Medical Waste Management in MENA

Healthcare sector in MENA region is growing at a very rapid pace, which in turn has led to tremendous increase in the quantity of medical waste generation by hospitals, clinics and other establishments. According to a recent Ministry of State for Environmental Affairs report, Egypt generated 28,300 tons of hazardous medical wastes in 2010. In the GCC region, more than 150 tons of medical waste is generated in GCC countries every day. Saudi Arabia leads the pack with daily healthcare waste generation of more than 80 tons. These figures are indicative of the magnitude of the problem faced by municipal authorities in … Continue reading

Bioremediation: Fighting Pollution with Bacterial Assistance

Bioremediation is an engineering process which uses microorganisms to degrade a material. It can be used to treat contaminated media such as water, air and soil, by altering the environmental conditions to stimulate growth of microorganisms and degrade the target pollutant and enhance the quality of the media. In this age of rapid industrialization and depleting natural resources, there is an alarming need for a much effective sustainable development model and new ways to decontaminate and re-energize our surrounding land, water and air. Bioremediation provides an efficient and environment-friendly treatment compared to various other remediation technologies involving chemicals and radiation. … Continue reading

Environmental Impacts of Seawater Desalination

Desalination is a process that removes salt and minerals from seawater and turns it into a potable resource. It is extremely helpful in areas experiencing rising water demands due to water scarcity, droughts, growing populations and increased water consumption. With the ocean covering most of the Earth’s surface, seawater provides a sustainable, long-term solution to a problem that won’t soon dissipate. By 2015, 18,000 desalination plants had cropped up worldwide, producing 22,870 million gallons of fresh water per day. Experts believe desalination, coupled with future advancements in technology, could be the key to establishing drought-proof communities worldwide. A clean source … Continue reading

MBBR Technology in Wastewater Treatment

Moving bed biofilm reactor (MBBR) is a biological technology used for wastewater treatment process suitable for municipal and industrial application. Another common name is moving bed film reactor. It was invented in the 1980s. MBBR offer an economical solution for wastewater treatment. STP MBBR technology is the use of a moving bed biofilm reactor in sewage treatment plants. MBBR wastewater treatment system enables efficient results of the disposal using low energy. The technology is used to separate organic substances, nitrification and denitrification. MBBR design is made of an activated sludge aeration system. The sludge is collected on the plastic carriers … Continue reading

The Promise of Bioremediation

Ecosystems are permanently challenged with the abundant release of toxic compounds into the environment due to a wide range of anthropogenic activities. Apparently, contamination with oil spills and oily waste disposal are a major global concern since it’s extensively damaging the biodiversity, threatening the public health and has severe ecological and socioeconomic consequences. For example, in 1989, thousands metric tons of crude oil spill in Alaska, led to a massive loss in the marine life as well as several long-term environmental impact. Minor oil spills and non-point oil contamination are no less threats to public health, biodiversity and environment. Awareness … Continue reading

5 Biggest Environmental Problems Ukraine is Facing

In the last few years, global awareness of environmental problems has increased. The Ukrainian government has not been successful in meeting EU standards for air pollution, and there is little progress in reversing the trend. Read on to know the top environmental issues being faced by Ukraine: 1. Air Pollution This is the most well-known pollution problem in Ukraine. It usually occurs on hot summer days when air from forest fires pollutes cities near forests and peat bogs near industrial areas. The thickness of smog in the air in these cities makes it impossible to see any buildings in the … Continue reading

Guide to Green Shopping

With the advent of December, many festivities, celebrations and seasonal parties are planned globally. These events require feverish shopping leading to usage and wastage of more resources. In addition, December is also famous for the shopping mania that grips people from all walks of life. ‘Shopping’ is certainly one of the most famous ‘indoor sport’ being practiced equally by people of developed and developing countries depending on their life style and budget and is mainly being done by the female gender. ‘Going green’ is a way forward for all of us as it is a lifestyle change including improving our … Continue reading

Hazardous Waste Management in Qatar: Progress and Challenges

A country with an abundance of raw materials, cheap labor, and a rising demand for energy, Qatar needed to diversify its industrial sector in the 1970s. From then onwards, the use of fertilizers, petrochemicals, and gas liquefaction plants have grown exponentially. The magnitude of hazardous waste and the pollution to be produced from different streams have not been thoroughly considered, but Qatar has taken serious steps to implement commitments for sustainable development by passing laws and treaties, such as law No.4 in 1981 issuing safeguards and providing requirements for the protection of the environment, and by signing onto treaties such … Continue reading

Effective Ways to Make Your Beach Trip Eco-friendly

Island nations have many opportunities to take action and look after our shoreline and help to protect our beaches from trash and waste accumulation. Yes, one can join a major beach clean-up. And this sort of activity is great. But this is action after the fact, after the accumulation of trash on the beach and other shorelines.  But we can also be pro-active when we arrive at the beach to enjoy a day in the sun. The sooner one adopts these behavioral patterns, the easier it will be to really enjoy your leisure time at the beach. And to be … Continue reading

A Message on Earth Day

Earth Day has now grown into a global environmental tradition making it the largest civic observance in the world and is widely celebrated event in which over one billion people from over 190 countries will participate by taking suitable actions for saving our mother Earth. The Earth Day was first organized in 1970 to promote respect for life on the planet and to encourage awareness on air, water and soil pollution. Each year a different theme or topic is selected. The theme of Earth Day 2018 is ‘End Plastic Pollution’. Plastic pollution is poisoning our oceans and lands, injuring marine life … Continue reading

What Are the Environmental Benefits of Electric Cars

People are moving away from driving gas-powered vehicles at a tremendous rate for financial and environmental reasons. We have looked at a few key areas where using electric cars will benefit us in the areas we live in and in our wallets. Considering the first Tesla to hit the road was less than twenty years ago (2003), we have seen a dramatic shift towards electric vehicles from small manufacturers all the way through to major car producing companies. This shift has enormous environmental benefits for all of us and will continue to do so for generations to come. 1. Clean … Continue reading

VeryNile – Keeping the Nile Alive

Over the last decade we have become increasingly alarmed at the amount of plastic in our oceans. More than 8 Million tons of it ends up out oceans every year and if we continue to pollute at this rate, there will be more trash than fish by the year 2050. By the way, there are 3.5 Trillion fishes in the ocean now. Where does all this waste come from? After analyzing waste in rivers and surrounding landscape, researchers found that most plastic waste comes from rivers; and 90% of this waste comes from only 10 river systems. One of them, … Continue reading