Development and integration of environmental evaluation tools for the ecodesign of sustainable processes and products

Industry is recognized as one of the main sources of environmental pollution and resource depletion, both causing environmental degradation; nonetheless, its contribution to development and wealth creation is also acknowledged. Therefore, the identification of sustainable options in this area is a key factor. Nowadays, the attitude towards pollution prevention and control and cleaner production is not just a response to emerging environmental laws and regulations (Registration, Evaluation, Authorization and Restriction of Chemicals -REACH-, Integrated Pollution Prevention and Control –IPPC- Law, Integrated Product Policy –IPP-), but also a matter of corporate responsibility. Further, it has proved to be a way to increase profits. The sustainability definition has received certain criticism for its vagueness, ambiguity and difficulty to translate this concept at different levels. To overcome the difficulties of its implementation, a wide variety of indicators have been developed and applied over the years, providing metrics essential at the action level. This thesis poses a contribution to the development of environmental evaluation tools adapted to particular production sectors, aiming at providing metrics to guide decision making for the ecodesign of sustainable processes and products. Integrative frameworks that combine methodologies of different nature were proposed as the most suitable way to achieve comprehensive evaluations. At the same time, the simplicity of tools was pursued to make its application easier and more attractive for enterprises, avoiding the need of in depth training

Patient empowerment of people living with rare diseases. Its contribution to sustainable and resilient healthcare systems

The notion of empowerment is linked to patients’ everyday life and is the base allowing for the patient engagement through which individuals and communities are able to express their needs, are involved in decision-making, take action to meet those needs. In the field of rare diseases, empowerment strategies have greater value due to low prevalence, lack of expertise, poor quality of life. Avenues to patient empowerment are: health literacy and capacity-building; shared decision-making; support to self-management. Patient empowerment is recognised as key enabler in creating sustainability as addressing challenges faced by modern healthcare systems in terms of effectiveness, access and resilience. It is recommended to develop a comprehensive EU roadmap on patient empowerment  including specific recommendations, taking stock of good practices. This holistic approach should lead to a society where all actors are fulfilled human beings and unmet needs are addressed in compliance with fundamental human rights

Inventory of heavy metal content in organic waste applied as fertilizer in agriculture: evaluating the risk of transfer into the food chain

22 páginas, 2 figuras, 5 tablas.-- The final publication is available at www.springerlink.comBackground, aim, and scope In this work, an environmental risk assessment of reusing organic waste of differing origins and raw materials as agricultural fertilizers was carried out. An inventory of the heavy metal content in different organic wastes (i.e., compost, sludge, or manure) from more than 80 studies at different locations worldwide is presented. Materials and methods The risk analysis was developed by considering the heavy metal (primarily Cd, Cu, Ni, Pb, and Zn) concentrations in different organic residues to assess their potential environmental accumulation and biotransfer to the food chain and humans. A multi-compartment model was used to estimate the fate and distribution of metals in different environmental compartments, and a multi-pathway model was used to predict human exposure. Results The obtained hazard index for each waste was concerning in many cases, especially in the sludge samples that yielded an average value of 0.64. Among the metals, Zn was the main contributor to total risk in all organic wastes due to its high concentration in the residues and high biotransfer potential. Other more toxic metals, like Cd or Pb, represented a negligible contribution.This work was supported by the Spanish Government (Science and Innovation Ministry) through the Project INDIE (CTM2010-18893). Marta Herva wishes to thank the University of Santiago de Compostela for her pre-doctoral contract. Dr. Amaya Franco-Uría would like to thank MICINN for the support provided by the “Juan de la Cierva” Subprogram.Peer reviewe

Review of corporate environmental indicators

13 páginas, 1 apéndice, 3 tablas, 1 figuraThis paper reviews a series of environmental indicators developed in the last years that were found suitable to be applied at corporate level for the evaluation of production processes and products. The indicators reviewed in this paper were classified into four main groups: 1) Indicators of Energy and Material Flows; 2) Indicators with a Territorial Dimension; 3) Indicators of Life-Cycle Assessment; 4) Indicators of Environmental Risk Assessment. Integrative and single index indicators such as the ecological footprint or carbon footprint were found as the most appealing for enterprises, although there is a need to advance in the field to combine the simplicity required at corporate level for tracking and reporting environmental data, and the scientific rigor and transparency necessary to make the scores reliable. Hence, for each of the indicators revised it was stated what they do and do not measure so that misleading information was not used for decision making at corporate level.This work has been supported by the Spanish Government (Science and Innovation Ministry) through the Project INDIE (CTM2010-18893), ERDF included. M. Herva also wishes to thank the University of Santiago de Compostela for her pre-doctoral contract. Dr. Amaya Franco-Uría would like to thank MICINN for the support provided by the ‘‘Juan de la Cierva” Subprogram.Peer reviewe

Multicorrelation models and uptake factors to estimate extractable metal concentrations from soil and metal in plants in pasturelands fertilized with manure

