Day 1 :
Keynote Forum
John Shegerian
Co-Founder and Executive Chairman of ERI, USA
Keynote: Effectively recycling electronics: protecting the planet … and privacy
Biography:
John Shegerian is Co-Founder and Executive Chairman of ERI, the leading fully integrated IT and electronics asset disposition provider and cybersecurity-focused hardware destruction company in the world. Under John’s stewardship, ERI is now capable of recycling more than a billion pounds of electronic waste has become the leading recycler of electronics in the World, regularly partnering with some of the largest electronics manufacturers on the planet.
Abstract:
Effective recycling of e-waste – and all the elements extracted from it – is crucial for the environment in terms of reduced the leaching of toxins into landfills. When done correctly, it can also reduce millions of pounds of CO2 emissions; reduce millions of pounds of water emissions; billions of killowatt hours of electricity; and millions of pounds of air emissions. New innovations have led to the recycling of e-waste playing a key role in th ecircular economy – leading to historically challenging elements such as plastics, glass and metals providing foundational ingredients for new useful products. But there is another element that must be extracted carefully and destroyed in this process and that is data. As electronic devices become smaller, enormous amounts of sensitive and personal data are stored on eben the tiniest of devices. Due to this, the recycling of electronics faces a huge obstacle in the form of digital privacy. Many organizations – huge multinational corporations and global government agencies included – are reluctant to recycle their electronics for fear that their private or personal data will be compromised. And the fears are not without merit. The recycling of e-waste has indeed become an issue that transcends environmental responsibility – still the principle motivation - and has moved into the realm of national security and data protection.
In this informative presentation, John Shegerian will discuss how the electronic recycling industry is at a crossroads of dual responsibility – reducing emissions/keeping toxins out of landfills WHILE also responsibly and efficiently achieving data destruction. It can be done and he’ll explain how.
Among the issues he will address are: Responsible recycling and its role in reducing emissions and the emergence of the circular economy. The environmental issues to be considered globally;Why data needs to be managed in the recycling of e-waste
Keynote Forum
P. V. V. Prasada Rao
Dept. of Environmental Sciences, Andhra University, India
Keynote: Low cost treatment for the removal of Cd (II) & Sn (II) From Cottage industry effluents
Time : 10: 40-11: 20
Biography:
Prof. P. V. V. Prasada Rao worked on Pollution Analysis, Remediation of wastes, Microbial ecology, Vegetation studies and on Environmental Impact Assessment. At present he is involved in the Apportioning of Particulate Matter in ambient air of Visakhapatnam, an important city in South India. He developed low cost methodologies for the removal of Heavy metals from Industrial effluents. He also worked on bio degradation of plastics, bio removal of Fluoride in ground water, Climate change studies and on development of Silver Nano particles for addressing metal pollutants in aqueous solutions. Good number of students are benefitted by the research studies of Prof. P. V. V. Prasada Rao. Dr. Rao published more than 85 scientific papers in both National and International Journals. He is at present working as a Professor & Head of the Dept. of Environmental Sciences, Andhra University, Visakhapatnam, India.
Abstract:
India’s per capita water availability had declined 70% since 1951 and the rate of decline is expected to increase rapidly due to the population rise linked with the lifestyle changes and climate change consequences. India’s sustainable future lies in the efficient water management systems, more particularly with treatment and recycling of wastewaters. This paper presents a community friendly treatment practice for removal of Cd (II) and Sn (II) from wastewaters generated from electroplating and jewellers’ workshops, where water contamination by these two toxic metals are high.
Through a screening study to find inexpensive adsorbents of heavy metals, Ground nutshell was found to be effective for different metals at varying efficiencies. In case of Cd (II) and Sn (II) the material found to be very efficient and the efficiency found to be varying with the particle size of the bio sorbent. Maximum adsorption was recorded with 0.21 mm particle size.
Investigations revealed that the rates of removal of Cd (II) and Sn (II) from aqueous solutions are dependent on contact time, pH, adsorbent dosage, and initial concentration of metal ion (adsorbate). Maximum adsorption of Cd (II) and Sn (II) occurred at pH 6.0 and pH 2.0, respectively. Among the different sets of experimentation, maximum adsorption of Cd (II) and Sn (II) was recorded at 0.210 mm of particle size, 50 mg/ml of adsorbent concentration at pH 6.0 and 2.0, respectively. Field studies indicated 57% of Cd (II) and 82.5% of Sn (II) are removed from electroplating industry wastewater. The results of the study reveal that Ground nut can be effectively used for Cd (II) & Sn (II) removal from the electroplating effluent waters, by optimizing the technique in the field trials.
