GREAT RECESSION, ENVIRONMENTAL AWARENESS, AND PHILADELPHIA’S WASTE GENERATION
Genre
Thesis/DissertationDate
2016Author
Khajevand, NikooAdvisor
Tehrani, Rouzbeh AfsarmaneshCommittee member
Faheem, AhmedFardmanesh, Mohsen
Ranjbar, Sibia
Suri, Rominder P. S.
Department
Environmental EngineeringSubject
Engineering, EnvironmentalEnvironmental Economics
Environmental Management
Environmental Awareness
Municipal Waste
Philadelphia
Recession
Unemployment Rate
Waste
Permanent link to this record
http://hdl.handle.net/20.500.12613/3104
Metadata
Show full item recordDOI
http://dx.doi.org/10.34944/dspace/3086Abstract
Waste disposal has always been one of the challenging aspects of human life mostly in populated areas. In every urban region, various factors can impact both amount and composition of the generated waste, and these factors might depend on a series of parameters. Therefore, developing a predictive model for waste generation has always been challenging. We believe that one main problem that city planners and policymakers face is a lack of an accurate yet easy-to-use predictive model for the waste production of a given municipality. It would be vital for them, especially during business downturns, to access a reliable predictive model that can be employed in planning resources and allocating budget. However, most developed models are complicated and extensive. The objective of this research is to study the trend of solid waste generation in Philadelphia with respect to business cycle indicators, population growth, current policies and environmental awareness, and to develop a satisfactory predictive model for waste generation. Three predictive models were developed using time series analysis, stationary and nonstationary multiple linear regressions. The nonstationary OLS model was just used for comparison purposes and does not have any modeling value. Among the other two developed predictive models, the multiple linear regression model with stationary variables yielded the most accurate predictions for both total and municipal solid waste generation of Philadelphia. Despite its unsatisfactory statistics (R-square, p-value, and F-value), stationary OLS model could predict Philadelphia’s waste generation with a low level of approximately 9% error. Although time series modeling demonstrated a less successful prediction comparing to the stationary OLS model (25% error for total solid waste, and 10.7% error for municipal waste predictions), it would be a more reliable method based on its model statistics. The common variable used in all three developed models which made our modeling different from the Streets Department’s estimations was unemployment rate. Including an economic factor such as unemployment rate in modeling the waste generation could be helpful especially during economic downturns, in which economic factors can dominate the effects of population growth on waste generation. A prediction of waste generation may not only help waste management sector in landfill and waste-to-energy facilities planning but it also provides the basis for a good estimation of its future environmental impacts. In future, we are hoping to predict related environmental trends such as greenhouse gas emissions using our predictive model.ADA compliance
For Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA) accommodation, including help with reading this content, please contact scholarshare@temple.eduCollections
Related items
Showing items related by title, author, creator and subject.
-
Primary prevention of lead exposure-blood lead results at age two yearsCampbell, C; Gracely, E; Tran, M; Starkey, N; Kersten, H; Palermo, P; Rothman, N; Line, L; Hansen-Turton, T (2012-04-01)Objectives: The Philadelphia Lead Safe Homes (LSH) Study was designed to evaluate whether educational and environmental interventions in the first year of life for families of newborns increased knowledge of lead exposure prevention and were associated with less elevation of blood lead levels (BLLs) for these children, when compared to children receiving standard care. Methods: The current study performed descriptive statistics on the second-year BLL data for both groups and compared these using chi-square tests for proportions and unpaired t-tests for means. Results: A BLL result was found for 159 (50.6%) of the 314 LSH cohort children and 331 (52.7%) of the 628 control children (p = 0.1). Mean and standard deviation for age at draw was 23.8 (3.4) months versus 23.6 (3.1) months (P = 0.6). Geometric mean BLLs were 3.7 versus 3.5 μg/dL (P = 0.4). The percentages of the cohort group with a BLL of ≥20, ≥10 and ≥5 μg/dL, respectively, were 0.6%, 5% and 30%; for the controls 1.2%, 6.6%, and 25%. These percentages were not significantly different between groups. Conclusion: A comparison of geometric mean BLLs and percentages above several BLL cut points drawn at age two years in a group of urban newborns benefitting from study interventions versus a group of similar urban children did not yield statistically significant differences. Both groups had relatively lower lead levels when compared to historical cohort groups, which may reflect a continuing downward trend in BLLs in U.S. children. The interventions did result in benefits to the families such as an increase in parental knowledge about lead exposure prevention and in-home wet cleaning activity, and a decrease in lead dust levels in study homes. © 2012 by the authors; licensee MDPI, Basel, Switzerland.
-
STRIKING A GREEN BALANCE: ASSESSING EQUITY IN THE DEVELOPMENT OF ELEVATED PUBLIC PARK PROJECTS IN PHILADELPHIA AND WASHINGTON D.C.Pearsall, Hamil; Rosan, Christina; Cybriwsky, Roman A.; Wray, Matt, 1964- (Temple University. Libraries, 2018)This research seeks to investigate the impact of equitable development strategies on urban environmental justice. I focused on the extent to which the processes that accompany the highly visible large-scale park planning projects promote equity and inclusion in the Rail Park in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania and the 11th Street Bridge Park in Washington D.C. This research focuses on natural urban environment settings, with attention given to the development of highly visible parks projects that take at least partial inspiration from New York City’s High Line Park. Park development in underserved neighborhoods can lead to green gentrification. Thus, equity concerns are raised, as the very residents that would benefit the most from environmental improvements such as green space remediation and expansion are more likely to be excluded due to their development. I employed a qualitative methodology utilizing content analysis and 33 in depth interviews were conducted at two park project sites in Philadelphia and Washington D.C. Based on grounded theory, I explored stakeholder attitudes, feelings, and perceptions tied to varied notions of equity and the engagement levels of planning processes connected to park project development. Trust capital emerged as a major theme in the perceived efficacy of development processes that pursue equitable goals. This factor fluctuates with stakeholder perceptions of equity and the legitimization of socioeconomic concerns expressed by the community in urban green infrastructure development. This research concludes that the inclusion of an equitable development (ED) process impacts greening project implementation and the individuals involved.
-
Patterns of exposure to multiple metals and associations with neurodevelopment of preschool children from Montevideo, UruguayKordas, K; Ardoino, G; Coffman, DL; Queirolo, EI; Ciccariello, D; Mañay, N; Ettinger, AS; Coffman, Donna L|0000-0001-6305-6579 (2015-01-01)© 2015 Katarzyna Kordas et al. While it is known that toxic metals contribute individually to child cognitive and behavioral deficits, we still know little about the effects of exposure to multiple metals, particularly when exposures are low. We studied the association between children's blood lead and hair arsenic, cadmium, and manganese and their performance on the Bayley Scales of Infant Development III. Ninety-two preschool children (age 13-42 months) from Montevideo, Uruguay, provided a hair sample and 78 had a blood lead level (BLL) measurement. Using latent class analysis (LCA), we identified four groups of exposure based on metal concentrations: (1) low metals, (2) low-to-moderate metals, (3) high lead and cadmium, and (4) high metals. Using the four-group exposure variable as the main predictor, and fitting raw scores on the cognitive, receptive vocabulary, and expressive vocabulary scales as dependent variables, both complete-case and multiple imputation (MI) analyses were conducted. We found no association between multiple-metal exposures and neurodevelopment in covariate-adjusted models. This study demonstrates the use of LCA together with MI to determine patterns of exposure to multiple toxic metals and relate these to child neurodevelopment. However, because the overall study population was small, other studies with larger sample sizes are needed to investigate these associations.