Category: News

Please tune in today, Wednesday, July 31, 2019 at 3pm to WHCR-90.3FM to From City to the World, hosted by CCNY President Vince Boudreau.
President Boudreau will discuss sustainability and waste management with Professor Marco Castaldi, the Director of the Earth Engineering Center here at CCNY and a Professor in our Chemical Engineering Department.
On the second half of the show Cheryl Huber, the Assistant Director of Greenmarket, the country’s largest network of outdoor farmers markets will join the conversation. She will discuss her organization’s work with an emphasis on Grownyc’s Zero Waste program.
To listen to or watch From City to the World tune in to WHCR-90.3FM or go to www.whcr.org and click on the From City to the World banner at the top of the home page.

Castaldi and Tsiamis attended the 27th annual NAWTEC in Reston, VA.  Castaldi moderated a session of WTERT members discussing global highlights of WTE research and development. 

Ossining High School student Romina Gamarra wins 1st place in the Environmental Sciences category of this year’s Westchester Science and Engineering Fair (WESEF). Congratulations, Romina!

14 delegates from the Chinese Urban Waste Construction delegation visited EEC|CCNY to learn about waste management in the United States. Castaldi and Tsiamis presented on EEC|CCNY’s research in all areas of waste management. The visit was coordinated by the U.S. Trade and Development Agency as part of the Clean Energy Exchange. Previous international delegations who have visited EEC|CCNY (through the US Department of State’s International Visitor Leadership Program (IVLP)) include Ethiopia, China, and Bulgaria.

Tsiamis and research associates of EEC|CCNY and New York City’s Center for Materials Reuse (CMR) completed the 2019 Reuse Sector Assessment for the Department of Sanitation of New York City (DSNY).  The purpose of DSNY’s biannual reuse sector assessments is to to provide quantitative research insights into reuse activities in NYC that can ultimately help facilitate increased reuse in the City.  Tsiamis, Rappa, Arapi, Shivenanda, and NYC CMR’s Ms. Laura Novich dove into different areas of reuse research, addressing aspects such as quantification of NYC’s reuse sector, using web-based tools to enable insights into for-profit reuse activity, and understanding reuse behavior.  The final 2019 Reuse Sector Assessment will be published by DSNY in the coming year.

This past October 4^th & 5^th, 2018, The Earth Engineering Center at City College (EEC|CCNY) hosted a very successful EEC/WTERT 2018 Conference.  The conference included speakers from around the world collectively representing the global perspective on best waste management practices. There were a total of 120 attendees representing 12 countries across five continents (Belgium, Canada, Chile, China, Colombia, France, Germany, Greece, Italy, Korea, Sudan, UK and US).

The takeaway message from the conference was that the circular economy is coming.  Good engineering will get us there, but until then we will need to strengthen collaboration efforts to manage the growing waste streams properly.

Plastics have gained significant attention recently due to a number of domestic and international activities. This brings awareness to an issue that we have long been investigating but theoretically and practically with organizations ranging from the US EPA and start-up companies. A new story has been published in Chemical & Engineering News from the American Chemical Society exploring the use of plastic waste for energy generation where Professor Castaldi has been interviewed and quoted. To read the entire story please follow this link.

The opinion editorial written by Tsiamis is titled “Study: Plastic isn’t the source of society’s waste problem“. It can be accessed on the Waste Dive website by following this link.

EEC|CCNY’s latest publication on the “Role of Plastics in the Decoupling of MSW Generation and Economic Growth in the US” was recently cited in an article by Tony Kingsbury on the Sustainable Brands^® website. The article is titled “Plastics’ Effect on Waste: The Answer Might Surprise You”. It can be accessed following this link.

The article can be accessed following this link.