Anwesha Borthakur – författare

Handbook of Electronic Waste Management: International Best Practices and Case Studies begin with a brief summary of the environmental challenges associated with the approaches used in international e-waste handling. The book's authors offer a detailed presentation of e-waste handling methods that also includes examples to further demonstrate how they work in the real world. This is followed by data that reveals the geographies of e-waste flows at global, national and subnational levels. Users will find this resource to be a detailed presentation of e-waste estimation methods that also addresses both the handling of e-waste and their hazardous effect on the surrounding environment.

Abatement of Environmental Pollutants: Trends and Strategies addresses new technologies and provides strategies for environmental scientists, microbiologists and biotechnologists to help solve problems associated with the treatment of industrial wastewater. The book helps readers solve pollution challenges using microorganisms in bioremediation technologies, including discussions on global technologies that have been adopted for the treatment of industrial wastewater and sections on the lack of proper management. Moreover, limited space, more stringent waste disposal regulations and public consciousness have made the present techniques expensive and impractical.

Therefore, there is an urgent need to develop sustainable management technologies for industries and municipalities. To remove the damaging effect of organic pollutants on the environment, various new technologies for their degradation have been recently discovered.

Nano-Materials as Photocatalysts for Degradation of Environmental Pollutants: Challenges and Possibilities contains both practical and theoretical aspects of environmental management using the processes of photodegradation and various heterogeneous catalysts. The book's main focus is on the degradation of harmful pollutants, such as petrochemicals, crude oils, dyes, xenobiotic pharmaceutical waste, endocrine disrupting compounds, and other common pollutants. Chapters incorporate both theoretical and practical aspects. This book is useful for undergraduate or university students, teachers and researchers, especially those working in areas of photocatalysis through heterogeneous catalysts.

The primary audience for this book includes Chemical Engineers, Environmental Engineers and scientists, scholars working on the management of hazardous waste, scientists working in fields of materials science, and Civil Engineers working on wastewater treatment.

Waste Management Policies and Practices in BRICS Nations explores recent developments in waste management. BRICS nations are the emerging economies of the world. Increasing populations, urbanization, industrialization and uses of chemical fertilizer and pesticide in agriculture for enhanced productivity of food, especially in India and China, to support the large populations harm the natural environment. The rise in the living standards of the human population has increased environmental pollution manifold, resulting in the huge generation of biodegradable and non-biodegradable waste simultaneously, which has contaminated natural resources such as soil, water and air. It has led to undesirable effects on the environment and human health.

The book offers comprehensive coverage of the most essential topics, including:

This book contains both policies and methods used for the management of waste in BRICS nations. The chapters incorporate both policies and practical aspects.

Waste Management Policies and Practices in BRICS Nations explores recent developments in waste management. BRICS nations are the emerging economies of the world. Increasing populations, urbanization, industrialization and uses of chemical fertilizer and pesticide in agriculture for enhanced productivity of food, especially in India and China, to support the large populations harm the natural environment. The rise in the living standards of the human population has increased environmental pollution manifold, resulting in the huge generation of biodegradable and non-biodegradable waste simultaneously, which has contaminated natural resources such as soil, water and air. It has led to undesirable effects on the environment and human health.

The book offers comprehensive coverage of the most essential topics, including:

This book contains both policies and methods used for the management of waste in BRICS nations. The chapters incorporate both policies and practical aspects.

This book aims to capture the fading traditional knowledge systems of local and indigenous communities in the Himalayas. As many of these practices are at risk of disappearing, the book serves as a valuable record. It encourages readers to reflect on the implications of such knowledge for environmental sustainability today. Focusing on one of the most crucial mountain ranges globally, the book emphasizes the importance of learning ‘from’ and ‘with’ the locals about their lived experiences in the Himalayas. Understanding their unique set of traditional knowledge and technologies is crucial for building climate resilience and effective environmental management. With contributions from experts across the Himalayan region, the book strives for a comprehensive grasp of environmental challenges and potential solutions. Beyond documentation, the goal is to explore opportunities for integrating traditional knowledge with modern scientific approaches. Recognizing the urgency, the book advocates for the preservation of local and indigenous knowledge to address the ongoing global environmental crisis.

