Waste generation is a global issue, with waste piles increasing at an alarming rate worldwide. The total amount of waste generated annually worldwide is predicted to reach 2.2 billion tons by 2025. This new book addresses this crucial issue, offering a comprehensive guide on waste management, its types, characteristics, regulations, and management and reuse strategies.

The volume discusses various ways to convert waste into useful materials, starting with waste from fruits and vegetables and agricultural wastes, and moving on to various other types of waste, such as plastics and electronics. The book discusses how food and agro-waste can be effective tools for the preparation of functional materials. Various mitigation strategies are discussed, such as the use of termites in waste management, employing microbial enzymes aid in bioremediation, vermicomposting, and more. Also explored is the use of artificial intelligence in waste management as a time and money saver. A chapter discusses bioplastics and biopolymers-the ideal and the reality. Finally, the health impacts of unscientific waste disposal are explored, providing insight into the health hazards caused by wrong ways of waste disposal.

Autorentext

Rajesh Kumar, PhD, is an Assistant Professor of Biosciences at Himachal Pradesh University, Shimla, India. With over 10 years of experience in teaching and research, Dr. Kumar has been teaching animal physiology and applied zoology to postgraduate students. His own research activities also include environmental toxicology, waste management, and the impact of environmental degradation on animal physiology. He is an expert lecturer at beekeeping training/extension activities. Dr. Kumar has completed major research projects and startup projects sponsored by government agencies and has published research articles, book chapters, abstracts, and conference papers as well as books and monographs. He has organized seminars and conferences and delivered invited talks and extension lectures. Dr. Kumar has earned 12 awards for his research in honeybees/physiology to date.

S. S. Kanwar, PhD, is Senior Professor of Biotechnology at Himachal Pradesh University, Shimla, India. Dr. Kanwar has published over 225 journal papers and book chapters during a career spanned over 30 years. He has filed six patents, all of which have been published, and one of these has been granted. Dr. Kanwar is a reviewer for over 50 international and national peer-reviewed journals. His research is focused on nanotechnology, medicinal chemistry, therapeutics, and biocatalysis, and he pursues his research activities by developing bioproducts and bioprocesses for a variety of extracellular microbial enzymes to assess the antitumor and anticancer activities of purified microbial enzymes. One of his current projects is on "the improvement of activities of industrially important enzymes by protein engineering, rational design, and enzyme immobilization."