The present study employs the Taguchi statistical design for optimizing the photodegradation process of low-density polyethylene (LDPE) films by varying five significant parameters i.e., catalyst loading (%), exposure time (in days), pH, size of the films (cm x cm), and temperature (℃), simultaneously to determine the maximum photodegradation on LDPE. The physiochemical, morphological, and molecular structural changes were observed in all-nanocomposite (LDPE and catalyst samples) before and after degradation. One way-ANOVA (Analysis of Variance) results demonstrated that catalyst loading, and exposure time were the most influential factors and contributed 65 % and 25 %, respectively to determine the degradation rate. Further, a kinetic study was performed to determine the photo-degradation rate, and it follows first-order photo-kinetics model. The maximum photodegradation was observed for that LDPE sample that was loaded with 12 % catalyst with a pH of 6 at 45°C that was exposed to the UV light for 10 days in a photoreactor, it degraded most efficiently with a weight loss of 16.25 %. Additionally, recyclability studies confirmed that stability and reusability of TiO2 as a photocatalyst for carrying out degradation experiments upto three consecutive cycles. Moreover, there is a high co-relation between predicted and experimental data with R2> 0.96, which demonstrates the effectiveness of the prediction with the maximum degradation of LDPE film. © 2025 The Authors

Organic waste upsurges with rapid urbanization and incessant population growth. To restrain this trend and lessen environmental impacts, sustainable management of food waste imposes an ambitious target of resource recovery and mitigating greenhouse gas emissions. This study quantifies environmental impacts and socio-economic benefits of municipal solid waste (MSW) management as a proof-of-concept case study for the Lima, Peru. Economic feasibility and life cycle assessment studies were used to compare the efficiency of segregated organic waste for scenarios such as landfilling and composting. Resource recovery, GHG emissions, and revenues are assessed to decide the environmental contour and downstream strategies. It was found that composting has less environmental impact in 11 out of 12 life cycle impact categories (ReCiPe method) during collection, processing, and distribution of 1 ton of waste as functional unit. Composting resulted in 40% less climate impact with global warming potential (GWP) of 476.20 kg CO2eq whereas landfilling showed 785.81 kg CO2eq GWP. Additionally, organic waste to compost conversion rate of 13%, can bring positive upshots to economy and society. This study is instrumental in MSW management, decision-making, and mitigate climate change in line with United Nations Sustainable Development Goals (UN-SDGs) for sustainable society. © 2025 Informa UK Limited, trading as Taylor & Francis Group.

Elevated fluoride (F⁻) levels in groundwater, primarily due to geogenic processes, pose significant health risks, including dental and skeletal fluorosis and neurological disorders. This study aimed to quantify source-dependent F⁻ exposure at the community level in selected tropical dry regions of Andhra Pradesh, India. These locations include Chintal Cheruvu, Rompicharala, Shantamangalur, Thimmapur, and Nadendla. Community surveys and drinking water sample analyses were conducted in these regions. Dental Fluorosis Index (DFI) was used to estimate exposure levels across age and sex groups. Findings of surveys indicate that groundwater consumption with high F⁻ (4.3 mg/L) results in the highest exposure dose (0.62 mg/kg/day), with Chintal Cheruvu identified as the most affected. A strong positive correlation was observed between exposure dose, water F⁻ content, and the Community Fluorosis Index (CFI), with R² values of 0.98 and 0.97, respectively. Dental fluorosis prevalence exceeded 80% across all age groups, and household surveys revealed 100% unawareness of F⁻ exposure risks. Though there exist many ways to determine the impact of fluoride, the hierarchy of regions may change with the type of parameter chosen. To address this, we developed the Fluoride Impact Index (FII), a multi-criteria index computed considering various parameters indicating the impact of fluoride in a region. The magnitude of FII for Chintal Cheruvu is 0.563 which is highest among the considered regions indicating that it is most impacted region that needs remedial measures first in the hierarchy. Rompicharala with FII as 0.252, Nadendla (0.223), Shantamangalur (0.214), and Thimmapur (0.188) follows the hierarchy. These findings highlight the urgent need to raise awareness about F⁻ exposure risks and to identify sustainable alternative water sources. Immediate interventions, including human health risk assessments using the USEPA approach and the provision of safe drinking water, are critical to achieving SDG-6 of safe drinking water for all by 2030. © 2024

