Identifying macro-objectives for the life cycle environmental performance and resource efficiency of EU buildings

This working paper forms the main deliverable and outcome from work package A of the wider study. The aim of this working paper is to inform the identification of the most relevant macro-objectives for a building’s life cycle resource efficiency. These macro-objectives will in turn inform and set the scope for the common framework of indicators in work packages B,C and D. The first draft of this working paper was presented as the basis for discussion at the first stakeholder working group meeting, which was held in Brussels on the 16th June 2015. At that meeting the proposed boundaries, scope and coverage of the macro-objectives were discussed. Feedback from those discussions, together with follow-up written feedback, has been used in Chapters 6 and 7 of this working paper to identify a final set of macro-objectives that will be used to set the scope for the framework of indicators. In order to inform the initial proposals for discussion that were presented to stakeholders, this paper reviews existing legislation, scientific evidence, building schemes, collaborative research projects and other relevant literature. A high level scoping of environmental and resource efficiency ‘hot spots’ along the life cycle of buildings has also been carried out. Potential linkages and trade-offs between resource use, impacts along the life cycle and functional performance, with a specific focus on health and wellbeing aspects, have also been identified.JRC.B.5-Circular Economy and Industrial Leadershi

Effectiveness of combination of Mini-and Microsatellite loci to sub-type Mycobacterium avium subsp. paratuberculosis Italian type C isolates

<p>Abstract</p> <p>Background</p> <p><it>Mycobacterium avium </it>subsp. <it>paratuberculosis </it>(Map) is the etiological agent of paratuberculosis. The aim of our study was to combine Mini-and Microsatellite loci analysis in order to explore the effectiveness of this sub-typing method in a group of Map isolates. For this purpose, 84 Italian Type C Map isolates, each from a different cattle herd, were submitted to MIRU-Variable-Number Tandem-Repeats (VNTRs) typing and Short Sequence repeats (SSRs) sequencing. Moreover, the method was used to analyse the variability inside 10 herds (from three to 50 isolates per herd).</p> <p>Results</p> <p>The molecular sub-typing, carried out using three SSR and 10 MIRU-VNTR loci, differentiated the 84 isolates into 33 clusters, reaching a Simpson's Discriminatory Index (SID) value of 0.952 (0.933 to 0.972, 95% confidence intervals). Among all considered loci, six (SSR2, MIRU2, SSR1, SSR8, VNTR3527 and VNTR1067) showed relevant allelic variability. Thirty-eight% of the isolates were clustered into four genotypes, differing from each other for the SSR2 locus. The other isolates, characterised by differences in two or more loci, were spread among the rest of the clusters. The intra-herd analysis revealed more than one genotype in most herds with a similar distribution of clusters.</p> <p>Conclusions</p> <p>Our results revealed the advantage of using both Mini-and Microsatellite approaches for successfully discriminating among Map Type C isolates from the same geographic area, host species and herd. These data suggest that the combination of loci here proposed could be a useful molecular tool for regional epidemiological studies.</p

Best Available Techniques (BAT) Reference Document for the Management of Waste from Extractive Industries in accordance with Directive 2006/21/EC

This document, Best Available Techniques Reference Document for the Management of Waste from Extractive Industries, in accordance with Directive 2006/21/EC, abbreviated as MWEI BREF, is a review of the Reference Document for Management of Tailings and Waste-Rock in Mining Activities (MTWR BREF). This review is the result of an exchange of information between experts from EU Member States, industries concerned, non-governmental organisations promoting environmental protection and the European Commission. The reviewed document presents up-dated data and information on the management of waste from extractive industries, including information on BAT, associated monitoring, and developments in them. It is published by the European Commission pursuant Article 21(3) of Directive 2006/21/EC on the management of waste from extractive industries. This document presents data and information on the following: - General information and key figures on extractive industries in Europe, extractive waste generation, extractive waste facilities and key environmental issues (Chapter 1). - Applied processes and techniques for the management of extractive waste (Chapter 2). - Emission and consumption levels resulting from the management of extractive waste (Chapter 3). - Techniques to consider in the determination of Best Available Techniques (Chapter 4). This includes generic management and waste hierarchy techniques, risk-specific techniques to ensure safety, techniques for the prevention or minimisation of water status deterioration, techniques for the prevention or minimisation of air and soil pollution and other risk-specific techniques. - Best available techniques conclusions (Chapter 5). - Emerging techniques (Chapter 6). This includes techniques that were reported at different levels of technology readiness. - Remarks and recommendations for future work (Chapter 7).JRC.B.5-Circular Economy and Industrial Leadershi

