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Waste will become the major resource in the future circular economy. In particular, E-waste is a major sector growing at an annual rate of about 2 million tonnes (Mt) with rising users of electrical and electronic items worldwide. This is a consequence of versatility and affordability of technological innovation, thus resulting in massive sales and e-waste increases. Most end-users lack knowledge on proper recycling or reuse, often disposing of e-waste as domestic waste. Such improper disposals are threatening life and ecosystems because e-waste is rich in toxic metals and other pollutants. Here we review e-waste generation, policies and recycling methods. In 2019, the world e-waste production reached 53.6 Mt, including 24.9 Mt in Asia, 13.1 Mt in USA, 12 Mt in Europe. In Asia, China (10.1 Mt), India (3.23 Mt), Japan (2.57 Mt) and Indonesia (1.62 Mt) are the largest producers contributing to about 70% of the total world e-waste generated. Only 17.4% (9.3 Mt) of the world e-waste was recycled by formal means, and the remaining 82.6% (44.3 Mt) was left untreated or processed informally. As a consequence, most countries have framed policies to provide regulatory guidelines to producers, end-users and recyclers. Yet the efficiency of these local policies are limited by the transfer of products across borders in a globalized world. Among formal recycling techniques, biohydrometallurgy appears most promising compared to pyrometallurgy and hydrometallurgy, because biohydrometallurgy overcomes limitations such as poor yield, high capital cost, toxic chemicals, release of toxic gases and secondary waste generation. Challenges include consumer’s contempt on e-waste disposal, the deficit of recycling firms and technology barriers.

This book includes a recent update and a closer look at the anaerobic digestion (AD) process. In addition, it introduces a new tool for the modelling and optimization of the AD process. The authors in this book review the strengths and weaknesses of AD techniques on different aspects to enhance the product yield. This book will be helpful for future researchers in the field of anaerobic digestion. It will also identify the research gap, strengths, weaknesses and promote the AD technologies to real scale.

Heavy metals and dyes are major pollutants that pose potential threat to the health of humans and ecosystems. Various technologies are available to remediate such pollution, but these processes are costly, have high energy requirements and generate toxic sludges and wastes that need to be carefully disposed. There is therefore a need for methods that are more efficient, cost effective and environment friendly for water purification. Adsorption is regarded as a green, clean and versatile method for wastewater treatment. In particular, biodegradable and non-toxic materials such as cellulose-based materials are of interest for water purification. Moreover, the surface of cellulose contains many hydroxyl groups that facilitate the incorporation of chemical moieties, thereby improving pollutant adsorption. Here, we review the most relevant applications of cellulose-based materials for wastewater treatment. A major point is that reducing cellulosic dimension to nanometric levels highly improves adsorption of heavy metals and dyes from wastewaters. Nanocellulose and functionalized nanocellulose are thus promising for wastewater treatment.

In this edited volume, Klaus-Jürgen Röhlig brings together leading researchers from geoengineering, nuclear physics, materials science and the social sciences to provide an overview of the terminology and concepts required to engage with nuclear waste management. Addressing measures and strategies for managing waste from technical and societal points of view, the book is ideal for early-career professionals and students in the field.

COVID-19-led antibiotic waste generated from hospitals and health centres may cause serious health issues and significantly impact the environment. In the coming decades, antibiotic resistance will be one of the most significant threats to global human health. Photocatalytic water remediation is an effective and promising environmental solution that can be utilized to address this issue, to convert antibiotic waste into non-toxic products by utilizing renewable and abundant solar energy. In the present study, a novel nanocomposite of zeolitic imidazolate frameworks (ZIF-8) and molybdenum diselenide (MoSe 2 ) was efficiently synthesized by the solvothermal method for the complete degradation of the antibiotics and textile waste from water. The morphology, crystallinity and band gap of the samples were characterized by field emission scanning electron microscopy (FESEM), X-ray diffraction (XRD) and UV–visible spectroscopy. Fourier transform infrared spectroscopy (FTIR) and X-ray photoelectron spectroscopy (XPS) provide the binding information of the sample. The photocatalytic activity was tested for degradation of the antibiotics (tetracycline hydrochloride (TC) and metronidazole (MNZ)) used in COVID-19 treatment and textile dye (malachite green). Time-resolved photoluminescence spectroscopy confirmed the enhanced charge separation in the MoSe 2 @ZIF-8 nanocomposite with an average lifetime of 4.72 ns as compared to pristine samples. The nanocomposite showed ~ 100% removal efficiency with rate constants of 63 × 10 −3 , 49 × 10 −3 and 42 × 10 −3  min −1 for TC, MNZ and malachite green, respectively. The photocatalytic degradation of TC was carried out under different pH conditions (4, 7 and 9), and the degradation mechanism was explained on the basis of zeta potential measurements and active species trapping experiment. The by-products of the photocatalytic treatment of TC antibiotics were tested using liquid chromatography-mass spectroscopy (LC–MS), and they were found to be non-toxic for aquatic and human life. The regeneration property of the nanocomposite was confirmed by FESEM with regeneration efficiency of 88.7% in the 4th cycle. Thus, MoSe 2 @ZIF-8-based photocatalysts have potential application in water remediation, especially in making the antibiotic waste less toxic.

