Shyam R Asolekar

• Professor (Full) at Indian Institute of Technology Bombay

Historically the disposal of asbestos-containing wastes (ACW) poses significant environmental and health risks due to the hazardous nature of asbestos fibres. Conventional disposal methods such as landfilling without any prior treatment lack long-term sustainability and safety. In this study, we explore the application of geopolymers as a green bin...

The use of paddy straw (PS) is proposed in this research as a reinforcing filler for manufacturing reinforced polymeric composite using polypropylene (PP) and could present a cost-effective and feasible substitute for conventional wood-based plywood. The PS/PP composites could potentially offer a sustainable solution by virtue of the abundance and...

This study establishes the suitability of cellulosic fibers derived from Canna indica waste biomass for utilization as a reinforcement in natural fiber polymeric composites. The waste biomass was harvested from constructed wetlands engaged in the treatment of municipal wastewater from a gated community. The extracted Canna indica (CI) fibers were s...

H-Acid (HA) and para-base ester Vinyl Sulphone (VS) are the significant raw materials for several industrially important dyes consumed worldwide. Owing to the toxicity and non-biodegradability of HA and VS as well as the associated by-products and hazardous wastes, most developed countries in the world have banned their production. Many states in t...

A number of institutions and academic campuses in India have been progressively focusing on making a strategic shift to becoming a Green Campus. However, the concept of Green Campus is a loosely defined construct whose scope is not well-defined. Therefore, the Government of Maharashtra is spearheading the “Green Campus Initiative” for the education...

It is envisaged in this research that dyestuff and textile processing sectors can be mutually inspired by the strategies developed by them for treatment and reuse of dye-bearing wastewaters because their respective environmental concerns are comparable. It is well known that decolourization and degradation of mixture of dyes is difficult with conve...

The dyestuff and dye intermediate industry is known to be economically significant but it is also infamous for being extremely polluting. India has a considerable share in the global dyestuff and dye intermediate industry. As per the current industrial and environmental policies in India, the extremely polluting chemical industries in "red category...

Urban lakes play a major role in the socio-cultural and ecological sustainability of many cities, but are often under major development and pollution pressures. Urban decision makers are faced with a challenging task of identifying the causes of their decline and building plans for their conservation or rejuvenation. Powai Lake is a perfect example...

The eco-centric wastewater treatment technology entitled ‘CW4Reuse’ (Constructed Wetland for Reuse) for treatment of domestic wastewaters employing horizontal subsurface-flow constructed wetland (CW) beds has been developed and demonstrated in India. A case study of treatment of wastewater using CW is presented in this paper based on our current re...

“CW4Reuse” i.e., Constructed Wetland for Reuse technology, the eco-centric, low-cost approach for the management of domestic wastewaters has been developed at IIT Bombay, Mumbai. The Town of Mhaswad in the State of Maharashtra, India (population 25,000) has been perpetually facing drought to the extent that the livestock suffers death or migration...

Integrating environmental activity and economic development is one of the key milestones in the circular economy. There is an urgent need for developing countries like India to step path towards a circular economy for its sustainable development and environmental improvement. Water industry in India, there should move towards a circular economy mod...

The recycling of end-of-life vessels is a complex activity that generates an enormous amount of hazardous waste, including asbestos-containing materials (ACM). Efforts by the Government of India to comply with national and international regulations and improved standard operating procedures are expected to lower the exposure risk of the workforce t...

Currently, due to the practice of traditional linear economic model, water resources are under extreme pressure. The lack of technically efficient and economically feasible solutions for water and wastewater treatment and poor management of water assets are responsible for the lack of access to safe water in both rural and peri-urban communities. T...

During marble processing such as cutting, polishing and grinding, a considerable amount of fine residues refereed as marble processing rejects (MPRs) are produced and have become a serious environmental issue. So the current study deals with the conversion of MPRs into hybrid ceramic composite bricks (CCB) with Jarosite waste in a clay matrix syste...

The constructed wetlands (CWs) possess tremendous significant potential for the treatment, reuse and recycle of wastewater. As compared with conventional wastewater treatment methods, CW has great significance in terms of resource enhancement at lower cost. The enhanced applications of CWs for the treatment purposes have led to the development of b...

In the present study, the fluorescein diacetate (FDA) activities using hydrolysis assay as well as removal efficiencies in terms of physico-chemical and biological parameters has been investigated for some of the sewage treatment plants in Mumbai, India. Effect of various process parameters such as pH, temperature and time on FDA hydrolysis of aera...

