Towards an overall framework to assess the sustainability of the use of natural resources

Over the years, the sustainable supply of natural resources for the global economy has drawn increasing political interest. The efficient use of resources is a fundamental issue for sustainability assessment, entailing and affecting environmental, economic and social aspects. It is not surprising that they hold a central role in many different sustainability assessment frameworks. In conventional life cycle assessment (LCA), natural resources are considered as one area of protection (AoP). It is well recognized that the typical approach of this AoP starts from the provisioning function of resources, but natural resources however are also dealt with in totally different frameworks. If one starts from an ecological point of view, provisioning services is only one role natural resources fulfill next to regulating, cultural and supporting functions, all captured by the Ecosystems Services framework. The access to certain resources is a further issue of concern for policy. The identification of the so-called Critical Raw Materials for EU took into account their economic importance for specific sectors and supply risk, the latter being focused on concentration of supply from producing countries showing poor governance and low environmental standards, in turn mitigated by substitutability and recyclability of the materials. Further on, there is no doubt that resource exploitation and use may affect several social aspects (e.g. working conditions) as can be identified by the Social Hotspot Database, and that emissions generated along their use in supply chains (from extraction to manufacturing, use and end of life) might affect human health and natural ecosystems, other two areas of protection in conventional LCA. This presentation proposes an integration of the aforementioned frameworks aiming at depicting an overall framework to assess the sustainability of the use of natural resources

Historical trends in abiotic and biotic resource flows in the EU (1990-2010)

In its Communication “Roadmap to a Resource Efficient Europe” the European Commission defined a vision for EU resource consumption by 2050: the economy will have grown compatibly with resource constraints and planetary boundaries, preserving a high standard of living and lowering the environmental impacts. Such vision entails the sustainable management of natural resources, i.e. raw materials, energy, water, air, land and soil as well as biodiversity and ecosystems. In this paper, we focus on analysing the trends of abiotic and biotic resource consumption within the EU27 over the past 20 years, beyond traditional mass-based approaches to resource accounting (e.g. Domestic Material Consumption DMC and total material requirements, TMR). In fact, our assessment is performed at inventory level (thus accounting for the biophysical flows of resources) and at impact assessment level, using different life-cycle impact assessment methods (LCIA) for resource depletion and scarcity. The resources considered in the analysis include only those extracted in EU territory, including: raw materials (metals and minerals), energy carriers, biotic and water resources and the timeframe is 20 years (1990-2010). The final aim is the assessment of the evolution of resource flows in the economy (LCI) and the related resource depletion (LCIA) due to European production and consumption. Trends of resource consumption and associated depletion as well as other existing indicators for monitoring resource efficiency are reported and analysed with the aim of: highlighting the occurrence of decoupling over time, both in absolute and relative terms and giving a comprehensive overview of trends related to different resources, usually handled separately in the existing literature. To complete the sustainability assessment of resource consumption research needs are listed, particularly concerning the need of complementing the study with the analysis of socio-economic drivers underpinning the resource consumption trends.JRC.H.8-Sustainability Assessmen

Toward an overall analytical framework for the integrated sustainability assessment of the production and supply of raw materials and primary energy carriers

The sustainable production and supply of raw materials (nonenergy raw materials) and primary energy carriers (energy raw materials) is a core element of many policies. The natural resource base for their production and supply, and the access thereto, are limited. Moreover, raw material supply is high on environmental and social impact agendas as well. A broad, quantitative framework that supports decision makers is recommended so as to make use of raw materials and primary energy carriers more sustainably. First, this article proposes a holistic classification of raw materials and primary energy carriers. This is an essential prerequisite for developing an integrated sustainability assessment framework (ISAF). Indeed, frequently, only a subset of raw materials and primary energy carriers are considered in terms of their source, sector, or final application. Here, 85 raw materials and 30 primary energy carriers overall are identified and grouped into seven and five subgroups, respectively. Next, this article proposes a quantitative ISAF for the production and supply of raw materials and primary energy carriers, covering all the sustainability pillars. With the goal of comprehensiveness, the proposed ISAF integrates sustainability issues that have been covered and modeled in quite different quantitative frameworks: ecosystem services; classical life cycle assessment (LCA); social LCA; resource criticality assessment; and particular international concerns (e.g., conflict minerals assessment). The resulting four areas of concerns (i.e., environmental, technical, economic, and social/societal) are grouped into ten specific sustainability concerns. Finally, these concerns are quantified through 15 indicators, enabling the quantitative sustainability assessment of the production and supply of raw materials and primary energy carriers

