Thrassyvoulos Manios

Hellenic Mediterranean University · Department of Organic Greenhouse Crops and Floriculture

Plastic generation exacerbates the challenge of solid waste management. Moreover, plastics emit substantial amounts of microplastics, which infiltrate the environment and food chain, posing significant environmental risks. Compounded by their production from fossil fuels, such as crude oil and natural gas, plastics present a formidable environmenta...

Abstract Urospermum picroides (L.) Scop. ex F. W. Schmidt (Asteraceae) is rich in secondary compounds, with antimicrobial and antioxidant activity, medicinal and health-promoting properties, however, like many other wild edible plants of the Mediterranean, it is still underutilised. This study focused on the pilot cultivation of U. picroides, under...

It is estimated that European households are responsible for 55% of food waste generation. Key factors contributing to household food waste generation include food spoilage, confusion over expiration dates, overbuying, and inadequate shopping planning. Thus, food waste prevention at the household level depends heavily on food supplies monitoring an...

We present synthetic experiments of lactic acid (LA) polycondensation to produce poly(lactic acid) (PLA) as well as kinetic modeling calculations that capture the polymer molecular weight increase with time, given the initial concentrations. Tin-octoate-catalyzed polycondensation of (D,L)- or L-lactic acid was carried out in pre-dried toluene after...

To reduce plastic pollution, biodegradable plastics have been introduced to the market to replace petroleum-based plastics. This work investigates the biodegradation/disintegration of pure poly-L-lactic acid (PLLAB2B), composed of food waste (FW), and PLLAB2B bags, under industrial composting conditions, in order to determine whether they are compo...

We present synthetic experiments of lactic acid (LA) polycondensation to produce poly(lactic acid) (PLA), as well as kinetic modeling calculations that capture the polymer molecular weight increase with time, given the initial concentrations. Tin-octoate-catalyzed polycondensation of (D,L)- or L-lactic acid, was carried out in pre-dried toluene aft...

Table grape production in soilless cultivation under a controlled environment is a promising solution that addresses many of the challenges of grapevine cultivation, such as factors affecting the quantity and quality of table grape production, cultivation cost, pest management, soil degradation, soil-borne diseases, and adaptation to climate change...

Bioplastics are frequently utilized in daily life, particularly for food packaging and carrier bags. They can be delivered to biogas plants through a separate collection of the organic fraction of municipal waste (OFMSW). The increased demand for and use of bioplastics aimed at mitigating plastic pollution raises significant questions concerning th...

Nowadays, composting technologies are being used to manage food waste (FW), which is an environmentally friendly method of waste management in which organic matter can decompose biologically. The BIOWASTE project promotes the transfer and application testing of innovative technologies (PAYT and ACUs), aiming to enhance management efficiency in soli...

One of the best methods for turning different types of biomass into clean energy is anaerobic digestion (AD). Organic and inorganic additives may be employed in the AD process to increase biogas output. It has been demonstrated that inorganic additives, such as micronutrients, can improve the efficiency of biogas producing reactors. These trace ite...

The presence of 220 emerging contaminants belonging to different classes (artificial sweeteners, personal care products, coffee and tobacco-related compounds, and industrial chemicals) was investigated in hospital wastewater for the first time. Twenty samples were collected within two sampling periods from two points of a Greek General Hospital. Ta...

During the previous decades, the growing demand for animal origin products has gained considerable attention. As a result, livestock breeding has faced a rapid intensification in order to fulfil market expectations. This increase in livestock production has led to a large scale of manure that is associated with many environmental impacts, such as c...

Drought and salinity are two of the most urgent challenges faced in the Mediterranean ecosys-tems, equally impacting natural systems, agricultural crops, and urban green. While many tech-nical and soft approaches have been proposed to anticipate, mitigate, and remediate these im-pacts, a class of solutions has possibly been in front of us all along...

Food waste valorization via its transformation into animal feed is a viable alternative for improving food security and the diversion of organic waste from landfills. The manuscript presents the environmental impact assessment of the construction and operation of a novel solar food waste drying unit on the island of Crete in Greece, which is treati...

Tomato (Solanum lycopersicum) is one of the most important vegetables for human nutrition and its cultivation employs amounts of resources worldwide. However, tomato cultivation is plagued by several diseases and pests that increase production cost and introduce additional environmental and health risks due to pesticide use. Timely disease and pest...

