Implementing the Contingent Valuation Method for supporting decision making in the waste management sector.

This study presents an application of the Contingent Valuation Method (CVM) for valuing the environmental impacts associated with the operation of landfills for residues following waste treatment and depicts how the results of the analysis can be used for decision making in the field of waste management. The survey was conducted in Ikaria, Greece, a medium-sized island in the northern Aegean Sea, with a view to estimate the amount of compensatory benefits that are socially acceptable to be attributed to the hosting community of a new landfill for residues. The results showed that the mean willingness to pay per household to create a fund for financing social and environmental programs in the community that will host the landfill in question was estimated at €6.5-6.7 per 2-month and household taking into account all households of the sample. This estimate is at the same order of magnitude but at the lower band compared to the results of other relevant studies showing that the public in Ikaria is aware for the relatively limited environmental burdens associated with the operation of landfills for residues following an integrated waste management treatment.

A decision-aid framework to provide guidance for the enhanced use of best available techniques in industry.

Best Available Techniques (BATs) contribute significantly to the reduction of industrial environmental burdens with respect to air pollution, wastewater, and solid wastes. In Europe, the application of BATs is prescribed by Directive 96/61/EC, which, however, leaves the selection of specific BATs to plant operators. In making their choices, installations have to consider not only the environmental benefits of BATs, but also all relevant cost components. In assessing the economic attractiveness of potential BATs and their combinations, as well as incentives and disincentives to be instituted, the cost of environmental externalities, usually not reflected in market prices, should be taken into account. In this paper, a decision-aid framework combining an assessment of environmental externalities and the utilization of multicriteria methods and, more specifically, Multiobjective Mathematical Programming, capable of addressing all these issues in a comprehensive and coherent manner, is presented. This is illustrated by its application for the region of Attica in Greece, where over 50% of the industrial basis and Athens, with its 4 million inhabitants, are located. The implementation of the framework and its associated tools to 800 installations led to the identification of the specific BATs, alone or in combination, that provide the most cost-effective reductions of four air pollutants (PM10, SO(2), NO(x), VOC) and CO(2). The results also clearly demonstrate the increased pollution reductions that would result from the adoption of BATs made economically attractive by the inclusion of externalities. Estimates of investments and net present values with and without incentives/disincentives are also provided.

Toxoplasmosis in pregnant women in Crete.

In Greece there are no official recommendations concerning the management of pregnant women for the prevention of congenital toxoplasmosis. A protocol for monitoring pregnant women was designed in order to differentiate between acute and latent toxoplasmosis and was tested successfully for 7 years. The maternofetal transmission rate in Crete was assessed and a map showing seroprevalence of pregnant women in all prefectures of Greece was prepared. The high seroprevalence of Toxoplasma gondii in Greece (up to 46% in some areas) may be explained by: (a) the presence of a great number of stray cats; (b) the Greek diet consisting of large amounts of raw, wild vegetables and salads that could easily be contaminated with oocysts; (c) the high consumption of meat, smoked pork and sausages, well-documented sources of T. gondii infection. T. gondii genotypes were characterized, directly from clinical samples, after PCR-RFLP on the SAG2 gene and sequence analysis at the restriction sites. They belonged to all 3 clonal lineages.