of papers with prints of thermochromic ink containing 2% of BPA were subjected to anaerobic degradation over up to 150 days.

Purpose The most abundant among the separately collected waste materials in Italy is food waste. This research aims to evaluate the influence of the type of collection bag on the food waste management chain. In Italy, the food waste collection is mainly based on bioplastic bags. As an alternative, a new type of recycled paper bag shows potential advantages. Methods The two types of collection bag were compared evaluating the weight loss of food waste during the household storage, by means of an experimental assessment simulating the domestic dynamic bag filling. Moreover, the biomethane production of bags under anaerobic conditions was measured at the lab-scale level with Biochemical Methane Potential (BMP) tests. Results During the household storage, the breathable fabric of the paper allows for higher weight losses, ranging on average between + 29 and + 44% compared to bioplastic. BMP tests, carried out under different conditions (temperature, inoculum), showed a 2–14 times higher generation of methane by paper bags compared to bioplastic bags, when referred to 1 kg of inserted food waste. Conclusions Collecting the food waste inside paper bags shows advantages compared to the use of bioplastic bags. First, the waste collection is benefitted thanks to the lower weight of material to be transported to treatment plants, leading also to the possibility of decreasing the collection frequency. Moreover, paper resulted more compatible than bioplastic with the anaerobic digestion treatment, which is currently rapidly increasing as a food waste management option. Graphic Abstract

Aim of this research was to treat the organics enriched Paper and Pulp Industry (PPI) effluents using multi-metal tolerant predominant indigenous bacterial species. In addition, assessing the potential of treated bacterial biomass as a single cell protein (SCP). The multi-metal tolerant Streptomyces tuirus OS1 was enumerated from the Paper and Pulp Industry (PPI) effluents was identified through standard molecular characterization. S. tuirus OS1 proficiently ameliorated organic contaminants in PPI effluent in the in study at 35 °C, 45 °C, and 25 °C. Fortunately, the S. tuirus OS1 considerably increased the dissolved oxygen level in treated PPI effluent in 30 days of bioremediation process. Interestingly, at 35 °C of bioremediation process the S. tuirus OS1 demonstrated increased dried biomass (7.1 g L

Lignin is a major by-product of pulp and paper industries, and is resistant to depolymerization due to its heterogeneous structure. Degradation of lignin can be achieved by the use of potential lignin-degrading bacteria. The current study was designed to evaluate the degradation efficiency of newly isolated Bacillus altitudinis SL7 from pulp and paper mill effluent. The degradation efficiency of B. altitudinis SL7 was determined by color reduction, lignin content, and ligninolytic activity from degradation medium supplemented with alkali lignin (3 g/L). B. altitudinis SL7 reduced color and lignin content by 26 and 44%, respectively, on the 5th day of incubation, as evident from the maximum laccase activity. Optimum degradation was observed at 40 °C and pH 8.0. FT-IR spectroscopy and GC-MS analysis confirmed lignin degradation by emergence of the new peaks and identification of low-molecular-weight compounds in treated samples. The identified compounds such as vanillin, 2-methyoxyhenol, 3-methyl phenol, oxalic acid and ferulic acid suggested the degradation of coniferyl and sinapyl groups of lignin. Degradation efficiency of B. altitudinis SL7 towards high lignin concentration under alkaline pH indicated the potential application of this isolate in biological treatment of the lignin-containing effluents. HIGHLIGHTS Bacillus altitudinis SL7 isolated from effluent could efficiently degrade lignin under alkaline conditions.; Degradation efficiency was determined by analyzing lignin content, color reduction, and ligninolytic enzyme activity.; Extracellular laccase from B. altitudinis SL7 can play a significant role in the depolymerization of lignin.; Various low-molecular-weight lignin degradation products were determined through GC-MS.

The amount of compostable bioplastics collected with the food waste is constantly growing, particularly due to the bags used for collection. According to the Italian legislation, compostable bioplastics must be accepted by all biological treatment plants, including aerobic and anaerobic facilities. Anyway, the compostability standard requires only the assessment of the aerobic degradability, while it is generally not required to test the behaviour under anaerobic conditions. This aspect is evaluated in the paper, where the anaerobic degradability of bioplastic bags used for the food waste collection is assessed. First, Biochemical Methane Potential (BMP) tests were performed on four commercial types of bioplastic bags, including those designed only for the collection of food waste and the shoppers, that can be reused for the same purpose. Subsequently, an innovative approach for this kind of substrate was applied, subjecting two bags to semi-continuous co-digestion tests together with the food waste. Both tests were performed by comparing the behaviour of bioplastic bags with that of an alternative collection paper bag. Finally, tests to evaluate the influence of physical phenomena on the degradation of bioplastics were performed to better understand the results of biological tests. BMP tests indicated a good degradability (71%) of bioplastic bags, while semi-continuous tests showed a much lower degradability (27%), confirmed by the observation of the undigested bag pieces. On the contrary, the paper bag presents interesting characteristics, because its degradability in the semi-continuous tests (82%) resulted even higher than that observed in the BMP tests (74%). These results highlight an important difference between the bags mono-digestion by means of BMP tests and the semi-continuous co-digestion tests with food waste, which better simulate the full-scale operational conditions.

Paper has become the basic elixir in everyone's activities and usage of paper has increased day by day, the waste generated by paper is also enormous. The primary source of paper is wood (tree) yet, waste paper is environmentally good and biodegradable; however, it is the primary source of deforestation. Current research aims to find an alternate way to recycle paper in the biological approach. Hence in our work, twelve cellulose-producing bacteria were isolated, out of which one bacterial strain proved to be the best. Cellulase enzyme was extracted and purified, and used for enzymatic de-inking of photocopy papers. The optimal conditions for cellulase synthesis were at 60 °C, glucose as the only carbon source, and potassium nitrate as the nitrogen source. The enzyme demonstrated excellent de-inking at a lower pulp consistency of 3% with a 20% enzyme dose. The cellulose and hemicellulose levels decreased, which can be attributed to fiber breaking. Further, the changes in the functional groups identified by Fourier-transform infrared spectroscopy analysis and the changes in the surface morphology of the pulp fibers were obtained using scanning electron microscope analysis.

The pulp and paper industry consumes a huge amount of water and releases more polluted and colored wastewater every year. Many conventional techniques are used in the treatment of paper industry wastewater. However, for color removal from paper mill effluent, there is no proven method so far, on an industrial scale. Due to high energy input and high cost, there is an urgent need to find out a new technique that must be sustainable, economical, and environment friendly. Various methods have been investigated on bench scale and pilot scale also but no proven method for color removal on an industrial scale. The paper provides an overview of the color removal techniques from different sources of pulp and paper mill wastewater discharged by various industries. The review described various components involved in various processes for color removal from paper mill waste water. The present works focus on processes like chemical, chemical/physical, biological, physicochemical, and electrochemical applied in color removal from paper mill wastewater. The present review gives key information on the effectiveness, use, betterment, and limitations of numerous methods of treatment targeted at color removal from paper mill wastewater using various techniques still under evolution.

As human beings have been consistently exposed to bisphenol A (BPA) and bisphenol S (BPS) derived from various products, the intake of BPS/BPA to humans has been extensively studied. However, using conventional biological matrices such as urine, blood, or dissected skin to detect BPS/BPA in the human body system requires longer exposure time to them, hardly defines the pollutant source of the accumulated BPS/BPA, and is often invasive. Herein, our new approach i.e. fingerprint analysis quantitatively confirms the transfer of BPS/BPA from receipts (specific pollution source) to human skin only within receipt-handling of “20 s”. When receipts (fingertip region size; ~1 cm2) containing 100–300 μg of BPS or BPA are handled, 20–40 μg fingerprint-1 of BPS or BPA is transferred to human skin (fingertip). This transferred amount of BPS/BPA can still be toxic according to the toxicity test using water fleas. As a visual evidence, a fingerprint map that matches the distribution of the absorbed BPS/BPA is developed using a mass spectrometry imaging tool. This is the first study to analyze fingerprints to determine the incorporation mechanism of emerging pollutants. This study provides an efficient and non-invasive environmental forensic tool to analyze amounts and sources of hazardous substances.

