Continuing
Research Programs
The Institute
has grown considerably since its inception. The first director was
appointed in 1987, and WRMI has since expanded to encompass a faculty
of 11, plus an adjunct faculty of 10 and support staff. WRMI faculty
currently maintain five research laboratories at SoMAS. An Advisory
Board, comprised of experts from government, environmental organizations,
and private industry, was formed in 1992 so that the Institute might
benefit from the expertise of others in the fields of waste management
and public policy.
Research activities
have spanned a wide range of waste issues. Examples include an investigation
of rates of decomposition of degradable plastics in a variety of
environments; an assessment of the use of municipal solid waste
(MSW) compost as a soil amendment in the commercial production of
sod; examinations of toxic substances in the marine food web; evaluations
of transport mechanisms and economic consequences of marine debris
in New York State coastal waters; a study of the possible relationship
between ocean dumping of sewage sludge and shell disease in deep-sea
red crabs; and the development of secondary materials, such as recycled
plastic lumber and construction material comprised of MSW combustor
ash and concrete.
Some of these
secondary materials have already been successfully tested in a variety
of experimental applications. For example, ash left after burning
municipal solid waste has been tested as a substitute for aggregate.
The ash is stabilized by mixing it with cement, and the mix is used
in the fabrication of construction-grade blocks and other concrete
forms. The ash-cement blocks were used to build a boathouse in 1990
on the university campus, the first such project in the United States.
WRMI, with the State Department of Health, have recently finished
internal air quality and surrounding soil chemistry tests, and the
building blocks have been given a clean bill of health.
Education
and Public Outreach
WRMI has been
continually committed to developing educational programs. In collaboration
with the School of Continuing Education, WRMI developed the Waste
Management Graduate Certificate Program, an 18-credit graduate-level
course of study designed to prepare students for careers in waste
management. The first class of graduates received their certificates
in 1991. Since then, a total of 37 students have completed the certificate
program, In 1993, 10 students completed the program, 31 new students
were enrolled, and the program was expanded to offer students the
option to earn a Master of Professional Studies degree with a concentration
in Waste Management.
Public outreach
has been an integral component of WMl's mission throughout its history.
In cooperation with the State University of New York College of
Environmental Science and Forestry and the New York Center for Hazardous
Waste Management at the University at Buffalo, WRMI has recently
celebrated the fifth year of publication of the Waste Management
Research Report, an informative journal published three times yearly
which focuses on a specific environmental or waste management problem
with each new issue. Waste Management Institute faculty and staff-are
continually called upon to make presentations to various community
groups, classrooms, and clubs on myriad environmental issues. WMl's
special public outreach endeavors have been a feature of community
Earth Day activities throughout the years.
Currently, WRMI
is broadening its public education efforts in an attack on the persistent
problem of beach debris. The Institute produced a video designed
for grade school children to teach them how floatable debris gets
on beaches and what can be done to prevent it. Also, a poster has
been published for display at public beaches to help educate the
general public on this topic.
Waste
Management on the Policy Front
WRMI has organized
and hosted a variety of conferences designed to bring together professionals
to discuss and solve difficult waste management problems. Some topics
addressed at these conferences included floatable debris in the
ocean, ocean dumping, and medical wastes. In summer 1994, WRMI hosted
a symposium to draw together State and local leaders from across
Long Island to aid in the development of an integrated waste management
plan for the entire Island. This effort follows the completion of
a comprehensive analysis of the environmental and societal impacts
associated with the Suffolk County Plastics Law, which proposed
banning the use of certain plastic polymers in retail food applications.
Broadening
Roles for the Future
Additions of
two new faculty in the past year have expanded WMl's base of expertise,
enhancing the Institute's capabilities in marine pollution and secondary
materials development research. WRMI has also embarked on a program
to extend activities beyond the shores of Long Island to address
waste management and pollution issues around the world.
WRMI has recently
initiated research projects in sediment contamination in Lake Ontario,
bioaccumulation of metals in bivalves from San Francisco Bay, and
studies on the effects of radioactive wastes in the Arctic waters
of Russia. Institute personnel have also begun a collaboration with
researchers of Politecnico di Bari in Apulia, Italy to foster an
international exchange of ideas and expertise on waste management
and pollution issues.
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