Abstract: Drought and salinity are two of the most urgent challenges faced in Mediterranean ecosystems, equally impacting natural systems, agricultural crops, and urban green. While many technical and soft approaches have been proposed to anticipate, mitigate, and remediate these impacts, a class of solutions has possibly been in front of us all al...

In this article we applied drug consumption approach and chemical analysis in parallel to investigate the concentrations of a large number of pharmaceuticals in different streams of a General Hospital. Drugs consumption data was collected during two periods (Period 1, 2) and the predicted environmental concentrations (PECs) were estimated for the w...

A significant issue is reducing the amount of biological waste that is disposed of in landfills, particularly in high-density residential areas. The Wastes Framework Directive (98/2008), in particular, sets forward the legal requirements for source separation in the European Union’s (EU) environmental legislation. The directive sets a target for se...

Selecting salt-tolerant crop species for cultivation might be a feasible option to maintain crop productivity in arable lands affected by salinity. In this context, here we examine the responses of the wild edible green golden thistle (Scolymus hispanicus L.) to moderate levels of salinity when grown in a soilless system for culinary use. Treatment...

Thorough knowledge of soil lithology and its properties are of considerable importance to agriculture. These parameters have a direct impact on water permeability and the content of the water in soil, which represent significant factors in crop yield, decisively determining the design of irrigation systems and farming processes. In the framework of...

The aim of this paper is the creation of an integrated and free-access web platform for parcel irrigation water management on a large spatial scale (Water District of Crete, in Greece) in order to: a) accurately determine the irrigation needs of the main crops for Crete such as olives, citrus, avocados and vineyards, b) design strategies, for optim...

An increasing world population along with increasing human needs have raised demand for animal origin products. Moreover, high prices of conventional animal feeds have led to a demand for alternative feedstuff. Food waste can be an alternative feed ingredient. The aim of the present study was to investigate the effect of dietary inclusion of dried...

Food waste (FW) reutilization as animal feed can alleviate both the burden posed by FW disposal as well as that of food insecurity. Studies on the incorporation of catering waste (CW) in swine and poultry diets have provided promising results in regard to animal performance and quality of derived products. However, disease concerns have led to the...

Modern hydroponic substrates have contributed significantly to the popularity and progress of hydroponic cultivations worldwide, nevertheless, their development, transportation, and disposal often come at a significant environmental cost. Here we investigate the feasibility of partial to total replacement of conventional organic growing media const...

The large quantities of food waste that are generated every year have raised management concerns. Animal diets might be a feasible strategy for utilizing food waste and partially replacing commercially available feedstuffs. The present study examined the potential use of food waste originating from hotels for broiler chickens’ diets. Two hundred an...

The A2UFood project aspires to design and implement a holistic scheme for the management of food loss and waste, covering all aspects of the ‘reduce–reuse–recycle’ philosophy. An integral part of an efficient strategy to combat food wastage is raising awareness and informing the public. For this reason, among the designed direct, in person, communi...

The potential use of food residues for pet food could significantly contribute to food waste reduction. In the present study, the effects of the inclusion of dried food residues (DFR) (0, 5, 10 and 15%) in a complete diet were evaluated in seven healthy adult cats. At the end of each three-week feeding period, feces were collected. The analysis of...

Oil pollution has been a worldwide concern especially in environments where treatment is quite difficult to apply. Marine polluted sediments, in particular, constitute one of the most recalcitrant environments for bioremediation and are often the final repository of petroleum contaminants, as a result of runoff and deposition. Aerobic hydrocarbon d...

The use of food residues for animal nutrition might imply ecological and economic advantages; however, their effects as a potential ingredient have not yet been evaluated in dogs. In the present study, four diets with 0, 5, 10 and 15% dried food residues (DFR), derived from hotel catering, were fed to 10 healthy adult dogs. At the end of each three...

Home and community composting of food waste, an essential component of every bio-waste management strategy, is gradually succeeded by in-vessel composting which allows a more efficient and hustle-free process, especially in the urban environment. While in-vessel, or otherwise autonomous composting units (ACUs) solve most of the technical problems a...

In Europe, it is estimated that households are responsible for the largest portion of food waste generation, which contributes up to 16% of the CO2 emissions of the food supply chain. Major reasons for household food waste generation are food spoilage, date label confusion, overbuying, and poor shopping planning (Gunders, 2017). Thus, food-waste pr...

