Sustainable Waste Management Criteria for Local Urban Plans

The paper illustrates a new approach to waste management aiming at developing strategies and actions to be integrated into municipal planning tools. The local structure plan has been recognized as the planning tool in which to integrate sustainability objectives in the field of waste management. The door-to-door waste collection has been selected as the best strategy for guaranteeing high standards of waste separate collection in the new developments and restoration areas in the Bologna municipality. Following, criteria for dimensioning the space to be reserved for waste collection, both at the apartment and at the block scale and at urban scale have been proposed to be acknowledged into the local building regulations. The proposed approach has been verified through the application to a local development plan in the Bologna municipality and its feasibility has been tested both under the technical and economic point of view

Plastic waste management: a comprehensive analysis of the current status to set up an after-use plastic strategy in Emilia-Romagna Region (Italy)

The evidence of the impact of the mismanagement of plastic goods in the environment has captured the attention of scientists, policy makers and manufacturers. Urgent measures, regarding a combination of preventing plastic use and massively improving waste management, have been acclaimed by different stakeholders with the common goal to make a more resilient and competitive plastic industry. European Commission has pledged itself publishing the first EU-wide policy framework on plastics. The new recycling targets and calculation method put under pressure the current waste management system (WMS), characterized by fragmentation in responsibilities and underperforming cost-benefit balance. In addition, the public-private governance and the increasing number in waste consortia and platforms contribute to make the waste streams traceability challenging. The following study, resulting from a collaboration between the University of Bologna (UNIBO), the Emilia-Romagna Region (ERR), and the Regional Agency for Prevention, Environment and Energy (ARPAE), investigates the current panorama of plastic waste recycling system in ERR (Italy) with the aim to find out to what extent the current performance fulfils the future scenario established by the European Commission. The market of secondary plastics (SPs) has been investigated as well. The secondary resources, which are no longer waste, are not registered and monitored by official data collection scheme. Data extrapolated from official waste databases are integrated with results coming from individual questionnaire submitted to local recyclers. The identification of the main polymeric streams and, therefore, the exploitation of economic potential represent the preliminary actions to strategically plan an after-use plastic economy whose main goal is having all recyclable and/or recycled plastic packaging by 2030

Comparative life cycle assessment of renewable energy systems for heating and cooling

Renewable systems for heating and cooling (RES-HC) systems in last ten years have gradually increased their importance and their presence in the global heating ventilation and air conditioning (HVAC) market. Many energetic analysis and impact assessments have been made, which have demonstrated the convenience, respect to traditional HVAC systems, of solutions such as solar thermal or low enthalpy geothermal systems in terms of: energy consumption reduction, renewable energy use increase and emissions decrease. However, the several analysis made, up to date, only have considered the operation period of such systems, and consequently the comparison has been made only in terms of energy vectors used, omitting materials, components and processes. This paper aims to give a new perspective, showing how a correct environmental analysis should take into account all the life cycle of a system, from the cradle to grave, also if the system concerns a renewable energy source. In the specific case, a Life Cycle Assessment (LCA) will be presented, focusing on two currently popular RES-HC systems: solar thermal and low enthalpy geothermal, compared to the same functional unit. The results of this analysis could be a good starting point for future work on impact assessment of more complex and integrated HVAC systems

Direct Simulation of Micro-Component Water Consumption for the Evaluation of Potential Water Reuse in Households

A study on water/energy balances at the household scale is performed using Life Cycle Assessment (LCA) to estimate Greenhouse Gas (GHG) emissions and impacts resulting from multiple scenarios incorporating various options for: (i) component sizing, (ii) energy usage, and (iii) water reuse. Sustainability indicators are evaluated to select feasible options, while reducing whole life cycle GHG emissions. Water reuse schemes using rainwater are strongly dependent on rainfall availability and require significant tank volumes. Schemes using only gray water are more compact but more energy for treatment is needed before usage. Schemes obtained by combining both options perform better in terms of reliability and sustainability

A Step-by-Step Process towards an Evolutionary Policy Encouraging the Adoption of Sustainable Business Models

