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International audience; The City Region Food Systems approach has been proposed to achieve food system resilience and nutrition security while promoting the urgent ecological transition within urban and peri-urban areas, especially after the COVID-19 pandemic. However, the great diversity of the initiatives composing City Region Food Systems in Europe poses barriers to the assessment of their integrated sustainability. Hence, the present work is developed within the EU-H2020 project Food System in European Cities (FoodE), to build a consistentsustainability scoring system that allows comparative evaluation of City Region Food System Initiatives. Adopting a Life Cycle Thinking approach, it advances on existing knowledge and past projects, taking advantage of a participatory process, with stakeholders from multidisciplinary expertise. As a result, the research designs, and tests on 100 case studies a simplified and ready-to-use scoring mechanism based on a quali-quantitative appraisal survey tool, delivering a final sustainability score on a 1-5 points scale, to get insights on the social, economic, and environmental impacts. As in line with the needs of the UN Sustainable Development Goals, the outcome represents a step forward for the sustainable development and social innovation of food communities in cities and regions, providing a practical and empirical lens for improvedplanning and governance.

Altres ajuts: acords transformatius de la UAB Unidad de excelencia María de Maeztu CEX2019-000940-M The external resource dependency of urban areas results in the externalization of environmental and socioeconomic impacts. Implementing food, energy and water production systems on urban rooftops (roof mosaics) can potentially help cities become more self-sufficient but depends on the city's urban morphology. We studied the supply potential and impacts of four roof mosaic scenarios for different urban forms in Cerdanyola, a 58 thousand-inhabitant town in the metropolitan area of Barcelona. We combined spatial analysis of potential rooftops, metabolism analysis, and social and environmental impacts. The municipality has an average rooftop/household potential of 31 m2 on which to implement any of the mosaic scenarios, with the highest potential in the single-family housing typology. The highest level of vegetable self-sufficiency was found in housing estates (32%), and the lowest in originary fabrics (28%). Regarding electricity and water self-sufficiency, the highest self-sufficiency level was found in the single-family housing typology (51% and 14%, respectively) and the lowest in housing estates (26% and 8%, respectively). Regarding impacts, the implementation of the electricity and rainwater harvesting systems depicts the most positive indicators in single-family housing areas. However, for housing estates and originary fabrics typologies, the best performance is shown to be in the implementation of rooftop farming systems.

To facilitate the transition from a linear to a circular economy there is a need to develop digital tools that can provide comprehensive and useful data to enhance repair, remanufacturing, reuse, and recycling. This paper explains the typology of information key for such end, it discusses the current limitations and difficulties to implement methods in a digital platform, and a description of already existing digital solutions that will be further improved in the context of the DigiPrime project. A preliminary analysis of the availability and accessibility of information about electronics is required before the definition of a digital tool to support circular economy. First, the paper discusses the need of ‘digitalized’ end ‘standardized’ information of electronics to promote circular strategies. Then, diverse digitalization approaches by several teams of the Digiprime project are detailed. The paper concludes with a description of the next steps needed to align the diverse digitalization approaches and its potential contribution to improve the electronics sector.

The history of tourism in Malta goes back 60 years. While widely hailed for its economic contribution, very little reference is made to the waste externalities that riddle the industry. In islands like Malta, the impacts of waste generation are more pronounced particularly due to the size of the country and its population density. Furthermore, waste originating from the hospitality establishments is, in its majority, landfilled. Five-star hotels have been established to generate more waste than hotels in lower star categories. Focusing on an established five-star hotel, this research provides a comprehensive case-study that utilises a mixed methodology approach which supplies quantitative figures of waste generated in the a-la-carte, buffet restaurants and residents’ rooms, together with qualitative methods to furnish information and insights about waste generation and reduction initiatives. Results point to the pervasive problem of plastic and single-use items. In one week, 692.5 kg of waste is generated in the residents’ rooms, 50.3 per cent of which consists of plastic. The impact of single-use items is exposed by the difference in the ‘other’ fraction which reaches 0.05 kg/person, a stark contrast to the remaining fractions which reach 0.01 kg/person. Food waste is an aspect of the hospitality industry that cannot be side-lined. Plate-waste, measured in a month-long audit performed at the a-la-carte restaurant, reaches an average of 0.21 and 0.16 kg/person at lunch and dinner respectively. The buffet dinner exposes greater wastage with 0.48 kg/person. Preparation waste reached 0.08 kg/person. The relationship between portion sizes and food waste is exposed when the removal of a side plate decreases waste generation from 0.059 kg/person to 0.043 kg/person.