Home and community composting of food waste, an essential component of every bio-waste management strategy, is gradually succeeded by in-vessel composting which allows a more efficient and hustle-free process, especially in the urban environment. While in-vessel, or otherwise autonomous composting units (ACUs) solve most of the technical problems a...

Home and community composting, which are essential components of every bio-waste management strategy, are gradually succeeded by in-vessel composting which allows a more efficient and hustle-free process, especially in the urban environment. Following this development, several Information Communication Technology (ICT) applications came to fill the...

Around 15 million tons of disposal plastic trash and 88 million tons of food ends up as solid wastes every year in Europe. Renewable and biodegradable polymers have been considered as one long-term solution for the environmental damaging impact of petropolymers and plastic pollution. Aiming to contribute to the reduction of food and plastic waste,...

Soil water characteristic curve (SWCC) is a critical relationship with application in drainage, irrigation, soil physical behavior, and modeling water and nutrient transport. However, constructing the SWCC is tedious, time consuming, and often inaccurate. Recently, METER Group, Inc. (USA) introduced the HYPROP2© measurement system which allows semi...

Evaluating the Effect of Green Infrastructure in Mitigating the Urban Heat Island Effect Using Remote Sensing

The selection of appropriate co-substrates is very important to the feasibility of an anaerobic co-digestion process. A proper choice of co-substrate compositions leads to system balance and increased methane generation. Spent coffee grounds (SCG) are an unexploited material produced in large quantities which seems suitable for anaerobic digestion....

Biogas production through anaerobic digestion is a well-established practice worldwide combining waste treatment and energy production at the same time. One of the challenges of this technology is to increase the yield of biogas production and secure the disposal of the effluent of anaerobic reactors. It is well known that various organic residues...

As the demand for high-quality wild greens rises, due to their high nutritional, culinary, and medicinal properties, the potential overexploitation and excessive disruption of their natural habitats bring serious environmental problems to the foreground. However, new alternative cultivation techniques, such as hydroponic cultivation, could take adv...

Food waste is a stream with multiple social, economic, and environmental implications, generated throughout all the life cycle stages of food. Among these stages, in developed and top touristic destination countries such as Greece, the role of the hospitality sector (i.e., restaurants, hotels, catering, etc.) in food waste generation is particularl...

An innovative multi-criteria methodology was proposed for the prioritization of the Program of Measures (PoM) in the Water Region of Crete, and applied specifically to the basin of Geropotamos river according to the requirements of the Water Framework Directive. This study relied on the four pillars of sustainability and the EU cross-compliance leg...

Irrigation with treated wastewater could produce excessive accumulations within the plant and soil, negatively affecting the yield and production quality. In addition, the presence of biological and chemical contaminants could harm the agricultural environment, as well as the health of farmers and consumers. During this work, the suitability of sec...

Olive mill wastewater (OMW) is generated during the production of olive oil. Its disposal is still a major environmental problem in Mediterranean countries, despite the fact that a large number of technologies have been proposed up to date. The present work examines for the first time a novel, simple and low-cost technology for OMW treatment combin...

Anaerobic co-digestion of sewage sludge and other organic wastes at a wastewater treatment plant (WWTP) is a promising method for both energy and material recovery. However, transportation and storage of wastes to WWTP may be the bottleneck for the successful implementation of this technology. In case of wet wastes and wastewater it is possible to...

In Greece, in many cities, wastewater treatment plants (WWTPs) operate their own anaerobic digestion (AD) facility in order to treat sewage sludge rather than achieve optimum biogas production. Nowadays, there is a growing interest regarding the addition of other co-substrates in these existing facilities in order to increase gas yield from the bio...

In this study, a greenhouse-type solar dryer was developed in order to demonstrate an olive oil by-product and agro-residue Managing System, which uses solar drying processes for the treatment of olive oil mill residues to decrease the high energy consumption of the drying operations, thus decreasing the environmental impact of these residues. The...

Wastewater recycling has been and continues to be practiced all over the world for a variety of reasons including: increasing water availability, combating water shortages and drought, and supporting environmental and public health protection. Nowadays, one of the most interesting issues for wastewater recycling is the on-site treatment and reuse o...

