Developing Product Environmental Footprint Category Rules for Olive Oil

In the context of the Communication “Building the Single Market for Green Products”, the European Commission (EC) recommends a method to measure the environmental performance of products, named the Product Environmental Footprint. The PEF is a multi-criteria measure of the environmental performance of goods and services from a life cycle perspective. Currently, 25 pilot projects test the development of Product Environmental Footprint Category Rules (PEFCRs) for various products. This paper gives an overview of the process of developing the PEFCR for olive oil. An overview of the methods of the PEF screening study that aims at identifying the most relevant environmental impacts, processes and elementary flows are presented. The screening study assesses the impacts of the average olive oil consumed in the European markets.JRC.H.8-Sustainability Assessmen

Variation of health-related quality of life assessed by caregivers and patients affected by severe childhood infections.

BACKGROUND: The agreement between self-reported and proxy measures of health status in ill children is not well established. This study aimed to quantify the variation in health-related quality of life (HRQOL) derived from young patients and their carers using different instruments. METHODS: A hospital-based cross-sectional survey was conducted between August 2010 and March 2011. Children with meningitis, bacteremia, pneumonia, acute otitis media, hearing loss, chronic lung disease, epilepsy, mild mental retardation, severe mental retardation, and mental retardation combined with epilepsy, aged between five to 14 years in seven tertiary hospitals were selected for participation in this study. The Health Utilities Index Mark 2 (HUI2), and Mark 3 (HUI3), and the EuroQoL Descriptive System (EQ-5D) and Visual Analogue Scale (EQ-VAS) were applied to both paediatric patients (self-assessment) and caregivers (proxy-assessment). RESULTS: The EQ-5D scores were lowest for acute conditions such as meningitis, bacteremia, and pneumonia, whereas the HUI3 scores were lowest for most chronic conditions such as hearing loss and severe mental retardation. Comparing patient and proxy scores (n = 74), the EQ-5D exhibited high correlation (r = 0.77) while in the HUI2 and HUI3 patient and caregiver scores were moderately correlated (r = 0.58 and 0.67 respectively). The mean difference between self and proxy-assessment using the HUI2, HUI3, EQ-5D and EQ-VAS scores were 0.03, 0.05, -0.03 and -0.02, respectively. In hearing-impaired and chronic lung patients the self-rated HRQOL differed significantly from their caregivers. CONCLUSIONS: The use of caregivers as proxies for measuring HRQOL in young patients affected by pneumococcal infection and its sequelae should be employed with caution. Given the high correlation between instruments, each of the HRQOL instruments appears acceptable apart from the EQ-VAS which exhibited low correlation with the others

Is a HIV vaccine a viable option and at what price? An economic evaluation of adding HIV vaccination into existing prevention programs in Thailand

<p>Abstract</p> <p>Background</p> <p>This study aims to determine the maximum price at which HIV vaccination is cost-effective in the Thai healthcare setting. It also aims to identify the relative importance of vaccine characteristics and risk behavior changes among vaccine recipients to determine how they affect this cost-effectiveness.</p> <p>Methods</p> <p>A semi-Markov model was developed to estimate the costs and health outcomes of HIV prevention programs combined with HIV vaccination in comparison to the existing HIV prevention programs without vaccination. The estimation was based on a lifetime horizon period (99 years) and used the government perspective. The analysis focused on both the general population and specific high-risk population groups. The maximum price of cost-effective vaccination was defined by using threshold analysis; one-way and probabilistic sensitivity analyses were performed. The study employed an expected value of perfect information (EVPI) analysis to determine the relative importance of parameters and to prioritize future studies.</p> <p>Results</p> <p>The most expensive HIV vaccination which is cost-effective when given to the general population was 12,000 Thai baht (US$1 = 34 Thai baht in 2009). This vaccination came with 70% vaccine efficacy and lifetime protection as long as risk behavior was unchanged post-vaccination. The vaccine would be considered cost-ineffective at any price if it demonstrated low efficacy (30%) and if post-vaccination risk behavior increased by 10% or more, especially among the high-risk population groups. The incremental cost-effectiveness ratios were the most sensitive to change in post-vaccination risk behavior, followed by vaccine efficacy and duration of protection. The EVPI indicated the need to quantify vaccine efficacy, changed post-vaccination risk behavior, and the costs of vaccination programs.</p> <p>Conclusions</p> <p>The approach used in this study differentiated it from other economic evaluations and can be applied for the economic evaluation of other health interventions not available in healthcare systems. This study is important not only for researchers conducting future HIV vaccine research but also for policy decision makers who, in the future, will consider vaccine adoption.</p

Recovery and use of olive stones: Commodity, environmental and economic assessment

