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• Solid waste represents globally a critical "renewable" energy source. • Incineration is a key "competitor" to landfill, especially in the developing world. • Waste to energy represents an important instrument for sustainable development. • Externalities are crucial towards social acceptance of any waste management option. • Incineration's externalities assessed to be negligible compared to other pressures. There is much debate around promoting waste to energy incineration facilities in many communities globally, mainly because of social opposition against potential negative health effects of the operation of these installations close to urban areas. In this paper, a novel decision support approach is developed and its applicability is demonstrated for the greater Thessaloniki area, Greece. In this area, the incineration facilities are hotly debated, mainly due to the "Not In My Back Yard" syndrome related with health considerations. The exclusive method of treatment is landfilling. Health impacts and corresponding externalities attributed to the operation of an incineration facility are reliably estimated. Three potential alternative sites and three scenarios of emission rates are considered, depending on the abatement technology used. The estimated externalities are compared to the corresponding ones attributed to other pressures in the area. The "Years of Life Lost (YOLL)" indicator attributed to the operation of the facility is 2.8 YOLL in the worst-case scenario. This corresponds to a minimal added implication in comparison with the 11,044 YOLL estimated for the area due to the other environmental pressures (road traffic, space heating, industrial activity). The externalities ratio (externalities due to incineration facility/total externalities) for the region is approximately 0.03%. Thus, the impact of this operation on human health is negligible -and preferable to landfilling- even in the case that maximum emission rates are considered. Efforts should be targeted towards enhancing public awareness and militating the widely acknowledged "Not In My Back Yard" syndrome by local communities. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Abstract: The use of indicators constitutes internationally an important tool for assessing the progress achieved towards sustainable development. Measuring the sustainability in urban areas – which are crucial engines of local socio-economic development, but at the same time present concentration points of environmental decay – is a major challenge for environmental managers and decision-makers. This paper aims at the development and utilisation of a system of indicators as a dynamic tool for the management of environmental, social and economic information in order to evaluate sustainability in urban areas. In this context, guidelines for the system’s development and use are proposed, together with a suggestion for its communication among local stakeholders. An application of this system is demonstrated through a case study using the Greater Thessaloniki Area, Greece, a domain with considerable socio-economic development, which is also encountering significant environmental pressures. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Abstract: Construction industry is the most significant fields on a global scale, with respect to its economic, technological, and environmental impact. Its rapid growth over the last decades has resulted in an enormous increase of the produced construction and demolition waste, thus provoking a considerable burden on the environment. The proposed methodological framework is aiming towards optimal location of units of alternative construction and demolition waste management and it is following the path of multicriteria analysis. For the problem under study, ELECTRE III technique is adopted. The decision process presented requires the adoption of a number of logical steps mainly, clarification of the decision criteria for selecting the optimal location (economical, environmental and social), the definition of their relative significance and data assembly. The approach allows a robust parameter analysis in order to evaluate and compare in detail all available alternatives. On top of that, sensitivity analysis is also available, since parameter values in real life applications originate from estimations which are sometimes more or less reliable. This paper presents an effort to interlace local acceptance, financial viability and level of environmental quality which represents a vital issue for the particular waste stream’s management efficiency. The methodology is implemented and demonstrated for the case of the Region of Central Macedonia, Greece and can be employed either by private investors or public authorities in other areas internationally. [Copyright &y& Elsevier]