The increasing awareness on environmental issues and their implications for society and economy, has led policymakers to rethink the legislative and financial measures supporting companies to innovate their business. As a result, companies are encouraged to integrate corporate sustainability (CS) into their value creation. Different from the past approaches, the current policy making process has been inspired by a multi-value creation system, aimed to deeply analyze the present situation, and identify the bottlenecks to design further steps to be taken. In this context, regional authorities cover a pivotal role in financing the pre-competitive phase of innovative and sustainable business models (SBMs). A survey was launched in the Emilia Romagna Region (ERR), analyzing the main factors contributing to maximizing CS. This paper investigates supply chain, welfare, environmental management as well as planning, control and communication strategy together with ecological footprints such as materials, energy, water, plastics, and waste ecological footprints. It gives a twofold contribution: first, it sets the stage for the construction of a theoretical model representing an SBM, and second, it gives a practical contribution by supporting the public administration decision-making in adopting a breakthrough roadmap facilitating the value transfer from industry to society

DEVELOPMENT COOPERATION AND INTERNATIONALIZATION OF UNIVERSITIES

This panel arises from the need to share experiences of integrating international development cooperation in the strategic process of internationalization of universities in all their functions: their teaching, learning and research policies and in the organization of services and administration. The internationalization process, which most universities are embarking on as no longer avoidable, provide them with the opportunity to acquire the tools and the attitudes essential to ward off an otherwise inevitable loss of relevance in contemporary societies. Internationalizing the university through both “cross-border” mobility of students and faculty, and changes to curricula, means integrating the international, intercultural and global dimensions in their central functions (research, training and services) in order to transform society. To gain a broad perspective, an uncommon sensitivity and a high capacity of inter-cultural and trans- national communication is needed not only for teachers but also for the culture of the institution. The end product of such an approach should be the development of a “global perspective” that will lead to the emergence of professionals / citizens of the world. The “global citizen” is one who sees the world and its inhabitants as interdependent and works to promote both his own interests and those of the most disadvantaged populations, anywhere on the planet. Equipped with the appropriate tools, those who leave the university can contribute to the best achievements in their professional role within the community, at home as well as abroad.

Comparative Life Cycle Assessment (LCA) of Porous Asphalt Mixtures with Sustainable and Recycled Materials: A Cradle-to-Gate Approach

: The road and construction sectors consume a large number of natural resources and energy, contributing significantly to waste generation and greenhouse gas emissions (GHG). The use of recycled aggregate from construction and demolition waste as a substitute for virgin aggregate is a current practice in the construction of new road sections. Additionally, in recent years, there has been an increasing focus on finding alternatives to bitumen for binders used in asphalt mixes. This study investigates and compares the impacts associated with two porous asphalt mixtures produced with CDW aggregates, virgin aggregates, and a polyolefin-based synthetic transparent binder through an LCA methodology. A cradle-to-gate approach was employed. Model characterization for calculating the potential environmental impacts of each porous asphalt mixture was performed using the ReCipe 2016 assessment method at the midpoint and endpoint levels. The results are presented with reference to a baseline scenario corresponding to a porous asphalt mixture, confirming the benefits associated with the use of recycled aggregates and in some cases the benefits of not using bitumen-based binders. This work contributes to the understanding of the importance of choosing the least environmentally damaging solution during the production or rehabilitation of road pavement infrastructure

“Our common future” for different subjects: How accounting, engineering and pedagogy courses enhance sustainable development literacy

Considering the pedagogical need for sustainable development the present study presents the results of an explorative study considering how a common framework for teaching sustainable development can affects students from different disciplines, such as accounting, engineering and pedagogy. Through a survey, data collection has been developed looking for the level of students literacy and their perception on sustainable development issues. A first survey collected data at the begging of three different courses that, despite their different subjects (accounting, engineering and pedagogy), propose a specific section on sustainability. The same survey was proposed at the end of these courses for determining the change in the level of sustainable development literacy of the attending students. First results underline how the same approach can obtain different results on the literacy level of students underlining the importance of a tailor-made education according to different subject

Application of PestLCI model to site-specific soil and climate conditions: the case of maize production in Northern Italy

The calculation of emissions from the use of pesticides is a critical issue in LCA studies of agrifood products and only occasionally discussed in details in literature studies. The objective of this study is to assess the results of the application of PestLCI 2.0 model to the production of maize in Northern Italy using site-specific soil and climate data, which were added for this purpose in PestLCI database. In this way, the application of the tool and its database were tailored to that area. Moreover, the results were compared with those obtained assuming maize cultivation on other soil typologies in the surrounding areas. Results show that soil variation scarcely affects the emissions to air and surface water are whereas it affects significantly the emissions to groundwater. Finally, some features of PestLCI were highlighted and comments for a further improvement of the model were provided