Absar Ahmad Kazmi

Corporate sustainability performance and firm performance research

Purpose – The aim of this paper is to present a taxonomy of available literature on the relation of sustainability performance and firm performance, and to provide a path for future research for this field of study.Design/methodology/approach – Research papers were collected on sustainability performance assessment from various journals available at different online databases. The unit of evaluation was a full paper published in one of the relevant journals. Papers were classified in different categories and tabulated under various classes. A total of 101 research paper sources were studied and assessed in terms of nature of research, level of analysis, and application.Findings – The review reveals that most of the research in the field of sustainability performance and firm performance association, analyzed this relationship in developed countries. The result differs in various cultural and economic contexts and there is no universally accepted direction of this relationship. Contribution of research has...

Rotary drum composting of vegetable waste and tree leaves

High rate composting studies on institutional waste, i.e. vegetable wastes, tree leaves, etc., were conducted on a demonstration-scale (3.5 m(3)) rotary drum composter by evaluating changes in some physico-chemical and biological parameters. During composting, higher temperature (60-70 degrees C) at inlet zone and (50-60 degrees C) at middle zone were achieved which resulted in high degradation in the drum. As a result, all parameters including TOC, C/N ratio, CO(2) evolution and coliforms were decreased significantly within few days of composting. Within a week period, quality compost with total nitrogen (2.6%) and final total phosphorus (6 g/kg) was achieved; but relatively higher final values of fecal coliforms and CO(2) evolution, suggested further maturation. Thus, two conventional composting methods namely windrow (M1) and vermicomposting (M2) tried for maturation of primary stabilized compost. By examining these methods, it was suggested that M2 was found suitable in delivering fine grained, better quality matured compost within 20 days of maturation period.

Effects of turning frequency on compost stability and some chemical characteristics in a rotary drum composter

Effect of turning frequency on quality, namely some chemical characteristics (temperature, moisture content, pH, electrical conductivity, total organic matter, nitrogen dynamics, phosphorus and trace elements) and stability of compost (biochemical oxygen demand, chemical oxygen demand, rate of oxygen consumption and carbon dioxide evolution) in a rotary drum were studied. Composting was stimulated by three turns of rotary drum at different time intervals i.e. at the gap of 6h (Run A), 12h (Run B), 18 h (Run C) and 24h (Run D) for 15 d. It was observed that Run D (24h turning frequency) caused longer thermophilic phase (4d) with a higher rise at temperature 58 degrees C; consequently, peak of maximum temperature was shifted along with the increase of turning frequency. Around 23% of available carbon in Run D was utilized by micro-organisms and contained lower final electrical conductivity (1.32 dS m(-1)) possibly causing lesser phytotoxicity effects on the growth of plants. The percentage increase in total nitrogen and total phosphorus (organic and inorganic) in Run D was found to be 45% and 37% as compared to 7% and 17%, 6% and 32% and 18% and 30% in Run A, B, and C, respectively, indicating higher mineralization. The final values of respiration rates (CO(2) evolution and oxygen uptake rate) for Run D was found to be the lowest, nevertheless, other runs also provided relatively stable compost.

Modeling long term nutrient removal in a sequencing batch reactor

Abstract A modified version of IAWQ activated sludge model 2 (ASM 2) was developed to address the long-term dynamic behavior of nutrients in a sequencing batch reactor (SBR) activated sludge process. Experimental data was obtained from a long-term experimental work carried out in a 100-l bench scale SBR. Changes in TOC, NH4-N, NO3-N, NO2-N and PO4-P could be reliably predicted after the model parameters were adapted to the SBR conditions. Better phosphorus dynamics were achieved by considering the sub-model of denitrification by phosphorus accumulating organisms (PAO). Long-term simulations were carried out with the calibrated model to investigate the behavior of N and PO4-P under disturbed loading conditions. After attaining sufficient biological phosphorus removal activities in the sludge, influent TOC concentration was stepwise decreased and increased for 5 weeks. The decrease in organic loading caused the deterioration of biological phosphorus removal with simultaneous increase in effluent NO3-N concentration. Subsequently increasing the organic loading restored the original effluent conditions. The model simulation predictions well match with the experimental results under disturbed organic loading conditions. The simulated results implied that the deteriorating phenomena of phosphorus removal can be explained by two mechanisms; poor P-uptake by PAO and washout of PAO itself.

A review on full-scale decentralized wastewater treatment systems: techno-economical approach.

As a solution to the shortcomings of centralized systems, over the last two decades large numbers of decentralized wastewater treatment plants of different technology types have been installed all over the world. This paper aims at deriving lessons learned from existing decentralized wastewater treatment plants that are relevant for smaller towns (and peri-urban areas) as well as rural communities in developing countries, such as India. Only full-scale implemented decentralized wastewater treatment systems are reviewed in terms of performance, land area requirement, capital cost, and operation and maintenance costs. The results are presented in tables comparing different technology types with respect to those parameters.

Mixed organic waste composting using rotary drum composter

A combination of vegetable waste, cattle manure and saw dust was utilised for high rate composting in a household rotary drum composter. It was found that temperature remained above 55?C for a period of two days, Faecal Coliforms and Faecal Streptococci decrease from 7.5 ? 108 to 5 ? 102 and 1.5 ? 107 to 5 ? 103 bacteria/g, respectively. Negligible VFAs production indicated full aerobic conditions. Nitrification occurred after sixth day i.e., when temperature dropped below 40?C. BOD/COD ratio decreased up to 12 days and remained stable thereafter, indicating the stability of compost in terms of biodegradation.