The article presents the research results of the oxidation of watered toxic waste from the pulp and paper industry (sludge-lignin, the empirical formula of organic matter CH1.51N0.05S0.03Cl0.01O0.54) in supercritical water-oxygen (SCW/O2) fluid. The experiments were carried out using a flow tube reactor at a pressure of 25 MPa, temperature gradient along its vertical axis (from top to bottom: 390–600 °C), sludge-lignin flow rate of 9.5–14.5 g/min, oxygen ratio OR = 0.73–2.52, using NaOH (1.6 wt%) as a catalyst. Employing gas chromatography – mass spectrometry, polychlorophenols were identified in the composition of sludge-lignin, in which 2,4,6-trichlorophenol was the main component. The total yield of extracted phenols and chlorophenols per sludge-lignin organic matter was 20.82 and 2.88 μg/g, respectively. It is revealed that the conversion rate of sludge-lignin in SCW/O2 fluid is limited by heterogeneous oxidation of the carbonized residue, and is determined by the O2 content in the reaction mixture. At OR ≥ 1.16, only CO2, CO, N2, and N2O were detected in the volatile oxidation products. An increase in OR from 0.73 to 2.52 leads to a decrease in the total content of phenols (from 45540.1 to 129.3 μg/dm3) and chlorophenols (from 51.4 to 2.2 μg/dm3) in the water collected at the reactor outlet. It is shown that 2,6-dichlorophenol and 2-chlorophenol are the most resistant to oxidation. From the analysis of the initial sludge-lignin and mineral residues, it follows that the bulk of the chlorine contained in its organic matter is converted into NaCl in the course of oxidation.

Due to the presence of various organic contaminants, improper disposal of pulp-paper wastewater poses harm to the environment and human health. In this work, pulp-paper sludge (PPS) after secondary treatment were collected from M/s Century Pulp-paper Mills in India, the chemical nature of the organic pollutants was determined after solvent extraction. All the isolates were able to produce lipase (6.34–3.93 U ml− 1) which could account for the different fatty acids detected in the PPS. The dominant strains were in the classes of α and γ Proteobacteria followed by Firmicutes. The Shannon-Weiner diversity indexes for phylotype richness for the culturable and non-culturable bacterial community were 2.01 and 3.01, respectively, indicating the non- culturable bacterial strains has higher species richness and diversity compared to the culturable bacterial strains. However, the culturable strains had higher species evenness (0.94 vs 0.90). Results suggested only a few isolated strains were resistant to the POPs in the PPS, whereas non-cultural bacteria survived by entering viable but non-cultural state. The isolated strains (Brevundimonas diminuta, Aeromonas punctata, Enterobacter hormaechei, Citrobacter braakii, Bacillus pumilus and Brevundimonas terrae) are known for their multidrug resistance but their tolerance to POPs have not previously been reported and deserved further investigation. The findings of this research established the presence of POPs which influence the microbial population. Tertiary treatment is recommended prior to the safe disposal of pulp paper mill waste into the environment.

Funding Information: The authors are grateful with Arauco Bioforest S.A. for giving the right to use the presented results. Publisher Copyright: © 2021 The Authors A pulsed electrodialysis reversal (pEDR) process is proposed to desalinate spent water after particle removal, biological and chemical coagulation, which are commonly used as a sequence in Kraft pulp mills. pEDR affords closed-loop processing, reducing the need for freshwater intake while maintaining the quality of recirculating process streams. Compared with conventional electrodialysis, pEDR minimizes production losses (from 5 % to 0.6 %), extending the time for hydraulic reversal (from 15 min to at least 2 h). Simultaneously, the conductivity of the effluent is significantly reduced, from 2100 to 200 μS/cm, reaching a quality similar to the feed water. The operation cost (0.38 US$/m3) is factored in the techno-economic viability of the process water recirculation, which is also demonstrated for its scalability. Additionally, WinGEMS simulation highlights the benefits of installing a pEDR unit, positively impacting mill water under different recirculation rates. Overall, we show remarkable gains in water economy, operation (maintenance and fouling), and quality, which are critical factors in achieving resource sufficiency.

Generally, the mechanical strength and stiffness of old corrugated cardboard (OCC) waste paper are decreased after multiple recycling procedures. Surface sizing starch, which is extensively used in the surface sizing of paper making, accumulates after dissolving from the fibers and is transformed into pollutant during the OCC re-pulping process. To overcome the pollution and reutilization problem of the waste starch during the recycling process of OCC paper, waste starch was ionized using hydrogen peroxide (H2O2) to improve the mechanical properties of OCC paper during the reutilization. The results showed that the carboxyl group of waste starch increased with an increasing degree of ionization, resulting in enhanced copper ion adsorption capacity. Furthermore, the retention rate of the modified starch in the wet-end increased from 18.0% to 48.2%. The OCC paper presented the highest burst index and tensile strength of 8.94 kPa m2/g and 112.5 N m/g, respectively, when MS-2 was added. This work has great significance for implementation of the cleaning production of OCC waste papers and the reutilization of the waste starch.

A potential bacterium Bacillus flexus RMWW II has been isolated from rice mill effluent, and examined for its decolorizing potential for lignin-mimicking dyes. The biodegradation of alkali lignin by the rod-shaped, Gram-positive, oxidase and catalase-positive Bacillus flexus RMWW II bacteria is due to its uptake of lignin as the sole carbon source. The lignin degradation was 100% at a lignin concentration of 50 mg L−1 but the degradation reduced to 20% at 400 mg L−1. The bacterial-mediated biodegradation of alkali lignin was suitably explained by the Edward kinetics model with a maximal specific biodegradation rate (qmax) of 0.056 h−1 and true specific biodegradation rate (q*) of 0.042 h−1. The non-toxic nature of the metabolites of alkali lignin after bacterial degradation was illustrated by phytotoxicity studies. This bacterium was utilized to treat complex rice mill wastewater, as lignin is one of the major components of the effluent. A considerable reduction of 84% of chemical oxygen demand (COD) was observed in a batch reactor in 70 h of operation. The bacterial treatment results for the actual rice mill effluent indicate that Bacillus flexus RMWW II could be a promising agent for microbial remediation of lignin-laden raw rice mill wastewater.

This study presents 5-hydroxymethylfurfural removal from waste hand paper hydrolysate using activated carbon adsorption. In this context, the effects of adsorbent dosage, initial 5-hydroxymethylfurfural concentration, temperature, and agitation speed on 5-hydroxymethylfurfural adsorption were investigated. Moreover, isotherm and kinetic evaluations were performed using Langmuir, Freundlich, and Temkin models. The experimental data were correlated with zero, first, pseudo-first, and Weber–Morris intraparticle diffusion models. The toxicity of 5-hydroxymethylfurfural was determined using the resazurin reduction assay, and the EC50 of 5-hydroxymethylfurfural in the hydrolysate was found as 192 mg/L. Most convenient 5-hydroxymethylfurfural adsorption was obtained at 5 g/L AC dosage, 40 °C and 150 rpm agitation speed. The highest 5-hydroxymethylfurfural removal efficiency was 92% at 7 g/L AC dosage. The adsorption data fitted best with the Langmuir isotherm model with a maximum uptake capacity of 70.92 mg/g (R2: 0.96). The zero-order reaction kinetic model was the most suitable one among the others inspected. It was determined that intraparticle diffusion was not the rate-limiting step. This study showed that waste hand paper hydrolysate can effectively be detoxified by activated carbon adsorption. © 2019, Islamic Azad University (IAU).