Application of the MIPS method for assessing the sustainability of production-consumption systems of food

The article estimates the natural resource consumption due to nutrition from the supply and demand sides. Using the MIPS (Material Input per Service Unit) methodology, we analyzed the use of natural resources along the supply chains of three Italian foodstuffs: wheat, rice and orange-based products. These figures were then applied for evaluating the sustainability of diets in 13 European countries. The results outline which phases in food production are more natural resource demanding than others. We also observed different levels of sustainability in the European diets and the effect of different foodstuffs in the materials, water and air consumption

Integrated assessment of environmental impact of Europe in 2010: data sources and extrapolation strategies for calculating normalisation factors

Purpose. Assessing comprehensively the overall environmental impacts of a region remains a major challenge. Within life cycle assessment (LCA), this evaluation is performed calculating normalisation factors at different scales. Normalisation represents an optional step of LCA according to ISO 14040/44 which may help in understanding the relative magnitude of the impact associated to a product when compared to a reference value. In order to enhance the robustness and comprehensiveness of normalisation factors for Europe in 2010, this paper present a methodology for building an extended domestic inventory of emission and resources to be used in the context of Product Environmental Footprint Material and methods. The normalisation factors (NFs) for EU 27 in 2010 are based on extensive data collection and the application of extrapolation strategies for data gaps filling. The inventory is based on domestic emissions into air, water and soil and on resource extracted in EU, adopting a production based approach. A hierarchy hasebeen developed for data sources selection based on their robustness and data quality. Data gap filling has been based on proxy indicators, capitalizing existing statistics on pressure indicators. To calculate NFs, the inventory has been multiplied by the characterization factors at midpoint as recommended in International reference Life Cycle Data System (ILCD) Handbook (EC-JRC, 2011). Results and discussion. The resulting NFs presents several added values compared to prior normalization exercises, namely: more complete inventory; robustness evaluation of the data sources; more comprehensive coverage of the flows within each impact category; overall evaluation of the robustness of the final figures. Few flows (NOx, SOx, NH4 etc) are driving the impacts of several impact categories, and the choice of the data sources is particularly crucial, as this may lead to differences in the NFs. The adoption of domestic NFs may results in overestimating the relative magnitude of certain impacts, especially when those impacts are associated with traded goods from or to outside the EU 27. Conclusion. Normalisation factors may help identification of the relative magnitude of the impact. Nonetheless, several limitations still exist both at the inventory and at the impact assessment level. Those limitations should be clearly reported and understood by the users of normalisation factors in order to correctly interpret the results of their study. Indeed, the efforts towards more robust normalization reference are needed both at the inventory and at the impact assessment side, including more robust impact assessment methods as well as better coverage of substances for which an inventory data is available but the characterization is missing. Strenghts and limitations of the current exercize have, then, implications also in other application context where integrated assessment of impacts is needed and were data gap filling and estimation of potential environemntal impacts is needed.JRC.H.8-Sustainability Assessmen

Toward a systematized framework for resource efficiency indicators

The transition toward resource efficient production and consumption patterns is currently one of the main challenges in engineering, environmental science and especially in governmental policies. This transition has led to a proliferation of meanings related to the resource efficiency concept, resulting in a wide variety of indicators. In this paper, we propose a systematized framework in which resource efficiency indicators can be structured and comprehensively positioned. The aim is to provide a proper understanding of the scope and limitations of particular existing resource efficiency indicators in order to assist policy makers and the scientific community in the application and further development of indicators. This framework covers all different resource use-related aspects evaluated in existing approaches, including simple accounting of resource extraction and use; environmental impact assessment due to resource extraction and use; accounting and environmental impact assessment of specific processes and of full supply chains; analyses at micro-scale and macro-scale; and analysis of both natural resources versus waste-as-resources. To illustrate the potential application of the framework, a set of currently used indicators was selected, whereupon these indicators were structured and evaluated within the framework

