Absorbent hygiene products (AHP) have received much interest due to the notion that their end-of-life (EoL) stage has high environmental impacts. Since the use of AHP will continue to rise in the foreseeable future, information that helps with a reduction in the environmental impacts of AHP through their life cycle is needed. This research presents an estimation of AHP in municipal waste, and it also reviews and discusses waste management options, available treatments at bench, pilot or full scale, and life cycle assessments (LCAs) available in the literature. Municipal waste of countries belonging to the Organization for Economic Co-operation and Development contains on average 2.7% of baby nappies, 4.8% of adult nappies and 0.5% of sanitary pads (in weight), whereas that of Latin-American countries have 7.3%, 3.3%, and 0.9%, respectively. Management options for AHP waste in developed countries are landfilling and incineration, while in developing countries AHP are disposed of in dumpsites and landfills. Most LCAs identify significant environmental impacts in the production of raw materials, while EoL scenarios involving incineration and landfill were found to have a significant contribution to global warming potential. Substitution with alternative products has been suggested as a way of decreasing environmental impacts; however, their use frequently causes a trade-off on different impact categories. Municipalities could use a wide range of policy tools, such as extended producer responsibility systems, bans, levies, ecolabelling, or a combination of these, to reduce the environmental and economic burden of AHP waste.

Waste with high biomass content generated in cities in developing countries is sent to landfills or open dumps. This research aims to degrade biomass content in urban waste through cultivation, at pilot scale, of the edible mushroom Pleurotus ostreatus. First, the number of diapers used by one baby per week was measured with a survey in day care facilities. Then, cellulose content of diapers was assessed. Finally, cultivation of P. ostreatus was carried out using as substrate a mixture of diapers with gardening waste, a co-substrate readily available at urban settings. The factors assessed were strain of P. ostreatus (grey BPR-81, white BPR-5), conditioning of the substrate (diapers with and without plastic) and co-substrate (wheat straw, grass, and withered leaves). Results show that diapers are a valuable source of biomass, as generation of diapers with urine is 15.3 kg/child/month and they contain 50.2% by weight of cellulose. The highest reductions in dry weight and volume (>64%) of substrates was achieved with the substrate diaper without plastic and co-substrate wheat straw. Although diapers with plastic and grass and leaves showed lower degradation, they achieved efficiencies that make them suitable as a co-substrate (>40%), considering that their biomass is currently confined in landfills.

As is the case for many others in the world, Mexican seas face complex pollution challenges; two of the contaminants that require special attention for their prevalence, possible chemical interactions, and relation to the country’s economy are leaked petroleum and microplastics (MP). This research assessed the sorption of total petroleum hydrocarbons (TPH) as fuel oil on microplastics in laboratory and field scenarios. Preliminary tests allowed the development and validation of a methodology to measure the sorbed fuel oil by Soxhlet extraction, with a 99.65% recovery rate. The amount of TPH sorbed in the lab followed the order LDPE > PS > PP > PVC > PET > HDPE, with the highest concentration found on LDPE. The sorption of fuel oil on microplastics is correlated to the surface area of the plastic particles and could also be related to the crystallinity of plastics. Sorption, for all plastics, was consistent with a second-order kinetic model. The analysis of field samples collected on beaches of the Gulf of Mexico varied from 1660 to 35,258 mg/kg MP. It must be noticed that, unlike others, this research quantified a family of contaminants, which could explain the high concentrations observed on microplastics.

Plastics are one of the waste streams which have attracted increased interest in recent years, due to their continued growth and its environmental effects. Those include saturation of landfills and effects on ecosystems due to littering. This research analyzes and compares the non-industrial plastic waste generation, the environmental policies issued to minimize their environmental impact and the trends in valorization in twelve Ibero-American countries. Generation of plastic waste varies between 9 and 14 %. It is directly related to the gross income of the countries and the urbanization in the metropolitan areas. The countries have adopted laws, norms, collecting and information systems in order to manage plastic waste in a sound way. A relevant example, due to its environmental effects, is the case of plastic bags. Strategies such as the restriction of their use or their production from biodegradable materials have been followed in the studied area. Concerning valorization, an increase in recycling can be observed, linked to formal and informal collection systems. These policies, especially in Latin America, have had little impact, due to its lack of integration to the production of plastics and the waste management system. Los plásticos son una de las corrientes de residuos que ha despertado mayor interés en los últimos años, debido a su continuo crecimiento y a sus efectos ambientales, que incluyen la saturación de sitios de disposición final y afectaciones en los ecosistemas, a los que llegan debido a un manejo inadecuado. En esta investigación se analizan y comparan la generación de residuos plásticos no industriales, las medidas legislativas abocadas a la minimización de sus impactos y las tendencias de valorización. La generación de residuos plásticos oscila entre el 9 y el 14 % de la masa de residuos sólidos urbanos, con una tendencia a aumentar en forma directa con el producto interno bruto de los países y en las grandes zonas metropolitanas. Con el fin de dar un manejo integral a estos residuos los países han adoptado medidas que incluyen legislaciones específicas, normas, sistemas de acopio y de información. Un caso relevante, por sus connotaciones ambientales, es el de las bolsas de plástico; las medidas adoptadas a este respecto incluyen su prohibición o la sustitución por bolsas biodegradables. En cuanto a la valorización, se detecta un incremento en el reciclaje, a través del acopio formal e informal. Las medidas establecidas, especialmente en América Latina, han tenido un impacto aún limitado, debido principalmente a la falta de articulación entre las mismas, la producción de plásticos y el sistema de gestión de residuos.