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Advancing Sustainable Waste Management through National Recycling Rate under SDG 12.5.1
61-72Views:193Solid waste management remains a pressing environmental challenge in both developed and developing nations. Recycling has been promoted globally as a key pathway to sustainability, yet recycling rates often provide only a partial picture of performance. In many contexts, challenges such as poorly regulated recycling policies, informal sector dominance, and practices that prioritize profit over environmental sustainability limit progress towards Sustainable Development Goal (SDG) 12.5.1, which tracks the national recycling rate. This study investigates the extent to which recycling rates reflect sustainable waste management and identifies the underlying factors that influence their effectiveness. The major objective of this study is to evaluate recycling rates as an indicator of sustainable waste management. This is further specified by: (i) examining recycling practices in selected countries (Germany, South Korea, USA, Brazil, and India), (ii) identifying key drivers and barriers that influence recycling performance, and (iii) assessing the implications of recycling rates for sustainable waste management systems. The study employed a mixed-methods approach, combining secondary data analysis, comparative country assessment, and policy review. Results show that recycling rates are useful but insufficient as a stand-alone measure of sustainability, since they are influenced by broader elements such as policy enforcement, economic incentives, public participation, and market structures. The findings highlight that Nigeria’s recycling rate remains significantly low compared to leading economies, underscoring the need for integrated waste management reforms. This research contributes to environmental management discourse by demonstrating that while recycling rates provide a benchmark for SDG 12.5.1 monitoring, they must be interpreted alongside contextual drivers to ensure meaningful progress towards sustainable waste management.
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Sustainability in Urban Waste Management: The Efficiency of Electric Waste Transport Vehicles
1-18.Views:206This study evaluates the long-term economic feasibility of electric waste collection vehicles (EVs) as a sustainable alternative to diesel-powered counterparts in urban municipal services. Using real operational data from a Hungarian waste management company, we developed a total cost of ownership (TCO) model spanning 10 years, which incorporates investment costs, energy consumption, maintenance, depreciation, and battery replacement. Our analysis reveals that although EVs require a significantly higher upfront investment (€350,000 vs. €183,200), their lower operational and maintenance costs result in a break-even point around year 8. When accounting for a €50,000 battery replacement in year 6, the total 10-year cost of the EV remains lower (€431,769 vs. €450,914) than the diesel vehicle, resulting in a net saving of €19,145. The study emphasizes the significance of local energy prices and service structures in assessing fleet electrification. While the findings are based on Hungarian data, the proposed methodology can be adapted internationally to support data-driven decision-making in sustainable waste logistics.
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Role of Biomass in Urban Energy Management
62-76Views:251When making decisions on the use of energy, both on building and on city level, biomass plays certainly a role in looking for sustainable solutions. This study starts with highlighting some key points regarding urban energy management, including world urbanization trends, heat island effect of big cities and energy hierarchy in energy management. With these in mind, it is worth considering, how the shading effect of surrounding biomass can mitigate the heating needs as a wind barrier in the winter or decrease the cooling load as shadowing element in the summer, both for buildings and whole cities. These can be further enhanced by biomass integrated in the buildings’ envelope: green roofs and green walls can have significant energy conservation effects, according the characteristics of their different types. Lastly, urban disposal of biomass can lead to renewable energy generation, both in case of biogas production and waste incineration. These shading, covering and fuel possibilities all underline the importance of biomass in urban energy management.
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The green methanol - playing a role in sustainable energy management
249-258Views:243Global energy demand is constantly increasing, so the energy sources we use, and the efficiency of energy use are of paramount importance for the future of humanity. Methanol can play a key role in the sustainable use of natural resources, in the efficient and smooth transition from a fossil oil-based energy system as well as in reducing greenhouse gas emissions. Long-term thinking will result in an increase in the use of renewable energy sources, which will favour the spread of green methanol technology and thus the use of a carbon-neutral fuel. The raw materials for the production of green methanol may include municipal solid waste, agricultural waste, renewable hydrogen and carbon dioxide and the methanol has many uses, both as fuel and chemical feedstock. It also provides an opportunity to chemically store excess renewable energy from intermittent sources, thereby reducing dependence on fossil fuels. The price of electricity used for electrolysis is the main determinant of the economical production of green methanol, so the reduction of the cost of solar and wind energy greatly contributes to the competitiveness of carbon-based production.
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Innovative Utilization Possibilities of Industrial Wastes from Hungary as Construction Industrial Material
203-212Views:191The research results carried out at the University of Miskolc Faculty of Earth Science and Engineering in the Center of Excellence of Sustainable Natural Resource Management show that the physical and mechanical properties of the construction industrial products (strength, compactness) made of waste sources can be controlled reasonably by the appropriate processing technologies and under optimized circumstances and characteristics (particle size distribution, specific surface area). It was established that beside the chemical activation, the mechanical activation of solids is an effective tool for improving the product characteristics. However, this modifies the physical as well as structural, mineralogical properties of the raw materials, therefore its determination is of great importance.
