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Abstract Some wastes are illegally dumped on public/private areas, causing several aesthetic, environmental, economic and social negative impacts and representing a public hazard. These sites need to be treated and managed and this task is often a responsibility of municipalities, representing high costs. However, there is a lack of strategies for the municipal management of these degraded areas that minimize costs, restore the ecological value of the area and eliminate the public hazard. This work proposes a conceptual model for the management of illegal dumping degraded areas by municipal services, based on a social life cycle assessment (SLCA). The model proposed is an open-participatory management tool which supplies the information needed for the waste management strategy for illegal waste deposit sites. Methods to evaluate and apply SLCA in this context are scarce. Therefore, SLCA is presented as a tool that can be applied to organisations in strategic analysis and structuring complex decision-making processes in order to identify optimisation potentials. It combines an environmental and a socio-economic assessment, contributing to the full assessment of products and services within the context of sustainable development. The framework intends to promote the improvement of social conditions and the socio-economic performance of a product throughout its life cycle for all the stakeholders involved within the context of sustainable development. Illegal deposits sites of Construction and Demolition Wastes (CDW) in municipalities are used as a case study for model implementation. The outputs of this model are: i) understanding the real situation of the illegally deposited wastes; ii) management practices comparing and integrating environmental, social, and economic objectives; iii) open-participatory management; iv) orientations to strategy definition; v) use of the life-cycle product principle contributing to a circular economy; and vi) assisting with municipalities performance. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Environmental pollution and its health risks to human beings have been becoming increasingly serious in China, and the health status of the individuals is not only affected by their environment but also by their own characteristics and socio-economic status. Based on the survey data of China Family Panel Studies (2014), three hierarchical linear models at three levels of individual, family, and community were developed to investigate the influencing factors of individual health status. The results indicate that: (1) there exists significant difference among individual health status, of which 16% and 9.11% are caused by the family and community levels, respectively; (2) the average health status of men is better than that of women by 6.95%. As for the difference in health effects produced by gender, total household income can reduce this difference; (3) age has significant negative health effects, while the level of education has positive effect on individual health status; and (4) the health effects of pollution is mainly reflected by its interaction with gender; in particular, when men and women face the same level of pollution exposure, men are more susceptible. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Manure treatment technologies have been developed in Europe to better use animal manures and to reduce their environmental impact, but the adoption of these technologies in practice is regionally diverse and still limited. Also, little is known about the opinions of stakeholders towards manure treatment. This study aimed to identify stakeholder perceptions of (1) which factors can facilitate and hinder the implementation in practice, (2) which technologies have the most potential for successful adoption, and (3) how farm characteristics and scale of treatment operations affect priorities for technology adoption. This analysis used data from a survey of various stakeholders engaged in manure treatment in four European countries (Denmark, Italy, the Netherlands and Spain) that have large areas of high animal density, but diverse socio-economic, political and environmental conditions. Pressure from governmental regulations was perceived as a key factor that stimulated manure treatment in all four countries (70% of respondents). Processing manure to produce bioenergy was considered important in Denmark and Italy, but less important in Spain and the Netherlands. The major barriers to technology adoption were related to economic factors -lack of investment capital (60% of respondents), high processing cost (52%) and a long payback period (45%), while there was relatively little concern regarding transport and noise burden and health risks. Slurry separation and anaerobic digestion were perceived to have the greatest potential for a common adoption. Other preferred technologies were more country-specific (e.g. acidification in Denmark, composting in Spain, and drying and reverse osmosis in Netherlands). Manure treatment was considered to be less applicable at small livestock farms. Separation, composting and acidification were perceived to be more applicable at farm scale, while drying, anaerobic digestion, reverse osmosis at large, industrial scales. Our results imply that manure treatment will remain a regional activity. Policy measures and outreach strategies to alleviate the main barriers to the adoption of manure treatment are suggested. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper aims to assess sustainability of different sugarcane cultivation practices in selected sites in North-eastern Thailand; and to provide recommendations to improve sustainability of sugarcane cultivation in the areas studied. This study evaluates the environmental and socio-economic impacts of sugarcane cultivation in different stages at detailed level. The indicators assessed are the impacts on global warming, human toxicity, terrestrial acidification, freshwater eutrophication, marine eutrophication, terrestrial ecotoxicity, freshwater ecotoxicity, marine ecotoxicity, agricultural land occupation, water depletion, fossil fuel depletion, employment generation, worker income, wages and working conditions. The results reveal that the sugarcane cultivation causes highest impacts on freshwater ecotoxicity, freshwater eutrophication and marine ecotoxicity. Yields, cultivation practices and distance to the sugar mill are the key factors influencing the environmental and socio-economic impacts. Moreover, it is suggested that optimal quantities of fertilizers and pesticides consumed may help to increase yields. This will consequently lower the environmental impacts and reduce production cost. The distance from farm to sugar mill could also influence production cost and the environmental impacts. Mechanized harvesting is found to be a way to reduce production cost. However, it is associated with an increase in environmental impacts as well as reduction in employment. Wages and working conditions of jobs in sugarcane farming are found to be poorer compared to rice farming. Sugarcane farming may experience a lack of laborers in the future which may lead to more mechanization. Recommendations proposed to improve sustainability of the sugarcane cultivation include increasing yields, managing fertilizer and agro-chemical applications, and zoning agricultural crops. