Soils contaminated with toxic and persistent pollutants pose different and serious hazards to the environment and human health. Multidisciplinary procedures that are considering models for the prediction of risk for long-term exposure are needed. The present paper illustrates the operating mode and utility of an environmental software able toe0) integrates the dose-response modeling as a major part of hazard characterization in order to assess the quantitative risk from carcinogens. In this way, risk assessment is used as a method for the investigation of contaminated sites. The method is demonstrated on a Romanian field site, contaminated with petroleum products. For the assessment of human health risks from oil-contaminated sites, the contaminants of concern are considered as polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons (PAHs), monocyclic aromatic hydrocarbons (MAHs), and heavy metals, chemicals known as human carcinogens. Quantitative risk calculations revealed an individual risk of 1.07 × 10⁻⁵ for children and 6.89 × 10⁻⁶ for adults. The paper represents a utility example of an environmental software solution that could be considered by decision-making factors in approving certain projects. The software tool is helpful for protecting the environment and human health.

Food waste generation is increasing at an exponential rate, affecting the environment, food security, and causing major economic issues worldwide. The main aim of the current research is to investigate a novel composting technology that is still in its early stages of development. The proposed composting technology combining thermophilic composting with the use of advanced automated processing reactors. Starting from a qualitative and quantitative analysis of the waste generated at retail-stores, the most significant difficulties associated to waste management as well as the main characteristics of the discarded waste were identified. The findings allowed to design and evaluate the real operating performance of an automated thermophilic composting prototype (working in a decentralized regime), with the goal of delivering a faster processing system, improving operational efficiency, reducing expenses, and lowering environmental impacts. The proposed operating technique showed a high capacity for pathogens and seeds removal, the waste input mass reduction of 88%, and efficiency in food processing (2235 kg of fruits and vegetables in a 14-days timeframe).

In agreement with the European Union Directives concerning health risks targets, in the present paper data regarding the health risk from different strategies of waste treatment, in particular concerning dioxin emissions, are presented. Three options are considered for municipal solid waste treatment: incineration (with best available technologies (BATs)), an anaerobic/aerobic treatment and an aerobic treatment before landfilling. The process of biostabilization varies case by case but differences between simplified approaches and BAT solutions have been pointed out. In the paper it is also pointed out how important the local context for the health risk from PCDD/F release is: the height of gas release into the atmosphere, the emitted gas velocity and the temperature of release become the most important parameters (apart from the overall amount released) in areas where the population may be close to the plant or where there is agricultural activity in the proximity. However, all the three solutions give an acceptable risk.

This paper presents experimental results regarding anaerobic co-digestion of the organic fraction of municipal solid waste and fruit and vegetable waste in order to establish the efficiency of a 2 m³ volume pilot plant in terms of biogas and methane yield and stability of the process. The research study presents the feasibility of developing anaerobic digestion as an effective method for municipal solid waste management. The experiments were conducted in mesophilic conditions (35 °C). Domestic waste water was used as inoculum. The results showed that the inoculum presence, temperature, and pH control, were essential in order to improve biogas production and its composition. Using liquid inoculum, the CH₄ percentage in the biogas oscillated between 44% and 51%, and the biogas production from 0.504 and 0.6 m³/day. Compared to domestic waste water, animal manure increased the CH₄ concentration in biogas (up to 63%), while the daily biogas production increased by 26% and varied from 0.693 to 0.786 m³. The cumulative biogas production at the end of the experiments were 11.7 m³ and 15.89 m³, respectively. Using inoculum and co-digestion, the plant startup time was significantly reduced, the total solids content decreased from 22.7% to 19.8%, while the volatile solids decreased from 37.6% to 31.2%.

Inadequate production practices are widely used in aquaculture management, causing excessive water and energy usage, as well as ecological damage. New approaches to sustainable aquaculture attempt to increase production efficiency, while reducing the quantities generated of wastewater and sludge. The sustainable operating techniques are often ineffective, expensive, and difficult to implement. The present article proposes a zero-waste production system, designed for growing fish and vegetables, using a new circular operational concept that creates synergies between fish farming and horticulture. In order to optimize the operational flows with resources, products, and wastes in an integrated zero-waste food production cluster, a business model was designed associating three ecological production practices: a closed fishing pond, a technology for growing vegetables in straw bales, and a composting system. The design had the role to assist the transition toward multiple circular material flows, where the waste can be fully reintegrated into the production processes. A comparative evaluation was conducted in three alternative growing environments, namely, a soilless culture established in straw bales, a culture grown in soil that had received compost fertilizer, and the conventional farming technique. When compared to conventional methods, experiments showed a significant increase in the cluster’s cumulative productivity, resulting in a 12% improvement in energy efficiency, 18% increase in food production, and 25% decrease in operating expenses.