IntroductionReduction of food loss in the horticultural sector is critical to simultaneously support the transition toward a diet with higher consumption of vegetables and the achievement of policy goals aimed at halving the quantity of wastage by 2030. However, the lack of precise information and the presence of múltiple interconnected factors makes it difficult to assess the potential socioeconòmic benefits and therefore the decision-making process of food loss reduction strategies.MethodsA case study approach has been used to assess the econòmic loss and nutrional impact of food loss in the horticulture primary production. The selection of the main vegetable products was based on an historical series while econòmic and nutritional impact were estimated starting from national and European indicator.ResultsThe food loss correspond to 26% of the total production and 14% of the total agricultural production econòmic value. The social analysis confirm the possibility of redistributing food loss among the population even in the most critical months and areas.DiscussionThe combination of social and econòmic indicator resulted essential to provide key information at the decision-making level to pave the way for the elaboration of short- and long-term food loss reduction strategies. Indeed, no single-bullet strategy can be applied to overcome the problem of food loss as many actor with different needs are involved.

Social and spatial segregation structures in Latin America are perceived as processes for the selective concentration of social or demographic groups in geographic sectors of the city. This voluntary or forced segregation creates poor, wealthy, and marginal areas, leading to the territory’s marginalization and fragmentation, destroying the symbolic and territorial urban continuity. To understand the behavior of waste pickers in a Mexican city, we sought to know the conditions of the informal collection activity in eight Latin American countries with similar conditions. Therefore, the goal was to carry out a bibliographic evaluation that included the environmental contribution of waste pickers, their organizations, and their link with urban metabolism. The tasks performed by informal waste pickers in the cities of the eight selected Latin American countries, their organizations, and their way of working were studied. Their role in reducing environmental impact and improving the quality of life of city dwellers was evaluated. Web sites, web searches, and face-to-face meetings created electronic communication channels with this community were analyzed. In some cases, they are well organized and become microentrepreneurs with salary, social security, and economical insurance by starting an ecological business. In contrast, marginal groups seeking economic support collect, separate, sort, and group recoverable waste daily and sell it at waste distribution points. This link in the urban metabolism reintroduces valuable solid waste into the production chain. In addition, materials with commercial value, such as metals, plastics, paper, cardboard, and wood, can re-enter the production chain as secondary materials for industry. Thus, a collective of well-organized waste pickers contributes to the city’s sustainability and provides better living conditions for the waste pickers. In Mexico, there is a lack of official information regarding the number of waste pickers, organizations, activities, and their environmental contribution. Therefore, a directory with that information is highly relevant to designing public policies to recognize the essential contributions of this sector.

Unidad de excelencia María de Maeztu CEX2019-000940-M Altres ajuts: GROOF project (UE. Interreg NWE 474, 2017-2021) With the overall aim to design successful implementation strategies of food-energy-water production systems on urban roofs, we propose an integrated process that includes participatory processes and a multi-dimensional sustainability assessment of environmental, social and economic indicators. The proposed framework was applied to a typical housing estate in the Metropolitan Area of Barcelona made up of 201 buildings and 13,466 inhabitants and characterized by a high share of low-income families. We assess several future scenarios of joint electricity production (photovoltaic panels), vegetable production (through open-air farming and greenhouses), green roof implementation and rainwater harvesting and rank them according to non-participatory and participatory approaches. In general, there was a tendency for residents to choose strategies providing energy and water rather than the food production potential of rooftops. However, the environmental assessment indicated that the least impacting alternatives from a life cycle approach were those promoting vegetable production, meeting 42 to 56% of the residents' fresh produce demand and reducing environmental impacts by 24 to 37 kg CO 2eq m −2 of rooftop/year. Hence, we found that residents were mainly concerned with energy expenses and not so much with food insecurity, social cohesion or the impacts of long-distance supply chains. Our assessment supports urban sustainability and helps identify and breach the gap between scientific and user preferences in urban environmental proposals by informing and educating residents through a participatory integrated assessment.

Industrial parks have been used to promote the economic development of countries. However, its rapid growth has generated environmental problems related to the depletion of natural resources and pollution. Consequently, the network analysis and the bibliometric analysis applied in this research generated qualitative and quantitative information from a systemic perspective on the thematic and community evolution of research on industrial parks (IP) performed to improve its negative environmental impact and reach sustainability. This study used the Web of Science (WoS) database from 1996 – 2019. The main trends and critical research points were identified in four periods of 6-year each. Social network analysis (SNA) was used to identify the intellectual structure main and the academic collaboration networks established among countries/territories, institutions, and authors. The most productive country in articles is currently China (882), however, when we consider the frequency of articles per million inhabitants, it ranks seventh. The WoS database grouped 63.6 ​% of the articles published in the subjects of “Environmental Sciences & Ecology”, “Engineering”, and “Science & Technology - Other Topics”. Industrial Ecology (IE), Industrial Symbiosis (IS), and Circular Economy (CE) were the author keywords with the highest frequency, indicating that IP research has focused from these perspectives to promote the exchange of byproducts and to evaluate the performance and environmental impact of industrial areas through the use of methodologies such as carbon footprints, emergy analysis, and life cycle analysis (LCA). Finally, some themes were identified and proposed for future research based on analyzing research trends and hot spots from the literature review on industrial parks., Industrial park; Social network analysis; Industrial ecology; Circular economy; Sustainability; Development sustainable.

