New filtration membranes for cleaner industrial water

Many industries need plenty of water for different processes. The water used for these processes compounds of different metals and minerals, meaning that this is not clean water that can be used for drinking.

The scientists from all over the globe are working on potential solutions that could effectively remove various pollutants from industrial water and turn it into a clean water.

The latest interesting research on this topic comes from the VTT Technical Research Centre of Finland, where researchers were able to develop energy-efficient methods for reuse of water in industrial processes, the ones that also allow extraction of metals and valuable minerals.

The current treatment methods of water in purification plants and industrial facilities require enormous amounts of energy. In most cases,  water recycling and seawater desalination processes use filtration membranes that consume plenty of energy. VTT scientists on the other hand developed intelligent membrane materials, that require significantly less energy, and are based on osmosis technology.

The VTT scientists also developed sensor technology that allows easy and rapid detection of pollutants. They also announced that their technology will be ready for production use within the next few years.

It also has to be said  that many researchers are already testing various biological extraction methods by which metals are recovered from mining, metal and recycling industry waste by using the combination of microbes and chemical reactions. These new methods and technologies are predicted to appear on the market within the next few years.

We all know that clean water is becoming scarcer with each new day. Cleaning industrial water is certainly something world should aspire to in order to tackle the clean water issue.

How to create successful waste minimization policy?

According to the various latest reports world generates around 4 billion tonnes of industrial waste each year. Since the world population is expected to significantly grow in years to come, this already huge number could grow even further, creating serious health and environmental issues in many parts of the world.

The waste minimization is the process that includes methods aimed at reducing the amount of waste produced by either a person or a society in general. The waste minimization is closely connected with energy efficiency because less energy used means also less generated waste.

A thorough analysis of waste generating process is the only way to a successful waste minimization policy. The main sources of waste vary from one country to another so the thorough analysis first need to be done on domestic level before moving to some sort of international waste minimization policy.

Waste minimization is not the same thing as waste management because waste management has the main purpose in processing generated waste, with the main emphasis of possible re-usage or recycling of this waste.

Waste minimization is the number one waste management strategy according to the waste hierarchy classification of three Rs (reduce, reuse, recycle). Reducing the total amount of waste is the most desirable and of course the most effective solution to tackle the waste issue on global scale.

Our industry is the main generator of waste. The key to reducing the amount of waste produced by our industry lies in improving the efficiency by creating more efficient manufacturing processes and using materials that produce less waste. The main problem is that these advanced manufacturing processes require significant investments which means that they are hard to achieve for many developing countries.

Some developed countries, like UK for instance, even offer government incentives for waste minimization, and incentives are certainly one of the best ways to implement successful waste minimization policy.

With the adequate incentives many industries would look for solutions that would minimize the amount of generated waste. Together with improved efficiency the amount of waste can be also reduced by improved design and better durability of certain products, waste exchange, and of course reuse of waste.

Waste and recycling in EU - Quick facts

Despite the notable improvement in some EU countries the overall conclusion is that the EU waste is still piling up, which means that EU will have to put more efforts into the recycling solutions.

France, Sweden, Romania and Poland are EU countries which have managed to drastically reduce the amount of waste generation.

In the period between the 2006 and 2008 EU-27 has managed to decrease its waste generation by more than 10%.

The recycling rates between EU countries vary significantly, in fact in some EU countries they are only 3-4% while in other they are even above 70%.

The good news is that overall recycling rates are increasing in EU, the current recycling levels rates for the entire EU are estimated to be around 39%, which is more than 5% increase compared to the levels in 2005.

Municipal waste is not the fastest growing type of waste in EU, the fastest growing waste in EU comes from different electronics such as mobile phones (growing three times more fast compared to municipal waste).

The current levels of municipal waste in EU are at around 524 kg per person.

EU needs more recycling because recycling not only cleans environment, it also helps decrease the level of greenhouse gas emissions, and it can also create many new jobs.

According to the EU's Waste Framework Directive (WFD) EU countries need to meet a 50% target for recycling of municipal waste comprising paper, metal, plastic and glass, and also a 70% target for construction and demolition waste by 2020.

Each EU member state is obliged to draw up specific waste management plans after analyzing their current waste management situations in order to come up with the best possible solution.

Wastewater treatment - Facts

Wastewater treatment includes different methods and processes that are used to clean wastewater from certain contaminant(s).

The most common form of wastewater treatment includes large wastewater treatment plants that use different physical, chemical and biological treatment processes to clean up wastewater.

Other forms of wastewater treatment in United States include On-Site Sewage Facilities (OSSF) that are very common in rural areas, and serve up to one quarter of the homes in the U.S. It is estimated that in the United States, On Site Sewage Facilities collect, treat, and release about 4 billion gallons of treated effluent per day from an estimated 26 million homes, businesses, and recreational facilities nationwide.

The main benefit of wastewater treatment is that treated wastewater can afterwards be reused as drinking water, or used in industry and agriculture for several different purposes (cooling towers, irrigation).

The most expensive wastewater treatment methods are connected with industries because industries produce huge amounts of wast waters, and thus require chemical treatments that are very expensive, and start with removing suspended solids from the wastewater.

Algae could have very important role in future wastewater treatment plants, for instance Algaewheel, company based in Indianapolis, Indiana, presented a proposal to build a new wastewater treatment facility in Cedar Lake, Indiana that would use algae to treat municipal wastewater.

The substances that are removed during water treatment are called sludge. Sludge can be later used for several different purposes, such as fertilizer.

Wastewater treatment is successful if treated wastewater can be discharged back into the environment without causing environmental and health risks.

Waste management definition and waste disposal methods

In order to define waste management we need to include several different processes such as collection, transport, processing, recycling, disposing, and monitoring of waste. Without proper waste management we are not only harming a beauty and health of our environment but we are also reducing negative effect that waste can have on our own health.

Waste management significantly differs for developed and developing countries, and many developing countries are still many years away from developing proper waste management systems.

World produces huge amounts of waste, if we look at the U.S. data only we can see that in 2008 U.S. generated 250 million tons of waste. More than half of this waste ends up in landfills, and is therefore consuming huge amount of land. Despite the recent technological advancement landfilling is still the most frequently used method of waste disposal in the US.

Other important waste disposal methods include incineration, plasma gasification, and recycling.

Incineration is a high temperature waste disposal method that includes combustion of waste materials where incinerators convert waste materials into heat, gas, steam, and ash. Incineration is very common waste disposal method in Japan. In United States this method is relatively rarely used.

Plasma gasification waste disposal method uses plasma, a highly ionized or electrically charged gas to convert solid or liquid wastes into a syngas. This waste disposal method is more acceptable compared to incineration because all hazardous materials are destroyed in the process.

Recycling is well known waste-disposal method that is becoming increasingly popular around the globe. Recycling is all about collecting and reusing everyday waste. By recycling used materials into new products to we do not only prevent piling up of the waste but we also reduce the consumption of fresh raw materials, reduce energy usage, reduce air pollution (from incineration) and water pollution (from landfilling).