6 páginas, 1 figura, 3 tablasEnvironmental risk assessment (ERA) is a useful methodology to estimate the possible adverse effects to human health due to contaminants exposure. In the case of agricultural scenarios, this method requires knowing the concentrations of contaminants in soil solution and vegetation, among other parameters. This study aimed to develop multicorrelation models to estimate metal extractable from soil as a function of total metal concentration in soil and soil properties in a cattle manure application scenario. It also aimed to estimate metal concentrations in plant by soil–plant uptake factors (UF). All the multicorrelation models obtained were significant, ranging R2 values from 0.44 for Cd to 0.92 for Cu. Soil–plant UF were an adequate method for the estimation of metal concentration in plant, since the relationship between the soil–plant UF and the extractable metal concentration from soil was significantly described by a power model, for all the heavy metals.This work has been supported by the Spanish Government (Science and Innovation Ministry) through the Project INDIE (CTM2010-18893) ERDF included. Marta Herva wishes to thank the University of Santiago de Compostela for her pre-doctoral contract. Dr. Amaya Franco-Uría would like to thank MICINN for the support provided by the ‘‘Juan de la Cierva” Subprogram.Peer reviewe

EcoDesign through a Multi-criteria Environmental Decision Tool based on Fuzzy Logic

10th International Chemical and Biological Engineering Conference, Braga (Portugal), 4-6 September 2008N

New insights on ecological footprinting as environmental indicator for production processes

7 páginas, 3 figuras, 4 tablasThe ecological footprint (EF) has reached worldwide popularity in the last decade as an interesting environmental indicator, and its applications have been extended to different fields. However, shortcomings of the methodology behind the EF calculations have been reported and the need for further improvements has been remarked, especially when this indicator is applied to measure the sustainability of production processes. This paper deals with three controversial aspects of the EF. First, the influence on estimates of using regional or global factors was explored; thus, a specific CO2 absorption rate was assessed for Galicia (NW Spain) using two different methodologies. These were applied to assess the EF of a ceramic industry (manufacture of bricks in baked clay) typical from Galicia, and the results were compared to the case when a global rate was employed. Another aim of the paper was to assess the effect of incorporating acidifying emissions, which are generally excluded from EF appraisals (as well as any other emissions apart from CO2). With this purpose, the critical load concept was applied to the same case study in order to analyze the impact of acidifying emissions derived from the burning of fuel oil or natural gas for the drying and firing stages of a ceramic production process, as well as their influence in the EF figure. Finally, a methodology that models a closed cycle for wastes – including hazardous ones – through a plasma process was presented and analyzed, assessing the influence of carbon content and observing the likely contribution that considering waste production can have on the EF calculation.This work has been supported by the Spanish Government (Science and Innovation Ministry) through the Project INDIE (CTM2010-18893) ERDF included. Marta Herva also wishes to thank the University of Santiago de Compostela for her pre-doctoral contract. Dr. Amaya Franco-Uría would like to thank MICINN for the support provided by the “Juan de la Cierva” SubprogramPeer reviewe

Application of fuzzy logic for the integration of environmental criteria in ecodesign

5 páginas, 5 tablas, 2 figurasThe ecodesign of a product implies that different potential environmental problems of diverse nature must be considered, apart from the general design criteria (i.e., technical, functional, ergonomic, aesthetic or economical). In this sense, an ecodesign tool integrating the criteria provided by three environmental evaluation methodologies, namely Ecological Footprint (EF), Life Cycle Assessment (LCA) and Environmental Risk Assessment (ERA), has been constructed on the basis of fuzzy logic reasoning and features. This idea enabled the decision making at process and product level taking into account the values of the different indicators at a time. The relative importance of each of them has been established through the definition of membership functions as inputs to the fuzzy inference reasoning procedure in the case of a specific product. As a result, a Fuzzy EcoDesign Index (FEcoDI) was obtained. A well known case study was used to test the tool. Different packaging materials for a beverage bottle were considered to identify the most environmentally friendly option.This work has been supported by the Spanish Government (Science and Innovation Ministry) through the Project INDIE (CTM2010-18893). M. Herva also wishes to thank the University of Santiago de Compostela for her pre-doctoral contract.Peer reviewe

The Pseudomonas syringae pv. Tomato DC3000 PSPTO_0820 multidrug transporter is involved in resistance to plant antimicrobials and bacterial survival during tomato plant infection

Multidrug resistance efflux pumps protect bacterial cells against a wide spectrum of antimicrobial compounds. PSPTO_0820 is a predicted multidrug transporter from the phytopatho-genic bacterium Pseudomonas syringae pv. tomato DC3000. Orthologs of this protein are conserved within many Pseudomonas species that interact with plants. To study the potential role of PSPTO_0820 in plant-bacteria interaction, a mutant in this gene was isolated and characterized. In addition, with the aim to find the outer membrane channel for this efflux system, a mutant in PSPTO_4977, a TolC-like gene, was also analyzed. Both mutants were more susceptible to trans-cinnamic and chlorogenic acids and to the flavonoid (+)-catechin, when added to the culture medium. The expression level of both genes increased in the presence of (+)-catechin and, in the case of PSPTO_0820, also in response to trans-cinnamic acid. PSPTO_0820 and PSPTO_4977 mutants were unable to colonize tomato at high population levels. This work evidences the involvement of these two proteins in the resistance to plant antimicrobials, supporting also the importance of chlorogenic acid, trans-cinnamic acid, and (+)-catechin in the tomato plant defense response against P. syringae pv. tomato DC3000 infection.This research has been supported by the Spanish Plan Nacional I+D+i grants AGL-2012- 32516 and AGL 2015-63851-R. JJRH was funded by the Ramo´n y Cajal program from the Spanish Ministry of Science and Innovation (RYC-2007- 01045). PMMG was supported by the Campus de Excelencia Internacional Andalucı´a TECH