Unidad de excelencia María de Maeztu MdM-2015-0552 Altres ajuts: Beatriu de Pinós 2016 BP 00132 Cities are becoming one of the greatest generators of waste and thus a potential source of secondary materials. One of the most attractive waste streams in cities is waste electrical and electronic equipment (WEEE) as they contain many valuable metals, mainly in the printed circuit board (PCB), with a high risk of a disruption in their supply. Many of the PCBs contained in small WEEE are separated by destructive operations, as the economic feasibility of their separation using non-destructive operations remains unclear. This paper examines the feasibility of separating the PCB and the permanent magnets (PMs) contained in hard disk drives (HDD) using non-destructive operations. The economic cost of separating these parts is evaluated by the disassembly sequences, the disassembly schemes, and using the 'ease of Disassembly Metric' (eDiM). In HDD, the economic cost for the non-destructive separation of the PCB is €0.05 while the cost to harvest the PCB as well as the PMs is €0.39. In both cases, such cost is well below the estimated economic value of the gold, silver, and palladium contained in the PCB (€0.85). As a result, the paper concludes that the separation of the PCB and the PMs of HDDs is economically profitable. Measures for promoting the non-destructive separation of the PCBs and the PM of HDDs should be further promoted, as they could help improve the supply of secondary raw materials.

Unidad de excelencia María de Maeztu CEX2019-000940-M Altres ajuts: acords transformatius de la UAB In the next 10 years, cities will house 60% of the world's population, where in agro-urban frontier territories, mainly in semiarid regions, problems associated with land use and water distribution will arise. Therefore, a model of growth that contemplates the lowest use of resources must be proposed. The aim of this study is to determine the environmental impact of the use of resources in agro-services frontier territories of semiarid regions in three urban growth scenarios, linear and circular systems. The study is focused on Luján de Cuyo in Mendoza, Argentina. Through a life cycle assessment, environmental performance was evaluated for the current scenario and the three proposed ones. In addition, an ecoefficiency analysis was performed in relation to climate change and water consumption and the cost of surface uses, as well as an assessment according to the multifunctionality of surface use. Scenario 1 is a linear diffuse urban system, scenario 2 a circular water agro-urban system, and scenario 2 green plus energy a circular water and energy agro-urban system. The outcomes illustrate that scenario 2 green plus energy has the least environmental impacts. Compared to the linear scenario, both circular scenarios show a substantial reduction in water consumption (38-40%) and marine eutrophication (32-47%) and curtail freshwater eutrophication impacts. Furthermore, household energy impacts are reduced by 39% in scenario 2 green plus energy with photovoltaic panel implementation, and maximum ecoefficiency in response to climate change is reached. Additionally, the impacts of scenario 2 green plus energy are more than 42% less than those of scenario 1 in terms of the multifunctionality of surface use. This study shows that it is possible to achieve more sustainable semiarid urban frontier territories with local water and regional energy circularity.