Microplastics (MPs) are identified ubiquitously in various environmental compartments ranging from marine, freshwaters, sediments and terrestrial ecosystems including biotic components. Due to its smaller size (<5 mm), poor capture rate, and challenges in environmental removal, MPs contamination is a serious problem for the entire world. In the past decade, numerous techniques have been developed and put to use in order to track and measure MPs, identify the type of polymer, and characterise the particle’s shape, size and colour. The chapter provides an overview on the separation, identification and quantification procedures in MP analysis, with emphasis on potential ways ahead and remaining challenges. The analytical protocol largely varies with nature of MPs, its abundance and the type of environment sample. Additionally, advanced quantification techniques such as Pyrolysis coupled with Gas Chromatography-Mass Spectrometry (Py-GC-MS) and AI supported automated image analysis have been discussed. Therefore, standardization of MPs analytical techniques on the basis of the research aim will aid in obtaining a more comprehensive picture. © 2024 American Chemical Society.

In recent times, perovskite oxides have recognized to be an ideal alternative to platinum-based oxygen reduction reaction (ORR) electrocatalysts due to their excellent stability, cost-effectiveness, and tailorable properties. Herein, an ABO3 type LaFeO3 perovskite was doped at its B-site to form electrochemically active LaFeB′O6 (B′=Cr, Zn, Co) by one-pot hydrothermal synthesis process. Due to the synergistic effects of increased surface area and electrochemically active sites, Cr-doped LaFeO3 largely improves the mass transfer kinetics for ORR in both conditions, alkaline (0.1 M KOH) and acidic (0.5 M H2SO4) with a positive onset Eon of 0.80 and 0.81 V (vs Ag/AgCl). Similarly, a half-wave (E1/2) potential of 0.68 and 0.63 V (vs Ag/AgCl), which was comparable to the commercial 20 % Pt/C. Moreover, the La-based perovskites were able to catalyze ORR with an electron transfer number (n)>3.6 signifying the superior 4-electron pathway. Doped and undoped LaFeO3 exhibited remarkable stability in the chronoamperometry studies with a relative current of 92–95 % sustained over 8 h. Additionally, the La-based electrocatalysts was unaffected by the crossover effect of methanol in both acidic and basic conditions, contrary to the commercial 20 % Pt/C. The present work serves as a useful strategy to maximize the efficiency and reliability in perovskites for energy-related electrocatalytic applications and for alternative fuel generation. © 2024 Wiley-VCH GmbH.

Emerging organic contaminants present in the environment can be biodegraded in anodic biofilms of microbial fuel cells (MFCs). However, there is a notable gap existing in deducing the degradation mechanism, intermediate products, and the microbial communities involved in degradation of broad-spectrum antibiotic such as triclosan (TCS). Herein, the possible degradation of TCS is explored using TCS acclimatized biofilms in MFCs. 95% of 5 mgL−1 TCS are been biodegraded within 84 h with a chemical oxygen demand (COD) reduction of 62% in an acclimatized-MFC (A-MFC). The degradation of TCS resulted in 8 intermediate products including 2,4 -dichlorophenol which gets further mineralized within the system. Concurrently, the 16S rRNA V3–V4 sequencing revealed that there is a large shift in microbial communities after TCS acclimatization and MFC operation. Moreover, 30 dominant bacterial species (relative intensity >1%) are identified in the biofilm in which Sulfuricurvum kujiense, Halomonas phosphatis, Proteiniphilum acetatigens, and Azoarcus indigens significantly contribute to dihydroxylation, ring cleavage and dechlorination of TCS. Additionally, the MFC was able to produce 818 ± 20 mV voltage output with a maximum power density of 766.44 mWm−2. The antibacterial activity tests revealed that the biotoxicity of TCS drastically reduced in the MFC effluent, signifying the non-toxic nature of the degraded products. Hence, this work provides a proof−of−concept strategy for sustainable mitigation of TCS in wastewaters with enhanced bioelectricity generation. © 2024 Elsevier Ltd

