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At least 973 records · Page 54
All sourcesNASA NTRSDOE OSTI
DOE OSTI2020

The Importance of Inventory for Informing Waste Strategy - 20280

A waste inventory aims to present the best available information about the nature, quantity and location of radioactive wastes and materials at a facility, site or in a country. Quality inventory data is necessary for developing appropriate strategies and plans for managing radioactive wastes and materials, with high standards of protection for people and the environment. The inventory of wastes will change over time due to a wide range of technical, commercial or policy reasons, for example, if reactor lifetimes are extended, if decommissioning strategies change or if new technologies are introduced for managing waste. Inventory information can also improve as better waste characterisation data becomes available. At a facility or site level, good quality inventory data are needed to underpin decision making about the waste management options and to demonstrate compliance with the chosen treatment or disposal route. At a site and country level, knowledge of the inventory can drive the improvement to waste strategy; waste management asset and service planning; and implementation. (authors)

12 MANAGEMENT OF RADIOACTIVE AND NON-RADIOACTIVE W↗
DOE OSTI2020

The Port Hope Areas Initiative's Port Granby Project: The Decontamination of Site Equipment from a Low Level Waste Facility - 20330

The Port Hope Area Initiative (PHAI) is the Government of Canada's response to the community recommended solutions for the remediation and safe, long-term management of historic low-level radioactive waste (LLRW) that was the result of uranium and radium processing operations in the Municipality of Port Hope, Ontario from the 1930's to the 1980's. The Eldorado refinery, on the shores of Lake Ontario, began refining radium-226 from pitchblende ore, later transitioning to the refining of uranium ore. Process residues were deposited at the Welcome Waste Management Facility in Port Hope until the mid-1950's switching to the Port Granby Waste Management Facility (PGWMF), which continued to accept waste until the late 1980's. The Port Granby Project involves the construction of a new, secure long-term waste management facility (LTWMF) and supporting infrastructure, and the excavation and relocation of approximately 1,200,000 m{sup 3} of historic low-level radioactive waste and marginally contaminated soil from the PGWMF to the newly constructed LTWMF. Since the project's inception in 2016, the bulk of the material has since been moved to the final long term storage cell. This has taken over 500,000 person-hours and a large amount of one site heavy equipment to accomplish including excavators, bulldozers, rock trucks, baker tanks and vacuum trucks. While many of the pieces of heavy equipment and water management equipment has further work to do on site, several of the sites larger items have already undergone the decontamination process prior to release from the site. This process has posed a serious challenge as the waste has a caustic nature to it and over the last few years it has had time to work its way into the metallic structures and framework of the equipment. Coupled with the tight work spaces and in some cases confined work areas there have been many issues that needed to be addressed to successfully reach a state where items can be free released to the unrestricted limits of the sites license. This ongoing process has led to a more refined decontamination program at the Port Granby Facility and has had a rather high success rate considering the length of time the equipment has been exposed to the waste materials on site. This paper discusses the varied challenges of decontamination faced at a low-level radioactive waste facility with a focus on the following aspects: - Challenges faced regarding different equipment types and the solutions implemented by Wood to address these challenges; - An examination of various decontamination methods employed throughout the project; and - Lessons learned over three years of remediation work and how they impact the decontamination process. (authors)

12 MANAGEMENT OF RADIOACTIVE AND NON-RADIOACTIVE W↗
DOE OSTI2015

A Methodology for defining intermediate level waste package characteristics that ensure criticality safety in a geological disposal facility - 14599