A novel adsorbent, the uniform fiber ball (UFB) loaded with polypyrrole (UFB-PPy), was synthesized for Cr(VI) removal from water in this paper. The structure of the UFB and UFB-PPy were characterized by SEM, EDS, FT-IR, BET, XPS and TG. The adsorption properties of UFB-PPy towards Cr(VI) were investigated by the effects of temperature, initial concentration of Cr(VI), interfering ions and contact time in batch experiments, the isothermal models (Langmuir, Freundlich and Temkin) and the kinetic models (Pseudo first-order kinetic, Pseudo second-order kinetic and Intra-particle diffusion models) were used to describe the adsorption behavior. The effects of the initial concentration and flow rate of the Cr(VI) solution in the column experiments were also studied, and the dynamic models (Yoon-Nelson, Adams-Bohart and Wolborska model) were applied to predict the adsorption performance. The Cr(VI) removal mechanism of UFB-PPy was revealed by studying the effect of pH on adsorption, testing of Cl−, and analyzing the XPS. The results showed that UFB-PPy exhibited excellent adsorption properties for Cr(VI) both in batch and column adsorption. The possible adsorption mechanism involved electrostatic attraction, ion exchange and reduction. Conveniently, the chromium resources can be recovered with the form of high-purity Cr2O3 by simple calcination of Cr(VI)-captured UFB-PPy (UFB-PPy-Cr).

Chemical oxygen demand (COD), an important indicative measure of the amount of oxidizable pollutants in wastewater, is often analyzed off-line due to the expensive sensor required for on-line analysis. However, its off-line analysis is time-consuming. An on-line COD estimation method was developed with photoelectrocatalytic (PEC) technology. Based on the on-line data of the oxidation–reduction potential (ORP), dissolved oxygen (DO) and pH of wastewater, four different artificial neural network methods were applied to develop working models for COD estimation. Six different batches of sequence batch reactor (SBR) effluent from a paper mill were treated with PEC oxidation for 90 minutes, and 546 data points were collected from the on-line measurements of ORP, DO and pH, and the off-line COD analysis. After having training and validation with 75% and 25% of data, and evaluation with four statistical criteria (R2, RMSE, MAE and MAPE), the estimation results indicated that the developed radial basis neural network (RBNN) model demonstrated the highest precision. Subsequently, the application of the RBNN model to a new batch of SBR effluent from the paper mill revealed that the RBNN model was acceptable for COD estimation during the PEC advanced treatment process of papermaking wastewater, which implied its possible application in the future.

Fly ash (FA) from biomass combustion and biological sludge (S), both wastes from the pulp and paper industry, were granulated in different proportions (90% FA + 10% S, and 70% FA + 30% S w/w, dry weight basis, dw) and used to recover the functionality of soils affected by mining activities (Aljustrel, Iberian Pyrite Belt), with and without the application of municipal solid waste compost (MSWC). Application doses of both mixtures were 2.5, 5.0 and 10% (w/w, dw). These materials corrected soil acidity to circumneutral values and increased extractable P and K concentrations. A significant increase in soil organic matter (from 0.6 to 0.8–1.5% w/w, dw) and N content (from 0.04 to 0.09–0.12% w/w, dw) was also observed, but only when MSWC was applied. The soil was already heavily contaminated with Cu, Pb and Zn and the application of amendments did not increase their pseudo-total concentrations. The CaCl2 extractable fractions of both Cu and Zn decreased to very low values. The improvement in soil quality, compared to fertilizer only treatment, was further evidenced by the increase in some soil enzymatic activities (dehydrogenase, β-glucosidase and cellulase), with a better response for the granules with the higher proportion of biological sludge, as well as by the decrease in the soil-water extract toxicity towards different organisms (Daphnia magna, Thamnocephalus platyurus, and Pseudokirchneriella subcapitata). Agrostis tenuis germinated and grew during the first month only in the amended pots, but, after that, a considerable phytotoxic effect was evident. This was mainly attributed to salt stress or to some specific ionic toxicity. In conclusion, to establish a long-term plant cover in mining soils amended with biomass ash-based materials, the selection of plants with higher resistance to salinity and/or the stabilization of the amendments, to reduce their soluble salt content, is recommended.

The effects of Mn(II) on Fenton system to treat papermaking wastewater and the mechanism of Mn(II) enhanced Fenton reaction were investigated in this study. The chemical oxygen demand (COD) removal efficiency was enhanced in the presence of Mn(II), which increased by 19% compared with that of the Fenton system alone. The pseudo-first order reaction kinetic rate constant of Mn(II)/Fenton system was 2.11 times higher than that of Fenton system. 67%–81% COD were removed with the increasing Mn(II) concentration from 0 to 0.8 g/L. COD removal efficiency was also enhanced in a wider pH range (3–7), which indicated the operation parameters of Fenton technology could be broadened to a milder condition. The study of the mechanism showed that Mn(II) participated in the oxidation and coagulation stages in Fenton system. In the oxidation stage, Mn(II) promotes the production of HO2•/ O2•−, then HO2•/ O2•− reacts with Fe(III) to accelerate the formation of Fe(II), and finally accelerates the production of HO•. Meantime MnMnO3 and Fe(OH)3 forms in the coagulation stage, facilitating the removal of suspended substances and a large amount of COD, which enhances the overall COD removal of papermaking wastewater. This study provided a detailed mechanism to improve practical applications of Fenton technology.

Since the 1980s, the pulp and paper industry in Finland has resulted in the accumulation of fibres in lake sediments. One such site in Lake Näsijärvi contains approximately 1.5 million m3 sedimented fibres. In this study, the methane production potential of the sedimented fibres (on average 13% total solids (TS)) was determined in batch assays. Furthermore, the methane production from solid (on average 20% TS) and liquid fractions of sedimented fibres after solid-liquid separation was studied. The sedimented fibres resulted in fast methane production and high methane yields of 250 ± 80 L CH4/kg volatile solids (VS). The main part (ca. 90%) of the methane potential was obtained from the solid fraction of the sedimented fibres. In addition, the VS removal from the total and solid sedimented fibres was high, 61–65% and 63–78%, respectively. The liquid fraction also contained a large amount of organics (on average 8.8 g COD/L), treatment of which also has to be considered. The estimations of the methane production potentials in the case area showed potential up to 40 million m3 of methane from sedimented fibres. acceptedVersion

Sewage sludge/biosolids are by-wastes of municipal and industrial wastewater treatment. As sources of nutrients (C, N, P) they are widely used in intensive farming where large supplementation of organic matter to maintain fertility and enhance crop yields is needed. However, according to the report of European Commission published in 2010, only 39% of produced sewage sludge is recycled into agriculture in the European Union. This situation occurs mainly due to the fact, that the sewage sludge may contain a dangerous volume of different contaminants. For over decades, a great deal of attention has been focused on total concentration of few heavy metals and pathogenic bacteria Salmonella and Escherichia coli. The Sewage Sludge Directive (86/278/EEC) regulates the allowable limits of Zn, Cu, Ni, Pb, Cd, Cr and Hg and pathogens and allows for recovery of sludge on land under defined sanitary and environmentally sound conditions. In this paper, a review on quality of sewage sludge based on the publications after 2010 has been presented. Nowadays there are several papers focusing on new serious threats to human health and ecosystem occurring in sewage sludge – both chemicals (such as toxic trace elements – Se, Ag, Ti; nanoparticles; polyaromatic hydrocarbons; polychlorinated biphenyl; perfluorinated surfactants, polycyclic musks, siloxanes, pesticides, phenols, sweeteners, personal care products, pharmaceuticals, benzotriazoles) and biological traits (Legionella, Yersinia, Escherichia coli O157:H7)., Highlights • Sewage sludge contains organic and inorganic contaminants not regulated by law. • Total content of many compounds (heavy metals) is not a reliable indicator of toxicity. • Regular monitoring is crucial to limit a release of toxic substances to ecosystem.