Public acceptance is recognized as an important ingredient for success in any recycling project. In case of reuse of treated wastewater for crop irrigation, farmers are the key stakeholders, being in a position to accept or reject reclaimed water. During this study, a survey was conducted to determine the perceptions and experience of farmers in a...

During this study, the effect of applying several types of treated domestic wastewater on the translocation and accumulation of organic and inorganic micropollutants in soil and radish plants (Raphanus sativus L.) was examined. Primary (PTW), secondary (STW) and tertiary (TTW) treated wastewater as well as tap water (TW) were used for the irrigatio...

The carob-tree (Ceratonica siliqua L.) grows in arid to semi-arid Mediterranean areas and adapts well to poor soils. Carob pod, the fruit of carob tree is a sugar-rich biomass which may theoretically be ideal for biofuel production. During this study, the potential of hydrogen production from carob pod was evaluated in an anaerobic continuous stirr...

Constructed reed beds or wetlands are low-cost, low technology systems, which are able to treat a variety of wastewaters. This project produced compost from a mixture of sewage sludge and cattail plants (commonly used in constructed wetlands) and studied the effect of the compost on the growth of cattail plants, when it was part of the soil substra...

The research work was conducted in order to investigate the effects of supplementary nutrition in the production of lettuce, replacing partly peat with municipal solid waste compost (MSWC) in the growing medium. Under nursery conditions, two medium prepared from peat (P) and MSWC [P:MSWC (85:15); P:MSWC (55:45)], and nutrients applied as basic fert...

Municipal wastewater may be used in agriculture but requires a careful monitoring of several hygiene parameters. The impact of direct application of treated wastewater in plant growth and development in hydroponically grown cucumber was studied. Cucumber seedlings used under 5 treatments of nutrient solution, which were basic nutrient solution (con...

Municipal solid waste compost (MSWC) and/or fertigation used in greenhouse pepper (Capsicum annuum L.) cultivation with five different substrates with soil (S) and/or MSWC mixtures (0-5-10-20-40%) used with or without fertigation. Plants growth increased in 10-20% MSWC and fertigation enhanced mainly the plant height. Fruit number increased in S :...

The possible use of municipal solid waste compost (MSWC) in the production of marigold and basil seedlings examined. Six medium prepared from commercial peat (CP) and MSWC (0, 15, 30, 45, 60, and 100% v/v). There was not any plant growth when MSWC used alone (100%). The addition of MSWC in low content (15% and 30%) improved seed emergence for marig...

The exploitation of municipal solid waste compost (MSWC) in different content with or without supplementary fertilizer in pepper (Capsicum annuum L.) fruit quality was studied. Plants were grown over a 4-month period in greenhouse conditions. Five different substrates with soil (S) and/or MSWC mixtures (v:v %) [S (100%); S:MSWC 95:5; S:MSWC 90:10;...

The performance and suitability of municipal solid waste compost (MSWC) in different content and/or fertigation in pepper (Capsicum annuum L.) plants were studied over a 4-month period in greenhouse conditions. Five different substrates with soil (S) and/or MSWC mixtures (v:v %) [S (100%) as control; S:MSWC 95:5; S:MSWC 90:10; S:MSWC 80:20 and S:MS...

The problem of odour nuisances in Greece was explored using: (a) field measurements of a range of malodorous compounds (hydrogen sulfide, ammonia, benzene, toluene, xylenes, formaldehyde, acetaldehyde, acetone, methyl-mercaptan and carbonyl sulfide) from selected wastewater treatment plants and composting facilities; and (b) questionnaires, complet...

The feasibility of adding crude glycerol from the biodiesel industry to the anaerobic digesters treating sewage sludge in wastewater treatment plants was studied in both batch and continuous experiments at 35 degrees C. Glycerol addition can boost biogas yields, if it does not exceed a limiting 1% (v/v) concentration in the feed. Any further increa...

Removal efficiencies of polycyclic aromatic compounds (PAHs) and linear alkyl benzene sulfonates (LAS) were evaluated in a pilot-scale constructed wetland (CW) system combining a free water surface wetland, a subsurface wetland and a gravel filter in parallel. The effect of parameters such as temperature and mass loading rate was also examined. The...