Radioactive Waste Management (RWM) is responsible for implementing geological disposal of the UK's higher activity radioactive wastes. These wastes include fissile nuclides and, therefore, demonstration of the criticality safety of the wastes under disposal conditions forms an important component of RWM's disposal system safety case. The basis for ensuring criticality safety of intermediate level waste (ILW) packages is to specify controls on the fissile material content of individual packages through the application of deterministic criticality safety assessments (CSAs). The approach is defined and controlled through RWM's Disposability Assessment process, which aims to ensure that: criticality is prevented during waste package transport to a GDF; the risk of criticality is tolerable and as low as reasonably practicable (ALARP) during GDF operations; and the likelihood and consequences of criticality arising from the evolution of waste packages after GDF closure are low. The most restrictive phase determines the package fissile material limit and, until now, in many cases the GDF post-closure phase has provided the most restrictive limit. Currently, the GDF post-closure limits are derived deterministically using highly stylised and conservative assumptions about fissile material accumulations occurring on very long timescales into the future. RWM, waste producers and regulators do not currently consider this approach to be yielding an appropriate balance of risk. Therefore, RWM is modifying the process for setting fissile material limits on ILW packages by making use of the outcomes of its recent research projects to establish the likelihood of post-closure criticality in a GDF and the consequences of hypothetical post-closure criticality events (presented in companion papers). This paper presents the revised methodology, which is based on the requirement that criticality in a GDF can be demonstrated to be of low and tolerable consequences with regard the performance of a GDF. A probabilistic 'low-likelihood package envelope' is proposed that establishes the packaging and disposal facility conditions under which post-closure criticality is considered to be of low likelihood and low consequence. The bounding conditions for establishing the extent of the package envelope have been evaluated through application of the methodologies and models developed in RWM's Likelihood of Criticality research project. It is expected that the vast majority of ILW packages would meet the package envelope requirements. The methodology also allows the use of other options, such as deterministic CSAs, for waste packages that fall outside the low-likelihood package envelope. (authors)

12 MANAGEMENT OF RADIOACTIVE AND NON-RADIOACTIVE W↗
DOE OSTI2014

Financial sustainability in municipal solid waste management – Costs and revenues in Bahir Dar, Ethiopia

Highlights: • Cost-revenue analysis over 2 years revealed insufficient cost-recovery. • Expenses for motorized secondary collection increased by 82% over two years. • Low fee collection rate and reliance on only one revenue stream are problematic. • Different options for cost reduction and enhanced revenue streams are recommended. • Good public–private alliance is crucial to plan and implement improvement measures. - Abstract: Providing good solid waste management (SWM) services while also ensuring financial sustainability of the system continues to be a major challenge in cities of developing countries. Bahir Dar in northwestern Ethiopia outsourced municipal waste services to a private waste company in 2008. While this institutional change has led to substantial improvement in the cleanliness of the city, its financial sustainability remains unclear. Is the private company able to generate sufficient revenues from their activities to offset the costs and generate some profit? This paper presents a cost-revenue analysis, based on data from July 2009 to June 2011. The analysis reveals that overall costs in Bahir Dar’s SWM system increased significantly during this period, mainly due to rising costs related to waste transportation. On the other hand, there is only one major revenue stream in place: the waste collection fee from households, commercial enterprises and institutions. As the efficiency of fee collection from households is only around 50%, the total amount of revenues are not sufficient to cover the running costs. This results in a substantial yearly deficit. The results of the research therefore show that a more detailed cost structure and cost-revenue analysis of this waste management service is important with appropriate measures, either by the privates sector itself or with the support of the local authorities, in order to enhance cost efficiency and balance the cost-revenues towards cost recovery. Delays in mitigating the evident financial deficit could else endanger the public-private partnership (PPP) and lead to failure of this setup in the medium to long term, thus also endangering the now existing improved and currently reliable service. We present four options on how financial sustainability of the SWM system in Bahir Dar might be enhanced: (i) improved fee collection efficiency by linking the fees of solid waste collection to water supply; (ii) increasing the value chain by sales of organic waste recycling products; (iii) diversifying revenue streams and financing mechanisms (polluter-pays-, cross-subsidy- and business-principles); and (iv) cost reduction and improved cost-effectiveness. We argue that in a PPP setup such as in Bahir Dar, a strong alliance between the municipality and private enterprise is important so that appropriate solutions for improved financial sustainability of a SWM system can be sought and implemented.

