There is a huge need to systematize waste management in Siberia, where problems associated with waste are extensive and difficult to solve. Over a period of six days towards the end of June, DTU Environment held classes in modelling waste management systems for 12 professors and associate professors from a number of universities in Irkutsk, Ulan-Ude, Chita and Vladivostok.
The project is a part of the EU programme entitled ‘Advanced Training in Integrated Sustainable Waste Management for Siberian Companies and Authorities’, in which DTU is participating together with technical universities in Dresden and Vienna and on Crete.
“The purpose of the project is to transfer European experience and the best available models to the Siberian universities, so that these institutions can use them in their teaching and research partnerships with industry,” Explains Professor Thomas H. Christensen, Head of Department at DTU Environment.
Life cycle models
Professor Christensen has run the course with support from a number of employees at DTU Environment, teaching participants about the STAN and Easetech models that are used in both teaching and research at DTU.
STAN is a mass-flow model which, on the basis of data collected from the emptying of collection vehicles and sales of reusable materials, for example, can provide insight into the volumes of the flows of waste, and into aspects such as residual products and weight loss.
Easetech is a life cycle model developed at DTU which is used to calculate the environmental consequences of a waste system. It is used to assess where in the system improvements can be made, and to identify options with the capacity to contribute to environmental improvements.
Article in DTUavisen no. 7, September 2015.