Made available in DSpace on 2020-12-12T01:20:14Z (GMT). No. of bitstreams: 0 Previous issue date: 2020-08-01 Coordenação de Aperfeiçoamento de Pessoal de Nível Superior (CAPES) Universidade Estadual Paulista Fundação de Amparo à Pesquisa do Estado de São Paulo (FAPESP) Developing countries, including Brazil, Russia, India, China and South Africa (BRICS), are implementing mitigation strategies for greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions in specific sectors, such as municipal solid wastes (MSW), to reduce the impacts of climate change. The purpose of this research was to evaluate different GHG emission mitigation scenarios in MSW management in Brazil, countrywide and at municipal level, to determine the best transition towards eco-efficiency (TEE) relative to the current scenario. Environmental (GHG emissions, using the CO2ZW tool) and economic (operating and investment costs and climate change externalities) indicators were determined and analysed per ton of MSW treated, based on field work and national data. An analysis was made of six scenarios of transitions of MSW management and treatment via wet processes (composting and mechanical biological treatment – MBT), dry routes (recycling and incineration) and disposal in sanitary landfills (DSL). The most eco-efficient scenario for Brazil and the municipalities with the largest populations, such as São Paulo and Sorocaba, corresponded to: 70% composting and 30% DSL for wet MSW and; 70% recycling and 30% DSL for dry MSW. In the smaller municipalities such as Humaitá, Piedade and Santa Cruz do Sul, the best results in TEE were: 42% composting and 58% DSL for wet MSW and; 41% recycling and 59% DSL for dry MSW. The scenarios showing the lowest TEE performance were MBT and incineration, due to the high costs of these technologies in Brazil. Fundação Getulio Vargas (FGV) São Paulo School of Management (FGV/EAESP) São Paulo State University (Unesp) Institute of Science and Technology Sostenipra Research Group (Sostenipra 2017 SGR 1683) Institut de Ciència I Tecnologia Ambientals (ICTA; Unidad de excelencia “María de Maeztu” (MDM-2015-0552) Universitat Autònoma de Barcelona (UAB) Campus UAB, Bellaterra Department of Chemical Biological Environmental Engineering Universitat Autònoma de Barcelona (UAB) XRB Campus UAB, Bellaterra Inèdit Innovació SL Parc de Recerca de la UAB São Paulo State University (Unesp) Institute of Science and Technology FAPESP: 2018/16542-0

The burning of fossil fuels is an unsustainable activity, which is leading to an increase in greenhouse gases (GHGs) emissions and related global warming. Among sustainable energy sources, microalgae represent a promising alternative to fossil fuel and contribute to the achievement of important Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs). In particular, the potential contribution of marine microalgae to sustainable development is large as, among other benefits, they represent a carbon negative energy source and may be applied in many coastal areas around the world. Despite this, significant economic and technological improvements are needed in order to make microalgae biofuels viable on a large scale. This review aims to explore how and to what extent third-generation biofuels (marine microalgae, but also the latest advances in freshwater microalgae) can benefit the realization of these SDGs. From this study we concluded that the production of large-scale marine microalgae biofuels is not yet feasible from the economic perspective at a large scale. However, the cultivation of microalgae in seawater holds great potential for increasing the small to medium viability of this biofuel source. The possibilities for improvement along with the contributions to sustainable development lay the groundwork for continuing to study and apply the potential of sustainable production of microalgae bioenergy.

The industrial symbiosis in eco-industrial parks requires intense broker involvement to be implemented. However, market changes and technological advancement could undermine the level of symbiosis during operations. In this research, the existing symbiosis indicators were identified and classified using a systematic literature review. The results demonstrated the necessity to achieve indicators sufficiently simple that brokers are enabled in confronting the monitoring and promotion of symbiosis. In this paper, an industrial symbiosis indicator is introduced that detects the variation of symbiosis over time and that provides a dynamic perspective of the eco-industrial parks. This indicator can be used in the underpinning of decisions and the provision of continuous improvement. It was evaluated in several theoretical scenarios created from real data. The three scenarios are: absence of symbiosis, presence of symbiosis, and perfect symbiosis. The results demonstrate consistency between the values of the indicator and changes in the scenarios. The industrial symbiosis indicator proposed was able to detect variations in symbiosis with simple measures, and could support managers in encouraging companies to actively engage in effort for more advanced levels of symbiosis. The concept of “environment impact momentum”, proposed and applied in this research, is a theoretical construct that could support a new class of indicators capable of identifying the dynamic behavior of eco-industrial parks.

For many companies, the greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions associated with their purchased and consumed electricity form one of the largest contributions to the GHG emissions that result from their activities. Currently, hourly variations in electricity grid emissions are not considered by standard GHG accounting protocols, which apply a national grid emission factor (EF), potentially resulting in erred estimates for the GHG emissions. In this study, a method is developed that calculates GHG emissions based on real-time data, and it is shown that the use of hourly electricity grid EFs can significantly improve the accuracy of the GHG emissions that are attributed to the purchased and consumed electricity of a company. A model analysis for the electricity delivered to the Spanish grid in 2012 reveals that, for companies operating during the day, GHG emissions calculated by the real-time method are estimated to be up to 5% higher (and in some special cases up to 9% higher) than the emissions calculated by the conventional method in which a national grid EF is applied, whereas for companies operating during nightly hours, GHG emissions are estimated to be as low as 3% below the GHG emissions determined by the conventional method. A significant error can therefore occur in the organizational carbon footprint (CF) of a company and, consequently, also in the product CF. It is recommended that hourly EFs be developed for other countries and power grids