12 MANAGEMENT OF RADIOACTIVE AND NON-RADIOACTIVE W↗
DOE OSTI2014

X-Ray Diffraction of Slag-Based Sodium Salt Waste Forms

Cementitious materials are used to solidify and stabilize aqueous based radioactive waste containing sodium salts. The types and proportions of cementitious ingredients used to treat aqueous radioactive waste streams containing sodium salts depend on the performance objectives for the waste forms and the compositions of the waste streams. Matrix phases can stabilize certain contaminants (co-precipitation, substitution, ion exchange, and / or sorption), influence processing properties, and are responsible for physical properties and durability of the cured waste forms. Consequently, characterization of the matrix (binder) mineralogy (chemical compositions and crystalline / non crystalline structures) is important for predicting contaminant leaching and evolution of the materials as a function of time and changing conditions This report documents sample preparation and x-ray diffraction results for a series of mixtures of sodium salt waste and cementitious binders. The objective of this study was to provide initial phase characterization for the CBP reference case cementitious salt waste form. This information can be used to: 1) generate a base line for the evolution of the waste form as a function of time and conditions, 2) potentially to design new binders based on mineralogy of the binder, 3) understand and predict anion and cation leaching behavior of contaminants of concern, and 4) predict performance of the waste forms for which phase solubility and thermodynamic data are available. Characterization of the mineralogy is also important for understanding the buffering effects that the waste form has on infiltrating water / leachates. More specifically, identification of hydrated phases capable of sequestering anions in the structures and crystallinity of the calcium silicate binder phases were of particular interest. The intent was to use this characterization data as a starting point for more detailed phase characterization using neutron diffraction techniques in addition to quasi-elastic neutron scattering techniques for characterization of water at the ORNL Spallation Neutron Source, Oak Ridge, TN. The initial characterization is complete. Due to extensive substitutions of cations and anions in the layered double hydroxide phases and the very fine intermixing of poorly crystalline hydrated phases in the reference case blend (10 : 45 : 45 cement : slag : fly ash), electron diffraction and transmission electron spectroscopy are recommended as the next step for characterization. In summary, the hydrated mixtures of Type II portland cement, Grade 100 ground granulated blast furnace slag (GGBFS) and carbon burn-out (CBO) Class F Fly ash contained hydrated phase assemblages which were typical of those reported in the literature. Based on x-ray diffraction results, no significant differences were detected in samples cured 2 months and 14 months in sealed containers at ambient indoor temperatures.

36 MATERIALS SCIENCE↗
NASA NTRS1995

Marshall Space Flight Center solid waste characterization and recycling improvement study

The MSFC Facilities Office, which is responsible for disposing of all waste generated by MSFC, issued a delivery order to the University of Alabama in Huntsville (UAH) to characterize current MSFC waste streams and to evaluate their existing recycling program. The purpose of the study was to define the nature, quantity, and types of waste produced and to generate ideas for improving the present recycling program. Specifically, the following tasks were to be performed: Identify various surplus and waste materials--as identified by the Contracting Officer's Technical Representative (COTR)--by source, location, and type; Analyze MSFC's current methods for handling, storage, transport, and disposition of waste and surplussed materials; Determine the composition of various surplus and waste materials as to type and quantities from various sources and locations; Analyze different methods for the disposition of various surplus and waste materials, including quality, quantity, preparation, transport cost, and value; Study possible alternatives to current methods of handling, storage, transport, and disposition of surplus and waste materials to improve the quality and quantities recycled or sold and to reduce and minimize the quantities of surplus and waste material currently being disposed of or stored; Provide recommendations for source and centralized segregation and aggregation of materials for recycling and/or disposition; and The analysis could include identification and laboratory level evaluation of methods and/or equipment, including capital costs, operating costs, maintenance requirements, life cycle and return on investment for systems to support the waste reduction program mission.

Eley, Michael H.↗
DOE OSTI2024

Challenges in Tracking Waste Reduction Performance Improvement in Manufacturing Plants

The recently released Circularity Gap Report 2023 by Circle Economy Foundation found that the circularity score for the global economy is declining. This indicates that material extraction from virgin sources is climbing over earlier years. As per data released by US Geological Survey, material use in the US economy has increased exponentially with the expanding US economy over last century. EPA tracked municipal solid waste from 1960 to 2018 and found that 50% of the waste is destined for landfills. EPA estimates that US industry is responsible for 2.7 billion ton of solid non-hazardous waste annually in our mostly linear economy model. The circular economy framework aims at decoupling economic value generation from virgin materials extraction from nature. The linear model of material extraction and disposal at end of life is highly unsustainable. Manufacturing companies have realized this and in their commitments to sustainability are adopting ambitious waste reduction targets. Through Better Plants program US Department of Energy has established Waste Reduction Network where it is offering technical assistance to partners to achieve these ambitious waste reduction goals. Basic requirements of establishing a target include identifying a baseline, quantifying waste performance, and measuring progress over time. One problem faced by industry is the unstandardized metrics to quantify waste performance that may not be well suited to demonstrate progress. In this paper, we research methods traditionally used to measure waste performance and highlight advantages, gaps and limitations of each method. Suitability of the methods applicable to different manufacturing circumstances are also examined. Finally, we present a case study of a large manufacturer that faced inconsistencies in their tracked measurement metric. A solution was proposed to alter the methodology to enable more accurate waste performance tracking against a baseline.

