Environmental impact assessment of the implementation of a Deposit-Refund System for packaging waste in Spain: A solution or an additional problem?

Food and beverage packaging represent a relevant fraction of municipal solid waste, and its adequate management is critical. Selective waste collection by an authorized organization according to an Extended Producer Responsibility System (EPRS) is the current option implemented in Spain for packaging. Other European countries have selected an alternative or a complement: a Deposit-Refund System (DRS) for certain type of beverage packaging. The selection of an EPRS or a DRS is a complex task and this work developed a universal methodology for the evaluation of optimal waste packaging management systems, focused on food and beverage. Life Cycle Assessment (LCA) approach was applied to compare the current EPRS vs the implementation of a new system, with the coexistence of a DRS and a reduced EPRS. Although the environmental savings of the new system are superior to its impacts, even if the DRS would reach a value of 90% for the package return index, the current EPRS obtains significantly better environmental results. All impact categories are favorable to the current EPRS, except ADP, where the potentially higher DRS recycling rate is manifested. The impact associated to the flow of specific DRS packages in the new system is clearly higher than that linked to the flow of DRS excluded packages and it is even higher that the impact of the total joint flow in the current EPRS for all categories except ADP. The fundamental cause of this high impact is the backhauling stage to transport the recovered packages to the counting plants without compacting. A sensitivity analysis confirmed the robustness of the preference of the current EPRS over the combination of a DRS and a reduced EPRS. The developed approach supposes a methodological advance that can be extended to previously realized studies about the implementation of waste management systems in other contexts.

Environmental assessment of food and beverage under a NEXUS Water-Energy-Climate approach: Application to the spirit drinks.

The energy-water nexus is a concept widely established but rarely applied to product and, in particular, to food and beverage products, which have a great influence on greenhouse gases emissions. The proposed method considers the main nexus aspects in addition to other relevant aspects such as climate change, which is deeply linked with energy and water systems, and assessing process as well as product. In this framework, this study develops an integrated index (IWECN) that combines life cycle assessment (LCA) and linear programming (LP) to assess energetic, water and climate systems, enabling the identification of those products with minors energetic and water intensity and climate change effects and helping to the decision-making process and to the development of eco-innovation measures. In this case, the product assessed was one bottle (70 cl) of gin and two main hotspots were identified: the production of the glass bottle and the energy requirements of the distillation stage. Based on that, several eco-innovation strategies were proposed: the use of photovoltaic solar energy as energy source and the substitution of the glass bottle by a plastic one and by a tetra brick. The nexus results indicated that the use of solar photovoltaic energy and plastic as bottle material was the best alternative decreasing 58% the IWECN value of the production of one bottle of gin. The sensitivity analysis presented a strong preference for photovoltaic solar energy in comparison with electric power and for the reduction of the glass bottle weight or its substitution by a plastic bottle. The use of the IWECN index is extendable to any product with the aim of facilitating the decision-making process in the development of more sustainable products to introduce them in new green markets.

Environmental assessment of the food packaging waste management system in Spain: Understanding the present to improve the future.

One-way packaging can represent up to half the environmental impacts of the food value chain and thus optimising its management is essential. Collective selective waste collection managed by authorised organisations (Extended Producer Responsibility, EPR), with or without Deposit-Refund Systems (DRS) are alternatives implemented at European level to handle this problem. Since there is no single simple formula that can be applied to every waste management system, this case study is focused on the entire Spanish model of one-way food packaging waste management, from collection of each fraction in specific containers to final treatment, considering eight different materials. For the analysis, six different impact categories were considered: abiotic depletion potential, global warming potential, acidification potential, eutrophication potential, ozone depletion potential and photochemical ozone formation. Results reveal that the recycling stage is the main stage contributing to the environmental impacts, but the environmental savings related to the recovery of materials in this stage compensates these loads and the system must be considered advantageous for the environment. By contrast, sorting plants present the lowest contributions and is the least significant stage. Significant environmental improvements (close to 10%) would be achieved by addressing the total bulk collection flow to mechanical-biological treatment and increasing the selective collection of light and glass packaging waste. This study can serve to identify common drivers that contribute significantly to the development of an integrated approach to waste packaging management and as baseline for comparison studies with alternative waste recovery technologies and systems.

Large-scale enzymatic membrane reactors for tetracycline degradation in WWTP effluents.