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Land demand is driven by an increasing population and changing consumption patterns. When land is required Land Use Changes (LUC) are triggered, causing several environmental and social impacts. Particularly topical is the assessment of indirect LUC effects. Several methodological approaches have been proposed for carrying out the assessment. In this paper we classified LUC models for Life Cycle Assessment (LCA) applications into three main categories: Economic, Causal–Descriptive and Normative models. Six models were selected as representative of these three categories and compared according to fifteen criteria covering: modeling framework, impact categories assessed and model transparency. The results show that, progresses have been made in the Economic General Equilibrium Models and the Causal–Descriptive Models compared. Causal–Descriptive models appear more suitable for long-term assessments in the LCA context while the compared economic models are more suitable for short/medium-term assessments of LUC consequences. As LUC dynamics involve interdisciplinary knowledge, a combination of economic, biophysical and statistical data is however required to achieve a robust assessment of complex LUC dynamics. There is still considerable scope for improving current LUC models. In particular, there is room for improving precision of data, identification of marginal land and inclusion of a broader range of impact categories. Current models mainly focus on GHG emission-related impacts and rarely on other environmental impacts such as nutrient leaching, biodiversity impacts and water resource depletion. Socio-economic analyses of LUC patterns are currently excluded from LCA analysis, preventing a holistic assessment of land occupation impacts. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The European Union's REACH regulation has introduced Socio-Economic Analyses as a new decision support tool in the domain of chemical policy-making. This paper presents a pragmatic method to review the replacement of chemicals in processes or products in terms of the environmental impact. The aim of this work is to develop a broadly accepted method for environmental impact assessment as part of Socio-Economic Analyses. The method consists of a stepwise and tiered approach for Environmental Impact Assessment whereby the expected impact of the replacement of chemicals is assessed via Risk Characterization Ratios and toxic pressure quantification (expressed as a Potentially Affection Fraction of species), and – if relevant – via a Persistency, Bioaccumulation potential and Toxicity score. The working of the method is demonstrated by the replacement of chemical substances in detergents, gutters and Expanded Polystyrene. Of the three replacements, for gutters, the reduction of the toxic pressure on the aquatic compartment was highest. Based on 50% effect concentrations the Potentially Affection Fraction of species due to the use of zinc gutters was relatively high (15%), while it was 0.6% after replacement by PVC gutters. This indicates that PVC gutters have a lower direct impact on aquatic biodiversity than zinc gutters. This paper demonstrates that even with limited data the proposed method can be used to move from risk indicators to impact indicators. The tiered approach allows finding the most appropriate level of analysis in a cost and resource efficient way. The method allows comparison of results of different scenarios and as such allows selecting the most preferable alternative from an environmental perspective. This is useful in the context of socio-economic analysis and as such, this method is available as a decision-support tool under REACH and other chemical policy frames such as the United Nations Environment Program. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Abstract: Combining the economics and the environmental and social aspects of bioenergy chain implementation is a difficult task, particularly for wood fuel production. Multiple aspects, such as financial analysis, technology development, natural resource exploitation and avoided environmental pollution, must be considered simultaneously. Thus, decision support models seem to be the proper tools for the overall definition of strategies in the wood energy sector. The objective of this study has been to develop a partial equilibrium model able to quantify the socio-economic and environmental effects of policy, technology and best biomass allocation scenarios on the forest residue chain. The model, based on multi-objective linear programming and spatial analysis, considers the financial benefits/losses and the potential trends of three compartments: sawmills, forest enterprises and energy plants. In addition, the model computes avoided emissions for bioheat and bioelectricity production and introduces an impact indicator for the road transport of biomass. Model outputs are defined using a multi criteria approach. The main results stress the importance of both environmental parameters and the implementation of organic Rankine cycle technology for the optimization of the entire bioenergy chain. The model was tested in an Italian Alpine region (province of Trento). [Copyright &y& Elsevier]

Abstract: An extended Life Cycle Assessment (LCA) is performed for evaluating the impacts of a woody biomass supply chain for heating plants in the alpine region. Three main aspects of sustainability are assessed: greenhouse gas emissions, represented by global warming potential (GWP) impact category, costs and direct employment potential. We investigate a whole tree system (innovative logging system) where the harvest of logging residues is integrated into the harvest of conventional wood products. The case study is performed in Valle di Fiemme in Trentino region (North Italy) and includes theoretical and practical elements. The system boundary is the alpine forest fuel system, from logging operations at the forest stand to combustion of woody biofuels at the heating plant. The functional unit is 1m3 solid over bark of woody biomass, delivered to the district heating plant in Cavalese (Trento). The relative sustainability of traditional and innovative systems is compared and energy use is estimated. Results show that the overall GWP and costs are about 13kg CO2equivalent and 42 euro per functional unit respectively for the innovative system. Along the product supply chain, chipping contributes the greatest share of GWP and energy use, while extraction by yarder has the highest financial costs. The GWP is reduced by 2.3 ton CO2equivalent when bioenergy substitutes fuel oil and 1.7 ton CO2equivalent when it substitutes natural gas. The sensitivity analysis illustrates that variations in fuel consumption and hourly rates of costs have a great influence on chipping operation and extraction by cable yarder concerning GWP and financial analysis, respectively. This is confirmed by sensitivity analysis. Better technologies, the use of biofuels along the product supply chain and more efficient systems might reduce these impacts. Replacing the traditional system with the innovative one reduces emissions and costs. A low energy input ratio is required for harvesting logging residues. The direct employment potential is a conflicting aspect and needs further investigations. [Copyright &y& Elsevier]