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Soil exposed to elevated methane concentrations can develop a high capacity for methane oxidation. Methane oxidation at high and low methane concentrations is performed by different types of methanotrops and therefore oxidation rates found at low temperatures at the atmospheric methane content cannot be extrapolated to soils exposed to high methane concentrations. Four sandy soils with different organic matter content (1–9% w/w) from two landfills in Denmark were investigated in batch experiments in the laboratory to determine the response of methane oxidation at low temperatures and different soil moisture regimes. At 2°C the methane oxidation rates were 0.005 to 0.17 µmol g−1 h−1, and calculations showed that it was possible to oxidize all the produced methane at older landfills, even during the winter. Therefore, methane oxidation in top covers of landfills is an alternative to gas recovery at smaller and older landfills in northern Europe. Equations have been developed that describe the dependency of temperature and soil moisture content for each soil. The oxidation rates depended significantly on the soils (and thereby organic matter content), temperature, and soil moisture content. Soil moisture was the most important factor. However, high Q10 values indicate that temperature also was important. The four soils tested had optimum soil moisture content between 11 and 32%. At increasing organic matter content, both the optimal soil moisture content and the maximum oxidation rate increased.

Antimicrobial resistance (AMR) is a major threat to global health. Understanding the emergence, evolution, and transmission of individual antibiotic resistance genes (ARGs) is essential to develop sustainable strategies combatting this threat. Here, we use metagenomic sequencing to analyse ARGs in 757 sewage samples from 243 cities in 101 countries, collected from 2016 to 2019. We find regional patterns in resistomes, and these differ between subsets corresponding to drug classes and are partly driven by taxonomic variation. The genetic environments of 49 common ARGs are highly diverse, with most common ARGs carried by multiple distinct genomic contexts globally and sometimes on plasmids. Analysis of flanking sequence revealed ARG-specific patterns of dispersal limitation and global transmission. Our data furthermore suggest certain geographies are more prone to transmission events and should receive additional attention.

In this study a pilot plant for electrodialytic treatment of municipal solid waste incineration (MSWI) air pollution control (APC) residue was tested and proposed as a treatment method which can lead to reuse of this otherwise hazardous waste. The pilot plant was developed based on a design that is adapted from conventional electrodialysis, e.g. used in desalination of solutions. The APC residue was treated in a suspension (8 kg APC residue and 80 L tap water) and circulated through an electrodialytic (ED) stack consisting of 50 cell pairs separated by ion exchange membranes. A direct current was applied to the ED stack for removal of heavy metals (As, Ba, Cd, Cr, Cu, Mn, Ni, Pb, Zn) and salts (Cl, Na, SO 4 ) from the APC residue suspension. Different tank designs for mixing the APC residue suspension were tested as well as changing experimental conditions. A part of the raw experimental APC residue was carbonated by reaction with CO 2 under moist conditions prior to electrodialytic treatment. The carbonation alone reduced the leaching of some heavy metals. However, it was not sufficient to reduce the heavy metal or salt leaching to meet the Danish Category 3 guideline levels for waste material reuse and could not stand as a treatment method alone. Leaching of both heavy metals and salts were significantly reduced by the electrodialytic treatment for both the raw and carbonated APC residue. In the electrodialytically treated carbonated APC residue only Cr exceeded the Category 3 levels while in the electrodialytically treated raw APC residue both Pb and Zn leaching exceeded the Category 3. Optimization of the electrodialytic upgrading method is necessary to meet the Category 3 levels for all heavy metals. Removal of Na and SO 4 to below the Category 3 leaching levels were obtained in all the experiments. Cl removal was not sufficient in all experiments even if up to 1 kg of Cl was removed, the optimal conditions for Cl removal was a constant current of 5 A over the ED stack. The results of this study suggest that, with some optimization, electrodialytic upgrading, possibly in combination with carbonation, could be used as a treatment method for MSWI APC residue.

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