The World No Tobacco Day 2022 theme emphasised tobacco’s adverse environmental effects, including through agriculture, manufacturing, distribution, use and the disposal of tobacco product waste. A main concern regarding this toxic waste is the cigarette filter, which is attached to nearly all commercial cigarettes and is predominantly made from a plant-based plastic (cellulose acetate). Laboratory studies have demonstrated the chemical toxicity of discarded cigarette butts, and there is growing public concern regarding environmental plastic pollution resulting from single-use cellulose acetate filters. Important considerations are whether the filter has any protective role against the harms of smoking and whether it should be regulated as a plastic environmental pollutant. There is persistent misunderstanding among smokers and policy makers about the implied value of the cigarette filter. The cellulose acetate filter is simply a marketing tool that encourages smoking initiation and reduces intentions to quit smoking. This is because it makes smoking easier and implies added safety through the presumed filtration of inhaled smoke. The sale of filtered cigarettes should be prohibited to protect public health and the environment.

Safety data sheets (SDS) of chemicals are not only a key component of hazard/s communication in workplaces, but also furnish information on safe disposal of the waste chemicals. However, the question is do SDS furnish specific information regarding environmentally safe disposal of wastes? Therefore, this paper provides an appraisal on specific in-situ pre-treatment (where applicable) and environmentally acceptable disposal practices described in the SDS of selected toxic and genotoxic chemicals used in biomedical laboratories. A total of 21 SDS were reviewed, but only 19% of the SDS recommended high-temperature incineration of the waste chemicals after dissolution in a combustible solvent. None of the SDS described disposal options available for contaminated packaging. There is a necessity for chemical manufacturers to provide specific and reliable details on disposal options in the SDS and users need to be cautious when consulting SDS to formulate hazardous waste management plans.

The disposal of electronic waste (EW) in open landfills has caused several toxic environmental effects. The harmful metallic components released in the environment due to deposition of EW act as hazards for living systems. EW management has been widely studied in recent days across the world. Though, several processes are implemented in extraction, recycling and recovery of heavy metals from the EW, most of them are not effective in recovering the precious metals. Various chemical processes are executed for efficient extraction of precious metals from e-wastes. Though the techniques are easy to process and rapid, however, the chemical leaching also has detrimental environmental consequences. Biological approaches, on the other hand, solves the purpose for efficient and environmentally friendly recovery of precious metals. Thus, both resource recovery as well as remediation can be targeted simultaneously. Biotechnological methods offer sustainable and efficient solutions for metal recovery from electronic wastes, presenting a viable alternative to traditional methods. Continued advancements in this field hold significant promise for addressing the growing e-waste challenge.

ABSTRACT One of the current aims of synthetic biology is the development of novel microorganisms that can mine economically important elements from the environment or remediate toxic waste compounds. Copper, in particular, is a high-priority target for bioremediation owing to its extensive use in the food, metal and electronic industries and its resulting common presence as an environmental pollutant. Even though microbe-aided copper biomining is a mature technology, its application to waste treatment and remediation of contaminated sites still requires further research and development. Crucially, any engineered copper-remediating chassis must survive in copper-rich environments and adapt to copper toxicity; they also require bespoke adaptations to specifically extract copper and safely accumulate it as a human-recoverable deposit to enable biorecycling. Here, we review current strategies in copper bioremediation, biomining and biorecycling, as well as strategies that extant bacteria use to enhance copper tolerance, accumulation and mineralization in the native environment. By describing the existing toolbox of copper homeostasis proteins from naturally occurring bacteria, we show how these modular systems can be exploited through synthetic biology to enhance the properties of engineered microbes for biotechnological copper recovery applications. A review of current technologies in bacterial bioremediation, biorecycling and bioleaching, of copper homeostasis strategies used by bacteria, and how these could be exploited through synthetic biology for bioremediation.