• Nuclear Engineering and Technology
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• v.51 no.4
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• pp.1037-1040
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• 2019

For the past 50 years, graphite has been widely used as a moderator, reflector and fuel matrix in different kinds of gas-cooled reactors. Resulting in approximately 250,000 metric tons of irradiated graphite waste. One of the most significant long-lived radioisotope from graphite reactors is carbon-14 ($^{14}C$) with a half-life of 5730 years, this makes it a huge concern for deep geologic disposal of nuclear graphite (NG). Considering the lifecycle of NG a number of waste management options have been developed, mainly focused on the achievement the radiological requirements for disposal. The existing approaches for recycling depend on the cost to be economically viable. In this new study, an affordable process to remove $^{14}C$ has been proposed using samples taken from the Nuclear Power Plant in Latina (Italy) which have been used to investigate the capability of organic and inorganic solvents in removing $^{14}C$ from exfoliated nuclear graphite, with the aim to design a practicable approach to obtain graphite for recycling or/and safety disposed as L& LLW.

• Nuclear Engineering and Technology
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• v.52 no.4
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• pp.797-801
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• 2020

Most of irradiated graphite that should be disposed comes from moderators and reflectors of nuclear power plants. The quantity of irradiated graphite could be higher in the future if high-temperature reactors (HTRs) will be deployed. In this case noteworthy quantities of fuel pebbles containing semi-graphitic carbonaceous material should be added to the already existing 250,000 tons of irradiated graphite. Industry graphite is largely used in industrial applications for its high thermal and electrical conductivity and thermal and chemical resistance, making it a valuable material. Irradiated graphite constitutes a waste management challenge owing to the presence of long-lived radionuclides, such as ¹⁴C and ³⁶Cl. In the ENEA Nuclear Material Characterization Laboratory it has been successfully designed a procedure based on the exfoliation process organic solvent assisted, with the purpose of investigate the possibility of achieving graphite significantly less toxic that could be recycled for other purpose [1]. The objective of this paper is to evaluate the possibility of the scalability from laboratory to industrial dimensions of the exfoliation process and provide the prototype of a chemical plant for the treatment of irradiated graphite.

• Journal of Korea Society of Waste Management
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• v.35 no.8
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• pp.683-691
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• 2018

The plastic strategy adopted by the EU in January 2018 was established to implement circular economic policies and the Sustainable Development Goals(SDGs) of the United Nations. The strategy includes the vision and implementation measures to achieve, which are primarily measures to improve recycling and increase demand for recycled plastics. The representative measures include the design that considers recycling possibilities, reinforcement of demand for recycled plastics, suppression of occurrence, and response to micro-plastics. The policies to implement these measures include legislative restrictions and economic measures (EPR, GPP). It is especially desirable that the policies are applied differently depending on the plastic product. The Korean government has established comprehensive measures for all stages from production to recycling, but those measures are not comprehensive compared to the EU's strategy. The reason is that the refusal of waste collection makes the Korean government establish the approach from the aspect of waste management instead of the implementation of a circular economy or SDGs like the EU. The countermeasures are aimed at achieving a 50% reduction in waste generation amount and a 70% recycling rate. It is considered that the possibility of achieving the goal will increase by examining the measures and policy means in the EU's plastics strategy.

• Advances in environmental research
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• v.5 no.4
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• pp.237-249
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• 2016

The management of municipal solid waste (MSW) is essential for every community; and, it is currently a major challenge in Nigeria. This paper provides an overview of the current MSW management trends in Nigeria and proposes new sustainable MSW management systems. Across Nigerian cities, MSW management is characterized by inefficient collection and transportation to disposal sites. Collection services do not reach some unplanned areas and slums due to poor street network. Even some planned areas are not reached by collection services. The informal sector contributes to waste collection, resource recovery and recycling; however, their activities are not recognized by the governments. Markets exist for recovered materials but more efforts need to be geared towards intensive recovery of materials and expansion of these markets. Despite the high proportion of putrescible matter in MSW, the only form of treatment commonly used currently is open burning for volume reduction. The high organic fraction presents a great opportunity for composting and anaerobic digestion. Ultimate disposal is currently done in open dumpsites. This needs to be upgraded to engineered landfills that are properly sited and adequately operated by well trained personnel. There is an emerging waste stream of concern, electronic-waste (e-waste), that requires urgent sustainable management as e-waste are currently co-disposed with other waste streams or burnt in the open posing detrimental health impacts.