Sustainability Marketing Strategy: An Analysis of Recent Literature

The present study reviews the extant literature available on the emerging area of Sustainability Marketing Strategy (SMS), which hopefully, will prove to be a springboard for the future research. Tracing the origin of the concept of SMS, a detailed discussion on historic developments in the field is taken up with the help of definitions and pictorial representation of various related concepts followed by a survey of wide range of available databases from 1996 to 2011. After a rigorous search of numerous journals, those research papers exploring the field adequately have been selected. The selected papers are then classified according to various criteria for the purpose of comprehensive review of literature. Finally, after analyzing current status of research in the field of SMS, a probable agenda for future research has been formulated, which may serve as a useful guideline for the future investigators, as significant contribution need to be made in the area of SMS.

Study on effects of temperature, moisture and pH in degradation and degradation kinetics of aldrin, endosulfan, lindane pesticides during full-scale continuous rotary drum composting

Study focused on effects of temperature, moisture and pH on degradation and degradation kinetics of aldrin, endosulfan (α), endosulfan (β) and lindane during vegetable waste composting using full-scale continuous rotary drum composter (FSCRDC). Extraction, concentration and quantification of pesticides were made from waste material at different stages by ultra-sonification, silica gel column and GC-MS analysis. Removal efficiency of aldrin, endosulfan α, endosulfan β and lindane was found 85.67%, 84.95%, 83.20% and 81.36% respectively due to optimum temperature, moisture, pH and enhanced microbial activity. Maximum temperature in inlet zone was found 60-65°C which is most suitable for complex microbial population. After feeding and turning in inlet zone, temperature reduced to 38°C from 60 to 65°C and regained it within 7-8h, and pH reduced to 5.3±0.2 from 7.5±0.3 in 4h and regained it in 10h. Heterotrophic bacteria Bacillus sp., Pseudomonas sp. and Lactobacillus sp. also decreased from 4.4×10(3) to 7.80×10(2)CFU g(-1) in 2 h due to gradual variation in temperature and pH. No significant temperature change was found in middle and outlet zones during feeding and turning. Degradation of pesticides was observed as first order kinetics and half-life of aldrin, endosulfan α, endosulfan β and lindane was reduced to 25.54, 18.43, 18.43 and 27.43 d from 1095, 60, 270 and 160 d respectively. Thus, the observations in contrast of removal and degradation kinetics of organochlorine pesticides residues in vegetable waste though full-scale rotary drum composting proved it the best suited technique.

Rotary drum composting of different organic waste mixtures

The effects of three different mixtures of organic waste on composting in a rotary drum were examined by measuring changes in physico-chemical and biological parameters. It was observed that the time courses of the three mixtures: run A (grass cuttings, vegetable waste and food waste), run B (cattle manure, vegetable waste and sawdust) and run C (cattle manure, food waste, vegetable waste, paper waste and sawdust) were quite diverse. Run B, with initial C/N ratio 22 and containing a large proportion of cattle manure produced high quality and mature compost within 20 days. It showed a final total nitrogen (2.1%), final total phosphorus 3.52 g kg—1, final total organic carbon (TOC) (24.8%) and final moisture content (44%). At the end of 20 days, higher degradation led to final chemical oxygen demand (COD) (454 mg L— 1), biochemical oxygen demand (BOD) (107 mg L— 1), fecal coliform (1.2 × 102 bacteria g— 1), fecal streptococci (85 bacteria g—1) and low electrical conductivity (1.658 dS m—1), respectively. Furthermore, run C with initial C/N ratio of 30 and containing a larger amount of food and vegetable waste produced good quality compost and resulted in 4.34% total nitrogen and 2.42% total phosphorus after 20 days, but, it had higher final fecal coliform 2.5 × 104 bacteria g —1, fecal streptococci 2.1 × 104 bacteria g—1, high TOC and NH4-N and a BOD/COD ratio of 0.63, which rendered it hygienically unsafe and immature. Finally, run A with initial C/N ratio of 15 showed a higher amount of EC (4.84 dS m—1), NH4-N, BOD/COD ratio of 0.4 with 15% nitrogen loss, which indicated an unstable product even after 20 days of composting. Therefore, it was found that rotary drum composting of a combination of cattle manure, vegetable waste and sawdust resulted in a primary stabilized compost within 20 days of composting.

Antibacterial and enzymatic activity of microbial community during wastewater treatment by pilot scale vermifiltration system.

The present study investigated microbial community diversity and antibacterial and enzymatic properties of microorganisms in a pilot-scale vermifiltration system during domestic wastewater treatment. The study included isolation and identification of diverse microbial community by culture-dependent method from a vermifilter (VF) with earthworms and a conventional geofilter (GF) without earthworms. The results of the four months study revealed that presence of earthworms in VF could efficiently remove biochemical oxygen demand (BOD), chemical oxygen demand (COD), total and fecal coliforms, fecal streptococci and other pathogens. Furthermore, the burrowing activity of earthworms promoted the aeration conditions in VF which led to the predominance of the aerobic microorganisms, accounting for complex microbial community diversity. Antibacterial activity of the isolated microorganisms revealed the mechanism behind the removal of pathogens, which is reported for the first time. Specifically, cellulase, amylase and protease activity is responsible for biodegradation and stabilization of organic matter.