A holistic environmentally sound waste management scheme that transforms agricultural plastic waste (APW) streams into labelled guaranteed quality commodities freely traded in open market has been developed by the European research project LabelAgriWaste. The APW quality is defined by the APW material requirements, translated to technical specifications, for recycling or energy recovery. The present work investigates the characteristics of the APW quality and the key factors affecting it from the introduction of the virgin product to the market to the APW stream reaching the disposer. Samples of APW from different countries were traced from their application to the field through their storage phase and transportation to the final destination. The test results showed that the majority of APW retained their mechanical properties after their use preserving a “very good quality” for recycling in terms of degradation. The degree of soil contamination concerning the APW recycling and energy recovery potential fluctuates depending on the agricultural plastic category and application. The chlorine and heavy metal content of the tested APW materials was much lower than the maximum acceptable limits for their potential use in cement industries.

written by Journal of Bioremediation and Biodegradation

There are microscopic mushrooms out there which love to eat oil. Cleaning up a contaminated site could be as simple as seeding an area in the spring with willow cuttings and bacteria to stimulate the growth of these microscopic oil-devouring mushrooms. As the willows grow, they suck up the contaminants in the soil, along with the bacteria. In the fall, the willows are harvested and burnt, leaving cleanup crews with a handful of ashes that contain the heavy metals from the contaminated area. Rinse and repeat for a few seasons and even highly contaminated sites will be clean again. Fungi breath like mammals, in that they inhale oxygen and produce carbon dioxide. They can produce oxalic acid along with other acids and enzymes to grab minerals absorbed from rocks. Starting as mycelium, oil is absorbed by breaking down the carbon-hydrogen bonds and re-manufacturing them into carbohydrates – fungal sugars. Using a combination of mushrooms and microorganisms, The Remediators are able to clean up most lawn contaminants in about six months. It’s a simple process – they till up the soil to within a depth of a meter at most, drop in the vigorously growing compost medium, and wait while the magical microorganisms they’ve introduced literally eat up the contaminants (with no harmful byproducts). This type of technology, if one could call something old as time ‘technology,’ can be used for more than just lawn contaminants. Different forms of microorganisms have been used to clean up everything from oil spills.

written by Journal of Bioremediation and Biodegradation

Bioremediation of hydrocarbon contaminated sites has a long history and great achievements were made during the last decades. However, this had too little impact on microbially enhanced oil recovery (MEOR). Now that world-wide demand for oil exceeds the supply it has become necessary to use the scientific achievements from the field of bioremediation to enhance hydrocarbon extraction from yet inaccessible resources.

written by Journal of Bioremediation and Biodegradation