Environmental contamination due to solid waste mismanagement is a global issue. Open dumping and open burning are the main implemented waste treatment and final disposal systems, mainly visible in low-income countries. This paper reviews the main impacts due to waste mismanagement in developing countries, focusing on environmental contamination and social issues. The activity of the informal sector in developing cities was also reviewed, focusing on the main health risks due to waste scavenging. Results reported that the environmental impacts are pervasive worldwide: marine litter, air, soil and water contamination, and the direct interaction of waste pickers with hazardous waste are the most important issues. Many reviews were published in the scientific literature about specific waste streams, in order to quantify its effect on the environment. This narrative literature review assessed global issues due to different waste fractions showing how several sources of pollution are affecting the environment, population health, and sustainable development. The results and case studies presented can be of reference for scholars and stakeholders for quantifying the comprehensive impacts and for planning integrated solid waste collection and treatment systems, for improving sustainability at a global level.

Waste Mismanagement in Developing Countries: A Review of Global Issues.

Agricultural utilization of biosolids: A review on potential effects on soil and plant grown

Following the modern-day urbanization and industrialization, heavy metal contamination has become a prime concern for today’s society. Starting from the agricultural soil in our food basket these heavy metals and metalloids, like - Cr, Mn, Co, Ni, Cu, Zn, Cd, Sn, Hg,Pb and others, showing significant toxic impacts. The intensification of agricultural land-use and changes in farming practices along with technological advancement has led to heavy metal pollution in soil. Metals/ metalloids concentrations in the soil are increasing at alarming rate due to modern day agricultural practices as these could not be degraded and affect plant growth, food safety and soil microflora. The biological and geological reorganization of heavy metal depends chiefly on green plants and their metabolism. Metal toxicity has direct effects and importance to flora that forms the integral component of ecosystem. Altered biochemical, physiological and metabolic processes are found in plants growing in regions of high metal pollution. However, metals like Cu, Mn, Co, Zn and Cr are required in trace amounts by plants for their metabolic activities. The present review aims to catalogue major published works related to heavy metal contamination in modern day agriculture, and draw a possible road map towards future research in this domain.

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Agroecological Responses of Heavy Metal Pollution with Special Emphasis on Soil Health and Plant Performances

Development, current state and future trends of sludge management in China: Based on exploratory data and CO2-equivaient emissions analysis.

Treatment of biowaste, the predominant waste fraction in low- and middle-income settings, offers public health, environmental and economic benefits by converting waste into a hygienic product, diverting it from disposal sites, and providing a source of income. This article presents a comprehensive overview of 13 biowaste treatment technologies, grouped into four categories: (1) direct use (direct land application, direct animal feed, direct combustion), (2) biological treatment (composting, vermicomposting, black soldier fly treatment, anaerobic digestion, fermentation), (3) physico-chemical treatment (transesterification, densification), and (4) thermo-chemical treatment (pyrolysis, liquefaction, gasification). Based on a literature review and expert consultation, the main feedstock requirements, process conditions and treatment products are summarized, and the challenges and trends, particularly regarding the applicability of each technology in the urban low- and middle-income context, are critically discussed. An analysis of the scientific articles published from 2005 to 2015 reveals substantial differences in the amount and type of research published for each technology, a fact that can partly be explained with the development stage of the technologies. Overall, publications from case studies and field research seem disproportionately underrepresented for all technologies. One may argue that this reflects the main task of researchers—to conduct fundamental research for enhanced process understanding—but it may also be a result of the traditional embedding of the waste sector in the discipline of engineering science, where socio-economic and management aspects are seldom object of the research. More unbiased, well-structured and reproducible evidence from case studies at scale could foster the knowledge transfer to practitioners and enhance the exchange between academia, policy and practice.

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Treatment technologies for urban solid biowaste to create value products: a review with focus on low- and middle-income settings

Management of municipal solid waste is a global problem and is faced by all developing countries. The rapid pace of increase in population, economic growth, urbanization and industrialization is coupled with accelerated solid waste generation. In most of the developing countries wastes are either scattered in urban centers or disposed off unplanned in low lying areas or open dumps. The lack of infrastructure for collection, transportation, treatment and disposal of solid waste, proper solid waste management planning, insufficient financial resources, technical expertise and public attitude have made the situation exasperating due to which several environmental and health related problems are increasing. Though, there are many negative issues related to solid waste, it also provides many opportunities that not only mitigates its negative impact but also helps in meeting the demand for energy and employment generation as well as in soil health improvement. Keeping in mind the present situation the current review was planned with the objective to overlook the challenges and opportunities faced during urban solid waste management in developing countries like India.

Sultan Ahmed Ismail

Papers

Urban solid waste management in the developing world with emphasis on India: challenges and opportunities