- Global Warming | Pollution Control | Climate Change | Recycling & Reuse | Environmental Engineering
Location: Stockholm, Sweden
Session Introduction
Dr. Andrey Norov
Industrial Technology Director, JSC "NIUIF", Severnoe shosse 75, Cherepovets, Russia 162622
Title: Use of the principles of Green Chemistry in development and implementation of advanced technologies of mineral fertilizers and inorganic acids
Time : 12:00-13:00
Biography:
Andrey Norov was born on 26 April 1957 in Russia (USSR). Upon graduating from Mendeleev’s University of Chemical Technology in Russia, for over 25 years Mr.Norov had been working at Mineral Fertilizers Plants. Since April 2007 he has been working for JSC “NIUIF”, at the present moment his job title is Industrial Technology Director. Mr Norov has got Ph.D. in Engineering Science. He is an Honorable Chemist of the Russian Federation, he also has got governmental and industry-related awards. Mr.Norov is an author of over 100 research articles and publications and 27 patents in the field of phosphorus-containing fertilizers technology. Mr.Norov took part as a speaker in 35 international conferences and symposiums.
Abstract:
Romina Ghobadi
University of Technology Sydney, Australia
Title: Electrokinetic Copper Removal from Kaolinite Soil under a constant electric current Using Activated Carbon Filter Media and its regeneration
Biography:
Romina Ghobadi, PhD student working on soil decontamination at the University of Technology Sydney, School of Civil & Environmental Engineering. I received a master’s degree in Engineering from University of Adelaide in Adelaide, Australia and my bachelor was in mining engineering. My experiences include environmental engineering, soil remediation, soil analysis, metals extraction and analysis, ground water modelling, statistics and stochastics simulation.
Abstract:
Copper contamination is a common problem in many industrial and mining sites that requires remediation. We performed electrokinetic experiment under a constant electrical current of 20 mA to study its removal from standard kaolinite soil using activated carbon filter media (AC RFM). AC affinity to copper adsorption facilitated the contaminant removal. Then, copper desorption was easily achieved by flashing the AC filter media with low pH solution while the AC was reused. Kaolinite soil spiked with 2.5 g/L of copper sulfate to give 1 g/L copper concentration in the soil. 1 kg of the contaminated soil was packed in the electrokinetic cell and 25 g of granular activated carbon (GAC) filter media was added near the cathode electrode. Electrokinetic experiment was carried out for 7 days and soil was divided into 5 equal sections at the end of the experiment. Copper concentration in the soil was measured by the XRF analyser. Results revealed that copper removal was 90.74%-68.78% in the sections 1 to 4. Copper removal was negative in the soil section 5 close to the cathode due to high soil pH in that soil section. However, a significant amount of copper, approximately 45%, was captured by AC during the EK-AC treatment, resulting less copper precipitation in the soil section near the cathode. Therefore, AC RFM could significantly enhance copper removal in the EK experiment under a constant electric current. The AC RFM was removed from the electrokinetic cell and packed in a filtration column for treatment and reuse. Nitric acid solution was passed through the AC column, achieving more than 82.1% copper removal. The AC was flushed with deionized water to neutralize the pH to normal conditions before reuse. The experimental work showed the feasibility of contaminant entrapment in the AC filter media under a constant electric current without adding chemicals and easily recovery by acid leaching due to AC’s high permeability. This will facilitate the process of contaminant removal from soil at the end of the electrokinetic remediation process that is usually accumulates near the cathode zone.
Luisa Maria Diele-Viegas
University of Maryland, USA
Title: Reptiles at risk: Why does we need to talk about it?
Biography:
Luisa Maria Diele-Viegas has completed her PhD in Ecology and Evolution at the age of 27 years from Universidade do Estado do Rio de Janeiro, Rio de Janeiro, Brazil, in 2019. She is a post-doctoral associated at the department of Biology of the Universtiy of Maryland, College Park, MD, United States. Her research has been focused on the impacts of climate change on tropical environments, biodiversity conservation and scientific communication. She has published several papers in reputed journals and has been given presentations regarding this topic in several conferences and events around the world.
Abstract:
In recent decades, many species have shifted their geographic ranges, seasonal activities, migration patterns, abundances and interactions in response to changes in the world’s climatic system. Projections of future climate change are uncertain, but the Earth’s warming is likely to exceed 4.8°C by the end of 21th century. Predicting the potential future risks to biodiversity caused by climate change has become an extremely active field of research, and several studies in the last two decades had focused on determining the negative impacts of climate change on reptiles at global, regional and local level. But why reptiles are so vulnerable to climate change? What is the importance of these animals and why should we preserve them? Here we aim to describe the main factors contributing to the vulnerability of lizards and snakes to climate change and their role on the ecosystems they are inserted. We also highlight the importance of an integrative approach including biological, bioclimatic and environmental variables to buffer the climate change effects on this group through the application of consistent and truly effective strategies for species conservation. Finally, we indicate areas with high spatial diversity of vulnerable species around the globe, indicating targets for conservation at a larger scale and helping to determine conservation areas at a small scale.
