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Applied Sciences
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Sustainable Re-Utilization of Waste Materials
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Sustainable Re-Utilization of Waste Materials

A special issue of Applied Sciences (ISSN 2076-3417). This special issue belongs to the section "Environmental Sciences".

Deadline for manuscript submissions: closed (28 February 2020) | Viewed by 14226

Special Issue Editor

Prof. Dr. Carola Esposito Corcione

E-Mail Website
Guest Editor
Department of Innovation Engineering, University of Salento, Via per Monteroni, 73100 Lecce, Italy
Interests: polymers; nanocomposite; recycle
Special Issues, Collections and Topics in MDPI journals

Special Issue Information

Dear Colleagues,

The scope of this Special Issue highlights advanced topics in the re-utilization of waste materials. Presently, a rapidly growing concern for environmental protection and resource utilization has stimulated many new activities in the industrialized world to cope with the urgent environmental problems created by the steadily increasing consumption of industrial products. Increasingly stringent regulations and widely expressed public concern for the environment highlight the importance of disposing of the solid waste generated from industrial and consumable products. How to efficiently tackle this problem is a very important issue all over the world.

Designing products for recyclability is driven by environmental and economic goals. To obtain good recyclability, two measures can be adopted. One is better recycling strategy and technology, whilst the other is design for recycling (DFR).

Nanotechnology may be able to create many new materials and devices with a vast range of applications, such as nanomedicine, nanoelectronics, biomaterials energy production, and consumer products. Any kind of contribution under the broad framework of the sustainable utilization of waste materials is welcome.

Prof. Dr. Carola Esposito Corcione
Guest Editor

Manuscript Submission Information

Manuscripts should be submitted online at www.mdpi.com by registering and logging in to this website. Once you are registered, click here to go to the submission form. Manuscripts can be submitted until the deadline. All submissions that pass pre-check are peer-reviewed. Accepted papers will be published continuously in the journal (as soon as accepted) and will be listed together on the special issue website. Research articles, review articles as well as short communications are invited. For planned papers, a title and short abstract (about 100 words) can be sent to the Editorial Office for announcement on this website.

Submitted manuscripts should not have been published previously, nor be under consideration for publication elsewhere (except conference proceedings papers). All manuscripts are thoroughly refereed through a single-blind peer-review process. A guide for authors and other relevant information for submission of manuscripts is available on the Instructions for Authors page. Applied Sciences is an international peer-reviewed open access semimonthly journal published by MDPI.

Please visit the Instructions for Authors page before submitting a manuscript. The Article Processing Charge (APC) for publication in this open access journal is 2400 CHF (Swiss Francs). Submitted papers should be well formatted and use good English. Authors may use MDPI's English editing service prior to publication or during author revisions.

Keywords

  • recycling strategy
  • product recycling
  • waste

Published Papers (5 papers)

