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The production of biohydrogen from rice mill wastes, including rice bran and rice mill effluent by Clostridium acetobutylicum NCIM 2877 was investigated in a batch culture system and optimized the temperature and pH conditions. At 35 °C with initial pH of 5.2 a yield of 55.7±0.8 ml with 88.6 ± 0.3% substrate utilization and at pH 6 the production was 68.7 ± 0.9 ml with 85 ± 1.0 % substrate utilization. Addition of metal ions resulted in better yield and substrate utilization efficiency of the bacteria. FeSO₄.7H₂O at a concentration of 50 mg/l gave 79.7 ± 1.5 ml with 96% of substrate utilization. Cobalt effected the production greatly by giving 96.3 ± 0.9 ml with 95.3 ± 0.7% of substrate utilization whereas Nickel didn’t showed much effective results by giving only a maximum of 74.7 ± 1.5 ml production at 25 mg/l concentration. Conclusively, it can be stated that rice mill wastes can be used as a substrate and use of metal ions will play a key role in the enhancement of biohydrogen production.

Millions of the British people have for some years now been struggling valiantly to live with hard times, watching them day by day grow worse but always hopefully that the cloud had a silver lining; that one day, reason and a sense of direction would prevail. Tyranny in many forms is a feature of history; the greatest epics have been risings of ordinary people to overthrow it. The modern form of tyranny is that of Money; the cruel and sinister ways in which it can be obtained and employed and the ineffectiveness of any measures taken to control the evils which result. Money savings over the years and the proverbial bank book, once the sure safeguard of ordinary people, are whittled away in value, never to recover. Causes always seemed to be contained within the country's own economy and industrial practices, and to this extent should have been possible of control. The complex and elaborate systems constructed by the last Government were at least intended for the purpose, but each attempt to curb excessive demands for more money, more and more for doing less and less— the nucleus of inflation—produced extreme reactions, termed collectively “industrial strife”. Every demand met without compensatory returns in increased work, inevitably led to rises in prices, felt most keenly in the field of food and consumer goods. What else would be expected from such a situation?

A systems perspective of waste management allows an integrated approach not only to the five basic functional elements of waste management itself (generation, reduction, collection, recycling, disposal), but to the problems arising at the interfaces with the management of energy, nature conservation, environmental protection, economic factors like unemployment and productivity, etc. This monograph separately describes present practices and the problems to be solved in each of the functional areas of waste management and at the important interfaces. Strategies for more efficient control are then proposed from a systems perspective. Systematic and objective means of solving problems become possible leading to optimal management and a positive contribution to economic development, not least through resource conservation. India is the particular context within which waste generation and management are discussed. In considering waste disposal techniques, special attention is given to sewage and radioactive wastes.

The growing range of EEC Directives and Regulations for food products, some of which have never been subject to statutory control in this country, with compositional standards, and in particular, prescribed methods of analysis — something which has not featured in the food legislative policies here — must be causing enforcement authorities and food processors to think seriously, if as yet not furiously. Some of the prescribed methods of analysis are likely to be less adaptable to modern processing methods of foods and as Directives seem to be requiring more routine testing, there is the matter of cost. Directive requirements are to some extent negotiable — the EEC Commission allow for regional differences, e.g., in milk and bread — but it has to be remembered that EEC Regulations bind Member‐states from the date of notification by the Commission, over‐riding the national law. Although not so frequently used for food legislation, they constitute one of the losses of sovereign power, paraded by the anti‐market lobby. Regulations contain usual clauses that they “shall enter into force on the day following publication in the Official Journal of the European Communities” and that they “shall be binding in their entirety and directly applicable in all Member States”.

The purpose of this paper is to contrast the business risks of seeking to hide “questionable” corporate activities with the benefits of achieving high levels of corporate transparency.

The paper summarises three well‐documented cases of corporate malfeasance, simply and sequentially. Each is analysed separately.

The paper finds, in each case, that once the concealed “truth” comes out, the companies are in a much worse position than if they had come clean when initially challenged. The generalised finding is that once pressures mount, what is intentionally concealed tends to become exposed, with unanticipated and powerful negative consequences.

To minimise business risk, managers are well advised to refrain from doing things behind a veil of secrecy and, instead, opt for greater transparency. Since what is hidden seldom remains hidden, a “policy” of corporate transparency is often in their interest. The lesson is that when under public pressure, for whatever reason, facts, risks and relationships will out.

This paper demonstrates how openness rather than secrecy can reduce business risk and raise ethical standards at the same time.

Well‐founded complaint has recently been made concerning the characters of the various forms of “candy,” or, as we should term them, “sweets,” that are manufactured in great quantities in the United States.

