Towards a comprehensive sustainability methodology to assess anthropogenic impacts on ecosystems: Review of the integration of Life Cycle Assessment, Environmental Risk Assessment and Ecosystem Services Assessment

Agri-food waste to phenolic compounds: Life cycle and eco-efficiency assessments

The increase in the consumption of food products and the management of food waste have endangered the sustainability of the food sector. The need to move forward on the European bioeconomy requires to evaluate waste valorization strategies, to convert a non-valorized resource into a high-added value production in the market. In this regard, the focus of this research article is the valorization of orange peel and tomato seed wastes to produce bioactive compounds, such as carotenoids. Various extraction technologies have been analyzed, from the most conventional (solvent extraction), to emerging alternatives (including ultrasound-assisted extraction, microwave-assisted extraction and subcritical water extraction), providing a total of seven scenarios. Life Cycle Assessment methodology has been used for assessing the environmental sustainability of all the scenarios, combined with techno-economic analysis to evaluate its feasibility and also to provide an eco-efficiency evaluation. The results show that energy optimization is key to improve the profiles obtained, as well as to increase production capacity, as it is directly related to both economic and environmental viability. In general terms, orange peel valorization scenarios with emerging technologies are the most profitable and suitable, given the higher benefits and lower impacts compared to tomatoe valorization. The research developed has shown that the recovery of bioactive compounds from unusable wastes from the food and agricultural sectors is effective, and the outcomes could be used as a guide to stakeholders and entrepreneurs to where to focus to enhance the potential of the tomato and orange harvesting and processing activities.

Environmental benefits and changes in ecosystem services of climate-smart agriculture relative to conventional agriculture in Norway

Climate-smart agriculture (CSA) practices aim to reduce land degradation and enhance climate resilience through sustainable land use. The environmental benefits of CSA often go undetected and appear negative in life cycle assessment (LCA), which typically focuses on product-based outputs, overlooking ecosystem services and resilience. Integrating ecosystem services within LCA of agricultural systems can help provide evidence of the environmental benefits of CSA and favor its consideration by farmers and decision makers. Here, we explore how CSA can be better represented in LCA by investigating barley production on cropland at risk of soil erosion in Norway under three management scenarios: conventional agriculture, integration of winter cover crops, and establishment of trees as buffer zones. The assessed environmental impacts combine ecosystem services (reduction of soil erosion, habitat quality, carbon sequestration) with traditional life-cycle impact categories (eutrophication, climate change, etc.). Relative to the conventional system, buffer zones improve all environmental indicators, while cover crops show an improvement in all indicators but terrestrial acidification and freshwater ecotoxicity. Buffer zones and cover crops increase habitat quality, terrestrial carbon storage, and reduce nutrient and soil-particle runoff, thereby supporting long-term yields, despite a small short-term reduction in barley yields. Overall, concerns about additional costs and management practices, limited know-how by farmers, and poor policy schemes limit the widespread CSA adoption. Engagement of farmers, local authorities and stakeholders is instrumental to overcome these barriers. Incorporating ecosystem services into LCA provides scientific evidence to support the shift toward sustainable agriculture while capturing environmental benefits of CSA.

Operationalization of the safe and sustainable by design framework for chemicals and materials: challenges and proposed actions

The production and use of chemicals and materials have both advantages and drawbacks for human and ecosystem health. This has led to a demand for carefully guided, safe, and sustainable innovation in the production of chemicals and materials, taking into consideration their entire life cycle. The European Commission's Joint Research Centre (JRC) has released the Safe and Sustainable by Design (SSbD) framework, which aims to support this objective. The SSbD framework consists of two components that are intended to be iteratively implemented throughout the innovation process: (1) the application of design principles phase, and (2) the safety and sustainability assessment phase. However, the operationalization of the framework is currently challenging. This article maps the challenges and proposes ways to address them effectively. The mapping, which is based on a literature review and stakeholder opinions, resulted in 35 challenges. The highest priority challenge is "integration of SSbD framework into the innovation process." To begin addressing this issue, this article recommends conducting a scoping analysis to define the SSbD study. This can be achieved through implementing a tiered approach that aligns with the objectives of the innovation and the growing expertise that comes with it. The second priority challenge is "data availability, quality and uncertainty." This can be supported by using Findability, Accessibility, Interoperability, and Reuse (FAIR) principles and by optimizing in silico methods at early stages of the innovation process. An infrastructure for data and communication is necessary to effectively engage with the entire value chain. The third priority challenge is "integration of safety and sustainability aspects," which requires a clear definition of how to integrate those aspects in the SSbD context, and harmonization, as far as possible, of input data, assumptions, and scenario construction. This review is the first step in accelerating the operationalization of the novel SSbD concept and framework into industrial practice.

