...Summary of documentations on paper recycling In Japan, the US, Europe and China Recycling benefits the environment much more than other waste management methods (Technical University of Denmark and the Danish Topic Centre on Waste and Waste & Resources Action Programme (WRAP), 2006). With the environmental, economic and societal benefits, we can conclude that building an effective paper recycling system in China would be a good idea. This paper is a basic summary of paper recycling practices in Japan, the US and Europe. It is intended to be a reference for drawing up an appropriate and practical plan for school and office paper recycling projects in China. Paper Recycling Statistics Japan has an extraordinary reputation in paper recycling because of its refined and effective paper recycling system. While the volume of recovered paper grew in the 1980s, the paper recycling rate went through a stagnant period before the rate started to rise rapidly in 1997. Japan’s paper recycling rate reached 77.9% in 2011, but the volume was 21.5 million tons, which is less than the 22.7 million tons recycled in 2008, due to less consumption of paper(Paper recycling in Japan, 2012). According to the 2012 sustainability report of American Forest & Paper Association (AF&PA), the U.S. achieved a paper recycling rate of 66.8% (about 46 million tons of paper) in 2011, which was nearly twice the 1990 rate. In addition, the goal of the AF&PA’s “sustainability initiative - Better...
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...the Year reached approximately 683 million tons, an increase of approximately 8.9% compared to the Last Year. China’s copper cathode production during the Year was approximately 5.5 million tons, an increase of approximately 15.5% compared to the Last Year. However, the penetration of scrap metals consumption in China during the Year was still at a low level when compared with the figures in developed countries. Therefore, there exists a great potential for increasing penetration of recycled metals in China. For the Eastern China operation, benefiting from the expanding operations in Jiangyin city and Ningbo city and with the benefit of being one of the best metal recycling markets in China, business flow has been strong in the region. The Group has continued its growth momentum in the revenue of the Eastern China region during the Year. Margins have improved as compared to the Last Year as a result of the ramp up operation and the increase in regional market share. Jiangyin port has been the regional logistic and distribution hub supporting the Group’s recycling base in the Eastern China region and connecting its operations in other regions. For the Northern China operation, business flow has continued to increase as a result of the smooth execution of the operation. The joint venture with 天津鋼管集團股份有限公司(Tianjin Pipe (Group) Corporation) and 11 regional recyclers (the “Tianjin Joint Venture”) has started business operation and will create a “Strong-Strong” alliance by combining...
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...Conservation and Recycling 54 (2010) 171–177 Contents lists available at ScienceDirect Resources, Conservation and Recycling journal homepage: www.elsevier.com/locate/resconrec Substance flow analysis of zinc in China Guo Xueyi ∗ , Zhong Juya, Song Yu, Tian Qinghua School of Metallurgical Science & Engineering, Central South University, South Street of Yuelu, 932, Changsha, Hunan 410083, China article info Article history: Received 16 January 2009 Received in revised form 23 July 2009 Accepted 26 July 2009 Available online 28 August 2009 Keywords: Zinc Substance flow analysis “STAF” model Life cycle Resource recycling abstract A material stock and flow (STAF) model was constructed to track the pathway of zinc in China, 2006, for the study of the industrial metabolism of a certain metal within a regional level. The primary flows of zinc include production, fabrication and manufacturing, use, and waste management. This paper traces the major flows of zinc from ore, to product, to potential secondary resource as it moves through the China’s economy over 1 year, and inventory data, and mass balance equations were used to determine the quantity of flows. The domestic ore produced was 3248.3 Gg and output of refined lead ingot was 3162.7 Gg in 2006. It was calculated that, in the production and manufacture and fabrication stage, the self-supply efficiency of zinc raw materials in 2006 is 87.58% and 94.92%, respectively. The results reveal that China has richer...