In this paper, the material and spatial characterization of the flows within a municipal solid waste (MSW) management system are combined through a Network-Based Spatial Material Flow Analysis. Using this information, two core indicators are developed for the bio-waste fraction, the Net Recovery Index (NRI) and the Transport Intensity Index (TII), which are aimed at assessing progress towards policy-related sustainable MSW management strategies and objectives. The NRI approaches the capacity of a MSW management system for converting waste into resources through a systematic metabolic approach, whereas the TII addresses efficiency in terms of the transport requirements to manage a specific waste flow throughout the entire MSW management life cycle. Therefore, both indicators could be useful in assessing key MSW management policy strategies, such as the consecution of higher recycling levels (sustainability principle) or the minimization of transport by locating treatment facilities closer to generation sources (proximity principle). To apply this methodological approach, the bio-waste management system of the region of Catalonia (Spain) has been chosen as a case study. Results show the adequacy of both indicators for identifying those points within the system with higher capacity to compromise its environmental, economic and social performance and therefore establishing clear targets for policy prioritization. Moreover, this methodological approach permits scenario building, which could be useful in assessing the outcomes of hypothetical scenarios, thus proving its adequacy for strategic planning.

Summary We used a thermodynamic framework to characterize the resource consumption of the construction sector in 2001 in Catalonia, the northeast region of Spain. The analysis was done with a cradle-to-product life cycle approach using material flow analysis (MFA) and exergy accounting methodologies to quantify the total material and energy inputs in the sector. The aim was to identify the limitations of resource metabolism in the sector and to pinpoint the opportunities for improved material selection criteria, processing, reuse, and recycling for sustainable resource use. The results obtained from MFA showed that nonrenewables such as minerals and natural rocks, cement and derivatives, ceramics, glass, metals, plastics, paints and other chemicals, electric and lighting products, and bituminous mix products accounted for more than 98% of the input materials in the construction sector. The exergy analysis quantified a total 113.1 petajoules (PJ) of exergy inputs in the sector; utilities accounted for 57% of this exergy. Besides exergy inputs, a total of 6.85 million metric tons of construction and demolition waste was generated in 2001. With a recycling rate of 6.5%, the sector recovered 1.3 PJ of exergy. If the sector were able to recycle 80% of construction and demolition waste, then exergy recovery would be 10.3 PJ. Hence the results of this analysis indicate that improvements are required in manufacturing processes and recycling activities, especially of energy-intensive materials, in order to reduce the inputs of utilities and the extraction of primary materials from the environment.

This study is a quantitative description of Brazil's copper life cycle, comprising mining, refining, manufacturing, use and waste generation in the year 2005. A substance flow analysis is presented and the results are compared with existing values for other countries and economic regions (Europe, Asia, Latin America, and Africa). The results show that Brazil is a net importer of copper both in concentrate and in the form of finished goods (total net weight 64 kt). Internal copper consumption is 1.44 kg per inhabitant per year and 0.52 kg/inhab/year is accumulated in the form of stock. Otherwise, the amount of waste generated (1.4 t/inhab/year) is close to that generated in Europe (1.9 t/inhab/year). The copper distribution profile in waste flow is characterized by similar values for waste flow from construction and demolition (27.8%) and from electrical and electronic equipments (27.7%), whilst municipal solid waste and non-dangerous and industrial waste present 19.7% and 13.2%, respectively. Waste from electrical and electronic equipment and motor vehicles sent to scrap, in spite of representing just 1% of all waste in terms of mass, contain almost 38% of all residual copper (28% and 10%, respectively). Brazil presents a secondary copper-recycling rate of around 25%, differing from that of other developing countries because it imports little scrap copper and releases 142 kt into the biosphere (0.75 kg/inhab). We make the case that Brazil's government can feasibly encourage reductions in demand for this metal while increasing copper recycling rates through a two-edged strategy based on education and public awareness on the one hand – making a case for the unsustainability of current copper production and consumption models – and on the other, implementing economic tools to transfer costs of post-use recovery to manufacturers and consumers.

Material Flow Analysis (MFA) and Life Cycle Assessment (LCA) are widely employed in the study of topics related to industrial ecology. However, unlike this study, they are normally used separately rather than jointly. Educational institutions are among the most deeply rooted services in society, producing knowledge, research and culture. This paper reports on a case study conducted in the region of Catalonia, Spain, to evaluate the metabolism of the Autonomous University of Barcelona (UAB) based on a combined MFA and LCA approach on two levels: macro-level analysis using MFA, and micro-level analysis using LCA. The MFA results indicated that energy consumption represents more than 50.00% of all inputs, and its associated indirect flows are highly relevant for UAB's overall metabolism, accounting for 69.30% of all energy inputs. As for the LCA results, the ReCiPe2008 method was adopted and 92.00% of all normalized impacts were related to the category of Climate Change Potential (CCP), also attributed mainly to energy consumption. Thus, both MFA and LCA methodologies indicated energy consumption is the main hotspot. The results of MFA indicators, energy and water flows were compared with earlier literature, revealing a clear tendency for industrial areas in Catalonia to show higher results than service polygons, as an effect of population density. Finally, the newly erected building of the Institute of Environmental Science and Technology and the Catalan Institute of Paleontology (ICTA-ICP) is described as an innovative alternative to promote environmental sustainability at universities that focus on energy and water conservation and CCP impacts reduction.