Analysis of material recovery from silicon photovoltaic panels

Lifecycle impacts of photovoltaic (PV) plants have been largely explored in several studies in the scientific literature. However, the end-of-life phase has been generally excluded or neglected from these analyses. It is expected that the disposal of PV plants will become a relevant environmental issue in the next decades. An Italian company is currently developing the project FRELP - Full Recovery End of Life Photovoltaic- as part of the European “LIFE” programme. The FRELP project focuses on the development of an innovative process based on a series of mechanical and chemical treatments to recycle/recover waste crystalline-silicon (C-Si) photovoltaic (PV) panels. Thanks to the FRELP processing several materials can be sorted from 1 tonne of PV waste including: glass (98%), aluminium (99%), silicon metal (95%), copper (99%), and silver (94%) for a total quantity of 908 kg. Some of these materials (e.g. silicon metal, antimony, chromium and fluorspar) are considered as Critical Raw Materials for the European economy, having high economic importance and high risk of supply. The present report describes the application of Life Cycle Assessment (LCA) methodology to analyse the innovative process developed within FRELP project. The system boundaries of the LCA were set from the PV waste collection until the production of recyclable materials. Environmental benefits (i.e. credits) due to the potential productions of secondary raw materials have been accounted by expanding the system boundary. The benefits of the recycling process were compared to impacts due to the production of raw material and manufacturing of the PV panels. The report shows that, when waste materials are recycled to produce secondary raw materials, relevant environmental benefits can be obtained. The LCA methodology was also applied to assess the environmental performance of the innovative recycling process in comparison with the current treatment of PV waste in generic Waste of Electric and Electronic Equipment (WEEE) recycling plants. The results proved that this innovative recycling implies higher impacts for the processing but much higher benefits in terms of recycled materials. Relevant net benefits have been estimated. The LCA identified some hot-spots of the recycling process. Transport has been found to have an important contribution to all life cycle impacts. Finally, the high efficiency and quality of glass separated through the FRELP processes could be used for high quality application (i.e. glass for the production of new PV panels). This process would allow the recycling of antimony used in the glass and currently dispersed in the secondary glass production. In particular, this scenario would allow an overall benefit of 2,274 kg CO2 eq avoided per tonne of recycled PV (20% higher than the FRELP PV waste treatment base case scenario).JRC.H.8-Sustainability Assessmen

The case of Solidarity Purchasing Groups in the Marche Region, Italy

The article illustrates selected results of an exploratory research study on ‘GAS movement’ coordinated by the Solidarity Economy Network in Marche Region, Italy. The GAS experience proves to revolve substantially around food purchasing groups practice. Therefore, the research aimed at investigating the economic and eco-logical determinants characterising the world of critical food consumption. Qualitative and quantitative data have been analysed from a socio-economic and ecological point of view, providing an insight on different issues concerning the framework of the solidarity economy and possible further developments. The ecological performance of a “critical food consume” in comparison with a “conventional one” was assessed using the Material Input Per Service unit (MIPS) concept.

Anti-Inflammatory activity of a polyphenolic extract from Arabidopsis thaliana in in vitro and in vivo models of Alzheimer's Disease

Alzheimer's disease (AD) is the most common neurodegenerative disorder and the primary form of dementia in the elderly. One of the main features of AD is the increase in amyloid-beta (Aβ) peptide production and aggregation, leading to oxidative stress, neuroinflammation and neurodegeneration. Polyphenols are well known for their antioxidant, anti-inflammatory and neuroprotective effects and have been proposed as possible therapeutic agents against AD. Here, we investigated the effects of a polyphenolic extract of Arabidopsis thaliana (a plant belonging to the Brassicaceae family) on inflammatory response induced by Aβ. BV2 murine microglia cells treated with both Aβ25⁻35 peptide and extract showed a lower pro-inflammatory (IL-6, IL-1β, TNF-α) and a higher anti-inflammatory (IL-4, IL-10, IL-13) cytokine production compared to cells treated with Aβ only. The activation of the Nrf2-antioxidant response element signaling pathway in treated cells resulted in the upregulation of heme oxygenase-1 mRNA and in an increase of NAD(P)H:quinone oxidoreductase 1 activity. To establish whether the extract is also effective against Aβ-induced neurotoxicity in vivo, we evaluated its effect on the impaired climbing ability of AD Drosophila flies expressing human Aβ1⁻42. Arabidopsis extract significantly restored the locomotor activity of these flies, thus confirming its neuroprotective effects also in vivo. These results point to a protective effect of the Arabidopsis extract in AD, and prompt its use as a model in studying the impact of complex mixtures derived from plant-based food on neurodegenerative diseases