The evaluation of national accounting matrices with environmental accounts (NAMEA) as a methodology for carrying out a sustainability assessment of the Scottish food and drink sector

This report introduces environmental input-output (IO) accounts for Scotland as an example of a NAMEA framework. It provides an introduction to the use of basic IO multiplier methodology, which can be applied to examine pollution/waste generation and/or resource use under production and consumption accounting principles

Feasibility of recovered toner powder as an integral pigment in concrete

Colour is an important property in many construction materials with pigments, coatings and paints being used primarily for aesthetic, safety and restoration purposes. However, the use of integral pigments in materials like mortar and concrete can significantly increase material costs. Recovered toner powder (RTP) from printer and photocopier cartridges has the potential to be a low cost, sustainable alternative pigment. The aim of this research was to examine the feasibility of using cyan, yellow, magenta and black RTP to create a range of colour options for mortar and concrete, and thereafter assess the colour stability in outdoor, indoor, UV and wet/dry conditions using the colour change parameter (ΔE). The work showed that the RTP as a pigment could be blended to make a range of primary and secondary colours had good colour stability in all environments with minimal impact on selected properties of hardened concrete

The impact of the variability and periodicity of rainfall on surface water supply systems in Scotland

This paper analyses the impact of the variability and periodicity of rainfall on the reliability of water supply systems in Scotland. A conceptual rainfall-runoff model was used to simulate catchment runoff, and the reliability of 29 notional and six actual reservoirs was calculated using a simple storage model. The relationship between water supply reliability and the variability of rainfall was then investigated using different measures of variability. A strong correlation was found between reservoir reliability and measures representing the distribution of rainfall between the winter and summer seasons, as well as the cumulative sum (CUSUM) of annual precipitation, quantifying the variability of rainfall between years. In contrast, mainly the intra-annual CUSUM range and the variance of monthly precipitation influenced the reliability of river-intake schemes. The presence of periodic patterns in rainfall anomalies was found to be more prevalent in West Scotland, where reservoir reliability is on average lower than in the East. In addition, a sensitivity analysis revealed the small influence of evapotranspiration on reservoir reliability in comparison to rainfall variability. This study reveals the measures of variability most affecting the reliability of surface water supplies in Scotland, and could therefore help with their management in the context of future climate change

Influence of design and media amendments on the performance of stormwater biofilters

Biofiltration systems are a promising retrofit option for site-constrained urban areas due to the vertical arrangement of treatment stages that leads to a relatively compact footprint. Existing knowledge about the influence of their design and configuration on hydrological, stormwater pollutant removal and long-term performance is limited and this has been identified as a barrier to their widespread uptake. Long-term simulations of lined and unlined biofiltration systems in four contrasting UK climatic regimes were used to assess the influence of climate, ponding depth, biofilter to drainage area ratio and infiltration rate on hydrological performance. The results showed that local differences in climate have a significant impact on performance and that infiltration rates as low as 0·36 mm/h are not suitable for locations in the UK with high rainfall unless the biofilter to drainage area ratio is greater than 10%. However, with higher infiltration rates (72 mm/h) a biofilter occupying only 3% of the impermeable catchment area would be capable of infiltrating 97% of annual rainfall in central England. Preliminary results of adsorption and column tests to assess the effectiveness of media amendments, specifically zeolite and granular activated carbon, for dissolved copper and phosphate removal are presented in this paper

Concentrations of organic contaminants in industrial and municipal bioresources recycled in agriculture in the UK