Bisphenol A (BPA) was commonly used as color developer for thermal paper such as cash register receipts, labels or tickets. Therefore, thermal paper was considered by the European Food Safety Authority (EFSA) as the main source of human exposure to BPA beside epoxy based food contact materials. In this study, a German market analysis on the use of BPA and alternative color developers in thermal paper receipts is provided for the years 2015, 2016 and 2017.114 (2015), 98 (2016) and 99 (2017) samples were randomly collected and analyzed by HPLC-DAD. In summary, BPA was still the most frequently found color developer (48.2% in 2015, 46.9% in 2016 and 52.5% in 2017). The most commonly used alternative was the phenol-free substance Pergafast® 201 (34.2%, 33.7%, 40.4%). The bisphenol analogs bisphenol S (BPS; 11.4%, 9.2%, 6.1%) and D8 (6.1%, 7.1%, 1.0%) were less common. Another phenol-free substituent, a urea urethane compound (UU), was also detected (3.1% in 2016). Concentrations of color developers in thermal paper ranged from 1.4 to 32.4 mg/g (median values between 2.5 and 15.9 mg/g). Concentrations of BPA were found to be highest followed by BPS, UU, Pergafast® 201 and D8. In addition, two pharmacologically active substances, dapsone (6.0 mg/g) and tolbutamide (5.5 mg/g), were detected in a non-marketed thermal paper, that was supposed to use ascorbic acid as initial color developer. Different release experiments of the detected color developers were performed. Sensitizers 1,2-diphenoxy-ethane, 1-phenylmethoxy-naphthalene and diphenylsulfone, used frequently in the thermal paper processes, were quantified.

Chlorine bleaching technology (C process, CEH process, H process and theirs combination), which was identified as a primary formation source of PCDD/Fs, is still widely used by the vast majority of Chinese non-wood pulp and paper mills (non-wood PMs). The purpose of this study was to provide information and data support for further eliminating dioxin for non-wood PMs in China, and especially to evaluate the PCDD/Fs release reduction for those mills converting their pulp bleaching processes from CEH to ECF. The PCDD/Fs concentrations of the bleached pulp and bleaching wastewater with ECF bleaching were in the ranges of 0.13–0.8 ng TEQ kg −1 , and 0.15–1.9 pg TEQ L −1 , respectively, which were far lower than those with CEH process, indicating that the ECF process is an effective alternative bleaching technology to replace CEH in Chinese non-wood PMs to reduce dioxin release. The release factor via flue gas of the alkali recovery boiler in Chinese non-wood PMs was first reported to be 0.092 μg TEQ Ad t −1 in this study. On the assumption that pulp bleaching processes of all Chinese non-wood PMs were converted from CEH to ECF, the annual release of PCDD/Fs via the bleaching wastewater and bleached pulp would be reduced by 79.1%, with a total of 1.60 g TEQ.

This study deals with chemical oxygen demand (COD), phenol and Ca +2 removal from paper mill industry wastewater by electrocoagulation (EC) and electro-Fenton (EF) processes. A response surface methodology (RSM) approach was employed to evaluate the effects and interactions of the process variables and to optimize the performance of both processes. Significant quadratic polynomial models were obtained (R 2 = 0.959, R 2 = 0.993 and R 2 = 0.969 for COD, phenol and Ca +2 removal, respectively, for EC and R 2 = 0.936, R 2 = 0.934 and R 2 = 0.890 for COD, phenol and Ca +2 removal, respectively). Numerical optimization based on desirability function was employed; in a 27.55 min trial, 34.7% of COD removal was achieved at pH 9 and current density 96 mA/cm 2 for EC, whereas in a 30 min trial, 74.31% of COD removal was achieved at pH 2 and current density 96 mA/cm 2 and H 2 O 2 /COD molar ratio 2.0 for EF. The operating costs were calculated to be 6.44 €/m 3 for EC and 7.02 €/m 3 for EF depending on energy and electrode consumption at optimum conditions. The results indicate that the RSM is suitable for the design and optimization of both of the processes. However, EF process was a more effective technology for paper mill industry wastewater treatment as compared with EC.

Hydrophilic inks have been widely used due to higher printing speed, competitive cost and being healthy non-organic solvents. However, they cause problems in both product quality and process runnability due to their hydrophilic surface wettability, strong negative surface charge and sub-micron size. Electric treatment was shown to be able to increase the ink sizes from 60 nm to 700 nm through electrocoagulation and electrophoresis. In addition, electric treatment assisted flotation could reduce effective residual ink concentration (ERIC) by 90 ppm, compared with only 20 ppm by traditional flotation. Furthermore, the effect of electric treatment alone on ink separation was investigated by two anode materials, graphite and stainless steel. Both of them could remove hydrophilic inks with less than 1% yield loss via electroflotation and electrophoresis. But graphite is a better material as the anode because graphite reduced ERIC by an additional 100 ppm. The yield loss of flotation following electric treatment was also lower by 17% if graphite was the anode material. The difference between the two electrode materials resulted from electrocoagulation and ink redeposition during electric treatment. An electric pretreatment-flotation-hyperwashing process was conducted to understand the deinking performance in conditions similar to a paper mill, and the ERIC was reduced from 950 ppm to less than 400 ppm.

Thermal paper contains potentially toxic compounds such as bisphenol A (BPA), which is used as a color developer. BPA has been reported in thermal paper in concentrations up to 42,600 μg g−1. The exposure to BPA via dermal transfer has been recently discussed as a significant contribution to the overall human exposure and the estimated daily intake (EDI) has been reported up to 218 μg d−1. BPA has been also detected in recycled paper with concentrations up to 46 μg g−1. Due to the fact that BPA is a known endocrine disruptor and migrates from materials, regulatory restrictions have been established to prevent risks for the human health. As a consequence, structural analogues, such as bisphenol S (BPS) have been introduced into the market. Little is known about the presence and toxicity of these emerging replacements, and concern has risen about them. The present review gives an overview of the occurrence and levels of BPA and replacements in thermal paper. BPA is still the most common color developer found in thermal paper, followed by BPS. The analytical methods used for quantification of BPA and BPA replacements in paper products are also reviewed. BPA is transferred from thermal paper products to the finger pads upon handling it. Paper-skin transfer followed by penetration of BPA depends on conditions (e.g. greasiness of fingers and use of hand cream). It is, however, still debated whether thermal paper as a source for human exposure contributes significantly to the overall internal BPA exposure.

This paper reviews key advances in understanding the hydrodynamics of the forming section of papermaking during the years 1950 to 2000. Over this period papermaking advanced from rather slow-speed Fourdrinier machines to modern high-speed twin-wire formers. The advances are described in the context of technical problems faced at the time to increase machine speeds and improve paper properties. The scientific work and advances in machine design contributed greatly to the marvel of modern papermaking, which now includes machines 10 m wide operating at speeds over 100 km/h.