• Journal of Nuclear Fuel Cycle and Waste Technology(JNFCWT)
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• v.1 no.1
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• pp.1-10
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• 2003

As a follow up to the Agenda 21's policy statement for safe management of radioactive waste adopted at Rio Conference held in 1992, the UN invited the LAEA to develop and implement indicators of sustainable development for the management of radioactive waste. The IAEA finalized the indicators in 2002, and is planning to calculate the member states' values of indicators in connection with operation of its Net-Enabled Waste Management Database system. In this paper, the basis for introducing the indicators into the radioactive waste management was analyzed, and calculation methodology and standard assessment procedure were simply depicted. In addition, a series of innate limitations in calculation and comparison of the indicators was analyzed. According to the proposed standard procedure, the indicators for a few major countries including Korea were calculated and compared, by use of each country's radioactive waste management framework and its practices. In addition, a series of measures increasing the values of the indicators was derived so as to enhance the sustainability of domestic radioactive waste management program.

• Hwankyungkyoyuk
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• v.18 no.3 s.28
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• pp.1-18
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• 2005

In the sustainable waste management, the necessity of environmental education which improves acquisition of the knowledge, attitudes and values for the environment is being emphasized to help students make environmentally desirable decision and promote responsible environmental behavior. However, the environmental education in high schools, as a whole, would be susceptible to many problems caused by tile educational administration focusing only on the college entrance examination. Therefore, this study modifies and applies a program using four teaching/learning methods (Investigation study, Internet-based learning, Field work, Issue analysis study) which deals with the sustainable waste management as the learning subject for the environmental education, and tries to find its effects on the students' environmental sensitivity and environmental conservation behavior in high schools. The main results of this study are summarized as fellows. First, the waste management program had little influence on the environmental sensitivity of experimental groups, while it had positive effect on their improvement of the environmental conservation behavior. Second, there were little meaningful effect on general environmental conservation behavior, but there were some significant results to environmental conservation behavior related to the sustainable waste management. In addition, positive results were found in ecomanagement and consumerism, whereas there were no meaningful results about in persuasion and legal action, which were sub-domains of the waste management program. Among the waste management programs, the school waste investigation study had the most positive effect on the students' recognition and solution of environmental problems as well as improvement of environmental conservation behavior. The easiest one of the four teaching/learning methods was the Internet-based learning, while the most difficult one of them was the issue analysis study. Consequently, in order to achieve the goals of the environmental education in the academic field, there has to be selected the most suitable one of the teaching/learning methods and to be applied to the class, according to the detailed objectives and loaming contents for the environmental education.

• Nutrition Research and Practice
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• v.10 no.1
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• pp.108-114
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• 2016

BACKGROUND/OBJECTIVES: Sustainable practices in foodservice organizations including commercial and noncommercial ones are critical to ensure the protection of the environment for the future. With the rapid growth of the foodservice industry, wiser usage of input sources such as food, utilities, and single use packaging should be reconsidered for future generations. Therefore, this study aims to investigate the customer's perceptions on sustainable practices and to identify the relationship among sustainable practices, social contribution and purchase intention. SUBJECTS/METHODS: The study was conducted using content analyses by reviewing articles on sustainable food service practices published domestically and abroad. Thereafter, data were collected with a face-to-face survey using a questionnaire and analyzed with factor analyses and multiple regressions. RESULTS: Sustainable practices classified with factor analysis consisted of 6 dimensions of green food material procurement, sustainable food preparation, green packaging, preservation of energy, waste management, and public relations on green activity, with a total of 25 green activities in foodservice operations. Consumers were not very familiar with the green activities implemented in the foodservice unit, with the lowest awareness of "green food material procurement (2.46 out of 5 points)", and the highest awareness of "green packaging (3.74)" and "waste management (3.28). The factors influencing the perception of social contribution by foodservice organizations among 6 sustainable practice dimensions were found to be public relations on green activity (${\beta}=0.154$), waste management (${\beta}=0.204$) and sustainable food preparation (${\beta}=0.183$). Green packaging (${\beta}=0.107$) and the social contribution of the foodservice organization (${\beta}=0.761$) had strong relationships with the image of the organization. The purchase intentions of customers was affected only by the foodservice image (${\beta}=0.775$). CONCLUSIONS: The results of this study suggest that sustainable practices by foodservice organization present a good image to customers and increase the awareness of valuable contributions that benefit the customer as well as the community.

