Waste management plants are one of the most important sources of odorants that may cause odor nuisance. The monitoring of processes involved in the waste treatment and disposal as well as the assessment of odor impact in the vicinity of this type of facilities require two different but complementary approaches: analytical and sensory. The purpose of this work is to present these two approaches. Among sensory techniques dynamic and field olfactometry are considered, whereas analytical methodologies are represented by gas chromatography–mass spectrometry (GC-MS), single gas sensors and electronic noses (EN). The latter are the core of this paper and are discussed in details. Since the design of multi-sensor arrays and the development of machine learning algorithms are the most challenging parts of the EN construction a special attention is given to the recent advancements in the sensitive layers development and current challenges in data processing. The review takes also into account relatively new EN systems based on mass spectrometry and flash gas chromatography technologies. Numerous examples of applications of the EN devices to the sensory and analytical measurements in the waste management plants are given in order to summarize efforts of scientists on development of these instruments for constant monitoring of chosen waste treatment processes (composting, anaerobic digestion, biofiltration) and assessment of odor nuisance associated with these facilities.

The sequence of actions in matters of restricting odour nuisance is topped by preventive actions taken while an investment is planned and exploited. However, if using the best techniques available and abiding by technological regimes is insufficient and emission is still observed, one should make use of the method of deodorization. The choice of the specific suitable method is determined by many factors such as the properties of the gases being cleaned, the concentration of the pollution being emitted and the designed cleaning efficiency. Odour emission management concerning sustainable development should, therefore, comprise the required level of gas cleaning, the economic balance sheet of the investment and the acquired environmental effects. In the instance of biological methods, especially gas biofiltration, the cleaning process is carried out without virtually any side products, which would produce waste. Biofiltration is more and more commonly used in cleaning waste gases, because of both ecological reasons and economical competitivity with other methods. The balance of costs of an investment in biological gas deodorization along with its profits, as well as the ecological benefits coming from the usage of such methods, are presented in this work. The obtained cleaning efficiencies have also been included.

Ambient air quality is a complex issue that depends on multiple interacting factors related to emissions coming from energy production and use, transportation, industrial processes, agriculture, and waste and wastewater treatment sectors. It is also impacted by adverse meteorological conditions, pollutants concentrations, their transport and dispersion in the atmosphere, and topographic constraints. Therefore, air pollutants distribution is not uniform and their monitoring at proper temporal and spatial resolution is necessary. Drone-borne analytical instrumentation can fulfill these requirements. Thanks to the rapid development in the drone manufacturing sector as well as in the field of portable detectors construction, applications of unmanned aerial vehicles (UAVs) for atmospheric pollution monitoring are growing. The purpose of this work is to give an overview of this matter. Therefore, this paper contains basic information on UAVs (i.e., description of different types of drones with their advantages and disadvantages) and analytical instrumentation (i.e., low-cost gas sensors, multi-sensor systems, electronic noses, high-accuracy optical analyzers, optical particle counters, radiation detectors) used for the monitoring of airborne pollution. Different ways of payload integration are addressed and examples of commercially available solutions are given. Examples of applications of drone-borne analytical systems for pollution monitoring coming from natural (i.e., volcanoes, thawing permafrost, wildfires) and anthropological (i.e., urbanization and industrialization; extraction, transport and storage of fossil fuels; exploitation of radioactive materials; waste and wastewater treatment; agriculture) sources are also described. Finally, the current limitations and future perspectives are discussed. Although there is a great potential for drones applications in the field of atmospheric pollution monitoring, several limitations should be addressed in the coming years. Future research should focus on improving performances of available analytical instrumentation and solving problems related to insufficient payload capacity and limited flight time of commonly used drones. We predict that applications of drone-assisted measurements will grow in the following years, especially in the field of odor pollution monitoring.