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Research

16 pages, 3757 KiB  
Article
Investigation on Direct Shear and Energy Dissipation Characteristics of Iron Tailings Powder Reinforced by Polypropylene Fiber
by Ping Jiang, Shaowei Lv, Yue Wang, Na Li and Wei Wang
Appl. Sci. 2019, 9(23), 5098; https://doi.org/10.3390/app9235098 - 25 Nov 2019
Cited by 17 | Viewed by 2542
Abstract
Resource utilization of iron tailings powder is an effective measure to reduce the dam-break risk of an iron tailings reservoir. Adding polypropylene fiber to iron tailings powder can improve its shear performance. Direct shear tests were carried out on reinforced iron tailings powder [...] Read more.
Resource utilization of iron tailings powder is an effective measure to reduce the dam-break risk of an iron tailings reservoir. Adding polypropylene fiber to iron tailings powder can improve its shear performance. Direct shear tests were carried out on reinforced iron tailings powder with polypropylene fiber with dosages of 0%, 0.25%, 0.5%, 0.75%, and 1%, respectively. The normal stresses during the tests were 100, 200, 300, and 400 kPa, respectively. The test results show that with the increase of polypropylene fiber dosage, the cohesive force of iron tailings powder firstly increases and then decreases gradually, and the internal friction angle firstly decreases and then increases. The back propagation (BP)neural network was used to fit the shear force (F) and shear displacement (s) of the test to obtain the F-s function relationship that satisfies the accuracy. Based on the energy dissipation theory, the direct shear energy dissipation of polypropylene-fiber-reinforced iron tailings powder was calculated. The mathematical model of energy dissipation of fiber interfacial failure was derived by the fiber distribution model. The interfacial strength parameters of polypropylene fiber were calculated based on the direct shear test data and the mathematical model of fiber interfacial energy dissipation. The test results show that the addition of polypropylene fiber from the perspective of energy dissipation can improve the shear properties of iron tailings powder. Full article
(This article belongs to the Special Issue Sustainable Re-Utilization of Waste Materials)
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12 pages, 2219 KiB  
Article
Reuse of Waste Material “Waste Sludge Water” from a Concrete Plant in Cement Composites: A Case Study
by Lukáš Klus, Vojtěch Václavík, Tomáš Dvorský, Jakub Svoboda and Jiří Botula
Appl. Sci. 2019, 9(21), 4519; https://doi.org/10.3390/app9214519 - 24 Oct 2019
Cited by 2 | Viewed by 2404
Abstract
This paper presents the results of research dealing with the use of recycled waste sludge water from a concrete plant (CP) as partial or complete replacement of mixing water in cement mixtures. The need to recycle waste sludge water generated as a by-product [...] Read more.
This paper presents the results of research dealing with the use of recycled waste sludge water from a concrete plant (CP) as partial or complete replacement of mixing water in cement mixtures. The need to recycle waste sludge water generated as a by-product (waste sludge water) during the production of fresh concrete in the concrete plant results from the environmental and economic problems associated with the operation of the concrete plant. Mixing water was replaced with recycled waste sludge water in the amount of 25%, 50%, 75%, and 100%. In order to determine the effect of partial or complete replacement of mixing water with waste sludge water from the concrete plant in the production of cement composites, laboratory tests of waste sludge water were carried out to determine whether the waste sludge water complies with the requirements for mixing water defined in CSN EN 1008. The tests also determined the properties of fresh cement mortar and hardened cement composites. These were tests of the beginning and end of cement mortar setting, and the strength characteristics (flexural strength, compressive strength). The results of these tests show that it is possible to replace the mixing water by waste sludge water from the concrete plant in the amount of up to 25% without significantly affecting the tested properties, in comparison with the formula containing pure mixing water. Full article
(This article belongs to the Special Issue Sustainable Re-Utilization of Waste Materials)
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15 pages, 3709 KiB  
Article
An Innovative Green Process for the Stabilization and Valorization of the Organic Fraction of Municipal Solid Waste
by Carola Esposito Corcione, Francesca Ferrari, Raffaella Striani, Stefania Minosi, Mauro Pollini, Federica Paladini, Angelica Panico, Roberto De Fazio, Paolo Visconti and Antonio Greco
Appl. Sci. 2019, 9(21), 4516; https://doi.org/10.3390/app9214516 - 24 Oct 2019
Cited by 12 | Viewed by 3871
Abstract
This work is aimed at the development of innovative, easy and cheap methods for the stabilization, inertization and valorisation of the organic fraction of municipal solid waste (OFMSW). For the first time, two original processes for transforming the organic waste into an inert, [...] Read more.
