Fourth International Conference on Waste Management and the Environment
2 - 4 June 2008
Granada, Spain
Overview
The 4th International Conference on Waste Management and the Environment took place recently in Granada, Spain, organised by the University of Granada and the Wessex Institute of Technology in collaboration with the University of Nagoya in Japan, and the University of Thessaly in Greece.
This successful meeting follows other conferences in the series, the first of which was held in Greece in 2002, followed by one in Rhodes in 2004, and another in Malta in 2006.
Waste Management is a major problem in the modern world, an international issue that is intensified by the volume and complexity of waste discarded by society’s domestic and industrial activities.
The current growing awareness of the detrimental environmental effects of current and past waste disposal methods has resulted in emphasis on this accountability by effective waste management. Better practice and safer solutions are required and more research is needed on current disposal methods such as landfill, incineration, chemical and effluent treatment as well as recycling, waste minimisation, clean technologies, waste monitoring and public and corporate awareness.
The Conference addressed all these concerns and helped to point out directions for further research and better practice.
The Meeting was opened by the Vice Rector for Research at the University of Granada, Professor Maria Dolores Suarez, who welcomed the delegates to her institution and the city of Granada. Professor Suarez said “It is a great pleasure for me to be at the opening session of a conference co-organized by the Wessex Institute of Technology and a very active group of research of our University whose research is related to technologies of the environment, waste water treatment, new technologies in water purification and environmental impact assessment of landfills.
“This is a conference of great interest to environmental engineers, local authority representatives, and waste disposal experts, research scientists in the area of waste management, civil engineers and chemical engineers.”
Professor Suarez’ address was followed by that of Professor Carlos A. Brebbia, Director of Wessex Institute of Technology. Carlos expressed his gratitude to the University of Granada in the name of his Institute for having agreed to host the Meeting within the framework of the formal link agreement between the two institutions. He hoped that this important initiative will give rise to further projects in the future.
The success of the Conference, Carlos said, rested on the efforts of his Co-Chairman, Prof Montserrat Zamorano from the School of Civil Engineering, University of Granada, who has been working on the organisation of the meeting for the last two years.
Another of the Co-Chairmen, Professor Viktor Popov, also from WIT, helped with the reviewing of papers, preparing the contents of the book and the final programme. Viktor contributed and continues to participate with his research group in many EU and other international projects closely related to the topics of the Conference.
The Conference is also indebted to Professor H Itoh from Nagoya University, who has acted as Co-Chairman and Co-Editor of the meeting since it began in 2002. He has been instrumental in promoting the conference in the Far East.
Finally, Professor A Kungolos of the University of Thessaly has this time agreed to act as Co-Chairman and contributed with his expertise in the field of Environmental Toxicology.
Carlos explained the importance of this and similar meeting for WIT, not only as the Conference itself acts as a forum for the dissemination of recent advances in the field, but also because it is a forum for discussing the research of different groups from all over the world. This is the main function of WIT, ie to act as a mechanism for the transfer of knowledge at international level.
Professor Brebbia explained some of the activities now taking place at the New Forest campus of WIT and invited the participants to collaborate with them.
Prof Popov addressed the meeting briefly and explained some of the projects carried out at his Division which was of relevance to the participants.
Conference Sessions
The Conference discussed the following topics:
- Advanced waste treatment technology
- Energy from waste
- Waste management
- Rescue recovery
- Computer modelling
- Waste water treatment
- Construction and demolition waste
- Soil and groundwater cleanup
- Waste incinerator gasification
- Landfills, design, construction and monitoring
- Hazardous waste
- Reduce, reuse and recycle (3R’s)
- Waste reduction and recycling
- Community awareness
- Air pollution control
Invited Presentations
There were a number of invited talks:
“Environmental use of HCFA: oil soil clean up” by A Moutsatsou, National Technical University of Athens, Greece
“Waste management in the built environment on the basis of decentralization and integration strategies: the ‘urban metabolism’” by A van Timmeren, Delft University of Technology, the Netherlands
“Effective utilization of coal fly ash containing unburned carbon” by M Miyake, Okayama University, Japan
“Simulation of constructed wetland performance using the advection diffusion equation” by V Popov, Wessex Institute of Technology, UK
“Preferential flow modelling in the vadose zone using MACRO 5.0: cape flats sands and Mpumalanga clays case studies (South Africa)” by N Z Jovanovic, University of Western Cape, South Africa
“Poultry litter valorization to energy” by P De Filippis, University of Roma ‘La Sapienza’, Italy
“Biodegradation stability of organic solid waste characterized by physic-chemical parameters” by A Lobo Garcia de Cortazar, EUIT Minera, Spain
“Environmental diagnosis of landfills in Venezuela using EVIAVE methodology” by A Paolini, University Centre Lisandro Alvarado, Venezuela
“Using recycled water for agricultural purposes in the Thessaly region, Greece: a primary investigation of citizens’ opinions” by A Kungolos, University of Thessaly, Greece
International Scientific Advisory Committee
The International Scientific Advisory Committee of the Conference met over dinner to discuss the meeting and consider changes for 2010 where it will be reconvened in another excellent location. The members suggested new topics reflecting new developments in the field. There were several nominations for new members of the Committee which will be invited in 2010. The general feeling is that the conference is progressing well and that the number of delegates continues to increase from year to year.
Conference Dinner
The Conference dinner took place in a restaurant renowned for its local specialities and which has its own farm. The delegates had occasion to taste different dishes before visiting one of the famous gypsy shows of Granada. This took place in a Group of caves that has belonged to the same family since time immemorial and was an exceptional show, much enjoyed by the participants. Granada flamenco is unique in more faithful to its traditions and in being performed in the caves where the gypsies lived.
Closing of the Meeting
The Meeting was closed by Carlos Brebbia who said that in view of its success, the Conference will be reconvened in 2010 and he hoped that the participants will be able to attend the meeting then. Carlos also explained that oral presentations will be processed for possible publication in another Volume of the Transactions of Wessex Institute and that all papers, once published, are archived in the eLibrary. He ended by inviting the participants to visit the Institute in the future, and thanking his colleague, Professor Montserrat Zamorano for all her hard work over the last two years, which is the amount of time it takes to organise a conference properly.
Publication of Papers
The proceedings of Waste Management and the Environment IV, 960pp (ISBN: 1-84564-113-9) are available in hard back from WIT Press priced at £316/US$632/€474. Orders can be placed by telephone: +44 (0) 238 029 3223, fax: +44 (0) 238 029 2853, e-mail: This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it. or via the WIT Press web site at: www.witpress.com.
Papers from the conference will also be hosted online at the WIT eLibrary as volume 109 of WIT Transactions on Ecology and the Environment (ISSN: 1743-3541). For more details visit the WIT eLibrary at: library.witpress.com
Wessex Institute