Treatment Technologies

The world is currently facing the water crisis brought about by the deterioration in its
quality and the difficult access to its resources due to ever-growing demand in largescale consumer sectors such as agriculture, industry and tourism. Consequently,
increasing pressure on water resources is experienced in the world as the outcome of
the strong population growth, continued urbanization and rapid industrialization,
together with numerous discharges of polluted waters into watercourses. Strategies
have been developed throughout the world for improving both the quality and access to
water in a sufficient quantity. Thus, different technologies, both established and
emerging ones, are presently utilized in view to treat wastewaters, including those of the
mining origin. The present work reviews the different uses of water in the mining
industry and identifies different sources of polluted waters. It analyses wastewater
treatment techniques in view of their application specifically to the treatment of
wastewaters from the DR Congo mining industry. As such, this work identifies itself as
part of an effort to contribute to the improvement of wastewater management practices
in the DR Congo mining industry as well as improved access and sustainable use of
water resources.

The environmental effects of municipal solid waste (MSW) management have been a major concern over the last few decades. Population growth coupled with the increase of quality of life lead to a continuous rise in the amounts of MSW that need to be treated with. Severe environmental impacts occur at the final destination of MSW whether this is a sanitary landfill, or a mechanical biological treatment (MBT) facility. However, environmental costs of transportation of MSW should not be neglected in their contribution to the footprint of MSW treatment. This paper builds on a previous study which compared the financial feasibility of a maritime waste transportation scheme for waste generated in islands with the conventional practice of constructing sanitary landfills. In this work, the two alternatives are also assessed environmentally, taking into account a number of scenarios for the future growth of MSW generation and population exposure. A model is constructed that considers monetary and environmental costs, and compares the two proposals. This model can be further expanded to assess which islands should rely on which method.

Municipal solid waste management is one of the most pressing issues of today's societies as the consequences of growing economies in waste generation have serious effects on the environment. These effects are even more difficult to tackle in remote areas such as islands or mountainous areas, both types of which are dominant in the Greek topography. More specifically, the current situation is compared financially to a municipal solid waste transportation scenario for treatment in large scale facilities. A statistical analysis of population data and waste generation in the past years will be used to predict the future waste generation in the examined regions. This research concentrates on areas where sanitary landfills are either obsolete or non-existent, and where the common practice is using open dumps. Using geographical data in conjunction with satellite information and some rough estimations for fuel cost in the future, transportation costs are calculated. Advantages of the e...

Municipal solid waste management is one of the most pressing issues of today's societies as the consequences of growing economies in waste generation have serious effects on the environment. These effects are even more difficult to tackle in remote areas such as islands or mountainous areas, both types of which are dominant in the Greek topography. More specifically, the current situation is compared financially to a municipal solid waste transportation scenario for treatment in large scale facilities. A statistical analysis of population data and waste generation in the past years will be used to predict the future waste generation in the examined regions. This research concentrates on areas where sanitary landfills are either obsolete or non-existent, and where the common practice is using open dumps. Using geographical data in conjunction with satellite information and some rough estimations for fuel cost in the future, transportation costs are calculated. Advantages of the examined scenario are not limited to monetary terms, but also include social gains for these regions along with new job opportunities. Potential benefits arising from the concentration of transported waste will be explored, and the scope for further research will be presented.