Biodegradability standards for carrier bags and plastic films in aquatic environments: a critical review

Plastic litter is encountered in aquatic ecosystems across the globe, including polar environments and the deep sea. To mitigate the adverse societal and ecological impacts of this waste, there has been debate on whether ‘biodegradable’ materials should be granted exemptions from plastic bag bans and levies. However, great care must be exercised when attempting to define this term, due to the broad and complex range of physical and chemical conditions encountered within natural ecosystems. Here, we review existing international industry standards and regional test methods for evaluating the biodegradability of plastics within aquatic environments (wastewater, unmanaged freshwater and marine habitats). We argue that current standards and test methods are insufficient in their ability to realistically predict the biodegradability of carrier bags in these environments, due to several shortcomings in experimental procedures and a paucity of information in the scientific literature. Moreover, existing biodegradability standards and test methods for aquatic environments do not involve toxicity testing or account for the potentially adverse ecological impacts of carrier bags, plastic additives, polymer degradation products or small (microscopic) plastic particles that can arise via fragmentation. Successfully addressing these knowledge gaps is a key requirement for developing new biodegradability standard(s) for lightweight carrier bags

Keywords given by authors of scientific articles in database descriptors

This paper analyses the keywords given by authors of scientific articles and the descriptors assigned to the articles in order to ascertain the presence of the keywords in the descriptors. 640 INSPEC, CAB abstracts, ISTA and LISA database records were consulted. After detailed comparisons it was found that keywords provided by authors have an important presence in the database descriptors studied, since nearly 25% of all the keywords appeared in exactly the same form as descriptors, with another 21% while normalized, are still detected in the descriptors. This means that almost 46% of keywords appear in the descriptors, either as such or after normalization. Elsewhere, three distinct indexing policies appear, one represented by INSPEC and LISA (indexers seem to have freedom to assign the descriptors they deem necessary); another is represented by CAB (no record has fewer than four descriptors and, in general, a large number of descriptors is employed; in contrast, in ISTA, a certain institutional code towards economy in indexing, since 84% of records contain only four descriptors

Defining complementary tools to the IVI. The Infrastructure Degradation Index (IDI) and the Infrastructure Histogram (HI)

[EN] The Infrastructure Value Index (IVI) is quickly becoming a standard as a valuable tool to quickly assess the state of urban water infrastructure. However, its simple nature (as a single metric) can mask some valuable information and lead to erroneous conclusions. This paper introduces two complementary tools to IVI: The Infrastructure Degradation Index (IDI) and the Infrastructure Histogram (HI). The IDI is focused on time (compared to the IVI, focused on value), represents an intuitive concept and behaves in a linear way. The joint analysis of IVI and IDI provides results in a more complete understanding of the state of the assets, while maintaining the simplicity of the tools. The Infrastructure Histogram allows for a full evaluation of the infrastructure state and provides a detailed picture of network age compared to its expected life, as well as an order of magnitude of the required investments in the following years.Cabrera Rochera, E.; Estruch-Juan, ME.; Gomez Selles, E.; Del Teso-March, R. (2019). Defining complementary tools to the IVI. The Infrastructure Degradation Index (IDI) and the Infrastructure Histogram (HI). Urban Water Journal. 16(5):343-352. https://doi.org/10.1080/1573062X.2019.1669195S343352165Alegre, H., Vitorino, D., & Coelho, S. (2014). Infrastructure Value Index: A Powerful Modelling Tool for Combined Long-term Planning of Linear and Vertical Assets. Procedia Engineering, 89, 1428-1436. doi:10.1016/j.proeng.2014.11.469Amaral, R., Alegre, H., & Matos, J. S. (2016). A service-oriented approach to assessing the infrastructure value index. Water Science and Technology, 74(2), 542-548. doi:10.2166/wst.2016.250Aware-p.org. 2014. “AWARE-P/Software.” Accessed 25 November 2018. http://www.aware-p.org/np4/software/Baseform. 2018. “Baseform.” Accessed 24 November 2018. https://baseform.com/np4/productCanal de Isabel II Gestión. 2012. Normas Para Redes de Abastecimiento. [Standards for Water Supply Networks.]. https://www.canalgestion.es/es/galeria_ficheros/pie/normativa/normativa/Normas_redes_abastecimiento2012_CYIIG.pdfFrost, and Sullivan. 2011. “Western European Water and Wastewater Utilities Market.” https://store.frost.com/western-european-water-and-wastewater-utilities-market.html#section1Leitão, J. P., Coelho, S. T., Alegre, H., Cardoso, M. A., Silva, M. S., Ramalho, P., … Carriço, N. (2014). Moving urban water infrastructure asset management from science into practice. Urban Water Journal, 13(2), 133-141. doi:10.1080/1573062x.2014.939092Marchionni, V., Cabral, M., Amado, C., & Covas, D. (2016). Estimating Water Supply Infrastructure Cost Using Regression Techniques. Journal of Water Resources Planning and Management, 142(4), 04016003. doi:10.1061/(asce)wr.1943-5452.0000627Marchionni, V., Lopes, N., Mamouros, L., & Covas, D. (2014). Modelling Sewer Systems Costs with Multiple Linear Regression. Water Resources Management, 28(13), 4415-4431. doi:10.1007/s11269-014-0759-zPulido-Velazquez, M., Cabrera Marcet, E., & Garrido Colmenero, A. (2014). Economía del agua y gestión de recursos hídricos. Ingeniería del agua, 18(1), 95. doi:10.4995/ia.2014.3160Rokstad, M. M., Ugarelli, R. M., & Sægrov, S. (2015). Improving data collection strategies and infrastructure asset management tool utilisation through cost benefit considerations. Urban Water Journal, 13(7), 710-726. doi:10.1080/1573062x.2015.102469