This work is aimed at the development of innovative, easy and cheap methods for the stabilization, inertization and valorisation of the organic fraction of municipal solid waste (OFMSW). For the first time, two original processes for transforming the organic waste into an inert, odorless and sanitized material were here proposed. The first one, called dual step, starts with grinding of the OFMSW, by means of an industrial shredder. After being finely ground, the organic waste was exposed to a sterilization process by means of UV/ozone radiations or thermal treatment (stabilization phase) in order to obtain a complete removal of the OFMSW’s bacterial activity. By means of several microbiological analyses, the best sterilization method was chosen. The incorporation in a thermosetting matrix was, then, carried out through mixing the sterilized and finely ground organic waste into a water soluble urea formaldehyde (UF) based resin, with a formaldehyde content less than 1% wt, followed by a thermal treatment for UF-resin crosslinking (inertization phase). An alternative cheaper and easier process, called one step, was also proposed and investigated, by combining the sterilization with the curing thermal process (at higher temperature) of the thermosetting matrix. The preliminary experimental results reported in this paper suggest that both the proposed methods could be considered suitable for the production of high valorized innovative OFMSW-derived panels or bricks that could find application in several fields, such as building or construction materials. Finally, a brief description of the prototype machinery, properly designed for implementing OFMSW stabilization and valorization processes, is reported. Full article
(This article belongs to the Special Issue Sustainable Re-Utilization of Waste Materials)
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12 pages, 2387 KiB  
Article
An Innovative Green Process for the Stabilization and Valorization of Organic Fraction of Municipal Solid Waste (OFMSW): Optimization of the Curing Process II Part
by Carola Esposito Corcione, Francesca Ferrari, Raffaella Striani, Paolo Visconti and Antonio Greco
Appl. Sci. 2019, 9(18), 3702; https://doi.org/10.3390/app9183702 - 06 Sep 2019
Cited by 14 | Viewed by 2046
Abstract
This work is focused on the optimization of an innovative and cheap process for the valorization of the organic fraction of municipal solid waste (OFMSW), through its transformation into an odorless and environmentally compatible material to be employed for building applications or as [...] Read more.
This work is focused on the optimization of an innovative and cheap process for the valorization of the organic fraction of municipal solid waste (OFMSW), through its transformation into an odorless and environmentally compatible material to be employed for building applications or as a thermal and acoustic insulator. The process starts with the grinding of OFMSW, followed by its sterilization in order to obtain a complete removal of the bacterial activity. Afterwards, the incorporation in a catalysed thermosetting matrix is carried out by mixing the OFMSW to a water soluble urea formaldehyde based resin (UF), characterized by a formaldehyde content lower than 1% wt. The OFMSW/UF blends were firstly analysed by the dynamic rheological analyses, as a function of the content of a proper catalyst, that is able to decrease the curing temperature and time. Rheological analyses results allowed the selection of times and temperatures necessary for the polymerization (T = 60 °C, t = 1 h). The effect of the presence of different additives on both the cure process and the mechanical properties of the cured samples was finally analysed, evidencing that the OFMSW/UF composites possess improved mechanical properties in comparison to that of the neat resin. Full article
(This article belongs to the Special Issue Sustainable Re-Utilization of Waste Materials)
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19 pages, 3794 KiB  
Article
Performance Evaluation of Recycled Asphalt Pavement Materials and Cold Recycling Mixtures Designed with Vibratory Compaction Method
by Yuhui Pi, Zhe Li, Yingxing Pi, Zhe Huang and Guangcan Li
Appl. Sci. 2019, 9(15), 3167; https://doi.org/10.3390/app9153167 - 04 Aug 2019
Cited by 6 | Viewed by 2858
Abstract
In this paper, the basic composition and performance evaluation of the recycled asphalt pavement (RAP) materials were firstly analyzed, and two methods were proposed to evaluate strength characteristics of RAP materials, including a triaxial method for the residual strength and the mortar cementing [...] Read more.
In this paper, the basic composition and performance evaluation of the recycled asphalt pavement (RAP) materials were firstly analyzed, and two methods were proposed to evaluate strength characteristics of RAP materials, including a triaxial method for the residual strength and the mortar cementing method for the strength of RAP lump. Then, the cold recycling technology was applied on RAP materials with emulsified asphalt by using vibratory compaction and heavy-duty compaction methods (Proctor compaction method), and the results showed that the maximum dry density obtained by heavy-duty compaction was closer to the actual situation. Finally, the effects of wetting water, emulsified asphalt dosage and curing conditions on the performance of the specimens were investigated. It was found that when the emulsified asphalt was mixed uniformly, whether or not to add the wetting water have almost no effect on the strength of the molded specimens. When the matrix asphalt content of the emulsified asphalt was 30%~60%, the water could be directly added to the cold recycling mixture. The intensity of accelerated curing for two days at 40 °C was approximately equal to that of natural curing for three days, while that of accelerated curing for three days at 40 °C was approximately equal to that of natural curing for seven days, which provided a basis for the short-term laboratory test. Full article
(This article belongs to the Special Issue Sustainable Re-Utilization of Waste Materials)
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