The fate and effect of the herbicides linuron and metribuzin on the co-composting of sewage sludge and green waste were addressed in this work. The experiments were conducted in metal cubic containers of 1.0m(3) volume simulating a windrow composting system. A mixture of sludge and green waste was prepared at a ratio of 1:5 v/v. The mixture was spl...

The effect of 24kHz, high energy ultrasound in the presence and absence of titanium dioxide particles on the destruction of different bacteria groups was studied. Applying a total of 1500W/L for 60min (this corresponds to 5400kJ/L specific nominal energy), the mean destruction of gram-negative bacteria such as total coliforms, faecal coliforms and...

Four different pilot-scale treatment units were constructed to compare the feasibility of treating domestic wastewater in the City of Heraklio, Crete, Greece: (a) a free water surface (FWS) wetland system, (b) a horizontal subsurface flow (HSF) wetland system, (c) a rotating biological contactor (RBC), and (d) a packed bed filter (PBF). All units o...

Two free water surface (FWS) and two subsurface flow (SSF) pilot-size wetlands were constructed for the evaluation of their performance in treating highway runoff (HRO) in the heart of the Mediterranean region, the island of Crete, at the southernmost point of Greece. Detailed recordings of the resources involved during the construction allowed a t...

The effects of crude glycerol on the performance of single-stage anaerobic reactors treating different types of organic waste were examined. A reactor treating the organic fraction of municipal solid waste produced 1400 mL CH(4)/d before the addition of glycerol and 2094 mL CH(4)/d after the addition of glycerol. An enhanced methane production rate...

In a bid to identify suitable microbial indicators of compost stability, the process evolution during windrow composting of poultry manure (PM), green waste (GW) and biowaste was studied. Treatments were monitored with regard to abiotic factors, respiration activity (determined using the SOUR test) and functional microflora. The composting process...

Windrow composting of source-separated biowaste was studied in a pilot plant in Crete, with regard to abiotic factors, gas concentration in the pile and succession of functional microbial groups. The pH, C/N ratio and VS content, as well as the O(2) and CO(2) concentration, correlated well with composting time, indicating typical composting behavio...

Wastewater sludge and wood chips were used as feedstock for the construction of two piles, Pile I ("PI") and Pile II ("PII"), at a ratio of 1:1 and 1:2 v/v, respectively. Each pile was originally 1.3-m high, 2.0-m wide, and approximately 9.0-m long. A mechanical turner was used to turn the two windrows every 1 to 2 weeks. Three 500-mL-volume glass...

Hygienic conditions in primary schools are a major concern for both governmental organizations and families. Particularly, the occurrence of faecal indicators on children's hands and various school surfaces has been associated with increased risk of diarrhoeal diseases. The presence of faecal streptococci on environmental surfaces and children's ha...

Oil refinery sludge (ORS) was mixed with shredded green wastes (GW) at ratios of 1:1 v/v (RI) and 1:3 v/v (RII). The mixtures, of approximately volumes of 1,020 l and 990 l respectively, were introduced in metal cubic containers of 1.0 m(3) volume, opened at the top and with small holes punctured in the bottom and the side. The containers were addi...

Two free water surface (FWS) and two subsurface flow (SSF) pilot-size constructed wetlands treating highway runoff (HRO) were monitored over a period of two years (September 2005-August 2007). One FWS and one SSF were designed with a hydraulic retention time (HRT) of 12h, named FWS12 and SSF12, respectively, with each one capable of treating a maxi...

This work examines the potential for methane production from anaerobic co-digestion of olive mill wastewater and wine-grape residues with slaughterhouse wastewater. Continuous (mesophilic) and batch (mesophilic and thermophilic) experiments were studied, both with the separate types of by-products and with mixtures. Methane yields from olive oil wa...

In order to improve the estimation of surface gas emissions in landfill, we evaluated a combination of geophysical and greenhouse gas measurement methodologies. Based on fifteen 2D electrical resistivity tomographies (ERTs), longitudinal cross section images of the buried waste layers were developed, identifying place and cross section size of orga...

The aim of this work was to make some preliminary evaluations on CO(2) and CH(4) emissions during composting of two-phase olive oil mill sludge (OOMS). OOMS, olive tree leaves (OTL) and shredded olive tree branches (OTB) were used as feedstock for Pile I and Pile II with a 1:1:1 and 1:1:2v/v ratio, respectively. Each pile was originally 1.2m high,...