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...Waste Management 33 (2013) 1237–1250 Contents lists available at SciVerse ScienceDirect Waste Management journal homepage: www.elsevier.com/locate/wasman Review Electronic waste management approaches: An overview Peeranart Kiddee a,b, Ravi Naidu a,b,⇑, Ming H. Wong c a Centre for Environmental Risk Assessment and Remediation, University of South Australia, Mawson Lakes Campus, Adelaide, SA 5095, Australia Cooperative Research Centre for Contamination Assessment and Remediation of the Environment, Mawson Lakes Campus, Adelaide, SA 5095, Australia c Croucher Institute for Environmental Sciences, Department of Biology, Hong Kong Baptist University, Kowloon Tong, China b a r t i c l e i n f o Article history: Received 27 July 2012 Accepted 8 January 2013 Available online 10 February 2013 Keywords: Electronic waste Life Cycle Assessment (LCA) Material Flow Analysis (MFA) Multi Criteria Analysis (MCA) Extended Producer Responsibility (EPR) a b s t r a c t Electronic waste (e-waste) is one of the fastest-growing pollution problems worldwide given the presence if a variety of toxic substances which can contaminate the environment and threaten human health, if disposal protocols are not meticulously managed. This paper presents an overview of toxic substances present in e-waste, their potential environmental and human health impacts together with management strategies currently being used in certain countries. Several tools including Life...
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...environmental regulations leads to serious toxic pollution by substances like mercury, lead, and dioxins. Burning of e-waste to retrieve metals causes lung disease in the people who do the burning. Smelting e-waste in family cooking pots causes hazardous levels of lead in the family food Many other possible hypotheses about pollution and health impacts in poor and poorly governed populations, since most of the impacts are not in the developed countries that use the electronics. But there is also this Export of electronics that are to be processed into metals leads to eventual import of products made with metals that are contaminated by toxins - i.e. the children's jewelers from China that was contaminated with lead was made from metals smelted from US electronics that were exported to China. Concerning the experimental design Experimental design is used to establish which variables influence in the positive or negative sense the efficiency of the decoloration process. A model waste water, polluted with a reactive . examine how people deal with e-waste, and which electronic devices, if any, are most likely to be recycled. If you made a pile of all the electronic devices (cell phones, computers, stereos, televisions, MP3 players, video game systems, remote-control toys, etc.) that your family has gotten rid of since you were a baby, how big would that pile be? Would it be taller than you? Would it fit better in a wheelbarrow or in a pickup truck? And did they just throw it...
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...Research Project: E-Waste 1. What are the environmental issues associated with e-waste? E-Waste (electronic or electrical) is generated from any equipment (running on electricity or a battery) that isdiscarded by the original user (still in working or non-working condition). The processes of dismantling and disposing of electronic waste in the third world lead to a number of environmental impacts as illustrated in the graphic. Liquid and atmospheric releases end up in bodies of water, groundwater, soil, and air and therefore in land and sea animals – both domesticated and wild, in crops eaten by both animals and human, and in drinking water. One study of environmental effects in Guiyu, China found the following: * Airborne dioxins – one type found at 100 times levels previously measured * Levels of carcinogens in duck ponds and rice paddies exceeded international standards for agricultural areas and cadmium, copper, nickel, and lead levels in rice paddies were above international standards * Heavy metals found in road dust – lead over 300 times that of a control village’s road dust and copper over 100 times The environmental impact of the processing of different electronic waste components: E-Waste Component | Process Used | Potential Environmental Hazard | Cathode ray tubes (used in TVs, computer monitors, ATM, video cameras, and more) | Breaking and removal of yoke, then dumping | Lead, barium and other heavy metals leaching into the ground water and...
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...which make water way, parks, beaches and steet full of garbages. Even though they are burnt, they will contaminate the air condition. Due to the pollution resulted by the overuse of plastic bags, many countries began to limit the usage of them in recent years. In Ireland, a compulsive fee for plastic bags reduced the usage of plastic bags by 90%. This action made a lot of people stop to use plastic bags in shops.(HuntMA.S, 2012) China government also promulgate the law to ban the free use of plastic bags, which means people have to buy plastic bags instead of given by shops. As a result, many people are reluctant to pay an additional fee. Thanks to this law, the usage of plastic bags in China decreased by 400 million from 2008 to 2009. Another instance is about glasses, which is also non-recyclable. Glass is not absolutely harmful and poisonous things in people’s life, and the meterial it used is not expensive and rare. Whereas glass need to be quarried, it may effect the environment because they will not be decomposed in earth. The production and recycling of glass may cost energy both...
