REPORTS & PUBLICATION

REPORTS

Toxic Justice: Human Rights, Justice, and Toxic Waste in Cambodia

1999 | UNHCR

In November 1998, nearly 3,000 tons of Taiwanese toxic waste were dumped in a field in the southern port of Sihanoukville. At the time, there was no law banning such dumping, but Minister of Environment Mok Mareth said publicly and repeatedly that toxic waste imports were prohibited in Cambodia and a national policy to that effect was in force. Dumped in an open field, the waste was scavenged by poor villagers, many of whom later complained of sickness; one quickly died. The Cambodian leadership, expressing outrage, promised a thorough investigation. Local people panicked: thousands fled the city. Others in Sihanoukville exercised their constitutional rights and in December held two days of public demonstrations, blaming government corruption for the presence of the toxic material. Even some local officials told Human Rights Watch they believed that demonstrations were warranted, provided they were lawful and peaceful. More details, pls visit the site.

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Report of the Special Rapporteur on the adverse effects of the movement and dumping of toxic and dangerous products and wastes

| UN

Human Rights CouncilEighteenth sessionAgenda item 3Promotion and protection of all human rights, civil,political, economic, social and cultural rights,including the right to development In the present report, the Special Rapporteur focuses on the adverse effects that the unsound management and disposal of medical waste may have on the enjoyment of human rights. While approximately 75 to 80 per cent of the total waste generated by health-care establishments does not pose any particular risk to human health or the environment, the remaining waste is regarded as hazardous and may create a variety of health risks if not managed and disposed of in an appropriate manner. Hazardous health-care waste includes infectious waste, sharps, anatomical and pathological waste, obsolete or expired chemical products and pharmaceuticals, and radioactive materials. In many countries, significant challenges persist with regard to the proper management and disposal of health-care waste.

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The effect of aeration position on the spatial distribution and reduction of pollutants in the landfill stabilization process

2013 | Sage

Three pilot-scale simulators with different aeration systems were constructed to explore the effects of aeration position on the reduction of pollutants. The simulator with a bottom aeration system successfully distributed oxygen and efficiently inhibited methane production. A close relationship was found between the oxygen distribution and the removal of pollutants, especially that of nitrogen. The transition between nitrification and denitrification in the longitude direction of the simulator with a bottom aeration system contributed to nitrogen removal in aerobic conditions. This process can be defined as a new path for nitrogen removal in addition to simultaneous nitrification and denitrification. The concentration of NH4 -N, total nitrogen and total organic carbon dropped to 3, 78 and 204 mg, respectively, after 312 days of bottom aeration and to 514, 659 and 828 mg, respectively, after 312 days of top aeration. These results indicate that the bottom aeration system was more efficient for reducing pollutants than the top aeration system.

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Clean Energy Future and Carbon Pricing

2012 | Metropolitan Waste and Resource Recovery Group

Recent federal legislation introduces a mechanism for pricing greenhouse gas emissions. The price is fixed for an initial three years from July 2012 to July 2015, starting at $23 per tonne of carbon dioxide equivalent (t CO2-e) and rising in the following two years by 2.5% plus the rise in the consumer price index (CPI). From July 2015, a cap-and-trade system will operate with a flexible price determined by the market. In the first years of the flexible price period a floor price of $15/t CO2-e plus CPI plus 4% per year will be applied. Liability for the carbon price falls on sites which annually emit 25,000 t CO2-e or more. The methods to determine liabilities are those of the National Greenhouse and Energy Reporting (NGER) Act. The liable entity is generally the organisation with operational control of the facility. This could be a local government. Carbon pricing acts largely to support the existing directions of councils waste strategies, diversion from landfill and waste minimisation

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Greenhouse gas emission mitigation potential of rice husks for An Giang province, Vietnam

2011 | Elsevier

To evaluate the greenhouse gas (GHG) emission mitigation potential of rice husk utiliza-tion, a life cycle inventory analysis was conducted for 18 scenarios. The allocation of fuels, other than rice husks, was decided based on the current demand for and supply of rice husks. To prevent the bulky nature of rice husks, briquette production is also discussed. In the power generation scenarios, the differences between two capacities (5 MW and 30 MW) were analyzed. The results of analysis reveal that CH4 and N2O emissions from open burning contribute largely to the current GHG emissions. Therefore, ceasing open burning alone has a large GHG mitigation potential. The use of briquettes, even though GHG is emitted during the production stage, can still contribute to GHG emission mitigation as the production is more efficient than rice husk burning or dumping. In the power generation scenarios, most GHG emissions were derived from the combustion process. Therefore, gasification which has a little combustion process is the most efficient GHG mitigator. Both the replacement of grid electricity by generated electricity, and the replacement of diesel oil by pyrolyzed oil show larger GHG mitigation potentials than what could be derived from open burning cessation alone.

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Implications of Carbon Pricing for Waste Management in Metropolitan Melbourne

2011 | Metropolitan Waste and Resource Recovery Group

Waste management has both negative and positive greenhouse impacts. Negative impacts include emissions from landfills,organics processing and fossil fueluse. Positive impacts include the generation of renewable energy, emission offsets from materials recovery and carbon storage The Federal Government movesto put a dollar price on some of these carbon impacts will affect the costs of waste management. This information sheet summarises the ways that carbon pricing are likely to affect waste management in metropolitan Melbourne. It addresses the carbon pricing mechanism, the carbon farming initiative, materials and energy recovery and what council waste managers can do. It has been developed by Blue Environment Pty Ltd on behalf of MWMG.

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