Articles
Scientific Reports (20452322)15(1)
This study developed a new framework based on grey water footprint (GWF) to inclusively evaluate and compare the industrial wastewater treatment plants (WWTPs). The conventional approach typically reports the efficiency of treatment systems on abating the concentration of each pollutant, individually. As an alternative, GWF can simultaneously include multiple pollutants, pollution loads, and regional water quality standards in calculations. These advantages are critical for assessing an industrial WWTP treating complex wastewater, with hazardous pollutants and variable inflow. Moreover, we introduced four innovative criteria based on GWF and improved it as a multi-functional index. To verify the applicability of the proposed method, we chose two operating units in parallel, the activated sludge (AS) and membrane bioreactor (MBR), as case studies treating real industrial wastewater. Samples were obtained from both treated and untreated wastewater. 36 pollutants were examined and used for GWF accounting in different scenarios. These scenarios were based on different maximum allowable concentrations (Cmax). Multi-pollutant GWF reduction (%) was the first index evaluating the overall removal efficiency. The AS with 93.1% average GWF removal could outperform MBR with 87.1% removal. Operational reliability was the second index, showed that AS could reduce GWF variations from inlet to the outlet with 83.7% efficiency, while it was 77.5% for MBR. The third index was GWF per carbon footprint (GWCF). It quantified the equivalent abated stress from water bodies per increased pressure exerted by emitting greenhouse gas (GHG) during wastewater treatment. The GWCF of AS was 347.8 m3/kg-CO2 indicating a superior efficiency over MBR with 84.9 m3/kg-CO2. It means that MBR relatively emitted more GHGs for reducing less GWF. Heavy metal pollution reduction (HPI) was the fourth index quantified based on GWF. It evaluated the particular performance of treatment systems for abating hazardous pollutants. The AS with an average HPI of 56.7% outperformed MBR with 50.4% efficiency. Therefore, this study showed that GWF is a versatile and applicable index and can provide a more holistic framework for evaluating and comparing wastewater treatment units. © The Author(s) 2025.
Fowzi, M.,
Ebrahimpour, K.,
Dehnavi, A.,
Jamshidi, S.,
Andaluri, G. Environmental Research (10960953)284
The increasing abundance of microplastics (MPs) in water and soil has raised significant environmental concerns. This study evaluated the abundance and ecological risks of MPs in compost produced from three composting facilities (S1–S3) in Isfahan province, central Iran. Monthly samples were collected over a year, and MPs were extracted using an adapted protocol involving organic matter digestion with 0.05 M Fe (II) solution and hydrogen peroxide (H2O2), followed by density separation using saturated zinc chloride (ZnCl2). Despite rigorous methods, limitations remain due to the lack of a global standard and inherent errors in existing MP extraction protocols. The extracted MPs were analyzed under a stereomicroscope, and polymer types were identified via Micro-Raman spectroscopy. Ecological risks were assessed using established indices, including the Polymer Hazard Index (PHI), Pollution Load Index (PLI), and Potential Ecological Risk Index (PERI). The results revealed that the average MPs abundance in S1, S2, and S3 were 44,267 ± 7,240, 38,500 ± 6,130, and 34,267 ± 5297 items/kg dry compost, respectively. MPs larger than 1000 μm accounted for 41 %–49 % of the total, with fragments being the most prevalent shape (49 %–51 %). Polyethylene terephthalate, polyethylene, and polyolefin were the dominant polymers in all facilities. The ecological risk indices indicated high levels of risk in all three composting sites, with potential implications for agricultural soils, soil fertility. MPs in compost may enter the food chain, raising concerns for ecosystem health. These findings underscore the significant MP contamination in compost and highlight the need for improved solid waste management strategies to reduce plastic pollution. © 2025
Environmental Science and Pollution Research (09441344)31(32)pp. 45264-45279
This study used an integrated approach to mainly assess the water quality of paddy field during cultivation and quantify its equivalent ecological damages. Accordingly, an isolated pilot area with 0.6 ha and subsurface drainage pipes was prepared for flow measurement and multiple pollutant examination (DO, EC, pH, COD, TKN, TN, TP, NO3, butachlor) under controlled condition during 94 days of rice cultivation. Based on life cycle impact assessment (LCIA) database, the indices of ReCiPe (2016) were used to convert the examined nutrient and herbicide pollution. Results showed that TKN and TP were significant pollutants and reached the maximum concentrations of 7.2 and 4.9 mg/L in pilot outflow, respectively. Here, their average discharged loads were 56.2 gN/day and 45.3 gP/day. These loads equal leaching 8.5% and 9.4% of applied urea and phosphate fertilizers, respectively. The nutrient export coefficients were 8.4 kgN/ha and 6.8 kgP/ha. Nevertheless, the majority of this pollution was transferred by inflow. The net export coefficients were 0.3 kgN/ha and 2.6 kgP/ha while net leaching rates were 0.3%TN and 3.3%TP. The trend of combined ecological damages also showed that the 11–17th day of cultivation imposed the highest ecological risks. The state-of-the-art index of ecological footprint per food production estimates the equivalent ratio of lost lives by impaired ecosystem against lives saved from starvation. This index showed that 7% of the potential of produced paddy rice in this area for saving lives would be spoiled by releasing pollution to the terrestrial ecosystem in the long term. Yet, it can be enhanced as a matter of direct discharge to the freshwater. Therefore, using suitable agricultural operations or improving farm management practices for pollution abatement or assimilation potential is highly recommended. Graphical Abstract: (Figure presented.) © The Author(s), under exclusive licence to Springer-Verlag GmbH Germany, part of Springer Nature 2024.
