Costs and benefits of packaging waste recycling systems

This Special Issue provides several different perspectives on the complex issue of packaging waste recycling. It comprises a diverse and rich set of contributions with insights from very different disciplines that range from economics to engineering. All types of “costs and benefits” are addressed in this collection of articles. In addition to the economic and strictly financial impacts of selective collection and sorting of packaging waste, several authors discuss other types of impacts, such as the environmental and social ones. The reader will find articles that address recycling systems as a whole, pieces that focus on specific impacts and detailed discussions of particular material streams or waste management strategies. The Special Issue represents an indispensable resource for academics, policy-makers and practitioners with interests in recycling and packaging waste management

Economic cost recovery in the recycling of packaging waste: the case of Portugal

The recycling of packaging waste is an objective of the Community with clear targets set in the European law. The study of the institutional arrangements, recycling systems and of the costs that resulted from this environmental policy represents an ongoing effort. While each member state has currently its own packaging waste management system, there is still a lack of evidence regarding the actual costs of recycling and on how these costs have been distributed among stakeholders. This paper addresses the Portuguese framework and discusses the financial transfers undertaken by the entity that manages the Green Dot scheme. For this purpose, we use data from the entities in charge of selective collection and sorting of household packaging waste for the year 2010. We compare the financial transfers of the Green Dot company with the costs incurred by the local authorities (which are generally in charge of selective collection and sorting) and open a discussion on the extent to which the principles of the Directive on Packaging and Packaging Waste are being fulfilled in practice. Currently, the Green Dot company is only bearing 77% of the financial costs of the recycling systems in operation in Portugal. The unit cost of the selective collection and sorting of packaging waste is estimated to be 204 €/ton collected

The hurdles of local governments with PPP contracts in the waste sector

With this paper we identify a number of the theoretical principles that apply to public–private partnership (PPP) contracts, introducing new case studies and policy discussions relevant for Europe and elsewhere. We discuss to what extent these contracts can and should be applied in the waste sector and perform a comparison between the purely contractual and the institutionalised models of PPP arrangements. We analyse four case studies in the ‘wholesale’ waste market in Portugal and examine the implementation and degree of success of these partnerships in the field. It seems that public authorities are failing to secure an adequate level of protection of the public interest. Drawing on the empirical evidence, we present some guidelines that could lead to better regulatory contracts for waste services

Enhancing the handling of standard substitution weights on a hydrostatic weighing apparatus

project “17RPT02-rhoLiqThe hydrostatic weighing apparatus is a first-level method used to measure the density of solids and liquids. At the Portuguese Institute for Quality the hydrostatic tests for the determination of the liquids’ density implies the multiple manual placement of a set of standard substitution weights on apparatus’ balance pan, leading to undesirable perturbations in the weighing environment. Also, by this the eccentricity effects on the balance, contribute for an unwanted increase of the measurement uncertainty. To overcome these phenomena, an automated mechanism was designed and implemented, which allows the placing and recollection of the set of standard weights on the balance. To validate the new mechanism, tests to ultrapure water at 20 °C were executed before and after its implementation and the obtained results were compared. Despite a 3-fold increase in density measurement uncertainty, mainly due to the exposure of the standard substitution weights to air convection currents, the execution of hydrostatic tests was improved, not only for the fact that the measurements are now carried out quicker, but also for the fact that the operator only needs to intervene once during the whole test. Moreover, the smaller absolute deviation from the reference density value for ultrapure water at 20 °C results also in a normalised error En lower than 1 (0.3), thus validating the designed automated mechanism for the handling of standard substitution weights.publishersversionpublishe

Packaging waste recycling in Europe: is the industry paying for it?

This paper describes and examines the schemes established in five EU countries for the recycling of packaging waste. The changes in packaging waste management were mainly implemented since the Directive 94/62/EC on packaging and packaging waste entered into force. The analysis of the five systems allowed the authors to identify very different approaches to cope with the same problem: meet the recovery and recycling targets imposed by EU law. Packaging waste is a responsibility of the industry. However, local governments are generally in charge of waste management, particularly in countries with Green Dot schemes or similar extended producer responsibility systems. This leads to the need of establishing a system of financial transfers between the industry and the local governments (particularly regarding the extra costs involved with selective collection and sorting). Using the same methodological approach, the authors also compare the costs and benefits of recycling from the perspective of local public authorities for France, Portugal and Romania. Since the purpose of the current paper is to take note of who is paying for the incremental costs of recycling and whether the industry (i.e. the consumer) is paying for the net financial costs of packaging waste management, environmental impacts are not included in the analysis. The work carried out in this paper highlights some aspects that are prone to be improved and raises several questions that will require further research. In the three countries analyzed more closely in this paper the industry is not paying the net financial cost of packaging waste management. In fact, if the savings attained by diverting packaging waste from other treatment (e.g. landfilling) and the public subsidies to the investment on the “recycling system” are not considered, it seems that the industry should increase the financial support to local authorities (by 125% in France, 50% in Portugal and 170% in Romania). However, in France and Portugal the industry is paying local authorities more than just the incremental costs of recycling (full costs of selective collection and sorting minus the avoided costs). To provide a more definitive judgment on the fairness of the systems it will be necessary to assess the cost efficiency of waste management operators (and judge whether operators are claiming costs or eliciting “prices”)