Used cooking oil (UCO) is a domestic waste generated daily by food industries, restaurants, and households. It is estimated that in Europe 5 kg of UCO are generated per inhabitant, totalling 2.5 million metric tons per year. Recovering UCO for the production of biodiesel offers a way of minimizing and avoiding this waste and related pollution. An exergy analysis of the integrated waste management (IWM) scheme for UCO is used to evaluate such a possibility by accounting for inputs and outputs in each stage, calculating the exergy loss and the resource input and quantifying the possible improvements. The IWM includes the collection, pretreatment, and delivery of UCO and the production of biodiesel. The results show that the greatest exergy loss occurs during the transport stages (57%). Such exergy loss can be minimized to 20% by exploiting the full capacity of collecting vans and using biodiesel in the transport stages. Further, the cumulative exergy consumption helps study how the exergy consumption of biodiesel can be further reduced by using methanol obtained from biogas in the transesterification stage. Finally, the paper discusses how increasing the collection of UCO helps minimize uncontrolled used oil disposal and consequently provides a sustainable process for biodiesel production.

This study presents the application of exergy analysis in assessing how effectively resources are utilised in construction material manufacturing. The role of exergy is discussed from several key perspectives such as quality, energy conservation and process improvement potentials. Both primary and secondary processes (recycling) of nine major non–renewable construction materials (steel, aluminium, copper, cement, concrete, ceramic, glass, polypropylene and polyvinylchloride (PVC)) have been evaluated in this study. The outlined theoretical exergy efficiency approach assesses the improvement potentials of the present manufacturing processes. The large difference between theoretical and industrial exergy demand suggests that exergy resources are utilised very inefficiently in current technologies. The study reveals that more than 55% of exergy is being lost in current technologies even though a significant amount of waste heat is recovered in different segments of the case study processes. Thus, attention is required to reduce the specific exergy losses through improved process design and introduction of new technology.

Purpose New environmental strategies are emerging for cities to become more self-sufficient, such as hydroponic crop production. The implementation of such systems requires materials that usually originate in countries with low labour costs and other legal regulations. To what extent could these strategies be shifting problems across the globe? To answer this question, we performed a comprehensive environmental and social assessment of the various extended soilless systems used to grow vegetables on urban roofs. Methods Three different growing media constituents were chosen for this study: perlite, peat and coir; which are produced in three countries, Turkey, Germany and the Philippines, respectively, and are imported to Spain. By using a life cycle assessment, we evaluated the environmental performances of the production and transport of these growing media. Additionally, we performed a social life cycle assessment at different levels. First, we used the Social Hotspots Database to analyse the constituents in aggregated sectors. Second, we performed a social assessment at the country and sector levels, and finally, we evaluated primary company data for the social assessment of the constituents through questionnaires given to businesses. Results and discussion The coir-based growing medium exerted the lowest environmental burden in 5 out of 8 impact categories because it is a by-product from coconut trees. In contrast, perlite obtained the highest environmental impacts, with impacts 44 to 99.9% higher than those of peat and coir, except in the land use. Perlite is a material extracted from open-pit mines that requires high energy consumption and a long road trip. Regarding the social assessment, peat demonstrated the best performance on all the social assessment levels. In contrast, coir showed the worst scores in the Social Hotspots Database and for the impact categories of community infrastructure and human rights, whereas perlite displayed the lowest performance in health and safety. Nevertheless, coir and perlite evidenced much better scores than peat in the impact subcategory of the contribution to economic development. Conclusions This study contributes to a first comparison of three imported growing media constituents for urban rooftop farming from environmental and social perspectives to choose the most suitable option. Peat appears to be the best alternative from a social perspective. However, from an environmental standpoint, peat represents a growing medium whose availability is aiming to disappear in Germany to preserve peatlands. Therefore, we identify a new market niche for the development of local growing media for future rooftop farming in cities.