At the present time biomass (together with sunlight) is the most equally distributed and easily exploited energy resource. Of the various types of biomass, that deriving from agricultural by-products is proving to be of growing interest thanks to the ease with which it can be accessed and processed, its energy concentration and the ‘‘ethical’’ acceptability of this fuel (that does not derive from specifically grown crops but from the by-products of the agricultural industries). In addition, a number of potential environmental problems may be resolved. In particular, during the production of olive oil it is possible to recover olive pits as a by-product for energy production for use as fuel in domestic boilers or in large industrial plants for cogeneration. This study evaluates the commodity, environmental and economic aspects linked to different techniques for the pit recovery from olive pulp and olive pomace. The economic and environmental viability of these new ‘‘best practices’’ has been demonstrated both at the level of production (increased income for olive extraction plants) and at the level of environmental sustainability (use of renewable fuels)

Recovery and use of olive stones: Commodity, environmental and economic assessment

At the present time biomass (together with sunlight) is the most equally distributed and easily exploited energy resource. Of the various types of biomass, that deriving from agricultural by-products is proving to be of growing interest thanks to the ease with which it can be accessed and processed, its energy concentration and the "ethical" acceptability of this fuel (that does not derive from specifically grown crops but from the by-products of the agricultural industries). In addition, a number of potential environmental problems may be resolved. In particular, during the production of olive oil it is possible to recover olive pits as a by-product for energy production for use as fuel in domestic boilers or in large industrial plants for cogeneration. This study evaluates the commodity, environmental and economic aspects linked to different techniques for the pit recovery from olive pulp and olive pomace. The economic and environmental viability of these new "best practices" has been demonstrated both at the level of production (increased income for olive extraction plants) and at the level of environmental sustainability (use of renewable fuels).Biomass Olive stones Pomace Bioenergy Biofuels By-products

UN MODELLO TERRITORIALE PER LO SMALTIMENTO E RECUPERO DEI RAEE

Il concetto di RAEE (Rifiuti di Apparecchi Elettrici ed Elettronici) è stato introdotto in ambito comunitario dalla Direttiva 2002/96/CE la quale “reca misure miranti in via prioritaria a prevenire la produzione di rifiuti di apparecchiature elettriche ed elettroniche ed inoltre al loro reimpiego, riciclaggio e ad altre forme di recupero in modo da ridurre il volume di rifiuti da smaltire”. Il Decreto Legislativo 25 Luglio 2005 recepisce le due direttive europee 2002/95/CE e 2002/96/CE. Rientrano nel campo di applicazione di tale decreto tutte le apparecchiature elettriche ed elettroniche comprese nell’Allegato IA: – Grandi elettrodomestici, – Piccoli elettrodomestici, – Apparecchiature informatiche e per telecomunicazioni, – Apparecchiature di consumo, – Apparecchiature di illuminazione, – Strumenti elettrici ed elettronici, – Giocattoli e apparecchiature per lo sport e per il tempo libero, – Dispositivi medici, – Strumenti di monitoraggio e di controllo, – Distributori automatici. Ogni categoria racchiude un elenco di esempi di prodotti che devono essere presi in considerazione. Secondo la normativa, produttori e venditori hanno l’obbligo di ritiro dell’usato a fronte dell’acquisto di un nuovo apparecchio dello stesso tipo. Inoltre, tutti i prodotti messi sul mercato dopo l’entrata in vigore del decreto dovranno riportare in modo chiaro e indelebile indicazioni sul produttore e il simbolo della raccolta differenziata dei RAEE e, ancora, entro un anno i produttori dovranno allestire sistemi di raccolta separata dei RAEE, o demandandoli a terzi oppure consorziandosi tra loro o ancora convenzionandosi con i Comuni. I centri presso i quali verranno radunati i rifiuti devono garantire l’integrità degli stessi per la messa in sicurezza dei RAEE storici e ottimizzare il reimpiego e il riciclo dei materiali e dei componenti. A tale scopo, i produttori dovranno anche informare i centri di raccolta e riciclo circa i componenti e i materiali che compongono l’apparecchio. Questi obblighi riguardano anche i produttori che utilizzano per la vendita i mezzi di comunicazione a distanza: anche loro dovranno adeguarsi ai vincoli del decreto e contribuire a finanziare i centri di raccolta separata e di riciclo. Il provvedimento stabilisce anche le sanzioni e per gli inadempienti e prevede la costituzione di due comitati: uno per la vigilanza e il controllo e uno d’indirizzo presso il ministero dell’Ambiente. Analizzando nello specifico la situazione presente nella provincia di Pescara, almeno per il momento, non ci sono aziende che si occupano del trattamento dei RAEE, mentre sono presenti circa 14 imprese che effettuano la raccolta e il trasporto, regolarmente iscritte nell’Albo Gestori di Rifiuti, le quali conferiscono le apparecchiature ormai dimesse negli stabilimenti collocati nella regione o in alcuni casi nelle Marche dove è presente una Piattaforma di riciclaggio di beni durevoli. L’ultima proroga al recepimento delle Direttive Comunitarie è avvenuta il 28 giugno 2007, il Consiglio dei Ministri ha fissato il nuovo termine per il 31 dicembre 2007. È auspicabile che la problematica venga affrontata, in prossimità di tale scadenza in termini più completi includendo questioni ad oggi scarsamente affrontate come: trattamento di rifiuti storici e … finanziamento alla ricerca in questo campo