This is the second of two themed issues of Waste and Resource Management focusing on the outputs of the EPSRC Sustainable Urban Environments (SUE) Programme Waste Consortium. The background to the Programme and the Waste Consortium was summarised in the first themed issue,1,2 and will not be repeated here.
The briefing by Powrie, Riley and Salter3 gives an overview of the rationale and aims of the Consortium, its outputs and the key implications for practice.
A key prerequisite of effective waste management planning is an understanding of the type and quantity of waste that will have to be processed. The household consumption that drives this can be difficult to predict, especially in parts of the urban environment such as high-density housing estates, which tend to be under-represented in surveys. The paper by Alexander and Druckman et al.4 explores the discrepancies between top-down and bottom-up approaches to resource flow, based on national datasets and individual household diaries, respectively. They conclude that the two approaches serve different purposes, but that recognition of the variability indicated by the bottom-up approach is essential to the development of effective waste collection strategies.
Much bulky waste, such as furniture, is capable of reuse, but disposal is often easier than finding a new owner. The paper by Alexander and Curran et al.5 explores ways in which the excellent work of furniture reuse organizations can be enhanced and extended. They identify barriers to this, and highlight the essential role of effective communication and partnership.
The last two papers combine technical and economic analyses to address different aspects of energy and heat recovery from residual wastes by thermal treatments. Castillo-Castillo et al.6 assess viable scales, while Yassin et al.7 demonstrate the potential advantages of fluid-bed gasification over more traditional processes.
It will be apparent from the briefing by Powrie et al. that the papers published in the February and August 2009 themed issues of WaRM do not represent the entire output of the Sue Waste Consortium. It is hoped that further papers will be published, in future volumes of WaRM, within the normal run.
As always, contributions to discussion on any of the papers in this issue are welcome, as are original papers, briefings, opinions or technical notes. WaRM publishes original contributions on research and practice relating to all civil engineering and construction aspects of the resource management cycle, from waste minimization through the reuse and processing of waste materials to the management and disposal of residual wastes. Articles covering relevant legislation, standards, socio-economic and sustainability matters are welcomed.
