• Journal of Environmental Health Sciences
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• v.43 no.6
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• pp.532-544
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• 2017

Objectives: Because the amount of medical waste (i.e., health-care waste) generated in Korea is rapidly increasing and social concern against its safety is widespread, a number of issues related with medical wastes are being discussed. The purpose of this study is to compare diverse medical waste management systems worldwide and propose future directions of a medical waste management system in Korea. Methods: Literature review was conducted mainly on the WHO, and developed countries such as the European Union (Germany, Belgium and UK), Japan and the United States. For these countries, the data with respect to their systems for medical waste management ranging from the definition of medical waste to the whole processes of collection, transportation and disposal were summarized and compared. Results: The terminology and classification of medical wastes were not consistent for WHO recommendation, EU, Japan, US and Korea. Comparison of the collection, storage, transportation and disposal of medical waste showed that Korea had rather stronger regulations for medical waste management compared to developed countries including Belgium (Flanders region), Germany, Japan and the US. Considering that developed countries adopt rather flexible disposal system especially for general medical wastes which pose lower possibility of infection, Korean government could consider diversifying disposal methods other than incineration. It may also be very important to try to reduce the amount of medical wastes and enough capacity for off-site incineration are secured. Conclusion: Our study of international comparisons suggests that it is necessary to continue to identify advantages and disadvantages of the current medical waste management systems and establish more effective one in Korea.

• International Journal of Computer Science & Network Security
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• v.24 no.6
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• pp.89-98
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• 2024

Due to the increase in population and consequently the increase in the production of plastic waste, recovery of this part of the waste is an undeniable necessity. On the other hand, the recycling of plastic waste, if it is placed in a systematic process and controlled, can be effective in creating jobs and maintaining environmental health. Waste collection in many large cities has become a major problem due to lack of proper planning with increasing waste from population accumulation and changing consumption patterns. Today, waste management is no longer limited to waste collection, but waste collection is one of the important areas of its management, i.e. training, segregation, collection, recycling and processing. In this study, a systematic method based on machine vision for sorting plastic bottles in different colors for recycling purposes will be proposed. In this method, image classification and segmentation techniques were presented to improve the performance of plastic bottle classification. Evaluation of the proposed method and comparison with previous works showed the proper performance of this method.

• Asian-Australasian Journal of Animal Sciences
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• v.19 no.12
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• pp.1728-1736
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• 2006

The effects of green tea (Camellia sinensis) waste silage and supplemental polyethylene glycol (PEG) on rumen fermentation and blood components were studied in cattle. Six Holstein steers were fed three diets in a 3${\times}$3 Latin square design, replicated twice. One diet was a control with no added silage, and the other two diets were supplemented (20% of the dry matter) with green tea waste silage either with (PEG) or without PEG (tea). Most of the fermentation parameters including major volatile fatty acids (VFA) were not affected by the diet treatments. The concentrations of high density lipoprotein cholesterol in the PEG group and urea nitrogen in the tea and PEG groups were greater than those in the control before morning feeding. The plasma 6-hydroxy-2,5,7,8-tetramethylchroman-2-carboxylic acid equivalent concentration was not different before morning feeding, but 3 h after morning feeding, its concentrations in both the tea and PEG groups were higher than in the control. Although the concentration of plasma vitamin A in the animals was not affected by feeding green tea waste silage, the concentrations of plasma vitamin E were significantly higher in the tea and PEG groups than in the control, both before and 3 h after morning feeding. The results from the present study suggest that feeding diets containing 20% of the dietary dry matter as green tea waste silage to Holstein steers has no negative impact on their ruminal fermentation, and increases their plasma antioxidative activity and concentration of vitamin E.

• Journal of Nuclear Fuel Cycle and Waste Technology(JNFCWT)
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• v.11 no.4
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• pp.293-301
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• 2013

Borehole Disposal Concept (BDC) was initiated by the South African Nuclear Energy Corporation (NECSA) with the view to improve the radioactive waste management practices in Africa. At a time when geological disposal of radioactive waste is being considered, the need to protect ground water from possible radioactive contamination and the investigation of radionuclides migration through soil and rocks of zone of aeration into ground water has becomes very imperative. This is why the Borehole Disposal Concept (BDC) is being suggested to address the problem. The concept involves the conditioning and emplacement of disused sealed radioactive sources in an engineered facility of a relatively narrow diameter borehole (260 mm). Tanzania is operating a Radioactive Waste Management Facility where a number of spent sealed radioactive sources with long and short half lives are stored. The activity of spent sealed radioactive sources range from (1E-6 to 8.8E+3 Ci). However, the long term disposal solution is still a problem. This study therefore proposing the country to adopt the BDC, since the repository requires limited land area and has a low probability of human intrusion due to the small footprint of the borehole.