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...applications. Libraries, institutions and other users registered with reproduction rights organizations may make copies in accordance with the licences issued to them for this purpose. Visit www.ifrro.org to find the reproduction rights organization in your country. Lundgren, Karin The global impact of e-waste: addressing the challenge / Karin Lundgren; International Labour Office, Programme on Safety and Health at Work and the Environment (SafeWork), Sectoral Activities Department (SECTOR). – Geneva: ILO, 2012 ISBN 978-92-2-126897-0 (print) ISBN 978-92-2-126898-7 (web pdf) International Labour Office; Programme on Safety and Health at Work and the Environment; International Labour Office; Sectoral Activities Dept electrical appliance / waste recycling / occupational health / occupational safety / role of ILO / environmental protection / regulation / labour legislation / comment / Africa / EU countries / Latin America / Pacific 08.15.2...
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...The problems of the sustainability development in China Zhao Shijia ZHSWAAG.SZE Introduction Sustainability development is a goal, which all the countries in the world pay attention to; it also becomes one of the most important strategies in China. China as the one of the most powerful countries in the world, its sustainability development is limited by several elements. This report aims to introduce the problems, which restrict the development of the sustainability in China and the strategies they made to solve the problems. The main problems 1. Land resources China's land area of 9.6 million square kilometers, ranking third in the world, but the available land accounted for only 1/3 of the land area, the per capita possession of...
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...What is Recycling? Recycling is a pretty simple concept: take something that isn't useful anymore and make it into something new instead of just throwing it away. It can be anything from recycling old paper into new paper, to making an old hubcap into a decorative birdbath. In reality, recycling can get pretty complex -- how it interacts with our environment, our politics, our economy and even our own human behaviour patterns will play a major role in the future of our planet. What is Recycling? Recycling can take many forms. On a small scale, any time you find a new use for something old, you're recycling. One example is making old cereal boxes into magazine holders Recycling becomes more important on larger scales. At this level, used consumer goods are collected, converted back into raw materials and remade into new consumer products. Aluminum cans, office paper, steel from old buildings and plastic containers are all examples of materials commonly recycled in large quantities, often through municipal programs encouraging bulk household collections. It's rare for a recycled product to be exactly the same as the original material from which it was recycled. Recycled paper, for example, contains ink residue and has shorter fibers than virgin paper (paper made from wood pulp). Because of this, it may be less desirable for some purposes, such as paper used in a copy machine. When a recycled good is cheaper or weaker than the original product, it's known as down-cycling...
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...Executive Summary The following case will analyze the Wal-Mart China’s Sustainability efforts. Wal-Mart China is in the begging stages of becoming sustainable, in an ecological sense, and faces some key issues. First the case will provide background information on Wal-Mart Global and Wal-Mart China to ensure the reader is aware of the circumstances. Then the case will analyze Wal-Mart China based on the 4Rs, recycling, resource, regulations, and reputation, described in Operations Management by Heizer, and how their efforts correlate with them. The case will then address key issues, such as questionable logistics practices, and price sensitive customers, and weary stakeholders. Background Information Wal-Mart Global Sam Walton “our customers are the reason we’re in business, so we should treat them that way. We offer quality merchandise at the lowest prices, and we do it with the best customer service possible. We look for every opportunity where we can exceed our customers’ expectations. That’s when we’re at our very best” (2011, Wal-Mart Culture). Sam Walton opened his doors in 1962, Arkansas, with the promise of offering the highest quality merchandise for the lowest prices while maintaining the best customer service. The company then sprinted to the top becoming a Fortune 500 and one of the largest retail companies in only four decades. Wal-Mart soon took on public scrutiny for being too powerful and with that came the realization of how much power Wal-Mart...
