Suffolk County seeks to ban single-use plastics

n this Research Note, we look at the sustainability and carbon footprint of leading cloud providers to help provide enterprises with the insight they need to make the server decisions that are right for their business.
Introduction
One of the most straightforward ways an enterprise can reduce its carbon footprint is to make use of cloud servers. Larger, centralized operations are often more efficient and, recently, have been prioritizing the lowering of carbon emissions. In determining which cloud provider is the right choice, an enterprise will consider numerous variables, including sustainability. Looking at the track records, future goals, and current actions that providers are taking in climate and sustainability can help an enterprise make the right choice.

Sewage effluent is a major global driver of freshwater pollution, but conventional treatment technologies to mitigate sewage pollution are energy intensive, expensive and frequently provide sub-optimal pollutant removal performance. In this regard, integrated constructed wetlands (ICWs) have emerged as a potential alternative, cost-effective, natural treatment for sewage effluent, but major questions remain about their seasonal effectiveness and long-term ability to capture, retain and cycle nutrients with sufficient efficiency to reliably replace conventional treatment technologies. Furthermore, there is growing environmental concern regarding the inability of conventional treatment process to remove endocrine disrupting plasticizers and laundry microplastic fibres, and research is required to assess whether ICWs have increased potential to mitigate these plastic pollutants. Integrating hydrological, biogeochemical and analytical sciences, the student will investigate the potential of ICWs to provide an environmentally and economically sustainable alternative to conventional wastewater treatment technologies for the reduction of nutrients, plasticizers and microplastic fibres in sewage effluent. This field and laboratory intensive project will see the student lead on a comprehensive 18-month field sampling campaign, collecting water, sediment and plant materials from across numerous operational ICWs and their neighbouring river channels at hourly-to-monthly resolution. In the laboratory, the student will be trained in the operation of a wide range of state of the art analytical equipment, enabling them to deliver a novel, comprehensive and quantitative evidence base on the effectiveness of ICWs at treating sewage effluent. The student will gain extensive and highly valuable data analysis experience as well as opportunities to engage with a wide range of water, environmental and industry stakeholders. The professional training gained will provide rewarding career opportunities in conservation, regulation, research and industry organisations.