Zekri, E.,
Dehnavi, A.,
Nasseri, M.,
Majed, V.,
Zarandi, S.M. Environment, Development and Sustainability (1387585X)
Iran, as a developing country, recently regards the reduction of GHGs emissions from waste sector as one of the important strategies in national sustainable development planning. Therefore, it is crucial to understand the effects of Municipal Solid Waste (MSW) management on GHGs mitigation potential. For this purpose, an integrated system dynamic model was developed to evaluate the environmental impacts of Official Development Plans (ODPs) regarding MSW. To demonstrate its applicability, Isfahan province in Iran is selected as a case study. The results show that ODPs on waste sector have adverse effect on GHGs mitigation. Which means that short, mid and long-term ODPs will increase GHGs emissions by about 71%, 80% and 152%, respectively. In all ODPs scenarios, aerobic fermentation (AF) method accounted for nearly most of GHGs emissions, at 95%, 78% and 34% in short, mid and long-term ODPs, respectively. Other treatment methods such as landfilling, anaerobic digester (AD), and incineration are very small sources of GHGs emissions, accounting for only less than 10% combined. Scenario analysis further indicates that Waste to Energy (WTE) method of compost gas utilization in AF is the most effective and adoptive measure in reducing GHGs emissions from MSW treatment, leading to about 34% and 22% of reduction compared with mid and long-term development scenarios, respectively. © The Author(s), under exclusive licence to Springer Nature B.V. 2024.
Environmental Footprints and Eco-Design of Products and Processes (23457651)3512pp. 7-55
Industry drives economic activity by converting raw materials into products within an extensive network of factories. These are segmented into specialized sectors, each focusing on distinct products or services and employing specific processes and technologies that contribute to the society and the economy. While these sectors are essential for development, they also generate industrial wastewater. This wastewater is a mix of discharges containing harmful elements such as heavy metals (HMs), including chromium (Cr) and zinc (Zn), as well as other pollutants like chemical oxygen demand (COD), biochemical oxygen demand (BOD), and nitrogen and phosphorus compounds, which pose risks to both aquatic and terrestrial ecosystems. Understanding and mitigating the water quality impacts of these industries are crucial for their cleaner production. Notably, sectors such as textile and dyeing, metal-working, food and dairy production, chemicals, plastics, and electrical and electronics manufacturing make extensive contributions to the industrial water footprint (WF). The WF of a product is the total volume of water used to produce it, summed over the various steps of the production chain. Industries exert significant pressure on water bodies due to their excessive water consumption. This is particularly evident in sectors like textile and dyeing or food and dairy units, which require substantial amounts of water for production, cleaning, and packaging. Moreover, these enterprises introduce a wide range of pollution. For example, textile and dyeing industries discharge contaminants such as copper (Cu), lead (Pb), and COD, while metal-working industries release HMs like Cr and Pb during cooling and processing. Since WF represents the water used in production, the combined water usage and pollution discharges of these industries can increase the overall WF of the industry, posing substantial environmental challenges. The industrial WF is accounted for based on water quantity and quality, through the blue WF (BWF) and grey WF (GWF). The BWF represents the water used in manufacturing and direct freshwater consumption during production processes, while the GWF accounts for pollutants discharged into water bodies, impacting water quality and ecosystems as a result of industrial activities. In addition to the principles and methods, this chapter explains the calculated industrial WF of an industrial park located in Isfahan Province, Iran. It covers an area of 3.09 km2 and includes 554 units: iron and metal-working, textile and dyeing, chemical and fertilizer production, food and dairy production, cellulose industry and pulp and paper, electrical and electronic, administration and other industrial units, and non-metallic minerals. For its GWF assessment, multiple pollutants were evaluated over a period of 6 months (October 2022 to March 2023). Regarding the production yields of the Industrial Park, the average WF of production (WFP) is 1.76 m3/ton, derived from a net BWF of 1668 ± 54 m3/day and a GWF of 2.155 ± 0.285 million cubic meters (MCM)/month, attributed to NH4. Based on the analyzed conventional pollutants, the dilution factor indicator (Df) measured how many times polluted water needs to be mixed with fresh water to achieve a safe concentration level, which is typically around 50 times for NH4 in this study. It has been argued that the industrial WF faces various challenges in standards, experimentation, and accounting. Furthermore, mitigating GWF and WF requires a more holistic approach, incorporating technological innovations, recycling initiatives, and sustainable practices. Although these challenges and future trends, as well as the methods applicable to the industrial park, are discussed in this chapter, they are also calculable for various and specific individual industries. © The Author(s), under exclusive license to Springer Nature Switzerland AG 2024.
