Environment & Ecosystem Science (EES)

Sanitary landfill leachate is considered as highly polluted wastewater, if without any treatment and discharge into water system will affect water quality. This study was carried out to assess the treatability of the semi-aerobic landfill leachate via coagulation-flocculation using poly-aluminum chloride (PAC), cationic polymer and modified micro sand. Leachate was collected from Pulau Burung Sanitary Landfill located in Penang, Malaysia. Coagulation-flocculation was performed by using jar test equipment and the effect of pH, dose of coagulant and polymer toward removal of chemical oxygen demand (COD), color and suspended solid (SS) were examined. Micro sand also had been used in this study to compare settling time between coagulation-flocculation process with and without the aid of micro sand. The optimum pH, dose of coagulant (PAC) and dose of polymer (cationic) were achieved at 7.0, 1,000 mg/L and 8 mg/L, respectively. The dose of micro sand used for the settling time process is 300 mg/L. Results showed 52.66 % removal of COD, 97.16% removal of SS and 96.44% removal of color were obtained under optimum condition. The durations of settling time to settle down the sludge or particle that formed during coagulation-flocculation process were recorded at 1 minute (modified sand), 20 minutes (raw micro sand) and 45 minutes (without micro sand).

The study on insect’s visitation on Melastoma malabathricum was carried out at UKM Bangi Forest Reserve, Selangor from February till April 2016. A total of 214 insect individuals comprising of three order, seven families and 15 species were identified. Hymenoptera recorded the highest percentage of 91 % (195 individuals), followed by Coleoptera with 5 % (10 individuals) and Hemiptera with 4 % (9 individuals). Ten species of Hymenoptera namely Trigona itama, T. thoracica, Amegilla zonata, Ceratina perforatrix, Nomia iridescens, Xylocopa confusa, X. latipes, Camponotus japonicus, Lasius fuliginosus and Solenopsis invincta, three species of Coleoptera namely Ischnopterapion virens, Hoplasoma unicolor and Dercetisoma concolor of and two species of Hemiptera Cyrtolobus ovatus and Chlorochroa sp. were successfully identified. The One–way ANOVA showed that there was a significant different (p < 0.05) (P = 0.01) on the total of insect’s sampled on regards to the different sampling’s event (month)..

Solid waste management (SWM) in urban cities has always been a challenge to municipalities. Piles of garbage are seen on the roads and suburbs of highly populated neighbourhoods in the city of Al Marj, Libya. This study aimed at identifying the factors and barriers which influence solid waste management (SWM) in the city of Al Marj, Libya. The data was collected via a questionnaire survey and interview sessions with the residents of the city. A total of 700 questionnaires were distributed randomly; only 482 of these were filled up and returned. The results showed that the city of Al-Marj has a profound solid waste management and awareness problems that must be tackled immediately. The local authorities in charge of the SWM seemed to lack experience as well as facilities required for proper solid waste management. The residents also showed lack of awareness on recycling solid waste, however, they agreed to its importance. The over finding of the study indicated that numerous factors led to the solid waste management problem in the city of Al Marj, Libya.