Chaudhari, Subodh↗
DOE OSTI2013

The composition, heating value and renewable share of the energy content of mixed municipal solid waste in Finland

Highlights: • New experimental data of mixed MSW properties in a Finnish case region. • The share of renewable energy of mixed MSW. • The results were compared with earlier international studies. • The average share of renewable energy was 30% and the average LHVar 19 MJ/kg. • Well operating source separation decreases the renewable energy content of MSW. - Abstract: For the estimation of greenhouse gas emissions from waste incineration it is essential to know the share of the renewable energy content of the combusted waste. The composition and heating value information is generally available, but the renewable energy share or heating values of different fractions of waste have rarely been determined. In this study, data from Finnish studies concerning the composition and energy content of mixed MSW were collected, new experimental data on the compositions, heating values and renewable share of energy were presented and the results were compared to the estimations concluded from earlier international studies. In the town of Lappeenranta in south-eastern Finland, the share of renewable energy ranged between 25% and 34% in the energy content tests implemented for two sample trucks. The heating values of the waste and fractions of plastic waste were high in the samples compared to the earlier studies in Finland. These high values were caused by good source separation and led to a low share of renewable energy content in the waste. The results showed that in mixed municipal solid waste the renewable share of the energy content can be significantly lower than the general assumptions (50–60%) when the source separation of organic waste, paper and cardboard is carried out successfully. The number of samples was however small for making extensive conclusions on the results concerning the heating values and renewable share of energy and additional research is needed for this purpose.

09 BIOMASS FUELS↗
DOE OSTI2013

Development of disposal option for radioactive waste

The development of a lasting solution to radioactive waste management is a critical issue for future nuclear applications. When assessing radioactive waste disposal options factors such as volume of waste and sustainability of the plan must be considered. This paper describes basic plans for the disposal of Low- and intermediate-level radioactive wastes (LILW) expected to be generated from nuclear power plants for countries starting nuclear power program for the first time. The purpose of this paper was to develop a disposal option for Low and intermediate level radioactive wastes for new comer countries planning to build at least two nuclear power units. A LILW disposal plan was developed by considering countries' radioactive waste generation data from pressurized water nuclear reactors. An on-site storage facility of 1,000 m{sup 3} for LILW at NPPs sites for a period 10 years pending final disposal was recommended. It was concluded that storage and disposal processes are complementary with each other, therefore; both programs should be complemented for effective management and control of radioactive wastes. This study is important as an initial implementation of a national Low-and intermediate level wastes (LILW) disposal program for countries planning to build nuclear power plants for the first time. (authors)

12 MANAGEMENT OF RADIOACTIVE AND NON-RADIOACTIVE W↗
DOE OSTI2016

Defense Waste Processing Facility (DWPF) Viscosity Model: Revisions for Processing High TiO 2 Containing Glasses

Radioactive high-level waste (HLW) at the Savannah River Site (SRS) has successfully been vitrified into borosilicate glass in the Defense Waste Processing Facility (DWPF) since 1996. Vitrification requires stringent product/process (P/P) constraints since the glass cannot be reworked once it is poured into ten foot tall by two foot diameter canisters. A unique “feed forward” statistical process control (SPC) was developed for this control rather than statistical quality control (SQC). In SPC, the feed composition to the DWPF melter is controlled prior to vitrification. In SQC, the glass product would be sampled after it is vitrified. Individual glass property-composition models form the basis for the “feed forward” SPC. The models transform constraints on the melt and glass properties into constraints on the feed composition going to the melter in order to guarantee, at the 95% confidence level, that the feed will be processable and that the durability of the resulting waste form will be acceptable to a geologic repository. The DWPF SPC system is known as the Product Composition Control System (PCCS). The DWPF will soon be receiving wastes from the Salt Waste Processing Facility (SWPF) containing increased concentrations of TiO 2 , Na 2 O, and Cs 2 O . The SWPF is being built to pretreat the high-curie fraction of the salt waste to be removed from the HLW tanks in the F- and H-Area Tank Farms at the SRS. In order to process TiO 2 concentrations >2.0 wt% in the DWPF, new viscosity data were developed over the range of 1.90 to 6.09 wt% TiO 2 and evaluated against the 2005 viscosity model. An alternate viscosity model is also derived for potential future use, should the DWPF ever need to process other titanate-containing ion exchange materials. The ultimate limit on the amount of TiO 2 that can be accommodated from SWPF will be determined by the three PCCS models, the waste composition of a given sludge batch, the waste loading of the sludge batch, and the frit used for vitrification.

