Monday, June 23, 2008

UK- Death through garden composting

Gardeners should take extra care when handling old bags of compost after a man died from kidney failure after inhaling poisonous fungal spores, doctors have warned.

The Guardian reports that the 47-year-old welder from Buckinghamshire, who has not been named, died in intensive care a week after being engulfed by "clouds of dust" when he opened bags of rotting plant material that had been left to fester, in a case reported in the Lancet.

Doctors were baffled by his condition until his partner said he had fallen ill after working in the garden. Later tests revealed he had developed acute aspergillosis, a dangerous reaction to Aspergillus fumigatus spores. The fungus, which is commonly found growing on dead leaves, compost piles and decaying vegetation, may trigger a relatively harmless allergic reaction but can cause serious problems if too many spores get into the lungs.


David Waghorn, a doctor at Wycombe hospital in Buckinghamshire and a microbiologist, said the man had been unlucky: "He'd been opening bags of compost and mulch which had been left to rot. The fungus spores had grown in perfect conditions. He was extremely unlucky - there must have been a very large number of spores which he inhaled."

People with weak immune systems are particularly vulnerable. "What we don't know is how strong his defences were. He was a smoker and a welder by trade and his lungs may have been damaged. It's a very unusual thing to happen but if people are dealing with big bags of mulch, there is a potential danger," said Waghorn.

The man, who had previously been healthy, became ill 24 hours later, but was not admitted to hospital until a week later, when he complained of chest pains and breathing difficulties. Despite being given oxygen by medical staff, tests showed his tissue was starved of oxygen and that he was suffering from "overwhelming sepsis", a life-threatening condition caused by an overactive immune system. Symptoms include a fast heart rate, low blood pressure and kidney problems.

Doctors initially thought he had developed pneumonia from a bacterial infection but treatment with antibiotics was not successful. Once aspergillosis was confirmed, intravenous antifungal drugs were given by doctors, but the treatment came too late.

Waghorn said: "I don't know if he could have been saved had we known about the spores, but we could have given the antifungal drugs sooner."

The authors of the article said that while acute aspergillosis after contact with decayed plant matter is rare, it "may be considered a hazard for gardeners".

In April, a group of German scientists raised concerns about the dangers of airborne mould spores produced when organic waste decayed. The spores could lead to allergic reactions, asthma attacks and hayfever-like symptoms, they said.

Harald Morr, a leading pneumologist, said: "Even just opening the lid of a bin containing organic waste can cause mould spores to be stirred up which, if breathed in, can damage the lungs."

Householders who regularly handled organic waste were advised to wear face masks and to keep a distance when handling rotting material.


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Friday, June 20, 2008

Argentina - Zero Waste In Buenos Aires


BioCycle (May 2008) reports that in late 2005, the City Council in Buenos Aires, Argentina unanimously passed a law, “Integral Management Of Solid Urban Waste, ” a Zero Waste law. The law sets goals and milestones to reduce the volume of municipal solid waste going to landfill disposal. “The first milestone is 30% reduction of waste to landfill by 2010, ” says Cecilia Allen of Global Alliance for Incinerator Alternatives' (GAIA) Latin America office in Buenos Aires. “That is followed by a 50% reduction by 2012, and a 75% reduction by 2017.

The law bans landfilling of recyclable and compostable waste by 2020. ” The baseline used in the law is the tons of solid waste disposed in 2004 (1.5 million metric tons). Impending closure of two of the three landfills servicing the city and surrounding region helped build political support for the Zero Waste law. CEAMSE (Coordinación Ecológica Area Metropolitana Sociedad del Estado), a joint venture of the government of the Province of Buenos Aires and the government of the City of Buenos Aires, has been managing urban waste in the Greater Buenos Aires region for almost 30 years. It owns the landfills, which receive up to 5,000 metric tons/day of municipal solid waste from the city alone. Garbage collection in Buenos Aires is mostly privatized, with five of the six districts serviced by contractors to the city. Buenos Aires city government services the sixth.


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Thursday, June 12, 2008

USA- Climate report advocates zero waste concept

Stop Trashing the Climate - published by the Institute for Local Self-Reliance, Global Alliance for Incinerator Alternatives and Eco-Cycleprovides - claims that preventing waste and expanding reuse, recycling, and composting programs - that is, aiming for zero waste - is one of the fastest, cheapest, and most effective strategies available for combating climate change. This report offers a roadmap for how to significantly reduce greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions within a short period.

Significantly decreasing waste disposed in landfills and incinerators will reduce greenhouse gas emissions the equivalent to closing 21% of U. S. coal-fired power plants. This is comparable to leading climate protection proposals such as improving national vehicle fuel efficiency. Indeed, preventing waste and expanding reuse, recycling, and composting are essential to put us on the path to climate stability.


The report advocates 12 measures:

1. Establish and implement national, statewide, and municipal zero waste targets and plans
2. Retire existing incinerators and halt construction of new incinerators and landfills
3. Levy a per-ton surcharge on landfilled and incinerated materials
4. Stop organic materials from being sent to landfills and incinerators
5. End state and federal "renewable energy" subsidies to landfills and incinerators
6. Provide policy incentives that create and sustain locally-based reuse, recycling, and composting jobs
7. Expand adoption of per-volume or per-weight fees for the collection of trash
8. Make manufacturers and brand owners responsible for the products and packaging they produce
9. Regulate single-use plastic products and packaging that have low or nonexistent recycling levels
10. Regulate paper packaging and junk mail and pass policies to significantly increase paper recycling
11. Decision-makers and environmental leaders should reject climate protection agreements and strategies that embrace landfill and incinerator disposal
12. Better assess the true climate implications of the wasting sector



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USA- Heinz Looks to Reuse Potato Peels


PITTSBURGH, Pa. -- The H.J. Heinz Company has declared plans to cut its greenhouse gas emissions by 20 percent by 2015, and has identified a number of areas in its operations to improve to meet that goal.

Along with reducing energy consumption by 20 percent through efficiencies, Heinz plans to have 15 percent of its energy come from renewable sources.

The company aims to reduce transportation by 10 percent through improving distribution patterns, using fuller truckloads, more direct routes and sending shipments by rail.

Heinz also aims to reduce packaging by 15%, water use by 20% and solid waste by 20 percent. In its agricultural operations, it plans a 15% reduction in carbon emissions, 15 percent reduction in water and five percent improvement in yields by using hybrid tomato seeds that require less water, fertilizers and pesticides.

Various facilities are developing or have such sustainability programs in place. Heinz's Ontario, Ore., facility is working on a program to turn potato peels into biofuels as well as treat and reuse 90% of the water for potato production.

And while a Fremont, Ohio, facility is working on reducing solid waste by 10 %, the company's Dundalk, Ireland, facility recycles 95% of its plastic and 99% of its cardboard, wood and steel.

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