A Three-Dimensional Stereotaxic MRI Brain Atlas of the Cichlid Fish Oreochromis mossambicus

The African cichlid Oreochromis mossambicus (Mozambique tilapia) has been used as a model system in a wide range of behavioural and neurobiological studies. The increasing number of genetic tools available for this species, together with the emerging interest in its use for neurobiological studies, increased the need for an accurate hodological mapping of the tilapia brain to supplement the available histological data. The goal of our study was to elaborate a three-dimensional, high-resolution digital atlas using magnetic resonance imaging, supported by Nissl staining. Resulting images were viewed and analysed in all orientations (transverse, sagittal, and horizontal) and manually labelled to reveal structures in the olfactory bulb, telencephalon, diencephalon, optic tectum, and cerebellum. This high resolution tilapia brain atlas is expected to become a very useful tool for neuroscientists using this fish model and will certainly expand their use in future studies regarding the central nervous system.Fundação para a Ciência e a Tecnologia grant: (PTDC/PSI/71811/2006); FCT PhD fellowships: (SFRH/BD/40976/2007, SFRH/BD/44848/2008); Plurianual Programme R&D: (unit MAR-LVT-Lisboa-331)

Economic viability of packaging waste recycling systems: a comparison between Belgium and Portugal

The Packaging and Packaging Waste Directive has had an undeniable impact on waste management throughout the European Union. Whereas recycling and recovery targets are the same, member states still enjoy a considerable degree of freedom with respect to the practical organization and management strategies adopted. Nevertheless, in all cases, the industry (which brings packaging material onto the market) should be responsible for the costs associated with packaging waste recycling/recovery (following the extended producer responsibility principle). The current paper compares and contrasts the institutional frameworks and financial costs and benefits of waste management operators for Belgium and Portugal. The unit costs of selective collection and sorting of packaging waste are provided for both countries. In Belgium, the costs of recycling seem to be fully supported by the industry (through Fost Plus, the national Green Dot agency). In Portugal the fairness of the recycling system depends on the perspective adopted (economic or strictly financial). Adopting a strictly financial perspective, it seems that Sociedade Ponto Verde (SPV, the Portuguese Green Dot agency) should increase the transfers to local authorities. However, the conclusions differ for this country if the avoided costs with refuse collection and other treatment are taken into account

Mapping flexibility of urban energy systems (FIRST) project: rationale and study design of an exploratory project

ABSTRACT: With the publication of the new Energy Performance of Buildings Directive, a large number of buildings are expected to become high energy performance and explore more the availability of renewable energy resources. Such buildings are often described in literature as nearly Zero-Energy Buildings (nZEB). Because renewable energy sources, such as wind and solar power, have an intrinsic variability, the zero-energy annual balance of nZEBs is difficult to reach at short time resolution (e.g. hourly). Thus, since electricity generation from small-scale solar renewable (typical case in Portugal) in individual households has limited capacity to be adjusted according to the power system needs, it is relevant to consider the demand flexibility potential, specially at community level (cluster of buildings). Unfortunately, there is a lack of studies on the impact of changes in electricity use at urban level on the future energy systems. Therefore, an approach addressing the energy flexibility (EF) in buildings may allow obtaining useful exploratory directions for the construction sector and related markets, policy makers and regulatory bodies. For these reasons, an exploratory project aimed at examining the potential of EF at the level of an existent neighbourhood in Lisbon was initiated. In this article we describe the objectives, design, and methods of the FIRST project, designed to map out the potential for EF in terms of benefits and costs in Lisbon.info:eu-repo/semantics/publishedVersio

A Novel Protocol to Characterize Virtual Nickel–Titanium Endodontic Instruments

Publisher Copyright: © 2023 by the authors.The nickel–titanium (NiTi) instruments’ geometry plays an important role in their performance and behavior. The present assessment intends to validate and test the applicability of a 3D surface scanning method using a high-resolution laboratory-based optical scanner to create reliable virtual models of NiTi instruments. Sixteen instruments were scanned using a 12-megapixel optical 3D scanner, and methodological validation was performed by comparing quantitative and qualitative measurements of specific dimensions and identifying some geometric features of the 3D models with images obtained through scanning electron microscopy. Additionally, the reproducibility of the method was assessed by calculating 2D and 3D parameters of three different instruments twice. The quality of the 3D models created by two different optical scanners and a micro-CT device was compared. The 3D surface scanning method using the high-resolution laboratory-based optical scanner allowed for the creation of reliable and precise virtual models of different NiTi instruments with discrepancies varying from 0.0002 to 0.0182 mm. The reproducibility of measurements performed with this method was high, and the acquired virtual models were adequate for use in in silico experiments, as well as for commercial or educational purposes. The quality of the 3D model obtained using the high-resolution optical scanner was superior to that acquired by micro-CT technology. The ability to superimpose virtual models of scanned instruments and apply them in Finite Element Analysis and educational purposes was also demonstrated.publishersversionpublishe