Assessing the environmental impacts of three different types of accommodations in Portugal and Spain by using an LCA approach.

The tourism industry, affected by COVID-19, must reduce greenhouse gas emissions. This study evaluated the environmental impact of three hotels in coastal and mountainous regions of Spain and Portugal using Life Cycle Assessment (LCA). Data was gathered via surveys in the Greentour tool. Results indicate that the 2-star hotel (focused on cultural-urban tourism) has the highest impacts in most categories, except for CC, FRD, and POF indicators. The 3-star hotel (beach tourism) contributes the most to CC and FRD indicators, while the hostel (nature-religious tourism) has the highest value in the POF indicator. LCA findings reveal that diesel consumption in the hostel and electricity usage in both the 2-star and 3-star hotels are major contributors to environmental impacts across various categories. Overall, evidence suggests that fossil fuel and electricity usage significantly affect tourism activities environmentally. Interestingly, this study highlights that a 2-star hotel can have a higher carbon footprint (CC indicator) compared to a 3-star hotel, challenging the notion that higher star ratings imply lower environmental impact.

Comparative assessment of two circularity indicators for the case of reusable versus single-use secondary packages for fresh foods in Spain.

Sustainable packaging is a crucial focus in the context of circular economy efforts. This study evaluates the circularity of two secondary packaging systems used in Spanish fresh food produces: Reusable Plastic Crates and Single-use Cardboard Boxes. A Mass Flow Analysis was performed to assess the material flows in the production and use phases of both systems and two circular indicators were applied: the Material Circularity Indicator and Product Circular Indicator. While most previous studies for single-use packaging use these indicators at the product level, this study applies a system approach since the Reusable Plastic Crates can be reused 100 times. The functional unit was defined as the distribution of 1000 tonnes of fresh products, resulting in the distribution of 6,666,700 packages with 15 kg of products. The Material Circularity Indicator and Product Circular Indicator results show that Reusable Plastic Crates are more circular than Single-use Cardboard Boxes. The Product Circular Indicator provides a more comprehensive assessment of circularity by considering multiple life cycle stages, efficiency, and unrecoverable waste, resulting in a difference in circularity evaluations. The indicators used have limitations as they do not consider the resource stock. Further research is needed to explore this aspect.

Circularity of new composites from recycled high density polyethylene and leather waste for automotive bumpers. Testing performance and environmental impact.

New composite materials (suitable for automotive bumpers), composed of recycled high-density polyethylene (rHDPE) and leather buffing dust waste (BF) ranging from 20 to 50 wt%, were produced and investigated for mechanical properties. Optimal mechanical performance was achieved with composites containing 30 % wt BF. The environmental performance of automotive bumper production from both virgin and recycled HDPE reinforced with 30 % wt BF (HDPE-BF, rHDPE-BF) composites was compared to that of conventional polypropylene (PP) by performing a cradle to gate life cycle assessment. A component-based approach, instead of a comprehensive LCA assessment for the entire car was adopted using various functional units (FU) such as mass (FU1), volume (FU2), and volume of raw material fulfilling a specific impact strength requirement (FU3), thus enriching the paper with methodological discussions. The rHDPE-BF system provided better environmental performance compared to the virgin PP system, when considering both mass and volume-related functional units, mainly due to the avoidance of virgin polymer production. Even with the inclusion of the use phase in FU2 and a slightly higher density (+1.7 %) of composites than PP-based bumpers, the rHDPE system still provides better environmental performance (10 % less impact). The sensitivity analysis highlighted the significance of car type and final density of the bumper on the impact results. Finally, when using FU3, due to its higher impact strength, HDPE-BF system is clearly the best environmental alternative (50 % less impact) followed by rHDPE-BF system. In all cases, rising the content of recycled materials in the bumpers increases its circularity. The paper illustrates the importance of selecting a suitable functional unit, based on a specific application (i.e., automotive bumpers), to evaluate the environmental impact of new composite materials in comparison to traditional options. Expanding the assessment to encompass multiple functions provides a more accurate portrayal of reality but also introduces greater result uncertainty.

'Small-scale' tourism versus traditional tourism: Which will be the new key to achieve the desired sustainable tourism?

