LCI preliminary results of in the sicilian durum wheat pasta chain production

Abstract: Pasta is still the most characteristic Italian food and, in fact, it is always present in the Mediterranean diet. This study points out the preliminary results obtained through the application of the Life Cycle Inventory Analysis (LCI) on the dried pasta production. It has been analyzed the main environmental impacts caused by a small farm industry situated in Floridia (Sicily) and whose managing staff plays a particular attention on the environment. For this purpose it has been applied the LCI to exploit wisely the available resources, to reduce the power consumption and to limit the environmental impact of the entire production cycle..

Implementation of guidelines for eco-labelling in the agri-food smes: the sicilian pistachio sector

Abstract: This paper represents the practical implementation of some guidelines developed in the context of a published book entitled “Product-Oriented Environmental Management System (POEMS). Improving Sustainability and Competitiveness in the Agri- Food Chain with Innovative Environmental Management Tools”. Nowadays, companies show growing interest in the most suitable instrument of environmental communication for the characteristics of their products (and the related sector) could be. This aspect becomes particularly important in the agri-food compartment where the products features are the result of the interaction among very different subsystems, from the farming to the transformation and marketing processes. Over time, in this sector, a huge number of voluntary environmental labelling schemes systems, used as instruments of environmental communication, have sprung up. Consequently it becomes extremely difficult for the operators to choose the most suitable label for their needs. In this context these guidelines were established with the aim of representing an innovative tool which, through the evaluation of key aspects of the environmental impacts of a product, can support the Small and Medium sizes enterprises (SMEs) in their choice of the most suitable environmental label for their own product; they can also enhance their communication strategies and their visibility in the market. The company chosen for carrying out the implementation of these guidelines belongs to the Sicilian pistachio industrial sector and it is typical for its size and market within the Sicilian economic system. About 90% of the total Italian Pistachio area is concentrated in a few territories of Eastern Sicily, mainly located in the province of Catania (Bronte and Adrano)

LCA as a tool for the environmental assessment of a pre-cast concrete shed : part 1 : Input data inventory analysis

The buildings and construction sector is one the most important economic sectors all over the world but, at the same time, one of the most pollutant emitting and resource demanding. This study focuses on the analysis of the entire main input inventory data used for assessing the environmental impacts linked to the life cycle of a pre-cast concrete shed: great importance was given to the use of on-site collected specific data which was carefully verified for assuring its quality and reliability. The study was conducted in accordance with the ISO standards 14040 and 14044 (2006), with the aim of qualifying and quantifying the resources, the materials and the energy demand for the shed construction, use and end of life phases. The study results show that for the four phases taken into account in the system boundaries (production of the raw materials, construction of the shed, use of the shed and end-of-life of the shed) the most inventories are in the shed construction phase because of the huge amount of materials, fuels and resources such as concrete, steel, electrical energy and water. Other inventories are related: to the use phase, for the huge consumption of electrical energy for indoor heating and cooling; to the maintenance phase, for the number of units, such as fixtures and power plant, which are to be replaced; and to the end-of-life phase for the number of data needed for modelling the shed disassembly

The use of basalt aggregates in the production of concrete for the prefabrication industry: environmental impact assessment, interpretation and improvement

This study aims at environmentally assessing the most significant input and output flows related to the production of concrete using basalt aggregates. For this purpose, Life Cycle Assessment (LCA) was applied according to the ISO 14040:2006 and 14044:2006. All data used were collected on site based on observations during site visits, review of documents and interviews with technical personnel and management. They were processed by using SimaPro 7.3.3, accessing the Ecoinvent v.2.2 database and using the Impact 2002þ method. The LCIA results show that the most impacting phase is the production of the basalt aggregates, with “Human Health” being the most affected damage category because of the emissions to air, of 2.7 kg of particulates (grain size <2.5 mm). In addition to this, the concrete production causes, mainly, the emission, in air, of 465 kg of Carbon Dioxide and the consumption of 37.37 kg of crude oil, per cubic metre of concrete, affecting, the damage categories “Climate Change” and “Resources” also. Regarding “Ecosystem Quality”, the occurred damage is due to the emission to air, of 29.6 g of Aluminium and of 251 mg of Zinc into the soil per cubic metre of concrete. Based on the obtained results, the increase of the amount of water used for particulates removal during the basalt extraction phase was assessed. Furthermore, the alternative use of limestone aggregates was assessed from both technical and environmental perspectives. The analysis developed highlighted a total damage decrease of 67%

Recycled-PET fibre based panels for building thermal insulation : environmental impact and improvement potential assessment for a greener production