Perovskite oxides, particularly LaFeO3 (LFO), have gained significant attention due to their diverse applications in catalysis, energy storage, solar cells, and environmental remediation. However, the environmental impacts associated with their production remain largely unexplored. The present study demonstrates a comprehensive life cycle assessment (LCA) of experimentally synthesized LFO nanoparticles (NPs) by a hydrothermal method against 7 mainstream synthesis routes, focusing on their environmental and resource implications. The mass and specific surface area were kept as functional units in the cradle-to-gate LCA study that utilizes TRACI midpoint and ReCiPe end point methods to quantify the environmental impacts associated with LFO NPs synthesis routes and precursors. Key environmental indicators such as greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions, cumulative energy demand (CED), and health impacts are assessed using LCA methodologies. Furthermore, sensitivity analysis is conducted to identify critical factors influencing LCA and to prioritize areas for improvement in synthesis chemistry. It is revealed that green synthesis produced the highest environmental impact, with a global warming (GW) potential of 33.52 kg of CO2eq and ecotoxicity (ET) of 30.32 CTUe for 1 kg of LFO NPs. However, microwave, sonication and hydrothermal synthesis produced 38-52% less environmental impact compared to green synthesis. The experimental lab-scale inventory data and LCA analysis fill in the existing data gaps and aid future studies on the sustainable synthesis of LFO NPs and other ABO3 type perovskites for industrial settings. © 2024 American Chemical Society

Plastics have become one of the most integral parts of our day-to-day lives; however, after use, plastic waste accumulates on land and in water bodies, which wreaks havoc in the environment by releasing toxic gases. As the usage of plastic increases, it will result in the depletion of natural resources and greater difficulties in managing plastic waste. Accordingly, in this chapter, we focus on various types of resources, such as fuel, gas, energy, and electricity, which are recovered from plastic waste through different waste management technologies such as primary, secondary, tertiary, and quaternary recycling. This chapter is set forth by critically evaluating different types of plastic waste technologies, the products, and their byproducts formed during tertiary treatment. Material and resource recovery of different types of waste plastics through gasification and pyrolysis offers significant environmental benefits by promoting resource extraction and reducing the associated environmental impacts linked to the extraction process. © 2025 World Scientific Publishing Company. All rights reserved.

The manufacturing of recyclable products and an efficient recovery of resources such as chemicals, materials, and energy from waste streams are the key enablers of the circular economy. This book highlights the efficient management of waste into resources through the introduction of advanced technology able to convert waste into a secondary resource. It describes different technologies and urban mining tools used to recover materials from different types of waste. It also emphasizes that natural materials are limited though demand for the materials continues to increase, and how that demand can be sustainably fulfilled by secondary resources materials that come from urban mining. © 2025 World Scientific Publishing Company. All rights reserved.

The recoveryRecovery of heavy metals from municipal solid wasteMunicipal solid wasteincinerated fly ashIncinerated fly ash (MSW-IFA) before its final disposal is highly desirable for sustainableSustainable waste management and resource recoveryRecovery. RecyclingRecycling of zinc via leaching-solvent extractionSolvent extraction techniques has been studied, therefore yielding > 90% efficiency of zinc dissolution at a H2SO4 concentration of 1.5 mol/L, a temperature of 90 °C, a S/L ratio of 150 g/L, a time of 2 h, and a stirring speed of 300 rpm. Further, zinc was efficiently extracted using 0.6 mol/L D2EHPAD2EHPA at an equilibrium pH of 2.0 and an organic-to-aqueous phase ratio of 1. Finally, the highly pure zinc solution could be quantitatively stripped in a solution containing 1.5 mol/L H2SO4. This could lead to a circular economy of zinc with MSW-IFA as a possible secondary source. © The Minerals, Metals & Materials Society 2024.