Using the Burning of Polymer Compounds to Determine the Applicability of the Acoustic Method in Fire Extinguishing

In order to achieve the objective of the work-an experimental study of the capabilities of the acoustic method for extinguishing organic compounds and for ensuring environmental monitoring-the effect of the combustion of various polymers on the acoustic parameters of the medium is considered. The negative effect of the combustion of organic substances on the medium is noted. The features of the use of fire extinguishing agents are analyzed, and it is noted that the acoustic method is a promising, inexpensive, and environmentally friendly approach for use in extinguishing fires. The ideas about the capabilities of this method using the combustion of various polymers were further developed, which is the novelty of the work. As the main results, it is proposed to use the angle of incidence, concentration of suspended particles, temperature, and wave resistance of the environment as special correction factors for acoustic sensors when monitoring in a smoky space. The possibility of using the combustion parameters of organic compounds to determine the properties of acoustic waves in a smoke-filled area is shown. The perspective of implementing the results obtained in the practice of fire prevention and liquidation was observed to increase the efficiency of fire extinguishing and increase the safety of the population and personnel of special services. The proposed approach can become part of the ecological and economic innovations of municipal communities and national strategies to achieve the goals of sustainable development.

How closely do ecosystem services and life cycle assessment frameworks concur when evaluating contrasting animal-production systems with ruminant or monogastric species?

Life cycle assessment (LCA) and ecosystem services assessment (ESA) are often used for environmental assessment. LCA has been increasingly used over the past two decades to assess agri-food systems and has established that ruminant products have higher impacts per kg of protein than products from monogastric species. Conversely, ESA is used less but is likely to rank ruminant systems higher than monogastric systems, as the former often include grasslands that can provide high levels of regulating ecosystem services (ESs). Here, we applied both methods to a selection of contrasting meat-oriented animal-production systems that included either ruminants or monogastrics (6 of each). We considered 16 environmental impact categories in the LCA and two functional units: 1 kg of human-edible protein (HEP) and 1 m2yr of land occupied. We used the life-cycle inventory step of LCA to characterise the land occupation of the systems, i.e. the land cover types used, such as croplands and grasslands. Based on these land covers and quantification of the ES they provide, we performed ESA. We estimated that ruminant systems had higher environmental impacts than monogastric systems per kg of HEP for all 16 LCA impact categories studied. For example, for ruminants and monogastrics, mean greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions were 280 vs 32 kg CO2-eq., respectively (P = 0.002), and mean fossil energy use was 351 vs 189 MJ, respectively (P = 0.009). The trend was the opposite for impacts per m2yr, with mean GHG emissions of 0.50 vs 0.57 kg CO2-eq. (P = 0.485) and mean fossil energy use of 0.71 vs 3.63 MJ (P = 0.002) for ruminants and monogastrics, respectively. We also estimated that ruminant systems had a higher capacity to supply regulating ES than monogastric systems did, with mean scores of 2.4 and 1.2, respectively (P = 0.002), due to multiple types of grasslands in ruminant systems. Applying both LCA and ESA to a range of contrasting animal-production systems was a novelty of this study, and ESA indicated that ruminant systems have higher positive environmental contributions than monogastric systems. The study also found that LCA and ESA frameworks can agree or disagree on the assessments of animal-production systems depending on functional unit used (i.e. agreement per unit of land occupied but disagreement per unit of HEP).