The tourism sector after COVID-19 has raised different concerns that have lead to a development towards a more sustainable model of tourism. After the health crisis, the increase in environmental awareness of tourists has become evident. In this context, the great paradigm of 'small-scale' tourism has been developed as opposed to traditional tourism. The present work seeks to contribute to sustainable development in the Spanish tourism sector, comparing a hostel in Cantabria (considered as 'small scale' /religious tourism) and a hotel in Lloret de Mar (considered as a traditional tourism) one using the Life Cycle Assessment (LCA) methodology to verify advantages and disadvantages of both types of tourism. The functional unit (FU) used was 'per guest night with breakfast included'. The results have revealed similar results for both establishments in all impact categories, as can be seen in its contribution to Climate Change (4.41 kg CO2 eq./FU caused by the hotel and 4.78 kg CO2 eq./FU by the hostel). The electricity consumption and the impact of the breakfast in the hostel were identified as main contributors to environmental burdens (with 76.72 % of the hotel's impact to climate change and 77.36 % for the hostel); hence, improvement opportunities envisaged were focused on these critical points. On the one hand, a biomass boiler, a solar water-heating system and a hybrid solar/biomass heating are considered a more sustainable alternatives related to electricity. Natural gas and diesel Consumption, respectively. On the other hand, oatmeal, Greek yoghurt and berries are good options for a breakfast with a reduced environmental impact. It is also important to implement responsible and green practices in order to achieve more environmentally sustainable alternative and traditional accommodations. Therefore, it can be concluded by stating that LCA is a tool capable of identifying and studying the processes with the highest environmental impact in order to find out the most sustainable form of tourism.

Extraction of Bioactive Compounds from Spent Coffee Grounds Using Ethanol and Acetone Aqueous Solutions.

Given global coffee consumption, substantial quantities of spent coffee grounds (SCGs) are generated annually as a by-product of brewing coffee. SCG, although rich in bioactive compounds, is nowadays disposed of. The objective of this study is to compare, for the first time and from the same SCG, the efficiency of ethanol-water mixtures and acetone-water mixtures for the recovery of total polyphenols, chlorogenic acid, and caffeine. Acetone at 20% (m/m) was the most convenient solvent to extract all three bioactive compounds simultaneously, yielding 4.37 mg of GAE/g SCG for total polyphenols, chlorogenic acid (0.832 mg 5-CQA/g SCG), and caffeine (1.47 mg/g SCG). Additionally, this study aims to address some challenges associated with the industrial-scale utilization of SCG as a raw material, encompassing factors such as pre-treatment conditions (natural drying and oven drying), storage duration, and the kinetics of the extraction process. No significant difference was observed between the natural drying and oven drying of SCG. In terms of storage duration, it is advisable to process the SCG within less than 3-4 months of storage time. A significant decline of 82% and 70% in chlorogenic acid (5-CQA) and caffeine contents, respectively, was observed after eight months of storage. Furthermore, the kinetic study for the recovery of total polyphenols revealed that the optimal extraction times were 10 min for acetone at 20% and 40 min for water, with a yield increase of 28% and 34%, respectively. What is remarkable from the present study is the approach considered, using the simplest operating conditions (minimal time and solvent-to-solid ratio, and ambient temperature); hence, at an industrial scale, energy and resource consumption and equipment dimensions can be together reduced, leading to a more industrially sustainable extraction process.

Life cycle assessment to address the environmental impacts of tourism in a Spanish tourist destination: The case of Rias Baixas (Galicia) holidays.