Evaluation of the effectiveness and cost-effectiveness of lightweight fibreglass heel casts in the management of ulcers of the heel in diabetes: a randomised controlled trial

Background Ulcers of the foot in people with diabetes mellitus are slow to heal and result in considerable cost and patient suffering. The prognosis is worst for ulcers of the heel. Objective To assess both the clinical effectiveness and the cost-effectiveness of lightweight fibreglass casts in the management of heel ulcers. Design A pragmatic, multicentre, parallel, observer-blinded randomised controlled trial. A central randomisation centre used a computer-generated random number sequence to allocate participants to groups. Setting Thirty-five specialist diabetic foot secondary care centres in the UK. Those recruited were aged ≥ 18 years and had diabetes mellitus complicated by ulcers of the heel of grades 2–4 on the National Pressure Ulcer Advisory Panel and European Pressure Ulcer Advisory Panel scale. Participants In total, 509 participants [68% male, 15% with type 1 diabetes mellitus, mean age 67.5 years (standard deviation 12.4 years)] were randomised 1 : 1 to the intervention (n = 256) or the control (n = 253) arm. The primary outcome data were available for 425 participants (212 from the intervention arm and 213 from the control arm) and exceeded the total required; attrition was 16.5%. The median ulcer area at baseline was 275 mm2 [interquartile range (IQR) 104–683 mm2] in the intervention group and 206 mm2 (IQR 77–649 mm2) in the control group. There were no differences between the two groups at baseline in any parameter, neither in relation to the participant nor in relation to their ulcer. Interventions The intervention group received usual care supplemented by the addition of an individually moulded, lightweight, fibreglass heel cast. The control group received usual care alone. The intervention phase continued either until the participant’s ulcer had healed (maintained for 28 days) or for 24 weeks, whichever occurred first. During this intervention phase, the participants were reviewed every 2 weeks, and the fibreglass casts were replaced when they were no longer usable. Main outcome measures The primary outcome measure was ulcer healing (confirmed by a blinded observer and maintained for 4 weeks) within 24 weeks. Other outcome measures included the time taken for the ulcer to heal, the percentage reduction in the cross-sectional area, the reduction in local pain, amputation, survival and health economic analysis. The study was powered to define a difference in healing of 15% (55% intervention vs. 40% control). Results Forty-four per cent (n = 94) of the intervention group healed within 24 weeks, compared with 37% (n = 80) of the control participants (odds ratio 1.42, 95% confidence interval 0.95 to 2.14; p = 0.088), using an intention-to-treat analysis. No differences were observed between the two groups for any secondary outcome. Limitations Although the component items of care were standardised, because this was a pragmatic trial, usual care was not uniform. There was some evidence of a small excess of adverse events in the intervention group; however, non-blinded observers documented these events. There was no excess of adverse device effects. Conclusions There may be a small increase in healing with the use of a heel cast, but the estimate was not sufficiently precise to provide strong evidence of an effect. There was no evidence of any subgroup in which the intervention appeared to be particularly effective. A health economic analysis suggested that it is unlikely that the intervention represents good value for money. The provision of a lightweight heel cast may be of benefit to some individuals, but we have found no evidence to justify the routine adoption of this in clinical practice. Future work It is unlikely that further study of this intervention will have an impact on usual clinical care, and so future efforts should be directed towards other interventions designed to improve the healing of ulcers in this population

A UK practitioner view of domestic energy performance measurement

There is a growing body of evidence concerning the energy efficiency performance of domestic buildings in the UK, driven by policy-based agenda, such as the need for zero carbon dioxide homes by 2016 for new build homes, and Green Deal and energy company obligation for sustainable refurbishment. While there have been a number of studies funded and results presented in this area, little work has been done to understand the drivers, practices and issues of data collection and analysis. There are a number of major building performance evaluation (BPE) studies in the UK, yet behind many of these research projects are practical issues of data loss, experimental error, data analysis variances and resident issues that are common when studies move from the actual to the living lab. In this paper the issues of domestic energy are addressed by leading BPE practitioners in the UK. They identify issues of client demands, technical failure, costs and implementation. The work provides insights of both academic and industry-based practitioners and considers not only the practicalities of building performance studies, but also implications for these types of studies in the future

The carbon impact of short-haul tourism: A case study of UK travel to Southern France using life cycle analysis

Tourism holds a significant share in the global carbon footprint. Transportation to the destination is recognized as the primary contributor, although its contribution can be less dominant in the context of short-haul travel. Previous studies do not provide a critical comparative analysis of how changes in travel behaviour, notably modal shift, affect the total carbon impacts from short-haul holidays; nor do they explore the relative contribution of the specific elements of the holiday product or account for global variations when measuring those contributions. This paper presents a carbon impact assessment case study of short-haul tourism to Southern France by British tourists. It applies an advanced, Life Cycle Assessment-based, method of evaluation, the hybrid DEFRA-LCA (Ecoinvent) approach, which is capable of appraising both the direct and the embodied 'indirect' greenhouse gas emissions. The principal finding supports the traditional view that transportation generates the largest carbon footprint and that the most significant carbon savings can be achieved by switching from air and car-based travel to train and coach. However, the study also indicates that if tourists stay at the destination longer, and travel to the destination by train or coach, the destination-based elements of the holiday can make a large carbon contribution and even outweigh the share of the transit element. The Life Cycle Assessment also shows that the 'indirect' greenhouse gas emissions from tourism in Southern France are significant, thus emphasizing the importance of their incorporation into future carbon impact appraisals. © 2013 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved