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Environmental and Economic Life-Cycle Assessments of Household Food Waste Management Systems: A Comparative Review of Methodology and Research Progress. SUSTAINABILITY 2022. [DOI: 10.3390/su14137533] [Citation(s) in RCA: 2] [Impact Index Per Article: 1.0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Track Full Text] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 11/16/2022]
Abstract
Household food waste (HFW) is the main component of municipal solid waste (MSW). Appropriate HFW management strategies could reduce the environmental burdens and economic costs to society. Life-cycle thinking is an effective decision-making tool for MSW management. This paper compares the three main environmental and economic assessment methodologies, i.e., societal life-cycle costing (societal LCC), environmental cost-effectiveness (ECE) analysis, and multicriteria analysis (MCA) in terms of the definitions, method frameworks, and their advantages/disadvantages. Most reviewed studies applied the environmental life-cycle costing (ELCC) method, a simplified ECE, which does not involve interactive quantitative comparisons between environmental and economic benefits. Further attention should be paid to the coordination between life-cycle assessment (LCA) and life-cycle costing (LCC), the monetization coefficient in external cost calculation of societal LCC, and the standardization and evaluation approaches of ECE. HFW prevention is rarely considered in the reviewed literature but was demonstrated as the best route over treatment or utilization. Anaerobic digestion is environmentally preferable to composting and landfilling; it is comparable to biodiesel production, feeding conversation, and incineration. From the perspective of economic costs (including societal LCC), the ranking of treatment technologies varied a lot from one study to another, attributable to the diverse evaluation methods and different data sources. To improve the environmental and economic assessment approaches to HFW management, an inventory database (e.g., food waste properties, technical treatment parameters, material flow, and fund flow data) suitable for HFW should be constructed. When establishing the system boundaries, the processes of source sorting, collection and transportation, and by-product handling should be coherent with the investigated treatment technology.
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Abstract
Cities and urban areas are critical nodes of societal resource flows, responsible for both global and local sustainability implications. They are complex systems and understanding the implications of potential actions by cities is critical for progress towards sustainability. In this paper the future implications of sustainability strategies are assessed for 10 European cities by comparing two scenarios for 2050: a business-as-usual (BAU) and a post-carbon/sustainability scenario (PC2050) (generated by city stakeholders). The effects of the scenarios are assessed using a mixed methodology: a semi-quantitative sustainability indicator analysis, energy and greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions (both production-based and consumption-based accounting (PBA and CBA)), land-use spatial modelling, and cost–benefit analysis. The paper highlights the clear benefits of PC2050 with improved sustainability indicator results, reduced land sprawl (which averages 16% in BAU) and positive cost–benefit results. Nonetheless, inequality and segregation are a common concern. In addition, whilst PBA indicates a significant decrease (average decrease from 4.7 to 1.3 tCO2eq per capita) CBA demonstrates rising overall emissions from an average of 11 to 14.8 tCO2eq per capita. This is linked to rising affluence and consumption trends despite local improvements in GHG emissions, which highlights a need for cities to address consumption-based emissions.
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Masselot P, Chebana F, Lavigne É, Campagna C, Gosselin P, Ouarda TBMJ. Toward an Improved Air Pollution Warning System in Quebec. INTERNATIONAL JOURNAL OF ENVIRONMENTAL RESEARCH AND PUBLIC HEALTH 2019; 16:ijerph16122095. [PMID: 31200502 PMCID: PMC6617323 DOI: 10.3390/ijerph16122095] [Citation(s) in RCA: 9] [Impact Index Per Article: 1.8] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 05/02/2019] [Revised: 06/04/2019] [Accepted: 06/07/2019] [Indexed: 11/16/2022]
Abstract
The nature of pollutants involved in smog episodes can vary significantly in various cities and contexts and will impact local populations differently due to actual exposure and pre-existing sensitivities for cardiovascular or respiratory diseases. While regulated standards and guidance remain important, it is relevant for cities to have local warning systems related to air pollution. The present paper proposes indicators and thresholds for an air pollution warning system in the metropolitan areas of Montreal and Quebec City (Canada). It takes into account past and current local health impacts to launch its public health warnings for short-term episodes. This warning system considers fine particulate matter (PM2.5) as well as the combined oxidant capacity of ozone and nitrogen dioxide (Ox) as environmental exposures. The methodology used to determine indicators and thresholds consists in identifying extreme excess mortality episodes in the data and then choosing the indicators and thresholds to optimize the detection of these episodes. The thresholds found for the summer were 31 μg/m3 for PM2.5 and 43 ppb for Ox in Montreal, and 32 μg/m3 and 23 ppb in Quebec City. In winter, thresholds found were 25 μg/m3 and 26 ppb in Montreal, and 33 μg/m3 and 21 ppb in Quebec City. These results are in line with different guidelines existing concerning air quality, but more adapted to the cities examined. In addition, a sensitivity analysis is conducted which suggests that Ox is more determinant than PM2.5 in detecting excess mortality episodes.