The management of municipal solid wastes (MSW) in rapidly developing economies such as India presents unique challenges as well as an opportunity to develop creative and technology-appropriate solutions, which are economically and socially sustainable in the long term. Aged wastes are defined in this paper as those municipal solid wastes which have...

Natural Water Treatment Systems for Safe and Sustainable Water Supply in the Indian Context is based on the work from the Saph Pani project (Hindi word meaning potable water). The book aims to study and improve natural water treatment systems, such as River Bank Filtration (RBF), Managed Aquifer Recharge (MAR), and wetlands in India, building loca...

We report the development and application of a user-friendly, scenario-based decision support tool (TechSelect 1.0). The objective of the study focuses on implementation of the 'scenario-based' multiple attributes decision-making (MADM) approach recently proposed by Kalbar et al. (2012a). The tool incorporates multiple scenarios to deal with comple...

This paper critically reviews worldwide occurrence, monitoring as well as treatment of pharmaceutical micropollutants. The challenges evolved including sample preparation, validation methods etc. during the analysis of emerging micropollutants are also reported which ultimately states the necessity of more advanced analytical instrumentation and pr...

The present chapter defines the unique characteristics of the renewable energy sources and the climate benefits secured by their use. These are aligned with the commitments made by many countries to use these alternatives and help to avoid carbon dioxide and equivalent emissions to tackle challenges posed by climate change. Several multilateral ins...

This chapter addresses the need for green chemistry, green engineering and ecological engineering to enable sustainable development. The highpoint of this chapter is the real-life case studies it provides to substantiate the above These deal with material efficiency and use of condemned resources to minimize consumption of non-renewable resources a...

Paper summarizes the results of India-wide survey of natural treatment systems (NTSs) for wastewater treatment and reuse. The quality of treated wastewater from different types of NTSs was analyzed for various physico-chemical and bacteriological parameters , and needs for post-treatment were identified. Currently, about 1838 million liters per day...

This study assesses the long-term sustainability for operation and maintenance (O&M) of sewage-fed aquaculture-based sewage treatment system. The study focused on the integrated assessment of an engineered pond system of 8 million liters per day capacity in the city of Karnal, the State of Haryana, northern India. Major areas during the assessment...

Five multiple-attribute decision-making (MADM) methods are used to rank the four most commonly used wastewater treatment technologies in India using pre-defined set of criteria and their indicators. Results show that it is difficult to get similar ranking using different MADM methods for equal set of weights. However, for varying weights all MADM m...

When flowing through Hyderabad, the capital of Telangana, India, the Musi River picks up (partially) treated and untreated sewage from the city. Downstream of the city, farmers use this water for the irrigation of rice and vegetables. Treatment of the river water before it is used for irrigation would address the resulting risks for health and the...

This paper reviews the current trends of technical and operational limitations of sub-surface flow constructed wetlands for treating domestic wastewaters. Considering the long-term effectiveness of constructed wetlands, aging contributes to decrease in contaminant removal rates over time. Also, temperature fluctuations especially given in the India...

In this paper an effort has been made to theoretically estimation of overall oxygen mass transfer coefficient (KL) in field conditions by applying wind correction to the oxygen mass transfer coefficient (KLphy) estimated in a simulated pond in laboratory conditions using physical absorption method. The value of KLphy (8.44 × 10−6 m/s) was estimated...

by Elsevier B.V. This is an open access article under the CC BY-NC-ND license (http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc-nd/3.0/). Selection and peer review under responsibility of Asia-Pacifi c Chemical, Abstract India has 18% of the world's population, 1.15 billion people, but access to only 4% of world's fresh water resources. In the recent past...

Published by Elsevier B.V. This is an open access article under the CC BY-NC-ND license (http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc-nd/3.0/). Selection and peer review under responsibility of Asia-Pacifi c Chemical, Abstract India is the world's leading ship recycling country which works on the principle of waste to wealth. In this paper an attempt...

The environmental footprint of wastewater treatment plant (WWTP) can be assessed using a life cycle assessment (LCA) approach. Life cycle impacts are computed according to the CML 2 baseline 2000 methodology. An LCA study was carried out for WWTP treating municipal wastewater. Results show that the construction phase contributes to nearly 1% for th...

