Fundamentals of Municipal Solid Waste Incinerator Ash Management

Author Biography

Dr. Townsend is a Distinguished Professor of Environmental Engineering at the University of Florida. He teaches and conducts research on solid and hazardous waste management, recycling systems, and sustainable materials management. He leads UF’s Sustainable Materials Management Research Laboratory and is the Executive Director of the Hinkley Center for Solid and Hazardous Waste Management.  Dr. Kate Weiksnar earned her PhD in Environmental Engineering with a focus on sustainable materials management and the chemical and mechanical performance of industrial byproducts. She has over seven years of experience interacting with local, nationwide, and global municipal solid waste incineration (MSWI) facilities regarding management techniques and use opportunities. Her work emphasizes the fundamental characterization and beneficial use of materials such as MSWI ash. Kate has examined leaching processes, heavy metal mobility, alkali–silica reactivity, and durability considerations related to incorporating MSWI residues into construction applications, along with the associated environmental, economic, and sustainability implications. Dr. Malak Anshassi is an Assistant Professor at Florida Polytechnic University teaching solid waste management, sustainability, and life cycle assessment courses. Her research focuses on incorporating life cycle thinking into solid waste management. She previously conducted research using principles from sustainable materials management (or SMM) to analyze the application of life cycle thinking into Florida’s solid waste management system to achieve the 75% recycling rate target. In her current research she formulates SMM-based solid waste management and policy approaches that decision makers from any region of the world can use to measure their waste management system’s environmental and economic impacts.