A conceptual framework for landscape-based environmental risk assessment (ERA) of pesticides

While pesticide use is subject to strict regulatory oversight worldwide, it remains a main concern for environmental protection, including biodiversity conservation. This is partly due to the current regulatory approach that relies on separate assessments for each single pesticide, crop use, and non-target organism group at local scales. Such assessments tend to overlook the combined effects of overall pesticide usage at larger spatial scales. Integrative landscape-based approaches are emerging, enabling the consideration of agricultural management, the environmental characteristics, and the combined effects of pesticides applied in a same or in different crops within an area. These developments offer the opportunity to deliver informative risk predictions relevant for different decision contexts including their connection to larger spatial scales and to combine environmental risks of pesticides, with those from other environmental stressors. We discuss the needs, challenges, opportunities and available tools for implementing landscape-based approaches for prospective and retrospective pesticide Environmental Risk Assessments (ERA). A set of "building blocks" that emerged from the discussions have been integrated into a conceptual framework. The framework includes elements to facilitate its implementation, in particular: flexibility to address the needs of relevant users and stakeholders; means to address the inherent complexity of environmental systems; connections to make use of and integrate data derived from monitoring programs; and options for validation and approaches to facilitate future use in a regulatory context. The conceptual model can be applied to existing ERA methodologies, facilitating its comparability, and highlighting interoperability drivers at landscape level. The benefits of landscape-based pesticide ERA extend beyond regulation. Linking and validating risk predictions with relevant environmental impacts under a solid science-based approach will support the setting of protection goals and the formulation of sustainable agricultural strategies. Moreover, landscape ERA offers a communication tool on realistic pesticide impacts in a multistressors environment for stakeholders and citizens.

Impacts of human activities on the supply of marine ecosystem services: A conceptual model for offshore wind farms to aid quantitative assessments

Increased pressures from human activities may cause cumulative ecological effects on marine ecosystems. Increasingly, the study of ecosystem services is applied in the marine environment to assess the full effects of human activities on the ecosystem and on the benefits it provides. However, in the marine environment, such integrated studies have yet to move from qualitative and score-based to fully quantitative assessments. To bridge this gap, this study proposed a 4-tiered method for summarizing available knowledge and modelling tools to aid in quantitative assessments of ecosystem services supply. First, the ecosystem functioning mechanisms underlying the supply of services are conceptually mapped. Second, the impacts of the human activity of interest are summarized and linked to the first conceptual model in a case-specific model of ecosystem services supply. Third, indicators are selected that would best represent changes in the most important parameters of the conceptual model in a quantitative manner. Fourth, the knowledge gained in the previous steps is used to select models that are most useful to quantify changes in ecosystem services supply under the human pressure of interest. This approach was applied to the case study of offshore wind energy in the Belgian part of the North Sea, which is one of the most rapidly expanding industries in the marine environment globally. This study provides a useful tool to proceed towards quantification of marine ecosystem services, highlighting the need for a fully integrated approach to developing environmental impact assessment tools.

Nature-based tourism influences ecosystem functioning along waterways: Implications for conservation and management

Nature-based tourism has an influence on ecosystem functioning around watercourses, but this influence lacks scientific evidence. Additionally, strategic and operational management of streams necessitates trade-offs between the recreational activities and values of tourists and riparian zone hospitality services. This paper aims to assist environmentalists and planners by exploring the effects of tourism-based recreational activities on ecosystem functioning along the drawdown zone. The study uses multivariate statistical techniques to delineate the relevant global tourism issues for planners. Kruskal-Wallis tests (p < 0.01) were conducted using quantitative data from 284 transects within the Three Gorges Dam Reservoir in China. The results revealed higher ecosystem function indices than tourism indices. Indicators of tourism contributed both positively and negatively to ecological indicators, with the Pearson correlation coefficients ranging from minor to moderate (r = ̶ 0.24 to 0.38, p < 0.05). Principal component analysis revealed that the critical variables of ecosystem functioning and tourism activities explained 72.26 % of the overall variance. Nevertheless, hierarchical cluster analysis revealed that these indicators responded differently in the upstream, midstream, and downstream sections. Our findings suggest that policymakers should consider the different characteristics of riparian zones in future planning, as doing so will improve both national and global strategic and operational management.