The present study demonstrates the accelerated rate of photo-degradation in low-density polyethylene (LDPE) films using nanomaterials like titanium dioxide (TiO2) in a photochemical reactor, an efficient, environmentally benign, and sustainable chemical. The effect of various parameters such as source of light, catalyst loading, pH, and temperature was investigated to achieve maximum degradation on a laboratory scale. The surface morphology with molecular and chemical structure changes in the nanocomposite films was monitored before and after degradation using various analytical techniques. It is found that the degradation reaction rate is greatly affected by pH and temperature and follows the first-order photo-thermal kinetics reactions. The calculated activation energies for the different properties range from 77.6 kJ/mol for carbonyl group formation to 55 kJ/mol for vinyl group formation at an optimum pH of 4 and temperature of 30 °C, respectively. The optimized sample's storage modulus (Esm) increased from 17.76 to 210 MPa, demonstrating the loss of tensile strength after irradiation and increased elasticity. Thus, it clearly demonstrated that the LDPE sample loaded with 12% catalyst and exposed to 288 h at pH 4 and 30 °C temperature degraded most efficiently with 6.25% weight loss. In addition, there is a high correlation between the area of degradation and carbonyl index with R2 > 0.96, which helps in validating the fact that during the degradation process, there is volatilization of degradation products that leads to the formation of 0.523 mm (in length) of holes (microscopic analysis). This study brings new insights into reducing plastic pollution by minimizing waste prevention and generation at the source by promoting the usage of intermediates (formed during degradation) as a secondary material for producing new plastic products. © 2023 Elsevier B.V.

This book delves into the anthropogenic activities responsible for environmental hazards, their compensation, and potential mitigation strategies. It sheds light on the major contributors to the climate change issues aggravated by non-sustainable practices for the overexploitation of natural resources. Critical topics such as high emissions in primary mining, the recovery of energy-critical metals by urban mining, solid waste management, and forest conservation are explored, offering insights into the urgent challenges we face. Amidst the rapid demand for resources and the expansion of human habitats, the book emphasizes the need for new approaches to natural resource management and introspection of our actions. Experts in the field discuss existing anthropogenic environmental hazards in detail, alongside environmental compensation, and effective mitigation approaches. The book begins with a chapter dedicated to risk assessment in primary mining activities for precious metals, proposing potential routes for mitigation. Chapter 2 focuses on assessing and mitigating the environmental footprints of energy-critical metals used in permanent magnets. In Chapter 3, a case study examines sustainable resource utilization through end-of-life room air conditioner recycling. Additional chapters provide critical insights into: The environmental impacts of e-waste and government policies for responsible management Hazards associated with industrial effluents and corresponding mitigation strategies The role of roadside plants in phytoremediation of heavy metal pollution Sustainable utilization of anthropogenic coal fly ash through mechanical and chemical activation Environmental damages resulting from the mismanagement of municipal solid waste Environmental problems and remediation strategies for anthropogenic biomass waste Challenges in sustainable municipal solid waste management and suggestionsfor environmental risk mitigation The book concludes with a chapter discussing collaborative governance and non-monetary compensation mechanisms for sustainable forest management. Given its breadth, this book serves as an indispensable resource for researchers, policymakers, and environmental professionals seeking sustainable approaches to tackle pressing environmental challenges. © The Editor(s) (if applicable) and The Author(s), under exclusive license to Springer Nature Switzerland AG 2023.