A screening of Life Cycle Assessment for the evaluation of the damage arising from the production of 1 kg of recycled Polyethylene Terephthalate (RPET) fibre-based panel for building heat insulation was carried out according to the ISO 14040:2006 and 14044:2006. All data used were collected on site based on observations during site visits, review of documents and interviews with technical personnel and management. These data were processed by using SimaPro 7.3.3, accessing the Ecoinvent v.2.2 database and using the Impact 2002+ method. The study showed damage to be equal to 0.000299 points mostly due to the: 1) PET thermo-bonding fibre supply fromChina bymeans of a freight-equipped intercontinental aircraft; 2) production of bottle-grade granulate PET; 3) mediumvoltage electricity consumption during the manufacturing of RPET fibre panel. Itwas also highlighted that there were environmental benefits due to recycling through mainly avoiding significant emissions and reduced resource consumption. An improvement assessment was carried out to find solutions aimed at reducing the damage coming from the most impacting phases. Furthermore, the environmental impacts due to the production of the analysed RPET fibre-based panelwere compared to other materials with the same insulating function, such as polystyrene foam, rockwool and cork slab. Finally, the environmental benefits of the recycling of PE

Role of the 1st booster dose of COVID-19 vaccine in the protection against the infection: A fundamental public health tool

Introduction. The COVID-19 pandemic is having a huge impact on human health with high morbidity and mortality rates worldwide. Healthcare Workers (HCWs) are one of the most at risk categories to contract the infection. Effective anti-COVID-19 vaccines were approved in a very short time. Making the 1st booster dose is essential to induce a good protection against the infection. Methods. We conducted a retrospective sero-epidemiological survey of already existing data concerning the antibody response of a HCWs sample vaccinated with the primary cycle and the 1st booster dose of the Pfizer-BioNTech COVID-19 mRNA vaccine and, specifically, after three weeks from the third dose of vaccination. Results. In our analysis, after the primary cycle, a 95.15% efficacy was detected. Among the non-responders, women were significantly more frequent (69.56%). Moreover, we found a significant reverse correlation between the immune response and the age of the sample, especially in women. However, the 1st booster dose completely cancelled these differences. Conclusions. Our data are perfectly in line with what has been declared by the conducted studies in terms of efficacy. However, it is important to highlight that people with only the primary cycle are at high risk to contract the COVID-19 infection. Therefore, it is necessary to not consider people vaccinated with the primary cycle completely risk-free and to stress the importance to perform the 1st booster dose

Energy and environmental assessment of industrial hemp for building applications : a review

Buildings significantly contribute to global environmental pollution due to consumption of both natural and primary-energy resources as well as to emission of carbon dioxide in their life-cycles. Therefore, to enable construction of more sustainable buildings, it is important and urgent that new low-environmental impact materials are developed, mainly by reducing the use of non-renewable resources. In this regard, the recent advances in the development of natural fibres represent a significant opportunity to produce improved-materials and energy from renewable resources. For this purpose, assessments of energy and environmental performances are needed to support both the design and the production of the aforementioned materials so as to identify solutions for enhanced contribution to global sustainability. In this context, this study presented a review of the papers published so far that have focussed upon the assessment of the environmental and energy impacts related to the use of hemp-based materials for building applications. The reviewed studies aimed at testing and improving hygro-thermal properties and eco-friendliness of these materials so as to enable reduction of both embodied and operational energy, whilst preserving both indoor air quality and comfort. Doing so would enable limiting the use of energy resources and, as a consequence, their impacts to human health and to the environment, so contributing to making buildings healthier and more environmentally sustainable throughout their life-cycles. Based upon the findings of the studies reviewed these materials have strengths and weaknesses and their use is strictly dependent on the given structural situation and on specific requirements of thermal, moisture, fire and sound protection. In particular, all studies concluded that the main strength in the use of hemp-based materials comes from the production phase because of the “green” origin of these materials, mainly associated with the carbon sequestration during plantation growth

Foamy polystyrene trays for fresh-meat packaging: Life-cycle inventory data collection and environmental impact assessment

Abstract: ood packaging systems are designed to perform series of functions mainly aimed at containing and protecting foods during their shelf-lives. However, to perform those functions a package causes environmental impacts that affect food supply chains and that come from its life-cycle phases. Therefore, package design should be done based upon not only the issues of cost, food shelf-life and safety, as well as practicality, but also of environ- mental sustainability. For this purpose, Life Cycle Assessment (LCA) can be applied in the packaging fi eld with the aim of highlighting environmental hotspots and improvement potentials, thus enabling more eco-friendly prod- ucts. In this context, an LCA of foamy polystyrene (PS) trays used for fresh meat packaging was performed here. The study highlighted that the highest environmental impacts come from PS-granule production and electricity consumption. In this regard, the authors underscored that there are no margins for improvement in the produc- tion of the granules and in the transport of the material inputs involved as well as of the trays to users. On the contrary, changing the energy source into a renewable one (by installing, for instance, a wind power plant) would enable a 14% damage reduction. In this way, the authors documented that alternative ways can be found for global environmental improvement of the system analysed and so for enhanced environmental sustainability of food packaging systems