Altres ajuts: the authors are grateful to the Spanish Ministry of Economy, Industry and Competitiveness (Spain) for the grant awarded to V. Arcas-Pilz (FPI-MINECO 2018) to the National Commission for Scientific and Technological Research (Chile) for the grant awarded to F. Parada (PFCHA-CONICYT 2018 - Folio 72180248); and to Universitat Autònoma de Barcelona for awarding a research scholarship to M. Rufí-Salís (PIF-UAB 2017). Unidad de excelencia María de Maeztu MdM-2015-0552 Soilless crop production is a viable way to promote vertical agriculture in urban areas, but relies intensively on the use of mineral fertilizer. Thus, the benefits of fresher, local food and of avoided transportation and packaging associated to reduced food imports could be counteracted by an increase in nutrient-rich wastewater, contributing to freshwater and marine eutrophication. The present study aimed to explore the use of mineral fertilizer substitutes in soilless agriculture. Phaseolus vulgaris (common bean) was fertilized with the combination of slow-releasing fertilizer struvite (a source of N, P, and Mg) that is a by-product of wastewater treatment plants and inoculated with Rhizobium (a N2-fixing soil bacteria). The experiment included three bean production lines: A) 2g/plant of struvite and rhizobium inoculation, B) 5g/plant of struvite and rhizobium inoculation, both irrigated with a Mg, P and N- free nutrient solution, and C) control treatment irrigated with a full nutrient solution and no inoculation. Plant growth, development, yield and nutrient content were determined at 35, 62 and 84 days after transplanting, as well as the biological N2 fixation using the 15N natural abundance method. Treatments A and B resulted in lower total yields per plant than the control C (59.35± 26.4ga plant-1 for A, 74.2±23.0ga plant-1 for B and 147.71± 45.3gb plant-1 for C). For A and B, nodulation and N2 fixation capacity seamed to increase with the initially available struvite, but overtime reached deficient levels of Mg and close to deficient levels of P which could explain the lower yields. Nevertheless, we conclude that the combination of struvite and the N2-fixing bacteria covered N needs of the plant throughout the growth cycle. However, further studies are needed to determine optimal struvite quantities for vertical agriculture systems that can meet P and Mg requirements throughout the lifetime of the plant.

The paper presents the Material Flow Analysis for Catalonia (NE Spain) in the period 1996 – 2000. The results show no symptom of neither weak nor strong dematerialization, otherwise the increase in material inputs and consumption a long the period is higher than population and GDP growth; with dominance of non-renewable resources. There is a high dependence on foreign trade. On one hand, imports has increased a long the period analyzed to compensate the lack of primary resources in the own system. On the other hand, the price of exports is higher than imports, supposing important economic input for Catalonia., En este trabajo se presenta una primera estimación del Análisis de Flujos de Materiales entre los años 1996 y 2000 para el caso de Cataluña, una región situada en el noreste de España. Los resultados muestran un crecimiento de los indicadores de entrada de materiales y de consumo muy superior al crecimiento de la población y del Producto Interior Bruto, descartándose la posible tendencia a la desmaterialización absoluta o relativa, y mostrando un fuerte dominio de consumo de recursos no renovables. Asimismo se observa una gran dependencia del extrior, tanto en la entrada de recursos como en las exportaciones. Las importaciones aumentan a lo largo del período analizado, cpmensando la falta de recursos primarios del sistema. Parte de los materiales importados son exportados, mostrando Cataluña como una región de tránsito de mercancías, sometida al Efecto Rótterdam. A la vez una fracción de las importaciones se revende con beneficio para Cataluña siguiendo el comportamiento propio de la zona alta de la curva del Notario.

Altres ajuts: Greenhouses to Reduce CO2 on Roofs (GROOF) project. Grant Numbers: UE. Interreg NWE 474, (2017-2021) Unidad de excelencia María de Maeztu CEX2019-000940-M Housing estates, that is, mass social housing on middle- and high-rise apartment blocks, in urban areas are found all over the world with very similar constructive patterns and a multiplicity of environmental and socio-economic problems. In this regard, such areas are optimal for the implementation of a roof mosaic which involves applying a combination of urban farming, solar energy, and harvesting rainwater systems (decentralized systems) on unoccupied roofs. To design sustainable and productive roof mosaic scenarios, we develop an integrated framework through a multi-scale (municipality, building, and household) and multi-dimensional analysis (environmental and socio-economic, structural, and functional) to optimize the supply of essential resources (food, energy, and water). The proposed workflow was applied to a housing estate to rehabilitate unused rooftops (66,433 m2). First, using the Multi-Scale Integrated Analysis of Societal and Ecosystem Metabolism methodology, we determined metabolic rates across buildings and municipality levels, which did not vary significantly (12.60-14.50 g/h for vegetables, 0.82-1.11 MJ/h for electricity, 0.80-1.11 MJ/h for heating, and 5.62-6.59 L/h for water). Second, based on a participatory process involving stakeholders to qualitatively analyze potential scenarios further in terms of preferences, five scenarios were chosen. These rooftop scenarios were found to improve the resource self-sufficiency of housing estate residents by providing 42-53% of their vegetable consumption, 9-35% of their electricity use, and 38-200% of their water needs depending on the scenario. Boosting new urban spaces of resource production involves citizens in sites which face social and economic needs.