12 MANAGEMENT OF RADIOACTIVE AND NON-RADIOACTIVE W↗
DOE OSTI2017

The Innovative Universal Separation Process (USEP) for Disposal of Mixed Liquid Waste Via Unconditional Clearance Approach - 17570

Historically, Mixed Liquid Waste (MLW) drums from Canadian nuclear facilities containing Tritium (H-3) and other radionuclides (alpha as well as beta/gamma emitting) were shipped to a licensed US facility for destruction via incineration. This option is relatively complex considering the logistics associated with cross-border shipments and the destruction costs (e.g. H-3 surcharge). Because of this, Kinectrics has developed a novel and flexible process for disposal of oily as well as other (solvents, aqueous etc.) MLW within Canada. This process avoids the need for cross-border shipments and significantly reduces the complexity as well as cost for waste disposal. An overview of the various approaches and activities undertaken by Kinectrics during the period 2009-2013 for successfully processing and disposing of several MLW drums (oils, solvents, aqueous and solids) was reported at the WM-2013 conference. One of the key approaches for management of both oily Polychlorinated Biphenyls (PCB) as well as non-PCB MLW involves treatment of the mixed waste using various well-known unit operations such as filtration, treatment with commercial sorbents, and various proprietary treatment methods developed at Kinectrics. These approaches result in reduction of radionuclide activity levels to below the unconditional clearance criteria and allows disposal of the waste via incineration at a conventional chemical waste facility. A small amount of radioactive secondary waste (the captured radionuclides) is returned to the customer. This approach was successfully employed for processing several drums of PCB and non-PCB MLW. Kinectrics recently completed two projects involving processing for disposal of legacy oily and solvent MLW inventory for a Canadian nuclear customer. Waste treatment processes used previously for unconditional clearance of oily/solvent MLW were ineffective for treatment of these legacy waste drums. Some drums were particularly challenging to process since H-3 was chemically associated with the oil backbone. To address these challenges, Kinectrics developed the innovative Universal Separation (USEP) process for disposal of problematic MLW. This paper presents an overview of the USEP process, the latest results of drum scale (205 L) process demonstration work, and the design concept of a Mobile Processing Unit (MPU) for large scale batch (1500 L) processing of MLW employing the USEP process. (authors)

12 MANAGEMENT OF RADIOACTIVE AND NON-RADIOACTIVE W↗
DOE OSTI1961

Laboratory Development of a Pot Calcination Process for Converting Liquid Wastes to Solids

Simulated Darex, Purex, Thorex, and TBP-25 wastes were batch-evaporated and calcined to solids. The weight of residue was decreased to ~ 8% of the original waste for Darex, to ~ 4% for Purex, to ~ 2% for Thorex, and ~ 7% for TBP-25 by calcination to 1200°C. Semicontinuous evaporation and calcination to solids at 900°C of Darex and Purex wastes gave volume reduction factors of ~ 8 and 7 to 10, respectively. The nitrate contents of the residues from batch calcination to 800°C were from ~ 0.07 to 0.5 wt % while the nitrate contents of the residues from semicontinuous calcination to 900°C were from ~ 0.1 to 0.7 wt %. Sodium, calcium, and magnesium additives to Purex waste decreased the percent of sulfate volatilized into the condensate from ~ 30% to <0.5%. Replacement of the atmosphere above the waste with nitric oxide decreased ruthenium volatility from 50 to 60% of that originally present in Purex waste to 0.5 to 3.5%. The thermal conductivities for the calcined wastes, measured in situ, were all >0.1 Btu/hr ft °F at ~ 400°F and increased almost linearly with increasing temperature to >0.3 Btu/hr ft °F at ~ 1600°F in all cases studied.