Tanu Balasubramanian
Consultant India@75 Foundation
Title: The Climate Action for India (The current Problems and proposed solutions for the climate change in India)
Biography:
Tanu Balasubramanian is a consultant with India@75 Foundation which is an initiative of the Confederation of Indian Industries (CII). She has more than 16 years of experience in the field of social development work as well as Training & development in India. She has been part of Senior management for PAN India development and operations in the field of social impact analysis, volunteerism, Education, Social work and Partnerships development. She has developed content for various blogs, articles, and Reports.
Abstract:
India is one of the most climatically diverse countries in the world. India hosts six major climatic subtypes, ranging from arid deserts in the west, alpine tundra and glaciers in the north, and humid tropical regions supporting rainforests in the southwest and the island territories. The current problem is that 25% of India is turning into a desert. In the next 15 years, we may have only half the water we need for our survival. For Example, the river Ganga is one of the most endangered water body in the world. Each person’s average water requirement is 1.1 million liters a year. Climate change is expected to cause worse floods and droughts within the next 25-50 years. During the monsoon, rivers will flood. The rest of the year, drought will follow. The proposed solution could be that the revitalization of dying rivers is possible through riverside afforestation. India is the first country in the world to make corporate social responsibility (CSR) mandatory, following an amendment to the Companies Act, 2013 in April 2014. Businesses can invest their profits in areas such as education, environment, renewable energy, poverty alleviation, etc. as part of any CSR compliance. India’s population consists of more than 65% of youth and the need of the hour is to institutionalize volunteerism in India which is over and above the CSR mandate. And, the ‘real change-makers’ are our children and they could play a significant role in changing the behavior of the elderly by demonstrating responsible behavior towards the climatic changes and global warming.
Thi Thuc Quyen Nguyen
University of Technology Sydney, Australia
Title: Arsenate removal by dried luffa plant coating iron in groundwater
Biography:
Thi Thuc Quyen Nguyen has completed her master's program at the age of 27 years from Ho Chi Minh City University of Technology, Vietnam. She is studying for her Ph.D. at the University of Technology Sydney, Australia. Her research focuses on the pollution of arsenic in groundwater. In addition, she concentrates to look for novel, low-cost, local materials that can be used as an efficient adsorbent to remove arsenic, by that reducing the cost of application.
Abstract:
Arsenic has acknowledged as one of the serious pollutants in groundwater. At high doses, it causes many human diseases related to skin, lung and other organs such as vascular disease, renal disease, chronic lung disease, hyperkeratosis, skin lesions, etc. Many methods applied to remove arsenic in an aqueous environment; however, the adsorption approach is usually chosen because it is an efficient, economy-effective and relatively easy-to-use method. Recently, arsenic adsorption by plant emerges as a low-cost and environmentally friendly method. In this study, first time, the dried fibre of the luffa plant was used to remove arsenate from groundwater. In order to enhance the positive charge of the adsorbent surface, which was very favorable to arsenic anion attraction, the luffa fibre was coated by iron oxide. As a result, the arsenate removal efficiency of raw luffa fibre increased 70 times after modification. The optimized pH of luffa fibre was identified at 3 and the co-existing phosphate anion was the most influenced to the arsenate adsorption process of luffa fibre. The analysis of scanning electron microscopy (SEM), energy-dispersive X-ray spectroscopy (EDS), Fourier transform infrared spectroscopy (FTIR) and zeta potential determined the characteristics of luffa fibre and its modified form. In addition, these analysed results helped to clarify the mechanism of the adsorption process.
Roukaya AL HAJ ISHAK AL ALI
Poitiers Institute of Media and Materials Chemistry, France
Title: Evolution of organochlorine and organophosphorus pesticides’s residues (in « Akkar » region in Lebanon) linked to an evaluation of their toxicity using E.coli K12, Pseudomonas aeruginosa H103 and Salmonella enterica
Biography:
Roukaya AL HAJ ISHAK AL ALI is a PhD candidate in analatycal chemistry (second year) in Poitiers university in France. She is 26 years old, working on pesticides’s quantification in a rural region and study the virulence effects of this pesistants organic polluants on three bacteria’s model.
Abstract:
Luisa Maria Diele-Viegas
University of Maryland, USA
Title: Amazonia and Climate change: current threatens and future perspectives
Biography:
Luisa Maria Diele-Viegas has completed her PhD in Ecology and Evolution at the age of 27 years from Universidade do Estado do Rio de Janeiro, Rio de Janeiro, Brazil, in 2019. She is a post-doctoral associated at the department of Biology of the Universtiy of Maryland, College Park, MD, United States. Her research has been focused on the impacts of climate change on tropical environments, biodiversity conservation and scientific communication. She has published several papers in reputed journals and has been given presentations regarding this topic in several conferences and events around the world.
