Browsing by Author "Blakey, N."
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Item Open Access Achieving equilibrium status and sustainable landfill - the holy grail?(The Waste Conference Ltd, 2004-09) Hall, D. H.; Gronow, Jan R.; Smith, Richard; Blakey, N.This paper presents the results of a research contract jointly funded by the Environment Agency and ESART examining the residues of likely post-Landfill Directive waste streams that will need to go to landfill and the time taken to achieve sufficient stabilisation such that management controls can be removed. The first part of the project has identified a number of processes that are likely to be adopted by the waste management industry in order to meet the biodegradable waste diversion targets. Both leachate quality and landfill gas generation data has been assessed for each residue stream. Forward modelling has been undertaken on these data using LandSim2.5 within GoldSim to assess the likely period of management needed in order to achieve equilibrium status.Item Open Access Application of DR4 and BM100 Biodegradability tests to treated and untreated organic wastes(2007-10) Godley, Andrew R.; Lewin, Kathy; Frederickson, Jim; Smith, Richard; Blakey, N.The aerobic DR4 and anaerobic BM100 biodegradability tests are currently applied in England and Wales for monitoring the reduction in biological municipal waste (BMW) achieved by mechanical biological treatment (MBT) plants (Environment Agency 2005). The protocol is applied only when outputs are landfilled and is based on estimating the reduction in potential biogas production between the MBT input, municipal solid waste (MSW), and all of the landfilled outputs, using the BM100 test. As this is a long term 100 day test the more rapid 4 day DR4 test may also be applied as this has been shown to correlate with the BM100 test. We have now applied the DR4 and BM100 tests to 132 organic waste samples including untreated and treated BMW and specific organic wastes. The results indicate that the correlation between the DR4 and BM100 tests has proved valid for mixed MSW derived BMW wastes. However when both tests are applied to specific organic wastes such as turkey feathers, cardboard packaging waste and pizza food wastes the correlation between the tests is less strong. It is concluded that the use of the DR4 and BM100 test correlation is valid for its designed application (monitoring MBT processes treating MSW derived mixed BMW), but that caution should be exercised when applying both tests to specific single component organic wastes.Item Open Access Characterisation of untreated and treated biodegradable wastes(2007-10) Godley, Andrew R.; Frederickson, Jim; Lewin, Kathy; Smith, Richard; Blakey, N.As part of a Defra sponsored project (WRT220), approximately 40 biodegradable wastes were characterised according to biodegradability (DR4 and BM100), total PTE content, C:N ratio and biochemical composition. Two leaching tests were employed; upflow percolation test and a one step LS10 test; eluates were analysed for TOC, pH, electrical conductivity, PTEs and a range of cations and anions. This paper contains a limited set of data for a selection of untreated and treated waste types representing four waste treatment processes (composting, MBT, MHT, anaerobic digestion). The DR4 and BM100 tests were found to be appropriate for a wide range of waste types but where possible they should be used in conjunction with other related tests. Longer-term MBT composting processes appeared to produce compost material with reduced ammonium concentrations and extractability of some PTEs. Carbon content (carbon analyzer - LECO) could be estimated as C = LOI/1.9 which is a routine operation. N LECO values were approximately 12% greater than the equivalent N Kjeldahl values.Item Open Access Charaterisation of treated wastes to support an evidence base for sustainable waste management.(The Waste Conference Limited, 2006-09) Lewin, Kathy; Godley, Andrew R.; Turrell, J.; Smith, Richard; Frederickson, Jim; Graham, Adele; Gronow, Jan R.; Blakey, N.Defra must consider policies and strategies to manage environmental challenges such as climate change and sustainability. At a basic level the strategies need good quality data on waste characteristics. The dataset for UK wastes, in particular the new generation of treated wastes, is not fit for this purpose. This paper outlines the gaps in knowledge needed to underpin policy development and initial findings from a new project funded under Defra’s Waste and Resource Management Research Programme. The project team from WRc, Open University and Cranfield University aims to improve understanding of the characteristics of treated organic and inorganic wastes, methods of testing and knowledge of treatment process performance. Potential opportunities from the research are also described. New data will be collated into the presentation.Item Open Access Development and application of an Enzymatic Hydrolysis test to assess the biodegradability of organic waste material(2007-10-01T00:00:00Z) Wagland, Stuart Thomas; Smith, Richard; Godley, Andrew R.; Tyrrel, Sean F.; Blakey, N.A novel and rapid biodegradability test method has been developed based on the enzymatic hydrolysis of cellulose. The test method consists of three phases, in which the first two phases consist of the pH buffer addition, and then autoclaving of the mixture and the final phase is the addition of the enzyme mixture and incubation. An initial investigation was carried out to determine the optimum conditions for the enzymes using standard commercial cellulose as the substrate. The optimised test was then applied to a wide range of organic waste samples including untreated and treated MSW derived mixed BMW, and specific wastes such as waste wood, packaging waste (cardboard), turkey feathers and green waste. The DOC released by enzymatic hydrolysis indicates that this could give an indication of the sample biodegradability. However the DOC released in phases 1 and 2 may also contain some biodegradable components (depending on the extent of biological treatment applied to the waste sample) and these would need to be differentiated from the non-biodegradable DOC and used together with the DOC from phase 3 to give the best possible biodegradability indication.