• Journal of Korea Society of Waste Management
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• v.34 no.5
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• pp.468-473
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• 2017

This study was carried out to examine the characteristics of hydrogen sulfide adsorption using an iron hydroxide-based adsorbent. The prepared adsorbent was discussed with regard to its adsorption capacity and analyzed via surface analysis methods to illustrate the physical characteristics of hydrogen sulfide adsorption. As the drying temperature increased, the adsorption capacity of the adsorbent decreased from 29.15wt% to 22.73wt%. The adsorption capacity was decreased as the space velocity increased and showed an adsorption capacity of about 3.65 at $3,157.6h^{-1}$. The effect of sulfur dioxide was to decrease the adsorption capacity from 29.15wt% to 27.94wt%. The adsorbent exhibited the amorphous type in its physical appearance based on XRD and EDS analysis.

• Nanomaterials
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• v.12 no.5
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• pp.851-858
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• 2022

The world is suffering from aggravating, waste-generated consequences, and the contribution of microplastics to this problem is only increasing. A contributing factor to increased microplastic usage is the change in the use of personal protective equipment (PPE) from specific use in limited locations (e.g., hospitals) to general use in widespread locations to protect against the current COVID-19 pandemic. This has resulted in an overflow of microfiber waste from homes, schools, streets, and elsewhere, in every country. While various institutes have issued warnings regarding increasing PPE waste, there is no positive indication of an end to the pandemic in the near future. In this review, we examine the impact of the pandemic on microplastic production, consumption, and disposal, and suggest strategies for lessening environmental pollution. In preparation for the worst-case scenario in which PPE becomes a new normal (in the COVID-19 era), it is recommended that governments and other responsible organisations set up a structured monitoring system for the distribution and disposal of PPE to ensure the most effective waste management possible for continuous sustainable development.

• Journal of Korea Society of Waste Management
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• v.35 no.7
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• pp.606-615
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• 2018

Over the past two decades, the options for solid waste management have been changing from land disposal to recycling, waste-to-energy, and incineration due to growing attention for resource and energy recovery. In addition, the reduction of greenhouse gas (GHG) emission has become an issue of concern in the waste sector because such gases often released into the atmosphere during the waste management processes (e.g., biodegradation in landfills and combustion by incineration) can contribute to climate change. In this study, the emission and reduction rates of GHGs by the municipal solid waste (MSW) management options in D city have been studied for the years 1996-2016. The emissions and reduction rates were calculated according to the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change guidelines and the EU Prognos method, respectively. A dramatic decrease in the waste landfilled was observed between 1996 and 2004, after which its amount has been relatively constant. Waste recycling and incineration have been increased over the decades, leading to a peak in the GHG emissions from landfills of approximately $63,323tCO_2\;eq/yr$ in 2005, while the lowest value of $35,962tCO_2\;eq/yr$ was observed in 2016. In 2016, the estimated emission rate of GHGs from incineration was $59,199tCO_2\;eq/yr$. The reduction rate by material recycling was the highest ($-164,487tCO_2\;eq/yr$) in 2016, followed by the rates by heat recovery with incineration ($-59,242tCO_2\;eq/yr$) and landfill gas recovery ($-23,922tCO_2\;eq/yr$). Moreover, the cumulative GHG reduction rate between 1996 and 2016 was $-3.46MtCO_2\;eq$, implying a very positive impact on future $CO_2$ reduction achieved by waste recycling as well as heat recovery of incineration and landfill gas recovery. This study clearly demonstrates that improved MSW management systems are positive for GHGs reduction and energy savings. These results could help the waste management decision-makers supporting the MSW recycling and energy recovery policies as well as the climate change mitigation efforts at local government level.

• Proceedings of the Korean Environmental Health Society Conference
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• 2005.12a
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• pp.43-44
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• 2005

• Magazine of the Korean Society of Agricultural Engineers
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• v.22 no.1
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• pp.26-33
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• 1980

• International conference on construction engineering and project management
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• 2024.07a
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• pp.1275-1276
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• 2024

Construction is like a symbol of social development. Buildings and public infrastructures are required to support people's lives and a country's development. With the increasing construction, the waste of construction increases as well. Demolition wastes from existing buildings or urban renewal plans also increase the waste quantity. Construction and demolition wastes (CDW) are majorly inorganic materials and have high recycling potential. However, the recycling rate of CDW is not 100% and needs more methods to raise the rate. In Taiwan, the CDW has two authorities, one is CDW waste managed by the Ministry of Environment (MoE), and the other is construction spoil soils managed by the National Land Management Agency, Ministry of Interior. In 2022, the CDW waste is 2.12 million tons, and construction spoil soils are around 43 million m³. In this study, the current status of CDW in Taiwan was reviewed and material flow analysis was applied to link the materials sources to CDW. The results showed that 35% of waste concrete flowed back to the source materials and 65% was disposed of or used as secondary materials. However, 95% of waste steel was used back as raw materials and only 5% was disposed of or used in other materials. To increase the recycling of CDW, the priority method is to force the material separation onsite. Mixing CDW would increase the cost of recycling and decrease the market competition ability. New technology to collect and recycle the CDW as a new material is also recommended. Finally, a new law, the Resources Recycling Promotion Law, is coming in this year, 2024, which is expected to turn the waste into resources in Taiwan.