Human activities inevitably results in waste. Generated Municipal solid waste (MSW) simply collected and dumped which causes environmental problems and health hazards. Refuse Derived Fuel (RDF) - A bio-fuel obtained from dry residue of waste. Conversion of MSW to RDF substitutes fossil fuels, reduces burden of land filling, reduction in emission, volume reduction of MSW, hygiene etc. Waste to Energy (WtE) plant evaluated by plant visit, data collection, sample collection and literature review. Detailed analysis has been carried out of MSW, RDF, Fly Ash, Bottom Ash and stack emission sample. MSW processed by mechanical processes as manual segregation, splitting, shredding, magnetic separation and air density separation to prepare RDF which shows upgradation in properties for utilization as fuel. 1 MT of MSW processed to yield RDF 0.6-0.65 MT. Characteristics of RDF shows calorific value-2684 kcal/kg, moisture content-26 % and ash content-24 %. WtE plant designed to process 400 TPD MSW to generate power at 9 MWH rating. The company has signed a power purchase agreement at INR 7.07/kw. Cost benefit analysis carried out considering capital investment, term loan, interest rate, manpower cost, raw material cost, fixed cost, processing cost etc. Comparison of strengths and opportunities with weakness and threats in (SWOT) analysis makes project interesting in waste management and energy sector. The economic evaluation shows Cost Benefit ratio (CBR)- 1.83, Internal Rate of Return (IRR)- 13.09 % and Net Present Value (NPV)- 9.41 crore which means project is viable and positive. Results from this study will support policy makers and local authorities to decide, design and develop approaches for resource and energy recovery from MSW. © 2023 IEEE.

There is a dire need to replace the chemical buffers that regulate the redox environment in single-stage anaerobic digestion of food waste. Hence, the applicability of grass clippings as an eco-friendly buffering agent and biomass during the anaerobic co-digestion of food waste was explored. A focus was primarily given on the effects of grass clippings on the redox environment and acidogenesis. Concomitantly the production of volatile fatty acids, hydrogen and methane in mesophilic conditions was monitored. Organic load and substrate-to-inoculum ratio were kept constant in all the experiments, and no chemical buffer was used. The results revealed that the redox environment was regulated with 10% grass clippings by inhibiting rapid pH drop in the digester. The addition of 2, 4, and 6% grass clippings promoted acidogenesis with increased production of acetic and butyric acids, whereas 8 and 10% grass clippings promoted solventogenesis with ethyl alcohol production. Hydrogen generation from the experiments with grass clippings was in the range of 27–30% of the total biogas, which was marginally higher than the control (25%). Methane concentration was negligible in the biogas generated from all experiments. The acidification rate, VFA production/consumption rate, specific hydrogen yield, hydrogen conversion efficiency, and volatile solids removal were maximum and minimum in the reactors with 6 and 10% grass clippings, respectively. From the above results, it can be concluded that adding grass clippings to food waste would regulate the sudden pH changes and enhance the production of value-added biochemicals, making the process cost-effective. Graphic abstract: [Figure not available: see fulltext.]. © 2022, The Author(s), under exclusive licence to Springer-Verlag GmbH Germany, part of Springer Nature.

A global estimate for the generation of solid waste is projected to be ~1.3 billion tonnes/year. This volume is supposed to further increase up to 2.2 billion tonnes/year by the mid of 2030. In this context, the effective treatment and disposal of solid waste around the globe is becoming of utmost importance. Moreover, sustainable management of solid waste is not only necessary to solve the disposal issues but also beneficial in terms of energy production. Developed countries have already adopted technologies for utilization of their solid waste in energy production, heat generation, conversion to biofuel, compost preparation and as the metal reservoir. In contrast, developing countries are still struggling to manage their solid waste as an alternative resource. Amongst all other ways of solid waste management, the waste-to-energy (WtoE) technology is better suitable for developing countries in terms of building up their energy resources. In this chapter, the status of solid waste in the developing nations along with their WtoE options is being discussed. Moreover, the cost estimation has marked as significant tool to identify suitable WtoE option for developing countries. © 2020, Springer Nature Switzerland AG.