052001* -- Nuclear Fuels-- Waste Processing↗
DOE OSTI2019

Challenges with vitrification of Hanford High-Level Waste (HLW) to borosilicate glass – An overview

The Hanford site in Washington State houses ~56 million gallons of radioactive wastes stored in 177 underground tanks. The waste must be immobilized and permanently stored, and the plan is to separate the tank wastes into low activity waste (LAW) and high-level waste (HLW) streams. The U.S. Department of Energy is building a Waste Treatment and Immobilization Plant at Hanford site to separately vitrify these two waste streams in borosilicate glass using Joule-heated ceramic melters (JHCM). Although the process of nuclear waste vitrification seems to be well established, in practicality, it is faced with complex problems starting from the design of glass compositions, to processing in melters and long-term performance of the final vitrified waste forms. The article presents an overview of our current understanding of critical challenges related to the development and performance of HLW glasses.

12 MANAGEMENT OF RADIOACTIVE AND NON-RADIOACTIVE W↗
DOE OSTI2013

Challenges when performing economic optimization of waste treatment: A review

Highlights: • Review of main optimization tools in the field of waste management. • Different optimization methods are applied. • Different fractions are analyzed. • There is focus on different parameters in different geographical regions. • More research is needed which encompasses both recycling and energy solutions. - Abstract: Strategic and operational decisions in waste management, in particular with respect to investments in new treatment facilities, are needed due to a number of factors, including continuously increasing amounts of waste, political demands for efficient utilization of waste resources, and the decommissioning of existing waste treatment facilities. Optimization models can assist in ensuring that these investment strategies are economically feasible. Various economic optimization models for waste treatment have been developed which focus on different parameters. Models focusing on transport are one example, but models focusing on energy production have also been developed, as well as models which take into account a plant’s economies of scale, environmental impact, material recovery and social costs. Finally, models combining different criteria for the selection of waste treatment methods in multi-criteria analysis have been developed. A thorough updated review of the existing models is presented, and the main challenges and crucial parameters that need to be taken into account when assessing the economic performance of waste treatment alternatives are identified. The review article will assist both policy-makers and model-developers involved in assessing the economic performance of waste treatment alternatives.

12 MANAGEMENT OF RADIOACTIVE AND NON-RADIOACTIVE W↗
DOE OSTI2015

Toward environmentally-benign utilization of nonmetallic fraction of waste printed circuit boards as modifier and precursor

Highlights: • Environmental impacts of electronic waste and specifically waste printed circuit boards. • Review of the recycling techniques of waste printed circuit boards. • Advantages of physico-mechanical recycling techniques over chemical methods. • Utilization of nonmetallic fraction of waste printed circuit boards as modifier/filler. • Recent advances in the use of nonmetallic fraction of waste printed circuit boards as precursor. - Abstract: Electronic waste, including printed circuit boards, is growing at an alarming rate due to the accelerated technological progress and the shorter lifespan of the electronic equipment. In the past decades, due to the lack of proper economic and environmentally-benign recycling technologies, a major fraction of e-waste generated was either destined to landfills or incinerated with the sole intention of its disposal disregarding the toxic nature of this waste. Recently, with the increasing public awareness over their environment and health issues and with the enaction of more stringent regulations, environmentally-benign recycling has been driven to be an alternative option partially replacing the traditional eco-unfriendly disposal methods. One of the most favorable green technologies has been the mechanical separation of the metallic and nonmetallic fraction of the waste printed circuit boards. Although metallic fraction, as the most profitable component, is used to generate the revenue of the separation process, the nonmetallic fraction (NMF) has been left isolated. Herein, the recent developments in the application of NMF have been comprehensively reviewed and an eco-friendly emerging usage of NMF as a value-added material for sustainable remediation has been introduced.

