Physical Sciences and Mathematics Commons^™

A Sustainability Machine: The Incineration-Based Waste Regime In Tampa, Fl, Usa, Kevin P. Martyn

USF Tampa Graduate Theses and Dissertations

Recent history has seen some significant changes in terms of how society thinks about and deals with its wastes. Increasingly troubling indications of the immediacy of ecological concerns, now often described by the Anthropocene concept, have been provocative of a reinvigorated fervor for a sustainability transition. As a result, sustainability has become well-established as both an urgent pursuit and an eminently pliable buzzword. This research describes and explains one key aspect of society’s pursuit of some version of sustainability: our relationship with waste.

The site of this research is Tampa, Florida, a sunbelt city with a unique waste management system. …

Composite Zeolite Beta Catalysts For Catalytic Hydrocracking Of Plastic Waste To Liquid Fuels, Dureem Munir, Hassaan Amer, Rabya Aslam, Mohamed Bououdina, Muhammad Rashid Usman

Publications and Scholarship

Abstract The conversion of model waste plastic mixture into high-value liquid product was studied in the presence of hydrogen and composites of zeolite beta catalysts. For the sake of comparison, the conversion of actual waste plastic mixture and high-density polyethylene was also carried out. The composite zeolite beta catalysts were synthesized using a range of silica-to-alumina ratios, alkali concentrations, and hydrothermal treatment times. SEM, EDX, XRD, N2-BET, FTIR, and py-FTIR were used for the characterization of the catalysts. The catalytic experiments were conducted in a 500 ml stirred batch reactor at 20 bar initial cold H2 pressure and the temperature …

The Effectiveness Of The European Union’S Environmental Policies, Wendolyn Borkoski

Undergraduate Theses and Capstone Projects

The European Union has some of the highest environmental standards in the world. However, multiple member states fail at reaching the deadlines set by the European Union (EU). This thesis examines the effectiveness of the European Union’s environmental directives on gaining compliance from member states to reach the agreed-upon standards. This is assessed by using three European Union directives from different environmental areas and analyzing their requirements. Each directive represents either a hierarchical policy, negotiated policy, or voluntary policy transfer. This study hypothesizes that the hierarchical policy, represented by EU Directive 2008/98/EC, will be more effective at gaining compliance than …

Research Gaps In Environmental Life Cycle Assessments Of Lithium Ion Batteries For Grid-Scale Stationary Energy Storage Systems: End-Of-Life Options And Other Issues, Matthew Pellow, Hanjiro Ambrose, Dustin Mulvaney, Rick Betita, Stephanie Shaw

Faculty Publications, Environmental Studies

Although deployments of grid-scale stationary lithium ion battery energy storage systems are accelerating, the environmental impacts of this new infrastructure class are not well studied. To date, a small literature of environmental life cycle assessments (LCAs) and related studies has examined associated environmental impacts, but they rely on a variety of methods and system boundaries rather than a consistent approach. The large LCA literature of transportation applications of LIB contains selected life-cycle inventory data relevant for stationary ESSs, but does not incorporate characteristics unique to stationary systems, such as balance of system materials; operational profiles; and perhaps even different end-of-life …

Campus Waste System Evaluation, Dsm Environmental Services

Sustainability Reports & Plans

UMass contracted with DSM Environmental Services (DSM), with sub-contractors MSW Consultants (MSW) and Kessler Consulting, Inc. (KCI), together the Project Team, to undertake a comprehensive analysis of the UMass Amherst campus waste management and materials diversion system. The Project Team were required to conduct nine tasks as part of the comprehensive analysis, as summarized below:

• Map the existing UMass waste and materials collection system;
• Review the characteristics, procedures, schedules, and roles;
• Evaluate the effectiveness and efficiency of the current system;
• Review existing waste generation and composition data, and conduct a campus-wide waste audit if the review …

Fy 2020 Umass Amherst Waste Management Report, Ezra Small

Campus Data

Each year the Office of Waste Management publishes this report which totals recycling and refuse data for the campus.

Equinox Ten Year Trend Analysis: Waste, Michelle Jones, Christopher Holguin

San Diego Regional Quality of Life Dashboard

This report summarizes the plans and initiatives of the City and County of San Diego for reducing waste disposal and examines 10 years of data to analyze waste disposal trends over time. Various county and city-level estimates are provided for context. This report was prepared for The Nonprofit Institute by the Center for Sustainable Energy.

Meubles: The Ever Mobile Middle Ages, Elizabeth Emery

Department of World Languages and Cultures Faculty Scholarship and Creative Works

Medieval furnishings preserved in aristocratic estates and ecclesiastical institutions took on new life in the nineteenth century as the turmoil of the French Revolution reactivated their use value, transforming them into collectibles, fuel, or raw materials for new building projects. This essay relies on the taxonomies of reuse proposed by archaeologist Michael Schiffer to evaluate the preservation, recycling, and repurposing of objects such as medieval choir stalls, chests, and beds by conservators, architects, artists, and collectors Alexandre Du Sommerard, Eugène-Emmanuel Viollet-le-Duc, Albert Jacquemart, Victor Hugo, Pierre Loti, and Frédéric Spitzer. These prominent figures' repurposing of antique furniture mirrors nineteenth-century constructions …

Spider's Guide To Sustainable Living, Office For Sustainability

Guides

Thank you for checking out this guide to caring for our future and ourselves. We're glad you did, because we need you. From the climate emergency to emerging health crises to social unrest, the need for change is all around us. The UR Sustainability Plan envisions "a future where sustainability is woven into the fabric of the University" in which we cultivate a culture of caring for people and the natural world. Consider this your invitation to join the movement to make this vision a reality.

Throughout the Spiders Guide to Sustainable Living, we will point out actions you can …