A mathematical model to simulate the performance of enzymatic membrane reactors was developed. It was applied to investigate the effectiveness of laccase immobilized over ceramic membranes for the degradation of tetracycline, a common antibiotic appearing as micropollutant in effluents of WWTPs. A process based on large-scale enzymatic membrane reactors in series was proposed for the treatment of the effluents from municipal, hospital and industrial wastewater treatment plants (WWTPs). The obtained results demonstrated the need for high improvements in the amount of enzyme grafted on the membranes or on enzymatic kinetics to afford the technical and economic competitiveness of the investigated designs and the possibility to be implemented within existing installations.

[Combined regional-general anesthesia with use of the Proseal laryngeal mask during prolonged peripheral plastic surgery]. / Anestesia regional combinada con mascarilla laríngea proseal en cirugía plástica periférica prolongada.

The ProSeal laryngeal mask offers a better interface for controlled ventilation than does a traditional mask because of the ProSeal's improved airway seal and the possibility of draining the digestive tract. Limb reconstructive surgery is normally a long procedure involving the use of grafts or flaps located at a distance from the lesion. Regional anesthesia is therefore of limited use. We report a series of 24 adult patients who underwent peripheral plastic surgery under combined regional and general intravenous anesthesia and in whom the ProSeal mask was used. Data recorded included assessment of the airway and intubation difficulty, disease and duration of the procedure, type of regional anesthesia, respiratory and hemodynamic variables, patient satisfaction, laryngeal complications, and postoperative analgesia. All patients were adequately ventilated. One episode of bradycardia was controlled with atropine. In the immediate postoperative period, no patient presented laryngeal complications and only 1 patient reported significant pain (8 on a visual analog scale). The ProSeal mask was a good choice for use with combined regional-general anesthesia, ensuring control of the airway without causing complications. Analgesia was adequate in most cases.

Anestesia regional combinada con mascarilla laríngea Proseal encirugía plástica periférica prolongada / Combined regional-general anesthesia with use of the ProSeal laryngeal mask during prolonged peripheral plastic surgery

La mascarilla laríngea Proseal (MLP) supone unamejoría respecto a la clásica (LM) para la ventilacióncontrolada porque mejora el sellado de la vía aérea yposibilita el drenaje de la vía digestiva. La cirugía plásticareconstructiva de extremidades, normalmente esprolongada e implica la utilización de injertos o colgajosa distancia de la lesión, lo que limita que se lleve a cabosólo con anestesia regional. Presentamos 24 pacientesadultos programados para cirugía plástica periférica,sometidos a anestesia regional y general endovenosa conMLP. Recogimos: valoración y dificultad de abordaje dela vía aérea, patología y duración del procedimiento,tipo de anestesia regional, datos ventilatorios y hemodinámicos,satisfacción de los pacientes, morbilidad laríngeay analgesia postoperatorias.Todos los pacientes se ventilaron correctamente, unopresentó bradicardia puntual que se controló con atropina.En el postoperatorio inmediato, ningún pacientemanifestó morbilidad laríngea y sólo uno tuvo dolorimportante con un EVA de 8.La anestesia combinada regional y general con MLPsupuso una buena opción en esta cirugía ya que aseguróel control de la vía aérea sin provocar morbilidad y logróuna analgesia postoperatoria correcta en la mayoría decasos (AU)

The ProSeal laryngeal mask offers a better interface forcontrolled ventilation than does a traditional maskbecause of the ProSeal’s improved airway seal and thepossibility of draining the digestive tract. Limbreconstructive surgery is normally a long procedureinvolving the use of grafts or flaps located at a distancefrom the lesion. Regional anesthesia is therefore of limiteduse. We report a series of 24 adult patients who underwentperipheral plastic surgery under combined regional andgeneral intravenous anesthesia and in whom the ProSealmask was used. Data recorded included assessment of theairway and intubation difficulty, disease and duration ofthe procedure, type of regional anesthesia, respiratory andhemodynamic variables, patient satisfaction, laryngealcomplications, and postoperative analgesia. All patientswere adequately ventilated. One episode of bradycardiawas controlled with atropine. In the immediatepostoperative period, no patient presented laryngealcomplications and only 1 patient reported significant pain(8 on a visual analog scale). The ProSeal mask was a goodchoice for use with combined regional-general anesthesia,ensuring control of the airway without causingcomplications. Analgesia was adequate in most cases (AU)