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Waste Management

Code: 42408 ECTS Credits: 6
2024/2025
Degree Type Year
4313784 Interdisciplinary Studies in Environmental, Economic and Social Sustainability OT 0

Contact

Name:
Aglaia Gomez D Alessandro
Email:
aglaia.gomez@uab.cat

Teachers

Cristina Sendra i Sala
(External) Aglaia Gomez
(External) Oscar Prado
(External) Vanessa Abad

Teaching groups languages

You can view this information at the end of this document.


Prerequisites

  No specific knowledge required.


Objectives and Contextualisation

Provide the knowledge needed to manage waste as a resources, energy saving and impact reduction, through Circular Economy Design framework.


Competences

  • Analyse, summarise, organise and plan projects related to the environmental improvement of product, processes and services.
  • Communicate and justify conclusions clearly and unambiguously to both specialised and non-specialised audiences.
  • Solve problems in new or little-known situations within broader (or multidisciplinary) contexts related to the field of study.
  • Work in an international, multidisciplinary context.

Learning Outcomes

  1. Choose and propose the most sustainable waste management system under current legislation and the objectives of international policies.
  2. Communicate and justify conclusions clearly and unambiguously to both specialised and non-specialised audiences.
  3. Estimate greenhouse gas emissions attributable to waste.
  4. Estimate the main environmental impacts of waste management systems, whether urban, industrial or agricultural.
  5. Quantify the chances of reducing environmental impacts and GHG on the basis of new technologies, methodologies and waste management systems.
  6. Solve problems in new or little-known situations within broader (or multidisciplinary) contexts related to the field of study.
  7. Work in an international, multidisciplinary context.

Content

Block 1 Waste management in a linear model
  • Rreduction. Collection. Transportation compaction Evaluation. classification
  • Landfills and estimation of their emissions.
  • Classification of waste. Definition of a management plan. 
Block 2 Waste management in the Technical Cycle
  • Recyclable materials: plastic, glass, paper and cardboard, cans, batteries and accumulators.
  • Recycling plants. Ecoparks and recovery areas. 
Block 3 Waste management in the biological cycle
  • Composting and anaerobic digestion plants. Ecoparks and recovery areas.
  • Recycling plants. Ecoparks and recovery areas. Energy saving and recycling of materials and recovery of materials and energy. Organic matter. Other recyclable materials.
  • Reapply Industrial Ecology tools (industrial symbiosis, exchange of flows, MFA, LCA Exegetical Analysis, Ecodesign, carbon footprint, ...) to design an innovative and sustainable waste management system.
Block 4. Product design eliminating the concept of waste, with Cradle to Cradle principles and the circular economy

Activities and Methodology

Title Hours ECTS Learning Outcomes
Type: Directed      
Lectures 27 1.08
Visits to case studies 3 0.12
Type: Supervised      
Possible Visit to industrial plants 7 0.28
Seminars Preparation/Oral Expositions 15 0.6
Tutoring 18 0.72
Type: Autonomous      
Preparation of reports 24 0.96
Reading of reports/papers 20 0.8
Self-study 30 1.2

Lectures/oral expositions

Classroom practices including interactive discussions and exercises.

Seminars

Preparation of reports, individual and collaborative

Autonomous activity

Reading reports/papers of interest

All these types of tasks will be oriented at Open-ended & real world problem-based learning (PBL)

Annotation: Within the schedule set by the centre or degree programme, 15 minutes of one class will be reserved for students to evaluate their lecturers and their courses or modules through questionnaires.


Assessment

Continous Assessment Activities

Title Weighting Hours ECTS Learning Outcomes
Questionnaires, problem solving, and other evaluable tests 50 % 0 0 1, 3, 4, 5, 6
Reports delivery and oral presentations 50 % 6 0.24 1, 2, 3, 4, 6, 7 

This subject will be assessed continuously.
										
											
										
											50% of the grade will be obtained by completing quizzes and evaluable activities throughout class hours.
										
											
										
											The remaining 50% will be obtained through group work and its oral presentation in class.
										
											
										
											This module does not offer the Single Assessment modality, in accordance with the coordination of the degree and with the Dean's Office of the Faculty of Sciences.

Students who do not complete the final work and the corresponding oral presentation will not be evaluated. Students who cannot be present on the day of the oral presentation with reasonable cause (and supporting justification), must have sent a recording of the presentation prior to the date defined for this task. In cases of force majeure, a personalized analysis will be made. The evaluation will be made solely for the tasks carried out, being able to reach the maximum score corresponding to said tasks.

In case of overall failure of the subject in the first evaluation, and as long as and when at least 2/3 of the required tasks have been completed throughout the subject (a minimum average grade is not necessary), the students will have to complete a re-assignment and present it on the retake date defined by the university.
 

Bibliography

  • Materiales del campus virtual de la UAB. (intranet UAB, campus virtual)
  • Handbook Zero Waste, ZERO WASTE PROJECT (1G-MED08-533). http://icta.uab.cat/ecotech/zero_waste/Handbook/Final_Handbook.pdf
  • Cara Brower; Rachel Mallory; Zachary Ohlman. 2005. Experimental Eco>Design. Suiza. Editorial Rotovision. ISBN 2-88046-817
  • Han Brezet, Carolien Van Hemel.  1997. Ecodesign. A promising approach to sustainable production and consumption. United Nations Publications, Paris Henrik Wenzel; Michael Hauschild; Leo Alting.1997. Environmental Assessment of Products (vol.1). Methodology, tools and case studies in product development. Chapman & Hall
  • Bilitewski, B., Härdtle, G., Marek, K., Weissbach, A., Boeddicker, H. Waste management. 1997. Springer (Germany).
  • Lund, H. F., Manual McGraw-Hill de reciclaje. McGraw-Hill/Interamericana de España. 1996. (Madrid).
  • Landreth, R. E., Rebers, P. A. Municipal Solid Wastes. Problems and Solutions.CRC Press, Inc., 1997. (USA)
  • Solid waste processing and resource recovery. Handbook of environmental engineering. Vol 2. Lawrence K. Wang i Norman C. Pereira. Clifton (1980).
  • Perry’s Chemical engineer’s handkook. (section 26-31).
  • Roger Tim Haug. Compost engineering. Principles and practice. Technomic Publishing C.Inc. 1980. (Lancaster).
  • Tchobanoglous, G., Theisen, H., Vigil, S. Gestión integral de residuos sólidos. McGraw-Hill. Madrid (1994).
  • Crdale to Cradle Product Innvoation Institute www.c2ccertified.org

Software

Not applicable.


Language list

Name Group Language Semester Turn
(TEm) Theory (master) 1 English first semester afternoon