Tourism has grown steadily in recent decades, becoming a strategic sector for the economy in many countries. However, the environmental impacts associated with tourism have also experienced an upward trend. In this sense, innovation is needed in the tourism sector, to move towards new models and strategies that integrate environmental sustainability with the social aspects of the sector. In this study, a holistic assessment of the environmental impact of tourism has been carried out using the Life Cycle Assessment (LCA) method, considering all stages of tourism activity: transportation from the place of origin to destination and back, accommodation, catering, and activities conducted. For this purpose, a case study has been carried out based on a typical trip made from Madrid to Rías Baixas (Galicia), considering a four-night stay and the performance of two activities (music festival and cultural museum) at the destination. Two alternative transportation scenarios (train or plane) have been defined to analyze the influence of the type of transportation on the overall impact. Other touristic activities such as visiting gardens or thermal baths instead of visiting a cultural museum or attending a music festival have been analyzed and it has been found that the thermal baths and the museum have the greatest environmental impacts. Transportation was the biggest contributor to most of the environmental impacts in the selected categories. On the other hand, the stay at the destination has stood out due to the impact of the consumption of food and energy used at the accommodation facility. The impact of the activities conducted at the destination is also worth highlighting. Finally, alternative scenarios for transportation have shown that the mode of transportation selected is key for lowering the overall environmental impact of the stay at the destination, highlighting the public transportation alternative, such as the train, as the most environmentally friendly option.

Environmental assessment of on-site source-separated wastewater treatment and reuse systems for resource recovery in a sustainable sanitation view.

Sustainable sanitation solutions are necessary for promoting public health and environmental security. In this study, on-site domestic wastewater treatment (WWT) systems used for households in rural and peri-urban areas of Brazil were compared in different scenarios from a life cycle assessment (LCA) perspective. The evaluated scenarios represented different practices in wastewater management, such as direct discharge into the soil, rudimentary treatment, septic tank, public sewerage system, and source separation of wastewater streams for water, nutrient, and organic matter recovery. The WWT technologies considered in the proposed scenarios of source-separated wastewater streams were as follows: an evapotranspiration tank (TEvap) and composting toilet for blackwater, a modified constructed wetland (EvaTAC) for greywater, and a storage tank for urine. LCA was performed in this study according to the ISO standards to assess the environmental impacts at both midpoint and endpoint levels. The results show that on-site source-separated wastewater treatment systems with resource recovery result in significant reductions in environmental impacts compared to scenarios with precarious conditions or 'end-of-pipe' solutions. For example, regarding the human health damage category, the scenarios involving resource recovery, including systems such as EvaTAC, TEvap, composting toilet, and urine storage tank, demonstrate significantly lower values (-0.0117 to -0.0115 DALY) compared to scenarios with rudimentary cesspits and septic tanks (0.0003 to 0.001 DALY). We conclude that the focus should be beyond mere pollution aspects and instead concentrate on the benefits of the co-products, which are: avoiding the extraction and consumption of valuable and increasingly scarce raw materials, such as potable water, and production of synthetic fertilizer. Furthermore, it is highly recommended that an LCA of sanitation systems synergistically integrates the WWT process, the constructive aspects, and the resource recovery potential.

Sustainability of cellulose micro-/nanofibers: A comparative life cycle assessment of pathway technologies.

Cellulose micro- and nanofibers (CNFs) are commonly regarded as "greener" than petro-based materials. The high energy input that their production still demands, along with the use of chemicals or heat in some pretreatments, asks for a critical view. This paper attempts a life cycle assessment of CNFs produced from bleached hardwood kraft pulp via three different pre-treatments before mechanical homogenization. First, a fully mechanical route, based on a Valley beating pre-treatment. Second, an enzymatic route, based on endoglucanases and requiring certain temperature (~50 °C). Third, a TEMPO-mediated oxidation route, considering not only the impact of the chemical treatment itself but also the production of TEMPO from ammonia and acetone. The main output of the study is that both, mechanical and TEMPO-mediated oxidation routes, present lower impacts than the enzymatic pre-treatment. Although the mechanical route presents slightly milder contributions to climate change, acidification, eutrophication, and other indicators, saying that TEMPO-mediated oxidation is environmentally unfeasible should be put under question. After all, and despite being disregarded in most assessment publications up to date, it is the only well-known way to selectively oxidize primary hydroxyl groups and thus producing kinds of CNFs that are unthinkable by other ways.

Environmental and Yield Comparison of Quick Extraction Methods for Caffeine and Chlorogenic Acid from Spent Coffee Grounds.