This study firstly investigated the species, concentration variation, and emission factors of mercury emitted from the burning of incenses and joss papers in an Asian temple. Both indoor and outdoor speciated mercury (GEM, GOM, and PHg) were sampled by manual samplers, while ambient GEM at an indoor site was in-situ monitored by a continuous GEM monitor. Field measurement results showed that the total atmospheric mercury (TAM) concentrations in indoor and outdoor environments were in the range of 8.03-35.72 and 6.03-31.35 ng/m3, respectively. The indoor and outdoor ratios (I/O) of TAM in the daytime and at nighttime were in the range of 0.64-0.90 and 1.50-2.04, respectively. The concentrations of GEM, GOM, and PHg during the holiday periods were approximately 1-4 times higher than those during the non-holiday periods. GEM was the dominant mercury species in the indoor and outdoor environments and accounted for 63-81% of TAM, while the oxidized mercury accounted for 19-37% of TAM. Burning incenses and joss papers in a combustion chamber showed that the concentration of GEM from joss paper burning ranged from 4.07 to 11.62 μg/m3, or about 13.97 times higher than that of incense burning, while the concentration of PHg from incense burning ranged from 95.91 to 135.07 ng/m3, or about 3.29 times higher than that of joss paper burning. The emission factors of incense burning were 10.39 ng/g of GEM and 1.40 ng/g of PHg, while those of joss paper burning were 12.65 ng/g of GEM and 1.27 ng/g of PHg, respectively. This study revealed that speciated mercury emitted from worship activities had significant influence on the indoor and outdoor mercury concentrations in an Asian temple. Higher intensity of worship activities during holidays resulted in a higher concentration of speciated mercury in indoor and outdoor air, which might cause health threats to worshipers, staffs, and surrounding inhabitants through long-term exposure.

The efficiency of combining iron sulfate and organic amendments (paper mill sludge, olive mill waste compost and olive tree pruning biochar) for the remediation of an As- and Cu-contaminated soil was evaluated. Changes in As and Cu fractionation and solubility due to the application of the amendments was explored by leachate analysis, single and sequential extractions. Also, the effects on Arrhenatherum elatius growth, germination of Lactuca sativa and toxicity to the bacteria Vibrio fischeri were assessed. The combination of iron sulfate and the organic amendments efficiently reduced As solubility and availability through the formation of amorphous iron oxides, while organic matter did not seem to mobilize As. At the same time, copper fractionation was strongly affected by soil pH and organic matter addition. The soil pH significantly influenced both As and Cu mobility. Within all the amendments tested, FeSO4 in combination with compost showed to be the most suitable treatment for the overall remediation process, as it reduced As and Cu availability andenhanced soil nutrient concentrations and plant growth. In sipte of contradictory trends between chemical analyses and ecotoxicity tests, we can still conclude that the application of organic amendments in combination with reactive iron salts is a suitable approach for the remediation of soils contaminated by Cu and As.

The potential growth of buffalo grass (Stenotaphrum secundatum) and couch grass (Cynodon dactylon) on artificial floating islands (AFIs) and their ability to remove total nitrogen (TN) and total phosphorus (TP) from a simulated paper mill wastewater was studied. This was done to assess the potential of AFIs for removal of nutrients from aerated stabilization basins (ASBs) that had occasional growth of blue-green algae (BGA) to bloom levels. Small scale AFIs were prepared using polyethylene foam and planted with the grasses in 30 L of tested water. Trials were conducted in a plastic covered greenhouse over a three-month period where temperatures ranged from 15 to 44 °C. The results showed that both buffalo and couch grasses can adapt to planting in AFIs showing increases of 125% and 148% in wet weight, respectively. Nutrient uptake by buffalo grass and couch grass were found to be similar. Percentage uptakes of TP and TN from the synthetic water by the buffalo grass were 82% and 47%, whereas by couch grass, uptakes were 83% and 45%, respectively.

International audience; The fabrication of a fully bio-sourced adsorbent of Cd(II) by covalent immobilization of quinine on cellulose paper is described. The double bond of commercially available quinine was converted to a terminal alkyne function which was reacted with cellulose paper, chemically modified with azide functions, through a 1,3-dipolar cycloaddition, leading to Cell-Quin. The adsorption efficiency of Cell-Quin was investigated to determine the optimal pH, contact time and dose of adsorbent, ultimately leading to high levels of removal. The mechanism of adsorption of Cell-Quin was deeply rationalized through kinetic experiments and isotherm modeling. We also showed that Cell-Quin could adsorb other heavy metals such as Cu(II), Pb(II), Ni(II) and Zn (II).

The wide occurrence of pharmaceuticals in aquatic environments urges the development of cost-effective solutions for their removal from water. In a circular economy context, primary paper mill sludge (PS) was used to produce activated carbon (AC) aiming the adsorptive removal of these contaminants. The use of low-cost precursors for the preparation of ACs capable of competing with commercial ACs continues to be a challenge. A full factorial design of four factors (pyrolysis temperature, residence time, precursor/activating agent ratio, and type of activating agent) at two levels was applied to the production of AC using PS as precursor. The responses analysed were the yield of production, percentage of adsorption for three pharmaceuticals (sulfamethoxazole, carbamazepine, and paroxetine), specific surface area (S ), and total organic carbon (TOC). Statistical analysis was performed to evaluate influencing factors in the responses and to determine the most favourable production conditions. Four ACs presented very good responses, namely on the adsorption of the pharmaceuticals under study (average adsorption percentage around 78%, which is above that of commercial AC), and S between 1389 and 1627 m g . A desirability analysis pointed out 800 °C for 60 min and a precursor/KOH ratio of 1:1 (w/w) as the optimal production conditions., This work was funded by FEDER through COMPETE 2020 and by national funds through FCT by the research project PTDC/AAG-TEC/ 1762/2014. Thanks are also due for the financial support to CESAM (UID/AMB/50017-POCI-01-0145-FEDER-007638), to FCT/MCTES through national funds (PIDDAC), and the co-funding by the FEDER, within the PT2020 Partnership Agreement and Compete 2020. The work was also developed within the scope of the project CICECO - Aveiro Institute of Materials, POCI-01-0145-FEDER-007679 (UID/ CTM/50011/2013), financed by national funds through the FCT/MEC. Vânia Calisto also thanks FCT for her postdoctoral grant (SFRH/BPD/ 78645/2011). Marta Otero and Sérgio Santos thank support by the FCT Investigator Program (IF/00314/2015 and IF/00973/2014, respectively).

Submitted by Vivian Rosa Storti (vivian.storti@unesp.br) on 2019-08-23T15:03:10Z No. of bitstreams: 1 fraceto_lf_preprint_soro_ecodesignedpaper.pdf: 1703375 bytes, checksum: 0750647a29c04919959a376041b2d4d3 (MD5) Approved for entry into archive by Luana Priscila Costa (luana@reitoria.unesp.br) on 2019-08-23T17:53:29Z (GMT) No. of bitstreams: 1 fraceto_lf_preprint_soro_ecodesignedpaper.pdf: 1703375 bytes, checksum: 0750647a29c04919959a376041b2d4d3 (MD5) Made available in DSpace on 2019-08-23T17:53:29Z (GMT). No. of bitstreams: 1 fraceto_lf_preprint_soro_ecodesignedpaper.pdf: 1703375 bytes, checksum: 0750647a29c04919959a376041b2d4d3 (MD5) Previous issue date: 2019-07 Fundação de Amparo à Pesquisa do Estado de São Paulo (FAPESP) In this study we reported the development of a paper-based algal biosensor for the optical detection of nanoencapsulated-atrazine, a forefront nanoformulated herbicide with a high effective postemergence herbicidal activity. In particular, the unicellular green photosynthetic algae Chlamydomonas reinhardtii was immobilised on a paper substrate soaked with an agar thin film and placed in a glass optical measurement cell, obtaining a totally environmental-friendly device. Nanoencapsulated-atrazine was detected by following the variable fluorescence (1-VJ) parameter, which decreased inversely proportional to the herbicide concentrations, in a range between 0.5 and 200 nM, indicating a linear relationship in the measured dose-response curves and a detection limit of 4 pM. Interference studies resulted in a very slight interference in presence of 0.5 ppm copper and 10 ppb arsenic at safety limits, as well as a slight matrix effect and a satisfactory recovery value of 96 ± 5 % for 75 nM nanoencapsulated-atrazine in tap water. Stability studies were also performed obtaining a good storage stability up to 3 weeks. Results demonstrated the suitability of the proposed paper-based optical biosensor as a valid support in smart agriculture for on site, environmentally friendly, cost effective and sensitive nanoencapsulated-atrazine analysis Preprint Institute of Crystallography, National Research Council, Department of Chemical Sciences and Materials Technologies Department of Chemical Science and Technologies, Università di Roma Tor Vergata São Paulo State University (UNESP), Institute of Science and Technology of Sorocaba, Laboratory of Environmental Nanotechnology FAPESP: 2017/21004-5