O conceito de Green Manufacturing (GM) se remete à manufatura ambientalmente sustentável de produtos. As pesquisas envolvendo GM tem se intensificado nos últimos anos, com destaque para a utilização da técnica de Avaliação do Ciclo de Vida (ACV). Contudo, a adoção prática da GM pelas indústrias de manufatura ainda esbarra em diversas limitações. Entre as barreiras gerenciais, diversos autores destacam que o uso isolado da ACV e de outras técnicas e ferramentas muitas vezes se mostra limitado em prol de uma adequada promoção da GM no ambiente fabril. Assim, visando superar este tipo de barreira, a presente tese de doutorado foi proposta. Seu objetivo foi o de desenvolver e testar um novo procedimento de GM para a avaliação e o monitoramento ambiental de processos de manufatura. Para isso, uma pesquisa bibliográfica foi realizada, onde ao todo 333 artigos foram selecionados e analisados, e diversas limitações foram identificadas nos mesmos, as quais serviram de base para o desenvolvimento do novo procedimento de GM desta tese. Como resultado, o procedimento desenvolvido foi organizado em dez etapas distintas, todas distribuídas em três macroetapas: pré-avaliação, avaliação e monitoramento ambiental, e pós-avaliação. Sobre o teste prático do procedimento, foram realizados dois estudos de caso: 1) uma empresa fabricante de painéis de madeira aglomerada para uso na produção de móveis residenciais e comerciais; e 2) uma empresa produtora de válvulas para uso em motores de veículos automotivos. O estudo 1) mostrou que o processo de prensagem à quente dos painéis foi destaque, especialmente devido ao consumo de eletricidade e as emissões ao ar de formaldeído livre geradas pelo processo. A prensagem à quente apresentou potencial para afetar não somente os impactos do processo de fabricação, mas também os impactos a montante e a jusante da manufatura. Já no estudo 2), foi destaque o processo de retificação centerless da haste das válvulas, devido ao consumo de eletricidade e de fluido de corte na retificação. O processo de retificação das válvulas não se mostrou capaz de influenciar significativamente os impactos de outras etapas do ciclo de vida do produto (e.g., uso, pós-uso). Finalmente, a partir dos resultados do seu teste prático, três versões simplificadas foram propostas para o procedimento de GM originalmente desenvolvido. Tais versões simplificadas se mostraram vantajosas, pois permitem uma melhor aplicabilidade do procedimento de GM no ambiente fabril. Green manufacturing (GM) is the environmental benign manufacturing of products with a minimal negative impact on the natural environment. Research studies on GM have been increased in the last years with particular focus on the application of Life Cycle Assessment (LCA). However, the manufacturing industry still faces some barriers and challenges that hinder the application of green manufacturing in practice. Regarding to managerial barriers, many authors highlight that the isolated use of LCA and other tools/techniques are limited in view of supporting the promotion of an effective implementation of GM at the shop floor area. Thus, this thesis was proposed to overcome part of such gaps. The present study was aimed at developing and testing a new GM methodological framework to environmentally evaluate and monitor manufacturing processes. For this, the GM methodological framework was based on a bibliographical research, where 333 articles were found and systematically analyzed. As result, the GM methodological framework was organized into ten different steps, and three main phases: pre-assessment, environmental assessment and monitoring, and post-assessment. Concerning the practical testing of the GM methodological framework, two case studies were carried out: 1) the production of medium density particleboards for consumption by the residential and commercial wood furniture sector; and 2) the production of exhaust valves for using by automotive vehicles. Case study 1) highlighted the hot pressing process of wood-based panels, due to the consumption of electricity and the local airborne emissions of free formaldehyde. The hot pressing process showed potential to affect not only into the manufacturing environmental impacts, but also into the upstream and downstream life cycle stages. Case study 2) pointed out the centerless grinding machining of the stem of automotive valves, due to the electricity and cutting fluid consumption. However, the grinding machining process was not effective to influence into the environmental impacts of other product\'s life cycle stages (e.g., use, post-use). Based on the case studies results, it was proposed three simplified versions of the original GM methodological framework in order to improve its applicability into manufacturing industries.