The disposal of untreated or partially treated wastewater into the environment has posed the several impacts on human and wild life around the world. In last many years, ample efforts have been undertaken for establishment of sewage treatment plants in order to reduce the extent of untreated effluent discharge into the natural water bodies. The app...

Plate-cutting is a critical operation in recovering steel from ships and involve nearly 70% of the total workforce employed for dismantling and recycling of ships in Alang-Sosiya Yards in India. In order to predict and manage health-safety-environment related concerns in ship-recycling, it is essential to have an in-depth knowledge of inputs and ou...

High population growth, increasing urbanization and rapid economic development are exerting pressure on the already scarce water resources in India. Treatment and reuse of wastewater can play an important role in addressing some of the urban water challenges. Conventional treatment plants have many challenges, therefore, natural treatment systems (...

In the light of shortage of water in several parts of the World, especially in the developing country like India and in the context of the prevailing policy of accelerating growth through industrialization, there is an eminent need for devising newer approaches of water management. Various innovative successful approaches have been discussed which...

In this study, an attempt has been made to articulate the oil tanker dismantling and recycling procedure as practiced in Alang-Sosiya yards under the existing regulatory regime set in by the Government of India along with the quantification of hazardous / non-hazardous materials obtained during the process of oil tanker ship recycling. The hazarodo...

The objective of this study was to articulate the existing Rules of Gujarat Maritime Board (GMB), Government of Gujarat, India and how they are different from Hong- Kong Convention and if Hong-Kong Convention guidelines are implemented then what difference we can expect in ship recycling in India. In order to understand the entire system rigorous t...

In this paper an attempt has been made to develop an integrated risk assessment framework for ship recycling - which involves risks to workers and surrounding environment corresponding to all significant steps typically undertaken during the course of ship dismantling. The study was carried out on the hypothesis that risks at ship recycling yard is...

The international protocol popularly called as the “Hong Kong Convention” is currently being negotiated based on the draft formulated by the International Maritime Organization (IMO) under the auspices of UNO because it has been recognized by the ship owners and maritime regulators that dismantling (i.e. breaking) of end-of-life ships is an essenti...

Enhancement of natural water systems and treatment methods for safe and sustainable water supply in India Project supported by the European Commission within the Seventh Framework Programme Grant agreement No. 282911

Invasive Alien/ Aquatic/ Marine Species (IAS or IMS) discharged through the Ballast Water (BW) carried by the ships is the major global concern today. This study is an attempt to address the engineering aspects of BW management and its unmet demands as well as role of International Maritime Organization (IMO) in handing BW. The existing BW treatmen...

Four municipal wastewater treatment plants (WWTPs) in India based on different technologies are compared by conducting Life Cycle Assessment (LCA) using field data. CML 2 baseline 2000 methodology is adopted in which eight impact categories are considered. SBRs ranked highest in energy consumption and global warming potential (GWP) but also produce...

A framework for technology assessment for wastewater treatment is proposed in this work. A case study of technology selection for high rise buildings in urban centres of India is used for evaluation and to test this framework. The multiple-attribute decision-making technique is used for ranking the alternatives. The three most commonly used wastewa...

The 180 ship recycling yards located on Alang-Sosiya beach in the State of Gujarat on the west coast of India is the world's largest cluster engaged in dismantling. Yearly 350 ships have been dismantled (avg. 10,000 ton steel/ship) with the involvement of about 60,000 workers. Cutting and scrapping of plates or scraping of painted metal surfaces ha...

Shipping industry is one of the significant sources of Green House Gas (GHG) emissions which accounts for 3.9 % (1,260 million tonnes of CO2) of the global emission of carbon dioxide. Out of all the GHGs, emission of CO2 accounts for more than 99% of the total GHG emitted from various port operations and hence emission of CO2 has been explicitly ad...

The effect of two carbon sources namely sodium acetate and ethanol was studied in bench-scale Upflow Anaerobic Sludge Blanket (UASB) reactors for the removal of chlorinated ethanes i.e., 1,1,2-Trichloroethane (TCA) and 1,1,2,2-Tetrachloroethane (TeCA) contained in the simulated wastewaters. The Hydraulic Retention Time (HRT) was maintained as 24 ho...

Jarosite waste arising worldwide from the zinc industry is hazardous in nature due to the presence of toxic elements such as lead (1.9±0.023%), zinc (8.24 ±0.075%), sulphur (12.23±0.2%), cadmium (317±23.8ppm), chromium (178±24.7 ppm) and copper (1043±25.7 ppm) and thus becomes a major environmental concern. Attempts were made to recycle the hazardo...