Libraries and archives house a majority of cultural heritage objects. The main purpose of libraries and archives is to provide suitable indoor climate conditions for preservation of their collection. In general, a large bulk of hygroscopic material is present which aids stable indoor climate conditions. Limited disturbances due to visitor presence occur in repositories and excludes to a large extent thermal comfort requirements. Library archives show potential of more tolerant setpoint control with permissible fluctuations. Little research is present into dynamic setpoint control and intermittent conditioning in libraries and archives. The aim of this study is to explore the possibility for intermittent conditioning and dynamic setpoint control on the energy impact and microclimate behavior in a library case study in The Netherlands. By means of a hygrothermal monitoring campaign from August 2016 to August 2017 the current indoor climate has been assessed under regular conditions and intervention periods (summer and winter) where the air handling unit was turned off. Both temporal and spatial measurements provided important information on microclimate behavior of the investigated repositories. A validated multi-zone model was used to investigate multiple setpoint strategies. Results show the potential of intermittent conditioning depending on whether dynamic setpoint conditions are used during operational hours (e.g. ASHRAE climate classes). If static conditions are applied, energy demand increases significantly, however, under dynamic setpoint control significant energy savings are possible. The lifetime multiplier is used to assess the chemical risks. The majority of investigated setpoint strategies show increased chemical risk.

Gelişen teknoloji ve artan nüfusla birlikte artan kâğıt/karton ihtiyacının karşılanması ve ormanların sürdürülebilirliği için atık kâğıtların geri dönüştürülmesi önem taşımaktadır. 1.kalite kâğıt atıklarının yeni kağıt üretiminde kaliteli bir hammadde olarak kullanılabilmesi için en önemli aşama mürekkep gidermedir. Bu çalışmada; baskılı 1.kalite kâğıt atıklarının geri dönüşümünde kimyasal, enzim, ultrasonik işlemden yararlanılarak mürekkep giderme çalışmaları yapılmıştır. Baskılı 1.Kalite kâğıt atıkları hamurlaştırılmış ve değişen dozlarda kimyasal (NaOH ve CaO) ve enzim (Amilaz ve Selülaz) kullanılarak yüzdürme (flotasyon) yöntemi ile mürekkep giderimi uygulanmıştır. Daha sonra bu hamurlardan kağıt üretilmiştir. Çalışılan herbir dozun geri dönüştürülmüş kağıt örneği üzerindeki etkisini belirleyebilmek için dörder tane numune üretilmiştir. Numunelerin mukavemet (yırtılma mukavemeti, patlama mukavemeti, kopma boyu mukavemeti) ve optik (CIE Whiteness, ISO Whiteness, ISO Brightness, Opasite) testleri yapılmıştır. Elde edilen sonuçlar, hiçbir kimyasal/enzim dozlanmadan aynı işlemlerin uygulanmasıyla elde edilen kontrol numunesi değerleri ve 1.kalite kâğıt değerleriyle karşılaştırılmıştır. NaOH ve CaO kullanılarak mürekkep giderme yapılan kağıtların beyazlık değerleri 1.kalite kâğıt değerinin altında kalmış ancak daha yüksek mukavemet görülmüştür. Amilaz enziminin beyazlatma işleminde ve geri dönüşüm kağıt kalitesinde daha üstün başarı sağladığı ortaya konmuştur. 870 mg/L amilaz dozunda CIE Whiteness 147,78, ISO Whiteness 102,56, ISO Brightness 92,40 ve Opasite 91,53 düzeyinde elde edilmiş olup bu değerler 1.Hamur 1.kalite kâğıt beyazlık değerlerini (sırasıyla 145, 100, min.87 ve min.86) sağlamıştır. Enzimin kimyasal ile veya ultrasonik işlem ile birlikte uygulamasının başarıyı arttırmadığı gözlenmiştir. Flotasyon işlemi sonucu açığa çıkan atık suların arıtım gerektirecek nitelikte olduğu belirlenmiştir. Diğer taraftan yapılan maliyet değerlendirmesi sonucunda 1.kalite hamur kâğıt atıklarından enzim kullanılarak yapılan mürekkep giderimi sonrasında elde edilen hamurun 1.kalite kâğıt üretiminde yeni selüloz ile karıştırılarak kullanılabileceği belirlenmiştir.Anahtar Kelimeler: Mürekkep giderme, Flotasyon, Enzim, CIE Beyazlığı, ISO Beyazlığı, ISO Parlaklığı, Kâğıt, Kopma boyu mukavemeti, Patlama mukavemeti, Yırtılma mukavemeti With the developing technology and increasing population, it is important to meet the increasing paper / cardboard needs and to recycle waste paper for the sustainability of forests. The most important step for using 1st quality paper wastes as a raw material in recycled paper production is ink removal. In this study; in the recycling of printed 1st quality paper wastes, chemical, enzymatic and ultrasonic processes were used. Printed 1st quality paper wastes were pulped and ink was removed by flotation method using chemicals (NaOH and CaO) and enzymes (Amylase and Cellulase) at varying doses. Paper was then produced from these pulps. Four samples were produced to determine the effect of each dose on the recycled paper sample. The strength (tear strength, burst strength, tensile strength) and optical (CIE Whiteness, ISO Whiteness, ISO Brightness, Opacity) tests were performed. The results obtained were compared with the 1st quality paper values and the control sample values obtained by applying the same processes without any chemical/enzyme dosing. The whiteness values of the papers which were de-inked using NaOH and CaO remained below the 1st quality paper value but higher strength was observed. It has been shown that amylase enzyme provides superior success in deinking process and recycling paper quality. At a dose of 870 mg/L amylase, CIE Whiteness 147.78, ISO Whiteness 102.56, ISO Brightness 92.40, and Opacity 91.53 were obtained, and these values were found to be satisfying the 1st pulp - 1st quality paper whiteness values (145, 100, min.87 and min.86, respectively). It has been observed that the application of the enzyme together with chemical or ultrasonic treatment does not increase the success. It has been determined that the wastewater released as a result of the flotation process is of a nature requiring treatment. On the other hand, as a result of the property evaluation, it was determined that the pulp obtained after the removal of ink from the first quality paper waste by using the enzyme can be mixed with new cellulose in the production of first quality paper.Keywords: Deinking, Flotation, Enzyme, CIE whiteness, ISO whiteness, ISO brightness, Paper, Breaking strength, Bursting strength, Tear strength 74

The pulp and paper industry is highly dependent on forest and water resources. It has more concerns on fair utilization of these resources and their conservation for its further expansion. Present study emphasizes on the use of rice straw (agro waste) in papermaking to protect wood based resources. It further deals with ozone bleaching (Z) prior to elemental chlorine free bleaching that proved to be significant in terms of reducing the effluent load specially the reduction in toxic, recalcitrant and carcinogenic compounds. Z based sequences resulted in pulp brightness of ∼85% that was 3.6% higher than the elemental chlorine free bleaching. Bleached pulps of Z based sequences were found to be having better strength properties than elemental chlorine based sequence and thus may be adopted as improved bleaching technology. The analysis of handsheets prepared after pulp bleaching was performed using X-Ray diffraction, ATR-FTIR and SEM. Incorporating ozone stage resulted in marked reduction of 58% and 63% in total solids in bleaching wastewater. Reduction of more than 80% in BOD, COD and adsorbable organic halides was achieved in Z based bleaching in comparison to chlorine bleaching. The amount of chlorophenols, guaiacols, catechols, vanillins and syringols became negligible (approx. 90% reduction) in effluents of Z based bleaching sequences. The chlorine dioxide followed by peroxide bleaching after Z stage was found to be the most promising to reduce the effluent load.

