Bacteria belonging to the genus Bacillus are widely distributed in environments fulfilling several important functions. Due to their ability to produce antibiotics and other metabolites, these bacteria limit the development of pathogens and thus promote plant growth. They also play an important role in the deodorization of organic fertilizers, including manure, slurry, and dung. This article describes the characteristics of Bacillus spp., their properties, and their application in biocontrol.

The pandemic has underscored the importance of the environment. In this study, the environmental condition of Central Visayas, Philippines has been assessed and evaluated before and during the onset of the COVID-19 pandemic to deal with a possible association between the environmental indicators and the pandemic. The relationships between environmental key variables namely: air quality, air pollution, water quality, water pollution, and solid waste management have been quantified. The study utilized secondary data sources from a review of records from government agencies and LGUs in Region 7. This study also provides a framework which is the pandemics and epidemics in environmental aspects. The paper concludes by offering researchers and policymakers to promote changes in environmental policies and provide some recommendations for adequately controlling future pandemic and epidemic threats in Central Visayas, Philippines.

The circular economy represents a form of corporate production with respect to environmental resources. In the past, these production systems were widespread on the basis of the non-removability of the production factors. The advent of economic growth, in capitalist economies, has led to the deconstruction of production cycles resulting to a food product being produced in one part of the world, whilst the raw materials and processing phases are carried out in several parts of the world, due to the low production costs there. While these economic systems, on the one hand, have led to a growth in the global economic system, on the other hand they have determined the impoverishment of the territory as many companies, at least the uncompetitive ones, have disappeared. In this work, starting from examining the circular economy models, we analyze a development and growth scenario from a circular business perspective. The work highlights that the adoption of circular economy models has higher costs for the companies that implement them and therefore, to become long-term production systems, they need either cooperation among several companies to reduce the average total cost or a potential public contribution in their starting phase. The results of this study highlight that the adoption of circular economy models results in advantages at the microeconomic level. In the event that the cost of the investment cannot determine an advantage at a microeconomic level, one could think of solutions envisaging several companies that adopt a common logic of making the investment in a circular economy. The positive effects occur at the company, family and local levels.

Open-burning of municipal solid waste (MSW) is very common in Nigeria. Hence, this work estimated the emissions (greenhouse gases and others) from open-burning of uncollected MSW in Nigeria. The parameters (secondary data) used for the estimations were obtained from pertinent literature of MSW generation rate in Nigeria, level of uncollected MSW subjected to burning in Nigeria, oxidation/ burning efficiency and others, 80.6% of wastes generated in Nigeria are combustibles. The National Bureau of Statistics showed that 52% of Nigerians lives in urban areas in the year 2020. With an annual mean growth rate of 2.62% between 2006–2020 (World Bank data), the urban population of Nigeria was estimated at 104,885,855 in 2020. The estimation for the year 2020 shows that the MSW generated by the urban population of Nigeria ranges from 16.8–25.3 million tons. With burning/ oxidation efficiency (𝜂) of 0.58, between 2.4–3.7 million tons of the uncollected wastes are open-burned. This represents 14.7% of the total MSW generated in Nigeria for the year. IPCC guidelines show that only fossil-carbon wastes are climate-relevant for CO₂ emissions. Our estimation shows that 14.3% of the MSW generated in Nigeria contain fossil carbon. The total emissions for the three GHGs–carbon dioxide, methane and nitrogen oxides were between 798 to 1,197 kilotons of CO₂-eq per year. Other emissions associated with open-burning of MSW was also estimated using their default emission factor. The findings suggest the urgent need for the country to transition to proper

Perfluorooctanoic acid (PFOA) is one of Per- and polyfluoroalkyl substances (PFAS) that have increasingly attracted concerns due to their global distribution in environment, persistence, high bioaccumulation and toxicity. It is important to study the effective treatment to remove PFOA from contaminated water. The feasibility of using commercial coconut shell activated carbon produced in Thailand to remove PFOA from water was investigated with regard to their adsorption kinetics and isotherms of powder activated carbon (PAC-325) and granular activated carbon (GAC-20x50). Adsorption kinetic results show that the adsorbent size significantly affected the adsorption rate of PFOA, and GAC-20x50 required at least 100 h to achieve the equilibrium, much longer than 3 h for PAC-325. Two kinetic models were fitted to the experimental data, and the pseudo-second-order model well described the adsorption of PFOA on both PAC-325 and GAC-20x50. PAC-325 trended to adsorb PFOA faster than GAC-20x50 and testing with the shortest adsorption times (5 min) still yielded substantial PFOA removal (80% for PAC-325). The adsorption isotherms show that the adsorption capacity of PAC-325 was 0.80 mmol/g_,which is 83 % higher than that for GAC-20x50 (0.13 mmol/g), according to the Langmuir fitting.

The global consensus on the threat of climate change risk leads to an agreement to mitigate higher greenhouse gas emissions and limit global mean temperature rise to below 2 °C and, ideally, below 1.5 °C by 2050. In achieving the mean temperature target, international organisations like the World Bank, Organisation of Economic Co-operation Development and United Nations strongly suggest that policymakers implement a carbon pricing policy. A carbon tax is a market-based policy that has gained attention from many policymakers to reduce carbon emissions and increase the government’s revenue. Designing a feasible carbon tax framework is crucial to ensure effectiveness and public acceptability. However, policy design in developing countries may be more complicated than in developed countries due to insufficient income and resources, social inequity, and poverty. This paper discusses the features of a carbon tax and the dimensions of designing an effective carbon tax policy for developing nations. A simplified framework for carbon tax implementation in developing countries is provided. The framework should be a foundation for developing countries to implement and develop a feasible and acceptable carbon tax policy.

Contaminants from microplastics in the soil can pose a huge and potential risk to global ecological systems. Microplastic contaminants have become an issue since the source and potential risks have gained a point of great concern. This problem is due to the lack of a comprehensive and systematic analysis system for microplastics. Thus, a comprehensive review of microplastic knowledge is carried out to detect its potential risks, occurrences, sources, and characteristics. The study results show that microplastics have been found everywhere, as shown in the global matrix. However, with the advancement of increasingly sophisticated technology, the microplastics found in the soil can be reduced. The difficulties of analytical systems inherent in particles in even complex matrices can be overcome with technology. Research on the distribution and emergence of microplastics is still very slow in several countries, including Indonesia, the United States, and Africa. The composition and characteristics of microplastics in soil and the environment shows their consistency still indicates a change in source. Microplastics in the soil have extensive and diverse sources, leading to high accumulation. This study also discusses the potential risks and effects of microplastics on soil ecosystems. The interaction and combination of contaminants from adsorbed microplastics can lead to soil fertility and migration systems in the food chain. The impact of microplastics on soil depends on chemical components, natural factors, and morphology. Thus, regional quantification and estimation of emissions from microplastics have a huge gap. In addition, the concentration of microplastics and the masking of microplastics to store carbon in the soil can be influenced by natural factors and require various efforts.

Unworn masks and masks provided to us after having been worn conformable to law (mandatory wearing of masks) served as test objects. In order to identify the distribution of living microorganisms on the surface of a mask dependent on exposure time and distance from the human face we conducted a staining study using the bengal rose method. The regular deposition of living microorganisms on artificial mask surfaces was more intense in the areas close to the mouth and nose. A time dependent accumulation was larger on the inside in comparison to the outside of the mask, even if the mask was not worn but only left in the room. The most interesting finding was the ability of microorganisms to penetrate all layers of the mask. We therefore conclude that masks are a suitable substrate for the cultivation of germs, even when not worn. Colonisation increases with human use and with time.