MEErP Preparatory Study on Taps and Showers. Final report

Following the publication of the Working Plan for the Ecodesign Directive (2012-2014), in April 2013 the European Commission launched a preparatory study on the product group taps and showers. The preparatory study on taps and showers has been developed by the European Commission's Joint Research Centre (JRC) following the Commission’s Methodology for the Evaluation of Energy-related Products (MEErP). The research is based on available scientific information and data, adopts a life cycle thinking approach and has engaged with stakeholder experts in order to discuss key issues and to develop a wide consensus. As a final result, the JRC has produced a comprehensive techno-economic and environmental assessment with which to evaluate a possible favourable mix of policy instruments for this product group. In summary, the study has pointed out that: - Water consumption and scarcity is and will be a problem in many areas of the European Union. - The water- and energy-saving potential of taps and showers at European level is significant. - A large number of taps and shower models are on the market which offer consumers the possibility of choosing between different levels of water and energy consumption. - Water-saving technologies represent technically effective, economically affordable and flexible product options. - Market transformation and current policy instruments and industry initiatives are already generating some environmental benefits for this product group. - Increased environmental improvement could be achieved through additional environmental product policy instruments. - A strategic communication policy would be needed because user behaviour is a key issue for ensuring the effective achievement of a potential benefit with any initiative. - Harmonised standards for measuring and calculating the water/energy efficiency of taps and shower systems would also be an important element to integrate in any policy option although this may require a considerable amount of time.JRC.J.5-Sustainable Production and Consumptio

Study on methodological aspects regarding limit values for pollutants in aggregates in the context of the possible development of end-of-waste criteria under the EU Waste Framework Directive

This report provides a methodology proposal for establishing limit values for pollutants in waste-derived aggregates with a view of using such aggregates in a wide variety of construction projects, as part of possible end-of-waste criteria for aggregates in accordance with Article 6 of the Waste Framework Directive (2008/98/EC). More specifically, the study centres on aggregate substances that are subject to leaching and/or release through wear. The report focuses on identifying and assessing the pollution risks of using aggregates derived from waste, on reviewing how the use of aggregates is regulated today in the EU with respect to avoiding pollution, on assessing the need for including limit values for pollutants in end-of-waste criteria, on assessing the suitability of different types of pollutant limit values, on identifying and assessing the different methodological approaches for deriving pollutant limit values and on identifying the most suitable testing approaches and methods, including simplified modes of compliance.JRC.J.5-Sustainable Production and Consumptio

Critical Raw Materials and the Circular Economy – Background report

This report is a background document used by several European Commission services to prepare the EC report on critical raw materials and the circular economy, a commitment of the European Commission made in its Communication ‘EU action plan for the Circular Economy’. It represents a JRC contribution to the Raw Material Initiative and to the EU Circular Economy Action Plan. It combines the results of several research programmes and activities of the JRC on critical raw materials in a context of circular economy, for which a large team has contributed in terms of data and knowledge developments. Circular use of critical raw materials in the EU is analysed, also taking a sectorial perspective. The following sectors are analysed in more detail: mining waste, landfills, electric and electronic equipment, batteries, automotive, renewable energy, defence and chemicals and fertilisers. Conclusions and opportunities for further work are also presented.JRC.D.3-Land Resource

Men and wolves: Anthropogenic causes are an important driver of wolf mortality in human-dominated landscapes in Italy