12 MANAGEMENT OF RADIOACTIVE AND NON-RADIOACTIVE W↗
DOE OSTI2017

E-waste collection in Italy: Results from an exploratory analysis

Highlights: • The performance of the Italian household collection system for E-waste is analysed in a panel data regression analysis. • N. of Collection points, % of female, % of waste separately collected are positively correlated with kg of E-waste collected. • Population density is negatively correlated with kg of E-waste collected. • The Stochastic Frontier Model identifies the optimal production function. • Tuscany, Sardinia and Sicily are the best performing regions. - Abstract: This study looks at the performance of household electrical and electronic waste (WEEE) collection in 20 Italian regions from 2008 to 2015. The impact of several explicative variables on the results of e-waste collection is evaluated. The independent variables are socio-economic and demographic ones (age, gender, household size, education level, migration and income) along with technical-organisational variables (population density, presence of metropoles, macro regions, characteristics of the territory, percentage of household waste collected separately and number of e-waste collection points). The results show that the presence of collection points, the percentage of household waste collected separately and the percentage of females are positively correlated with the kg collected per inhabitant per year. For example, a variation of 1% of input (presence of collection points) corresponds to a 0.25% variation in the output (collection results) while 1% difference in the percentage of females in the population corresponds to a 7.549% difference in the collection rate. Population density, instead, is negatively correlated. It is interesting to note that there is a discrepancy between the Southern regions and the Centre regions (the former have an outcome 0.66 times lower than the latter) while the Northern regions perform similarly to the Centre ones. Moreover, the first year (2008) had a very low performance compared to the following years when the scheme constantly improved, mainly due to the additional collection points available. The Stochastic Frontier Model allows for the identification of the optimal production function among the 20 Italian regions. The best performing region is Tuscany (in the Centre), followed by Sardinia and Sicily (in the South).

12 MANAGEMENT OF RADIOACTIVE AND NON-RADIOACTIVE W↗
DOE OSTI2022

Waste Control Specialists Technical Review Team Report

1. Modeling of Drum 68660 and the WCS Drums: A calibrated model of Los Alamos National Laboratory (LANL) Drum 68660 indicates that pressurization of the drum by restriction of drum venting could have led to the thermal runaway reaction at the Waste Isolation Pilot Plant (WIPP) in 2014, supporting the hypothesis that the contents of the drum were not fundamentally different from the overall remediated nitrate salt (RNS) waste stream. 2. Nitric Acid Reactions and Aging of the Waste: The stability of the WCS RNS waste with respect to autocatalytic thermal runaway due to nitric acid chemistry should increase over time as the nitric acid is depleted from chemical reactions in the drum. However, this cannot be confirmed because of the lack of long-term experimental data on the impact of aging on the reactivity of RNS waste. The calibrated model indicates that the waste drums retain most of their reactive components, metal nitrate salts and sWheat Scoop ® , even after eight years. 3. Pressure Effects and Runaway Reactions: The calibrated model indicates that if the drums and standard waste boxes (SWBs) are not allowed to pressurize during transport or storage and they are stored at historical WIPP repository temperatures, then an autocatalytic thermal runaway event is not expected to occur. Since the cause of Drum 68660 pressurization is not known, decision makers are not able to tailor mitigating strategies to the initiating event. Consequently, mitigating strategies must consider all feasible internal and external events that could lead to the pressurization of the drums. 4. Temperature Effects and Runaway Reactions: Temperature also has a strong influence on the stability of the waste. The calibrated model indicates that cooling the drums or SWBs can reduce the possibility of autocatalytic thermal runaway reactions. Simulations suggest that for a drum with a plugged vent, the probability of thermal runaway may be reduced or eliminated if wastes are maintained at or below 43 °F through active cooling measures from the initiation of transport until emplacement at WIPP.

12 MANAGEMENT OF RADIOACTIVE AND NON-RADIOACTIVE W↗
DOE OSTI2016

Can Small Countries Benefit from the E-waste Global Value Chain?

E-waste is a term used to cover items of all types of electrical and electronic equipment and its parts that have been discarded by the owners as waste without the intention of re-use, because this equipment has ceased to be of any value to its owners. E-waste is one of the fastestgrowing waste streams globally. Since the Rio Summit Earth summit organized by the United Nations in 1992, the concept of sustainability extends to rendering basic services such as Solid Waste Management and dealing with e-waste. People are afraid of e-waste because of its possible negative effects on health and because it could pollute the environment. Indicators of unsustainable service provision concerninge-waste include irregular collection, open dumping, burning of solid and e-waste in open spaces. Often collection covers a small part of the country, cost recovery is limited or not existent, and one notes poor utilization of available resources with no or very limited reuse and recycling.

54 ENVIRONMENTAL SCIENCES↗