Lack of focus on the treatment of wastewaters bearing potentially hazardous pollutants like 1,1,2 trichloroethane and 1,1,2,2 tetrachloroethane in anaerobic reactors has provided an impetus to undertake this study. The objective of this exercise was to quantify the behavior of upflow anaerobic sludge blanket reactors and predict their performance b...

This article aims to examine the performance of bench-scale Upflow Anaerobic Sludge Blanket (UASB) reactor operated under varying operating conditions, during the treatment of simulated wastewater containing 1,1,2-Trichloroethane (TCA). Initially, reactor R1 (control) and reactor R2 (test) containing TCA were operated at 5 different Hydraulic Reten...

Increase in the global greenhouse gases emission drastically increases the hot weather. Due to mismanagement of waste and natural resources, we have already experienced several warning from global warming and climate change. Waste are indeed wasted resources, at this juncture, it is imperative to leverage the R&D organizations expertise, technologi...

Increase in environmental concern due to improper management of both hazardous and non hazardous wastes released from different industrial process prioritized the necessity for the innovation research. In this context, this paper deals with the immobilization of jarosite waste released from the zinc industry and converting it into a value added pro...

Inadequate infrastructure for rural and urban sanitation coupled with improper wastewater management practices, including disposal of untreated or partially treated wastewaters into the natural water courses, have deteriorated the water quality of almost all the aquatic resources in India. This chapter analyses secondary data on status of wastewate...

Inadequate infrastructure for rural and urban sanitation coupled with improperwastewater management practices, including disposal of untreated or partially treatedwastewaters into the natural water courses, have deteriorated the water quality of almostall the aquatic resources in India. This chapter analyses secondary data on status ofwastewater ma...

Presently in India, about 960 million tonnes of solid waste is being generated annually as by-products during industrial, mining, municipal, agricultural and other processes. Of this ∼350 million tonnes are organic wastes from agricultural sources; ∼290 million tonnes are inorganic waste of industrial and mining sectors and ∼4.5 million tonnes are...

Jarosite released from zinc metal extraction process is hazardous in nature and its world wide disposal has become a major environmental concern. In this study, an attempt has been made to immobilise and recycle the jarosite released from Hindustan Zinc Limited, India, using CCRs, so called fly ash, and clay soil. Results revealed that the particle...

The Thane creek region, near Mumbai city is being used as dumping site for treated and untreated effluents by government agencies and private industries for the last several decades. This coastal water is very important from environmental point of view since it supports a vast area of mangrove forest besides a wide variety of flora and fauna. Turbi...

The Thane creek region, near Mumbai city is being used as dumping site for treated and untreated effluents by government agencies and private industries for the last several decades. This coastal water is very important from environmental point of view since it supports a vast area of mangrove forest besides a wide variety of flora and fauna. Turbi...

During metallic zinc extraction from zinc sulphide or sulphide ore, huge quantity of jarosite is being released universally as solid residues. The jarosite mainly contains iron, sulphur, zinc, calcium, lead, cadmium and aluminium. Jarosite released from such industrial process is complex and its quality and quantity make the task more complex for s...

Sludge characteristics available inside the reactor are of vital importance to maximize advantages of UASB reactor. The organic loading rate and sludge loading rate applied during start-up are among the important parameters to govern the sludge characteristics. Effects of these loading rates on the characteristics of the sludge developed are evalua...

To meet the electric power requirement, the world population is greatly dependent on fossil fuel. Presently in India, about 75% of the total electrical energy (i.e. ∼100,000 MW) is generated from fossil fuel and about 105 million tons of coal combustion residues (CCRs) as solid waste/by-product is being released annually during combustion of pulver...

The link between business, production, commerce and environmental imperatives is becoming more and more obvious. Industry, the world over, is under pressure, like never before, from an unprecedented set of environmental laws. But, the fact is that only a few crusaders have managed to influence policy makers and opinion makers to devise the "command...

Coal-fired power plants all over the world are cited as one of the major sources that generate huge quantities of coal combustion residues (CCRs) as solid wastes. Most frequently CCRs are collected through electrostatic precipitators, mixed with bottom ash by hydraulic systems and deposited in ash ponds. The quality of the CCRs at different locatio...