Refining is the major process of paper formation. This study focuses on the impact of a specific enzyme (Paenibacillus cellulase) for fibers on the surfaces, the roughness and height of the fibers are also investigated. Effects of enzyme dosages and the mechanical refining action (PFI revolution) on fiber physical properties were also analyzed. The fibers were observed by scanning electron microscopy (SEM), their roughness and height were analyzed by Atomic force microscopy (AFM). Results show that the Paenibacillus cellulase pretreatment increased the drainability of both kinds of pulp at the same level of refining energy. In other words, enzymatic treatment on pulp refining consumed less refining revolutions to reach the same drainability compared to the untreated pulp. Although the viscosity of both kinds of pulp was degraded with the enzymatic treatment, the physical properties of paper had no significantly negative influence on them. The results indicated the treatment with cellulase swelled the fibers in the absence of refining, and there were better fibrillation on the fibers treated with cellulase after refining. Furthermore, the statistical analysis of AFM suggested that both kinds of pulp treated with low cellulase dosage with PFI refining had higher roughness.

Pulp and paper mill sludge is a waste stream derived from the pulp and paper making industry, comprised of organic and inorganic material in the form of cellulose, hemicellulose, lignin and ash. In South Africa, approximately fivefour hundred thousand wet tonnes are produced per annum and is currently disposed via landfilling or incineration. However, these disposal methods raise environmental and financial concerns. This waste stream is an attractive feedstock for fermentable sugars, mainly glucose, recovery and can be redirected for valorisation as a feedstock for microbial fermentation to produce value-added products. Sugar recovery by enzymatic hydrolysis, as opposed to acidic hydrolysis, is a promising approach but is hampered by the lignin and inorganic material found in pulp and paper mill sludge. Several treatment steps to reduce or remove these components prior to enzymatic hydrolysis are assessed in this review. Pretreatment improves hydrolysis of cellulosic fibres and ensures a substantial yield of sugars.

Stigmasterol is a phytosterol contained in Kraft mill effluent that is able to increase over 100% after aerobic biological treatment. This compound can act as an endocrine disrupter as its structure is similar to that of cholesterol. The aim of this study was to evaluate the removal of stigmasterol from Kraft mill effluents treated by a moving bed biofilm reactor (MBBR) with steroidal metabolite detection. The MBBR was operated for 145 days, with a hydraulic retention time of 2 days. Stigmasterol and steroidal metabolites were detected by gas chromatography with a flame ionization detector during MBBR operation. The results show that the MBBR removed 87.4% of biological oxygen demand (BOD5), 61.5% of chemical oxygen demand (COD), 24.5% of phenol and 31.5% of lignin, expressed in average values. The MBBR system successfully removed 100% of the stigmasterol contained in the influent (33 µg L(-1)) after 5 weeks of operation. In that case, the organic load rate was 0.343 kg COD m(-3) d(-1). Furthermore, different steroidal compounds (e.g., testosterone propionate, stigmast-4-en-3-one, 5α-pregnan-12-one-20α-hydroxy, 5α-pregnane-3,11,20-trione and 3α-hydroxy-5α-androstane-11,17-dione were detected in the Kraft mill effluent as potential products of phytosterol biotransformation.

Management of municipal solid waste is an efficient method to increase resource efficiency, as well as to replace fossil fuels with renewable energy sources due to that (1) waste to a large extent is renewable as it consists of food waste, paper, wood etc. and (2) when energy and materials are recovered from waste treatment, fossil fuels can be substituted. In this paper results from a comprehensive system study of future biological treatment of readily degradable waste in two Swedish regions are presented. Different collection and separation systems for food waste in households have been applied as well as technical improvements of the biogas process as to reduce environmental impact. The results show that central sorting of a mixed fraction into recyclables, combustibles, biowaste and inert is a competitive option compared to source separation. Use of pellets is beneficial compared to direct spreading as fertiliser. Fuel pellets seem to be the most favourable option, which to a large extent depends on the circumstances in the energy system. Separation and utilisation of nitrogen in the wet part of the digestion residue is made possible with a number of technologies which decreases environmental impact drastically, however to a substantial cost in some cases.

Chemosensors have attracted increasing attention for their usefulness on-site detection and monitoring. In this study, we elucidated a novel, facile, and highly selective Chemo-Paper-Sensor (CPS) for detection and monitoring of strontium (Sr(2+)) ions, which means a potent colorimetric sensor based on a Chrysoidine G (CG)-coated paper strip. The CPS for highly selective colorimetric detection of strontium ion was handily analyzed to determine the red-green-blue (RGB) value using portable devices such as desktop digital scanner and mobile phone camera, quantitatively. Interestingly, an orange to dark orange color transition was observed when the aqueous and solid paper colorimetric sensor was introduced to Sr(2+) ion, respectively. It was demonstrated that the value of the signal has a linear relationship with concentrations of the strontium in the 500 ppm to 100 ppb range with a detection limit of 200 ppb. We believe that a newly developed Chemo-Paper-Sensor will be useful in a wide range of sensing applications.

The total emission control target of water pollutants (e.g., COD and NH 4 –N) for a certain industrial sector can be predicted and analysed using the popular technology-based bottom-up modelling. However, this methodology has obvious uncertainty regarding the attainment of mitigation targets. The primary uncertainty comes from macro-production, pollutant reduction roadmap, and technical parameters. This research takes the paper and pulp industry in China as an example, and builds 5 mitigation scenarios via different combinations of raw material structure, scale structure, procedure mitigation technology, and end-of-pipe treatment technology. Using the methodology of uncertainty analysis via Monte Carlo, random sampling was conducted over a hundred thousand times. According to key parameters, sensitive parameters that impact total emission control targets such as industrial output, technique structure, cleaner production technology, and end-of-pipe treatment technology are discussed in this article. It appears that scenario uncertainty has a larger influence on COD emission than NH 4 –N, hence it is recommended that a looser total emission control target for COD is necessary to increase its feasibility and availability while maintaining the status quo of NH 4 –N. Consequently, from uncertainty analysis, this research recognizes the sensitive products, techniques, and technologies affecting industrial water pollution.