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...My Le Professor Robb A. Bajema EL 100 April 26th, 2013 Air pollution in China Air pollution is one of the most serious environmental problems in China. According to a new analysis, approximately 1.2 million people die prematurely from exposure to outdoor air pollution in China. A study by Greenpeace and Beijing University focusing on four Chinese cities estimates the number of people dying prematurely from air pollution is close to three times that killed by traffic accidents. The air has been classified as hazardous to human health, at its worst hitting pollution levels 25 times that considered safe in the US. The entire city is blanketed in a thick grey smog that smells of coal and stings the eyes, leading to official warnings to stay inside. The majority of the air pollution in China is generated by the burning of coal to generate electric power. China gets 80 percent of electricity and 70 percent its total energy from coal, much of it polluting high-sulphur coal. Around six million tons of coal is burned everyday to power factories, heat homes and cook meals. Jerry Goodell wrote in Natural History magazine: “In China coal is everywhere. It’s piled up on sidewalks, pressed into bricks, and stacked neat the back doors of homes. It’s stockpiled into small mountains in open fields, and carted around behinds bicycles and wheezing locomotives. Plumes of coal smoke rise from rusty stacks on every urban horizon. Soot covers every windowsill and ruins the collar...
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...www.pwc.co.uk The direct economic impact of gold October 2013 www.pwc.co.uk The work carried out by PricewaterhouseCoopers LLP ("PwC") in relation to this report has been carried out only for the World Gold Council and solely for the purpose and on the terms agreed between PwC and the World Gold Council. The report does not constitute professional advice. No representation or warranty (express or implied) is given as to the accuracy or completeness of the information contained in this report and, to the extent permitted by law, PricewaterhouseCoopers LLP, its members, employees and agents do not accept or assume any liability, responsibility or duty of care for any consequences to anyone acting, or refraining to act, in reliance on the information contained in this report or for any decision based on it. © 2013 PricewaterhouseCoopers LLP. All rights reserved. In this document, "PwC" refers to PricewaterhouseCoopers LLP (a limited liability partnership in the United Kingdom), which is a member firm of PricewaterhouseCoopers International Limited, each member firm of which is a separate legal entity. The direct economic impact of gold Contents Foreword ........................................................................................................................................................................1 Executive summary ...........................................................................................................................................
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...Packaging functions When we want to purchase goods, we also focus on the good itself rather than the product packaging. But in fact, packaging also plays an important role for good and sale market. This paper is about the functions of packaging, including containing and protecting products, promoting product, facilitating usage and facilitating recycling. The essential purpose of product packaging is to protect the product from damage. Product packaging not only protects the product during transit from the manufacturer to the retailer, but it also prevents damage while the product moves on retail shelves. Of course, different products’ characteristics have different packaging. For example, computer as an electronic product must have bubble packaging and packaging box to protect product. Why use bubble packaging for computer packaging. In my opinion, bubble packaging is an extremely lightweight, durable packaging material that works well for wrapping items as well as filling the void in boxes. Computer is fragile product that bubble packaging absorbs shock to keep screen safe. However, packaging also plays an important role for portraying information about the product. Outside packaging of computer may contain directions on product information, such as brand name, style and sample of product. Many product packaging also have same information printing on their packaging. This information can help to sell the product and it allows potential customers to obtain the necessary...
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...Nowadays with fast growing world China has become one of the leading economies in the world, taking into consideration fast growing GDP of 7-10% per year. With fast-growing comes some issues as Green Trade. Green trade barrier appeared in China at the end of 20 The Century. It was caused by the effects on the trade of import and export in China. However, Chinese government has begun to make the program to protect the environment from pollution. On the environmental issues, Chinese government combined prevention with control, made strict environmental, increased investment of environmental technology and promoted the development of environmental technology and industry. By the end of 2005, the quality of environment has improved and total emissions of major pollutants have reduced10% comparing with 2000. (Bloomberg, 2010) In this aspect, H&M set an example for many Chinese Companies. H&M promotes environmental awareness between their suppliers and employees. They adopted new technologies to use the resources as efficient as possible that could minimize waste. H&M respect the decisions which be made by nature. H&M adhere to use organic cotton, which grow in the traditional environment without any chemical (H&M, 2007b). Therefore H&M has adopted a sustainable cotton strategy that consists of three components: improving conventional cotton production, engaging in organic cotton production, and recycling cotton. Firstly H&M developed a newly Improving...
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