Many types of bioresource materials are recycled in agriculture for soil improvement and as bedding materials for livestock and have potential for transfer into plant and animal foods. Representative types of industrial and municipal bioresources were selected to assess the extent of organic chemical contamination, including: (i) land applied materials: treated sewage sludge biosolids), meat and bone meal ash (MBMA), poultry litter ash (PLA), paper sludge ash (PSA) and compost-like-output (CLO), and (ii) bedding materials: recycled waste wood (RWW), dried paper sludge (DPS), paper sludge ash (PSA) and shredded cardboard. The materials generally contained lower concentrations of polychlorinated dibenzo-pdioxins/dibenzofurans (PCDD/Fs) and dioxin-like polychlorinated biphenyls (PCBs) relative to earlier reports, indicating the decline in environmental emissions of these established contaminants. However, concentrations of polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons (PAHs) remain elevated in biosolids samples from urban catchments. Polybrominated dibenzo-p-dioxins/dibenzofurans (PBDD/Fs) were present in larger amounts in biosolids and CLO compared to their chlorinated counterparts and hence are of potentially greater significance in contemporary materials. The presence of non-ortho-polychlorinated biphenyls (PCBs) in DPS was probably due to non-legacy sources of PCBs in paper production. Emerging flame retardant compounds, including: decabromodiphenylethane (DBDPE)and organophosphate flame retardants (OPFRs), were detected in several of the materials. The profile of perfluoroalkyl substances (PFAS) depended on the type of waste category; perfluoroundecanoic acid (PFUnDA) was the most significant PFAS for DPS, whereas perfluorooctane sulfonate (PFOS) was dominant in biosolids and CLO. The concentrations of polychlorinated alkanes (PCAs) and di-2-ethylhexyl phthalate (DEHP) were generally much larger than the other contaminants measured, indicating that there are major anthropogenic sources of these potentially hazardous chemicals entering the environment. The study results suggest that continued vigilance is required to control emissions and sources of these contaminants to support the beneficial use of secondary bioresource materials

Sustainable urban drainage An introduction

SIGLEAvailable from British Library Document Supply Centre-DSC:f99/2113 / BLDSC - British Library Document Supply CentreGBUnited Kingdo

Producer Responsibility Obligations (Packaging Waste) Regulations 1997 The agencies interpretation of packaging

SIGLEAvailable from British Library Document Supply Centre-DSC:GPD/1060 / BLDSC - British Library Document Supply CentreGBUnited Kingdo

Workshop on economy: environment statistics and potential calculation of an ecological and/or carbon footprints using input-output techniques held at the University of Strathclyde on 11 March 2008

A workshop on economy environment statistics and potential calculation of an ecological and/or carbon footprint using input-output techniques was held at the University of Strathclyde on 11 March 2008. This workshop was commissioned by the Scottish Environment Protection Agency (SEPA) from Dr Karen Turner at the Fraser of Allander Institute, Department of Economics, University of Strathclyde, as part of the ongoing activity by the Scottish Government's Steering Group on Additional Measures of Progress to identify appropriate indicators of the sustainability of economic development in Scotland. The workshop focused specifically on what are referred to as 'consumption-based' indicators of sustainability and the importance of emissions and/or resource use embodied in local economic transactions and in interregional and international trade. In particular, it aimed to initiate discussion on what would be involved in the accurate and transparent measurement of consumption-based indicators such as ecological or carbon footprints for Scotland, drawing on developments in the academic literature. As explained in Section 1 of this report, the key development in the academic literature has been the application of input-output techniques to accounting for emissions and/or resource use. Therefore, the aim of the workshop was to consider how Scotland's existing strength in terms of input-output accounting for the economy can and should be developed to examine the environmental impacts of economic behaviour, in particular the use of input-output techniques in the attribution of emissions and resource use to producers and users as well as the identification of 'environmental trade balances' in informing climate change mitigation policies. In terms of the proposal that an economic-environment input-output accounting infrastructure should be developed for Scotland, workshop participants identified three key benefits: • Environmental input-analysis would facilitate decomposition of overall footprint indicators - i.e. using input-output multiplier analysis to examine the extent to which different activities contribute to the aggregate footprint measurement. • If an appropriate economic-environmental model can be built around the input-output accounting framework to permit impact analysis of alternative policy options, this will add to the analytical support available to policymakers. • Uses of an environmental input-output accounting framework are not limited to footprint calculations. Such a framework would facilitate the construction of a wide range of environmental indicators. Therefore, it is likely to represent 'good value for money' to policymakers. The presentations and discussions at the workshop suggest a consensus that adopting IO techniques to examine a range of measures under different accounting principles would constitute an appropriate, rigorous and transparent approach. However, input-output accounting is resource intensive. Therefore, further consultation is required in order to identify how the greatest value-added can be achieved in terms of current policy concerns and objectives, within the constraints of the availability and resource implications of appropriate input-output data