The interactions between earthworms and microorganisms activity has prompted several researchers to evaluate the potential of artificially inoculating vermicomposts with additional specific microbes, with the intention of enhancing the vermicomposting process. This study evaluated the potential of inoculating fly ash (F)-cow dung-paper waste (CP) mixture (F-CP) with a specialized microbial cocktail called Effective micro-organisms (EM) during vermicomposting using Eisenia fetida earthworms. Inoculation with EM alone did not result in significantly (P>0.05) different changes in C/N ratio and dissolved organic matter (DOC) compared to the control with no EM and E. fetida. A significant interaction between EM and E. fetida presence resulted in greater changes in C/N ratio and DOC, which were not statistically different from the E. fetida alone treatment. It was also noteworthy that the activity of s-Glucosidase was not influenced by the presence of EM, but was significantly influenced (P=0.0014) by the presence of E. fetida. However, the EM+E. fetida treatment resulted in a rate of weekly Olsen P release of 54.32mgkg(-1) which was 12.3%, 89.2% and 228.0% more that the E. fetida alone, EM alone and control treatments, respectively. Similarly, though higher in the E. fetida plus EM treatment, the phosphate solubilizing bacteria counts were not significantly different (P>0.05) from the E. fetida alone treatment. It is concluded that inoculation of F-CP composts with EM alone may not be beneficial, while combining EM with E. fetida results in faster compost maturity and significantly greater Olsen P release. It would be interesting to evaluate higher optimized rates of EM inoculation and fortifying EM cocktails with phosphate solubilizing bacteria (PSB) on F-CP vermicompost degradation and phosphorus mineralization.

Mixed sludge from a pulp and paper mill was hydrothermally carbonized at 180–260 °C for 0.5–5 h with the use of HCl or NaOH for determining the effect of acid and base additions during sludge carbonization. Based on the results carbonization was mainly governed by dehydration, depolymerization and decarboxylation of sludge components. Additive type had a statistically significant effect on hydrochar carbon content and carbon and energy yield, of which especially energy yield increased through the use of HCl. The theoretical energy efficiencies of carbonization increased with decreasing reaction temperature, retention time and the use of HCl and suggested that the energy requirement could be covered by the energy content of attained hydrochar. The BOD5/COD-ratios of analyzed liquid samples indicated that the dissolved organic components could be treated by conventional biological methods.

In this study we investigated the technical feasibility of convert paper mill sludge into fuel ethanol. This involved the removal of mineral fillers by using either chemical pretreatment or mechanical fractionation to determine their effects on cellulose hydrolysis and fermentation to ethanol. In addition, we studied the effect of cationic polyelectrolyte (as accelerant) addition and hydrogen peroxide pretreatment on enzymatic hydrolysis and fermentation. We present results showing that removing the fillers content (ash and calcium carbonate) from the paper mill sludge increases the enzymatic hydrolysis performance dramatically with higher cellulose conversion at faster rates. The addition of accelerant and hydrogen peroxide pretreatment further improved the hydrolysis yields by 16% and 25% (g glucose / g cellulose), respectively with the de-ashed sludge. The fermentation process of produced sugars achieved up to 95% of the maximum theoretical ethanol yield and higher ethanol productivities within 9h of fermentation.

Biomaterials and new processes (3D printing and flexible hybrid electronics) offer opportunities to break free from a 2D paper world by allowing for the development of smart multi-dimensional structures. While there has been recent progress reported in each of these areas of technology, to date, the merger of these technologies has been very limited. We believe that their merger offers boundless opportunities and an opportunity for the paper industry to innovate a low cost, sustainable housing solution capable of promoting the well-being of its occupants while minimizing the environmental impact of its daily use.

Bisphenol A (BPA) is widely used in industrial products. Due to the toxicity of this compound, and to comply with restrictions and regulations, manufacturers have progressively replaced it by substitutes. One of the main substitutes used is bisphenol S (BPS). Despite increasing use in many products, the effects of BPS on human health have been little investigated, and studies on percutaneous BPS absorption and particularly toxicokinetic data are lacking. However, the endocrine-disrupting activity of BPA and BPS appears comparable. Dermal contact is a significant source of occupational exposure and is the main route during handling of bisphenol-containing receipts by cashiers. Here, percutaneous BPS absorption was investigated and compared to that of BPA. Experiments were performed according to OECD guidelines. Test compounds dissolved in a vehicle - acetone, artificial sebum or water – were applied in vitro to fresh human skin samples in static Franz diffusion cells. Flux, cumulative absorbed dose and distribution of dose recovered were measured. BPA absorption was vehicle-dependent ranging from 3% with sebum to 41% with water. BPS absorption was much lower than BPA absorption whatever the vehicle tested (less than 1% of applied dose). However, depending on the vehicle 20% to 47% of the applied BPS dose remained in the skin, and was consequently potentially absorbable. Both BPA and BPS were mainly absorbed without biotransformation. Taken together, these results indicate that workers may be exposed to BPS through skin when handling products containing it. This exposure is of concern as its toxicity is currently incompletely understood.

The article reviews the transition from bleaching kraft pulp with elemental chlorine to bleaching with chlorine dioxide with respect to formation of chlorinated dioxins and furans (PCDD/Fs). New data is also presented for bleaching with 100% chlorine dioxide and the effect of elemental chlorine impurities. The typical fingerprint of PCDD/Fs in pulp bleached with elemental chlorine was unique compared to all other sources such as incineration and metallurgic processes. 2,3,7,8-TCDD and 2,3,7,8-TCDF were the dominating congeners formed during the period pulp was bleached with elemental chlorine. Elimination of unchlorinated precursors lowered, but did not eliminate, the formation of 2,3,7,8-TCDD and 2,3,7,8-TCDF. The formation of 2,3,7,8-TCDD and 2,3,7,8-TCDF increases exponentially with the amount of elemental chlorine used. Replacing elemental chlorine with chlorine dioxide (with levels of elemental chlorine contamination of

This study presents dark fermentative hydrogen gas production from acid hydrolysed waste paper towel hydrolysate. Firstly, Box-Behnken statistical experiment design was used to investigate glucose production from waste paper towel by acid hydrolysis. S/L ratio, hydrolysis time and pH were chosen as independent variables while glucose concentration in the hydrolysate was the objective function. Highest glucose concentration of 32.17 g/L was obtained at S/L ratio of 100 g/L, pH 0 (gauge pH) and 180 min hydrolysis time. All variables were found to have significant effect on glucose formation. Glucose concentration increased by increasing the S/L ratio and hydrolysis time, but decreased by increasing the pH. Secondly, the hydrolysate obtained at most convenient hydrolysis conditions was subjected to lime putty treatment for the removal of 5-HMF and SO4 2-. Thirdly, H2 gas was produced from the detoxified hydrolysate by dark fermentation. Maximum H2 formation yield, rate and H2 percentage in the gas phase were 1.02 mol H2/mol glucoseconsumed, 130.22 mL H2/g biomass.h and 43%, respectively. The remaining 5-HMF after lime treatment was effectively removed in dark fermentation. © 2017, Springer Science+Business Media Dordrecht.

Waterborne microbial pathogen detection via nucleic acid analysis on portable microfluidic devices is a growing area of research, development, and application. Traditional polymerase chain reaction (PCR)-based nucleic acid analysis detects total extracted DNA, but cannot differentiate live and dead cells. A propidium monoazide (PMA) pretreatment step before PCR can effectively exclude DNA from nonviable cells, as PMA can selectively diffuse through compromised cell membranes and intercalate with DNA to form DNA–PMA complex upon light exposure. The complex strongly inhibits the amplification of the bound DNA in PCR, and thus, only cells with intact cell membranes are detected. Herein, this study reports the development of a microfluidic device to carry out PMA pretreatment ‘on-chip’. Chip design was guided by computer simu-lations, and prototypes were fabricated using a high-resolution 3D printer. The optimized design utilizes split and recombine mixers for initial PMA-sample mixing and a serpentine flow channel containing her-ringbone structures for dark and light incubation. On-chip PMA pretreatment to differentiate live and dead bacterial cells in buffer and natural pond water samples was successfully demonstrated.