My master thesis
As I promised on Twitter I am going to write an article about my master thesis, because it is not secret I can write about it.
In my thesis I examined the institutional waste and its fractions and properties and see how to use every material to have the least effect on the environment.
We take samples in Veszprém at the university of the Pannonia's buildings. We made 2 group according to how was the biological waste collected. ( I mean selectively or not) Where the biological waste was collected together with the mixed waste we called VB and where is wasn't we called VBN.
At the first step we selected the samples according to its size with a vibrational sieve. After that we got <1cm, 1-2 cm, 2-4 cm, 4-6 cm, 6-10 cm and 10 cm+ fraction. After that we sorted the size fractions according to its material. We used every group the basic groups like plastic, metal, biological and paper. Where we need another fractions we made another groups like inert, coffee capsule.
After that we examined different properties of the waste like ash content, mositure content, dry matter content and etc.
Results
At the VB sample group from paper fraction was the most quantity. It was followed by the biological waste. The least quantity was from the hazardous waste. At the VBN fraction the top quantity was the paper too. Here the inert waste was the least.
If we examine all of the size fraction we find that at the VB group the 6-10 cm and 2-4 cm size was the most quantity with 2,85 kg. The least quantity was from the 1-2 cm size fraction with 0,7 kg. At the VBN group we could see that with size of sample the weights are exponentially grow. Which means the highest quantity was at the 10 cm+ with 1,7 kg and the lowest was at the 1-2 and < 1 cm with 0,1 kg.
If we examine the ratio of the materials at all of the sample size we got that at the 1-2 cm size is the biggest ratio is the biological waste with more than 95%. At the 2-4 cm size fraction is still at the biggest ratio is the biological. At the 4-6 cm size fraction the biggest ratio is the paper. At the 6-10 cm size fraction the biggest ratio is the glass. At the 10 cm + the biggest ratio is the plastic.
At the VBN sample we got that 1-2 cm size fraction is the biological waste is in the biggest ratio. At the 2-4 cm, 4-6 cm and 6-10 cm is the paper in the biggest ratio. At the 10+ cm size fraction the plastic is in the biggest ratio.
The effect on the selective biological waste collection has the biggest impact on the 1-2 cm size fraction with 25,1%. At the 4-6 cm the ratio was 18, 32% and at the 2-4 cm size fraction the ratio was 18,22%. We can say that there is not a big difference between these two size fraction. At the 6-10 cm size fraction the ratio was 0,44% which is not a very big change. The reason of it because the biological waste is decays to less pieces it can see on the data.
institutional waste in the circulation
At the ned of my thesis I examined how we can treat the waste as environment frienly as it possible. Before I start speak about the the results of the circulation. I had to speak about the waste pyramid which you can see on the first picture. According the circular economy we try to use as environment friendly methods at the waste management as possible. We try to use the method as high as possible from the pyramid. From the top till the bottom the effect of the management on the environment is increasing.
We can use biological waste to make biogas and compost. Biogas is contain CH4, CO2 and other gases. CH4 concentration is around 30-60%. From Biogas we can make biomethane which we can use as natural gas. We can use Biogas as fuel for cars and make heat and electricity so there is a lot of way to use the biogas. Another way to use the biological waste is the compost. Everybody can make compost athome. You don't need a big system as at the biogas to make compost for yourself. Compost is good for the plants in the garden. It is good for the soil and the plants. It makes the plants to make better fruits and vegetables.
Plastic iwaste is an another story. There are ways to recycle the plastic waste, but we didn't find any PET bottle to recycle in the samples. Only way to use the plastic waste is the waste burning, because it is forbidden to landfill the plastic waste.
metal waste is recycleable as much as we want, so In the samples the metal wastes can be recycle.
paper waste isa recycleable waste. From it we can make a recycled paper, which quality is worst than the original, but still can be useable and environment friendly. another way is the waste burning, but this is not the best option. This is the last option at the paper waste management.
Tetrapak waste is a little difficult. The tetra pack is contain different layers like plastic, paper and etc. It makes hard the recycle, but there is technology to recycle it.
Hazardous waste treatment is not solved yet, so we can only landfill this kind of waste. In the future we maybe have a technology to treat hazardous waste.
Glass waste is an another type of waste which we recycle as much as we want. So from glass waste we can make again and again new glass product.
At the Inert waste the only way to manage is the landfill, because the inert waste is not burn, not decays, not dissolves and not react to any chemical.
At the Coffee capsule we can speak about recycle and landfill. we can recycle the coffee capsules,because it was made from aluminum. Landfill is another way, but that isn't a very good option for it. At the VB 2-4 cm sample we found more than 1 kg Coffee capsule. It can confirm that the samples are from institutional waste.
Thank you for reading my article about my Thesis. I don't know if I can use the pictures from my Thesis on the internet, so I thought I am not going to use pictures from it. I am sorry for the lot of text. I hope you liked it.