In this book, we have contributions from experts working on diverse aspects of waste management and waste entrepreneurship with an aim to contribute toward a holistic understanding of the existing and forthcoming waste handling challenges. Waste entrepreneurship refers to the practice of creating and operating businesses that aim to address the problem of waste management. It signifies businesses that are dedicated to finding innovative solutions for managing waste and plays a crucial role in building a sustainable future. Waste entrepreneurs identify waste as a valuable resource and use state-of-the-art tactics to reduce, reuse, recycle, and re-purpose it. By developing new technologies, services, and products that help reduce waste and recycle materials, they can create new economic opportunities while simultaneously reducing the environmental impact of waste. The primary audience of this book are researchers (from a wide range of disciplinary backgrounds) working in the field of waste management (especially E-waste, Plastics, Paper and Cardboard Waste, Organic Waste, and Construction and Demolition Waste) and environmental sustainability. This book also contains descriptions of various facets of waste entrepreneurship from different countries which will be helpful for different entrepreneurs looking for business opportunities in the waste management sector, NGOs, government agencies, international agencies, and new researchers working in the related fields. In particular, the book could provide start-up ideas to the enthusiastic readers. 

This book is an effort to draw attention to the resilience of traditional knowledge systems for a sustainable future in the Himalayas with a particular focus on agriculture and food practices. Through examples from the region, it underscores the importance of these practices in navigating contemporary global environmental challenges. The Himalayan region, known for its socio-cultural diversity and unique agricultural ecology, emerges as a major hotspot of climate change. Therefore, acknowledging and recognizing the lived experiences of the locals along with their traditional knowledge associated with agriculture and food systems becomes imperative for devising adaptation and mitigation strategies amidst the unfolding environmental and climate crisis. 

Drawing upon insights from local communities and experts deeply rooted in the Himalayan context, this book not only documents traditional agricultural and food systems but also sheds light on the pressing anthropogenic challenges threatening their sustainability. We believe that research and documentation of traditional knowledge practices of the local and indigenous communities are essential for tackling the current and projected global environmental challenges.

This book advocates for a holistic approach to addressing both current and future global environmental challenges. It serves as a timely call to action for researchers, policymakers, and practitioners alike.

People living in the mountains maintain a unique relationship with their surrounding environment. Humans have settled in mountainous regions all across the globe for centuries, adapting to the challenging terrains and establishing exceptional cultural practices and lifestyles. Until today, they depend on their immediate ecosystems for their everyday necessities while also conserving those environments through their own traditional practices and belief systems. Understanding and addressing the ease and complexities of the relationship between people and mountains is essential for sustainable development through overall conservation and well-being of both the environment and the communities living in these regions. The mountain communities in the Himalayas and their interconnectedness with their surroundings could provide important insights in this regard. For instance, the interaction between humans and mountains in the Himalayas is diverse, spanning across various cultural, economic, political, environmental and recreational dimensions and parameters. As sustainable development is a core goal of the world today, it is both interesting and pertinent to explore these various aspects and locate possible learnings in the present-day global environmental scenario. Accordingly, this book is an attempt to situate the interconnected between people and the mountains in the Himalayan landscape towards tracing learnings for sustainable development. Our aim is to edit a holistic volume where aspects ranging from ecosystem services to cultural and spiritual significances of the mountains for the local communities and from contributions of the Himalayas in relation to water, agriculture and food practices to the challenges associated with haphazard infrastructural developments and environmental justice implications are adequately addressed. We acknowledge that balancing the human needs of the mountain communities while ensuring environmental conservation is a major challenge. Ecologically fragile and biodiversity rich the Himalayan region is no exception. Further, mountain communities in the Himalayas are facing tremendous challenges in adapting to changing climate conditions, such as altered precipitation patterns and increased frequency of extreme weather events. Unsustainable economic activities in the form of chaotic tourism practices and infrastructural developments among others add to the emerging challenges. Accordingly, it is important to put research efforts towards active sustainable development practices where human needs are met while minimizing undesirable impacts on the Himalayan mountain ecosystems. The Himalayas are critical for global ecological balance. Therefore, this book will not only be helpful for the countries situated in these mountain regions alone, but also will provide useful insights for environmental sustainability at a much larger global scale.