Over the last 40 years the gray wolf (Canis lupus) re-colonized its historical range in Italy increasing human-predator interactions. However, temporal and spatial trends in wolf mortality, including direct and indirect persecution, were never summarized. This study aims to fill this gap by focusing on the situation of Tuscany and Emilia-Romagna regions, hosting a significant proportion of the Italian wolf population, by: (i) identifying the prevalent causes of wolf mortality, (ii) summarizing their temporal and spatial patterns and (iii) applying spatially-explicit Generalized Linear Models to predict wolf persecution. Between October 2005 and February 2021, 212 wolf carcasses were collected and subjected to necropsy, being involved in collisions with vehicles (n = 104), poisoned (n = 45), wounded with gunshot (n = 24) or blunt objects (n = 4) and being hanged (n = 2). The proportion of illegally killed wolves did not increase through time. Most persecution events occurred between October and February. None of our candidate models outperformed a null model and covariates such as the density of sheep farms, number of predations on livestock, or human density were never associated to the probability of having illegally killed wolves, at the municipal scale. Our findings show that conventional correlates of wolf persecution, combined with a supposedly high proportion of non-retrieved carcasses, fail to predict illegal wolf killings in areas where the species have become ubiquitous. The widespread spatial distribution of illegal killings indicates that persecution probably arises from multiple kinds of conflicts with humans, beyond those with husbandry. Wolf conservation in Italy should thus address cryptic wolf killings with multi-disciplinary approaches, such as shared national protocols, socioecological studies, the support of experts’ experience and effective sampling schemes for the detection of carcasses

Deformation Mechanisms, Microstructures, and Seismic Anisotropy of Wadsleyite in the Earth's Transition Zone

Wadsleyite is the dominant mineral of the upper portion of the Earth's mantle transition zone (MTZ). As such, understanding plastic deformation of wadsleyite is relevant for the interpretation of observations of seismic signals from this region in terms of mantle flow. Despite its relevance, however, the deformation mechanisms of wadsleyite and their effects on microstructures and anisotropy are still poorly understood. Here, we present the results of new deformation experiments on polycrystalline wadsleyite at temperatures of 1400–1770 K and pressures between 12.3 and 20.3 GPa in the laser-heated diamond anvil cell. We rely on multigrain X-ray crystallography to follow the evolution of individual grain orientations and extract lattice preferred orientations at the sample scale at different steps of the experiments. A comparison of experimental results of our work and the literature with polycrystal plasticity simulations, indicates that ⟨111⟩{101} is the most active slip system of dislocations in wadsleyite at all investigated conditions. Secondary slip systems such as [001](010), [100](001), and [100]{0kl}, however, play a critical role in the resulting microstructures and their activity depends on both temperature and water content, from which we extract an updated deformation map of wadsleyite at MTZ conditions. Lastly, we propose several seismic anisotropy models of the upper part of the MTZ, depending on temperature, geophysical context, and levels of hydration that will be useful for the interpretation of seismic signals from the MTZ in terms of mantle flow and water conten

Evidence of Common Isolates of Streptococcus agalactiae in Bovines and Humans in Emilia Romagna Region (Northern Italy)

Streptococcus agalactiae (group B Streptococcus, GBS) is one of the most important agents of bovine mastitis and causes remarkable direct and indirect economic losses to the livestock sector. Moreover, this species can cause severe human diseases in susceptible individuals. To investigate the zoonotic potential of S. agalactiae, 203 sympatric isolates from both humans and cattle, isolated in the same time frame (2018) and in the same geographic area (Emilia Romagna region, Northern Italy), were characterized by molecular capsular typing (MCT), pilus island typing (PI), and multi-locus sequence typing (MLST). In addition, antibiotic-resistant phenotypes were investigated. The distribution of the allelic profiles obtained by combining the three genotyping methods (MCT-PI-MLST) resulted in 64 possible genotypes, with greater genetic variability among the human compared to the bovine isolates. Although the combined methods had a high discriminatory power (&gt;96,2%), five genotypes were observed in both species (20,9% of the total isolates). Furthermore, some of these strains shared the same antibiotic resistance profiles. The finding of human and bovine isolates with common genotypes and antibiotic resistance profiles supports the hypothesis of interspecies transmission of S. agalactiae between bovines and humans