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Affiliation(s)
- Pierre Masselot
- Institut National de la Recherche Scientifique, Centre Eau-Terre-Environnement, 490, rue de la Couronne, Québec, QC G1K 9A9, Canada.
| | - Fateh Chebana
- Institut National de la Recherche Scientifique, Centre Eau-Terre-Environnement, 490, rue de la Couronne, Québec, QC G1K 9A9, Canada.
| | - Éric Lavigne
- School of Epidemiology and Public Health, University of Ottawa, 600 Peter Morand Crescent, Ottawa, ON K1G 5Z3, Canada.
- Air health Science Division, Health Canada, 269 Laurier Ave West, Ottawa, ON K1A 0K9, Canada.
| | - Céline Campagna
- Institut National de la Recherche Scientifique, Centre Eau-Terre-Environnement, 490, rue de la Couronne, Québec, QC G1K 9A9, Canada.
- Institut National de Santé Publique du Québec, 945 Avenue Wolfe, Québec, QC G1V 5B3, Canada.
| | - Pierre Gosselin
- Institut National de la Recherche Scientifique, Centre Eau-Terre-Environnement, 490, rue de la Couronne, Québec, QC G1K 9A9, Canada.
- Institut National de Santé Publique du Québec, 945 Avenue Wolfe, Québec, QC G1V 5B3, Canada.
- Ouranos, 550 Rue Sherbrooke Ouest, Montréal, QC H3A 1B9, Canada.
| | - Taha B M J Ouarda
- Institut National de la Recherche Scientifique, Centre Eau-Terre-Environnement, 490, rue de la Couronne, Québec, QC G1K 9A9, Canada.
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Zachary DS. The Inverse Poisson Functional for forecasting response time to environmental events and global climate change. Sci Rep 2018; 8:11342. [PMID: 30054543 PMCID: PMC6063973 DOI: 10.1038/s41598-018-29680-4] [Citation(s) in RCA: 4] [Impact Index Per Article: 0.7] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 01/05/2018] [Accepted: 07/13/2018] [Indexed: 11/10/2022] Open
Abstract
A series of Poisson distributions are fit to sets of global cost-of-impact data representing large-scale accidents and anthropogenic catastrophes. The fits are used to build a function representing data means and are designated the Inverse Poisson Functional. Climate and environmental data have been used to develop a cost-frequency population distribution and to estimate the expected time between events. On a global scale, we show that expected wait- or reaction- times can be estimated using the Poisson density function. The functional is generated, representing the locus of means (peaks) from the individual Poisson distributions from different impact costs. Past (ex-post) forecasts relate to a range of natural and anthropogenic disasters; future (ex-ante) forecast presents global CO2 emissions. This paper shows that a substantial reaction to global climate change (CO2 emissions extremum) will occur in 55 to 120 years (95% CI) with a model prediction of 80 years.
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Affiliation(s)
- Daniel S Zachary
- Johns Hopkins University, Krieger School of Arts and Sciences (Advanced Academic Programs), Washington DC, 20036, USA.
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Hutton G. Economic evaluation of environmental health interventions to support decision making. ENVIRONMENTAL HEALTH INSIGHTS 2008; 2:137-55. [PMID: 21572840 PMCID: PMC3091345 DOI: 10.4137/ehi.s1152] [Citation(s) in RCA: 5] [Impact Index Per Article: 0.3] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Track Full Text] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 05/20/2023]
Abstract
Environmental burden of disease represents one quarter of overall disease burden, hence necessitating greater attention from decision makers both inside and outside the health sector. Economic evaluation techniques such as cost-effectiveness analysis and cost-benefit analysis provide key information to health decision makers on the efficiency of environmental health interventions, assisting them in choosing interventions which give the greatest social return on limited public budgets and private resources. The aim of this article is to review economic evaluation studies in three environmental health areas-water, sanitation, hygiene (WSH), vector control, and air pollution-and to critically examine the policy relevance and scientific quality of the studies for selecting and funding public programmers. A keyword search of Medline from 1990-2008 revealed 32 studies, and gathering of articles from other sources revealed a further 18 studies, giving a total of 50 economic evaluation studies (13 WSH interventions, 16 vector control and 21 air pollution). Overall, the economic evidence base on environmental health interventions remains relatively weak-too few studies per intervention, of variable scientific quality and from diverse locations which limits generalisability of findings. Importantly, there still exists a disconnect between economic research, decision making and programmer implementation. This can be explained by the lack of translation of research findings into accessible documentation for policy makers and limited relevance of research findings, and the often low importance of economic evidence in budgeting decisions. These findings underline the importance of involving policy makers in the defining of research agendas and commissioning of research, and improving the awareness of researchers of the policy environment into which their research feeds.
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