• Nutrition Research and Practice
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• v.17 no.5
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• pp.1019-1027
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• 2023

BACKGROUND/OBJECTIVES: Sustainability has become one of the top priorities in the foodservice industry. With an increase in consumer interest in sustainability and educational opportunities in higher education, it is important to know what sustainable practices are implemented in campus dining and how sustainable practices affect consumers' responses. This study aims to identify the key sustainable practices in the campus dining context, and investigate the relationship by applying the stimulus-organism-response framework to determine whether the key sustainable practices influence consumers' perception and behavioral intentions. SUBJECTS/METHODS: The self-administered online survey was distributed to college students in 8 dining halls at a large southeastern university in the United States from September 20-October 10, 2019. A total of 382 valid questionnaires were collected, and factor analysis and multiple regressions were utilized to test the research model. RESULTS: This study identified 4 dimensions of campus sustainability with a total of sustainable practices: sustainable food, waste management, energy/water conservation, and recycling/reuse. Three dimensions of sustainable campus practices (i.e., sustainable food, waste management, recycling/reuse) played a significant role in consumers forming a perceived value while energy/water conservation did not significantly influence the consumers' perceived value toward the campus dining. Waste management was identified as the most important practice to enhance consumers' perceived value (β = 0.330). Using sustainable food and recycling/reuse were ranked second and third, respectively (β = 0.262, β = 0.154). The findings confirmed the significant positive relationship between perceived value and revisit intentions. CONCLUSIONS: The findings support the inclusion of dining sustainability as a critical component in explaining college students' perceived value and revisit intention toward campus dining. Furthermore, this study provides practical implications for university administrators and foodservice operators to consider the key sustainable practices to meet the consumers' value and revisit intentions.

• Advances in environmental research
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• v.12 no.1
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• pp.41-49
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• 2023

In developing countries, solid waste is typically disposed of inappropriately, which has a negative impact on the environment and healthcare. One of the most serious environmental issues is the management of municipal solid waste because of the huge increase in waste generation brought on by industrialization, economic development, urbanization, and the exponential growth of Gurugram City's population. Municipal Corporation Gurugram (MCG) handles solid waste collection, transportation, and disposal. The city generates over 1100 tons of solid waste per day. In consideration of this, the current study employed the strengths, weaknesses, opportunities, and threats framework called SWOT analysis to critically examine the city's current methods for the management of municipal solid waste to provide more effective policy solutions. For conducting the analysis, the questionnaires and other interviews were conducted to gather information from households and officials in the city, and the observation made during field visits were recorded. The analysis shows that the waste management issue is getting worse for a variety of causes, including a lack of regulatory enforcement, insufficient technical and financial resources, insufficient people's participation, inadequate execution of policies, a lack of political priorities, and poor coordination between authorities.

• Korean Journal of Construction Engineering and Management
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• v.7 no.3 s.31
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• pp.159-168
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• 2006

In order to respond to interest and regulations in sustainable environment which is increasing, construction industry needs to establish a sustainable production system. When generation of wastes can be diminished and recycling of them raised in the construction site as a part of a sustainable production system, it might contribute to not only establishing a sustainable production system but also gaining economical profit. This study is a preliminary research for establishing a sustainable production system, which aims to identify construction waste generation patterns and factors causing construction waste generation. Case studies were implemented to investigate these patterns and factors.