The decision of the Wolverhampton Stipendiary in the case of “Skim‐milk Cheese” is, at any rate, clearly put. It is a trial case, and, like most trial cases, the reasons for the judgment have to be based upon first principles of common‐sense, occasionally aided, but more often complicated, by already existing laws, which apply more or less to the case under discussion. The weak point in this particular case is the law which has just come into force, in which cheese is defined as the substance “usually known as cheese” by the public and any others interested in cheese. This reliance upon the popular fancy reads almost like our Government's war policy and “the man in the street,” and is a shining example of a trustful belief in the average common‐sense. Unfortunately, the general public have no direct voice in a police court, and so the “usually known as cheese” phrase is translated according to the fancy and taste of the officials and defending solicitors who may happen to be concerned with any particular case. Not having the general public to consult, the officials in this case had a war of dictionaries which would have gladdened the heart of Dr. JOHNSON; and the outcome of much travail was the following definition: cheese is “ coagulated milk or curd pressed into a solid mass.” So far so good, but immediately a second definition question cropped up—namely, What is “milk?”—and it is at this point that the mistake occurred. There is no legal definition of new milk, but it has been decided, and is accepted without dispute, that the single word “milk” means an article of well‐recognised general properties, and which has a lower limit of composition below which it ceases to be correctly described by the one word “milk,” and has to be called “skim‐milk,” “separated milk,” “ milk and water,” or other distinguishing names. The lower limits of fat and solids‐not‐fat are recognised universally by reputable public analysts, but there has been no upper limit of fat fixed. Therefore, by the very definition quoted by the stipendiary, an article made from “skim‐milk” is not cheese, for “skim‐milk” is not “milk.” The argument that Stilton cheese is not cheese because there is too much fat would not hold, for there is no legal upper limit for fat; but if it did hold, it does not matter, for it can be, and is, sold as “Stilton” cheese, without any hardship to anyone. The last suggestion made by the stipendiary would, if carried out, afford some protection to the general public against their being cheated when they buy cheese. This suggestion is that the Board of Agriculture, who by the Act of 1899 have the legal power, should determine a lower limit of fat which can be present in cheese made from milk; but, as we have repeatedly pointed out, it is by the adoption of the Control system that such questions can alone be settled to the advantage of the producer of genuine articles and to that of the public.

This paper aims to improve the adsorption capacity of sugarcane bagasse (SCB) as a low-cost, attractive and effective adsorbent for dye removal from wastewater.

SCB is a cellulosic material; it was chemically modified with compounds containing cationic groups. The adsorption efficiency of unmodified and modified SCB was investigated with anionic dyes by studying various factors that affect modified SCB and adsorption.

X-ray diffraction, FT-IR spectra and nitrogen content were used to confirm the effect of existence of quaternary ammonium groups on modified SCB. The morphological structure of the modified and unmodified SCB has been demonstrated using electronic scanning microscopy.

The modified SCB was chemically treated by Quat 188, which is commercially available in the solution of 3-chloro-2-hydroxypropyltrimethyl ammonium chloride.

Grafting cationic function groups on the surface of sugarcane by cationization treatment enhances its adsorption efficiency for anionic dyes.

The main value of this research was indicating a clear difference in the appearance of unmodified and modified SCB surfaces. Furthermore, it can be determined that the modified SCB absorbs more of the dyes.

The purpose of this paper is to present possible strategic actions that aim to recover the value still remaining in industrial waste.

The research method is a multiple case study. The sample included six Brazilian companies of the footwear, metal-mechanics, pulp and paper, beverages, chemical and food industries. The study investigated the production process, waste generation, internal reuse, the destination of unused waste, difficulties and strategic challenges.

Possible strategies to recover the value remaining in industrial waste are increasing the internal reuse, developing new routes to other industries, reducing the waste generation, increasing the destination to cooperatives or recycling companies, which require studies to understand the legislation and agility in licensing and reducing the logistical cost of the destination.

The study relies on six case studies. Further research shall encompass an entire industry, starting with hypotheses derived from the cases.

The main barriers observed for reuse and recycling are uncertainties and ambiguities in the interpretation of legislation, the difficulty for the environmental licensing for recycling operations, excessive logistics costs for exploration opportunities and the lack of research to reduce the waste generation and to increase the internal reuse.

Waste managed by scavengers’ cooperatives can offer jobs to the people of vulnerable communities.

The study offers robust hypotheses to be tested in a survey on the capacity of a waste management strategy to create competitive advantage in the industry. The study establishes a relationship between waste management and three competitive enablers, compliance, corporate image and green market.

The purpose of this paper is to contribute original evidence about the conditions for formal and informal contracts for commodities and labour in the waste economy of a South Indian town.

Field research was exploratory, based on snowball sampling and urban traversing. The analysis follows capital and labour in the sub-circuits of capital generating waste in production, distribution, consumption, the production of labour and the reproduction of society.

Regardless of legal regulation, which is selectively enforced, formal contracts are limited to active inspection regimes; direct transactions with or within the state; and long-distance transactions. Formal labour contracts are least incomplete for state employment, and for relatively scarce skilled labour in the private sector.

The research design does not permit quantified generalisations.

Waste management technology evaluations neglect the social costs of displacing a large informal labour force.

While slowly dissolving occupational barriers of untouchability, the waste economy is a low-status labour absorber of last resort, exit from which is extremely difficult.

The first systematic exploration of formal and informal contracts in an Indian small-town waste economy.