Eder Johnson de Area Leão Pereira is a PhD candidate in Computational Modeling and Industrial Technology at Centro Integrado de Manufatura e Tecnologia of the Serviço Nacional de Aprendizagem Industrial, Salvador, Bahia, Brazil. He is a professor at the Instituto Federal do Maranhão, Bacabal, Maranhão, Brazil. His main research interests are in environmental economy and complex systems. He has published more than 20 papers in reputed journals and has been serving as an editorial board member of repute.
Carlos Frederico D. Rocha has a Ph.D. in Science (Ecology) obtained at Universidade Estadual de Campinas, Campinas, São Paulo, Brazil in 1992. He is an associate professor at Universidade do Estado do Rio de Janeiro, Rio de Janeiro, Brazil. His main interests are in Ecology and conservation of amphibians and reptiles. He is Level I-A Researcher (Higher level of Brazilian scientists attributed by the Brazilian Council of Science and Technology – CNPq) of the Brazilian Environmental Ministry and has published more than 600 papers in reputed journals.
Abstract:
The Amazon forest plays a major role in global carbon budget, and thus in mitigating the effects of climate change by stocking nearly half of the tropical forest carbon. Several ecoregions of the biome may lose their current climate conditions in the next few years, even considering a decrease in current global greenhouse gases emission rates. Besides climate change, recent events are threatening the Amazon integrity, such as deforestation, agrobusiness, mining activities, and uncontrolled fire. The Brazilian parliament has emitted intentions on increasing the resource exploitation in the biome, mostly inside indigenous lands, by encouraging and viabilizing mining and agrobusiness activities. This leaded to an unprecedented fire season in 2019, in addition to deforestation rates reaching the highest values in the last 12 years, and increased invasions to indigenous territories leading to the death of several indigenous leaders. This may have drastic consequences for the Amazon biodiversity and traditional populations, besides hamper the achievement of world’s carbon emissions targets to decrease current global warming rates. Here we discuss the exposure and sensitivity of the Amazon to climate change considering a business-as-usual scenario of greehouse gases emissions, the potential impacts of Brazilian political perspectives on the conservation of the biome and its consequences to human livelihood, environmental conservation and the world climatic system. Brazil hosts over 50% of the Amazon, so government’s actions should go toward sustainable policies rather than inadequate environmental regulation aiming short term profits. Otherwise the Amazon (and perhaps the world’s climatic system) will be in danger.
Isham Alzoubi
University of Tehran, Iran
Title: Prediction of environmental indicators in land leveling using artificial intelligence techniques
Biography:
Iesham alzoubi has completed his PhD at the age of 27 years fromDoctor of Philosophy Degree in Agricultural Mechanization Engineering (University of Tehran – Iran) University and Postdoctoral Studies from School of Surveying Geospatial Engineering-Department of Surveying and Geomatics Engineering, University of Tehran . Current Job: General commission for scientific Agricultural Research – Damascus – Syria (Mechanical Engineer) He has published more than 16 papers in reputed journals and has been serving as an editorial board member of repute.
Abstract:
Land leveling is one of the most important steps in soil preparation for agricultural and other purposes. . New techniques based on artificial intelligence, such as Artificial Neural Network, integrating Artificial Neural Network and Imperialist Competitive Algorithm (ICA-ANN), or Genetic Algorithms (GA-ANN), or Particle Swarm Optimization (PSO-ANN) have been employed for developing predictive models to estimate the energy related parameters and the results were compared to SPSS and Sensitivity Analysis results. In this study, several soil properties such as cut/fill volume, compressibility factor, specific gravity, moisture content, slope of the area, sand percent, and swelling index were measured and their effects on energy consumption were investigated. Totally 90 samples were collected from 3 land areas by grid size of 20m×20m. The aim of this work was to develop predictive models based on artificial intelligence techniques to predict the environmental indicators of land leveling . Results of sensitivity analysis illustrated that only three parameters consist of soil density, soil compressibility, and soil cut/fill volume had meaningful effects on energy consumption. Among the proposed methods, the GA-ANN had the most capability in prediction of the environmental energy parameters. However, for prediction of LE and FE the ANN and ICA-ANN algorithms had better performance
. On the other hand, SPSS software had higher R 2 value than Minitab software and sensitivity analysis and in fact close to the ANN values. Keywords: Energy; Imperialist competitive algorithm; Sensitivity analysis; ANN; Land levelling; Environmental indicators.
Keywords:Artificial Neural Network; energy; environmental research; Imperialist Competitive Algorithm; Sensitivity Analysis
.Originality/value – A limited number of research studies related to energy consumption in land leveling have been done on energy as a function of volume of excavation and embankment. However, in this research, energy and cost of land leveling are shown to be functions of all the properties of the land, including the slope, coefficient of swelling, density of the soil, soil moisture and special weight dirt.