This study aims to provide an overview of different extraction methods to obtain chlorogenic acid (CA) and caffeine (Caf) from spent coffee grounds (SCG). This overview shows that the quantity extracted is highly dependent on the type of SCG, so experiments using the same SCG are needed to compare different methods. Three easy and simple extraction methods will be tested at a laboratory scale and environmentally compared. All three experiments were of 1 min duration: first, using supramolecular solvent; second, with water and vortex; and third, with water assisted by ultrasound. Water extraction assisted by ultrasound at room temperature yielded the greatest quantity of chlorogenic acid and caffeine, with 1.15 mg CA/g and 0.972 mg Caf/g, respectively. Extraction using supra-solvent leads to a lower content of CA in the supra-phase since it has more affinity for the water-based inferior phase. An environmental assessment using life cycle assessment has been carried out to compare water and supra extraction methods for the manufacture of two different commercial products: a face cream and an eye contour serum. Results show that the type of solvent and the amount of active substance extracted have a great influence on the environmental results. The results presented here are important for companies willing to obtain these active substances at an industrial scale.

Life cycle assessment on calcium zincate production methods for rechargeable batteries.

The world's energy transition from fossil to renewable energy is unthinkable without further research in energy storage. Decreasing the environmental impacts from the production of energy storage technologies is essential for achieving a green energy transition. Calcium Zincate (CAZN) is used as active material in rechargeable zinc-based batteries (and other products, such as heterogeneous catalysts for biodiesel or antifungal products). They present a low-cost, safer, alternative to Lithium based batteries and are targeted as replacement solutions for lead-acid batteries. We propose a novelty in the synthesis of CAZN, the hydro-micro-mechanical process (HMMS). The residence time of this new route is about 20 times lower than the traditional processes, so its production needs less infrastructure and can deliver quicker at an industrial scale. In addition, laboratory tests indicate that HMMS CAZN has more reaction surface area and the activation of the battery is 1.77 times faster. Using the life cycle assessment (LCA) method, we compare this new process with the current best option, hydro-thermal synthesis (HTS). The cradle-to-gate results per kg of CAZN already indicates that HMMS is an environmentally better alternative for all indicators; especially when considering the normalization of the results with the residence time and the surface area, HMMS delivers better results, with improvements of 97 % in global warming, for instance. With this, we demonstrate that, outside of the cradle-to-gate, variables that make the final products better service units or give more function should be considered as valuable additional information when deciding among alternatives. This also highlights the importance of life cycle thinking when working with chemical processes and substances. In the sensitivity analysis, we developed 7 scenarios related to the energy demand of the processes, and we incorporated the projection in the European electricity mix for 2030 and 2050.

Carbon Footprint: The Case of Four Chicken Meat Products Sold on the Spanish Market.

Despite its relatively low environmental impact within the livestock sector, the poultry sector still faces its own environmental challenges that need to be addressed. The present paper uses life cycle assessment to quantify greenhouse gas emissions, from cradle to slaughterhouse gate, of four chicken meat products: whole carcass, wings, breast fillets, and leg quarters. The main contribution of the present study is that it provides a detailed analysis of different chicken meat cuts, testing mass and economic allocation choices and showing that economic allocation better reflects the causality of the cutting process. We recommend that a distinction should be made between whole carcass and meat cuts, as there are significant differences in meat content and climate change results between these two categories. This is not so clear in the literature, nor in the LEAP guideline for the poultry sector. The study was performed by using disaggregated inventory data from Spain, for the first time. Results show that the major contributors to environmental impact are feed production (>70%), electricity use (10.2%), and fossil fuel combustion (8.1%). Packaging did not significantly contribute to the climate change impact of the chicken products evaluated (0.4−3.4% contribution, depending on the type of packaging and product considered).

Tourism under a life cycle thinking approach: A review of perspectives and new challenges for the tourism sector in the last decades.

Sustainable tourism should be promoted as a new system for the sustainable management of resources from a socioeconomic and environmental point of view. For this purpose, it is necessary to develop a tool capable of assessing the impacts associated with the sector and to identify which actions are currently being addressed in order to achieve the desired sustainability. This timely study aims to describe the current framework of Life Cycle Assessment (LCA) and its application to the tourism sector. To address these questions, a total of 83 documents (77 reviews and 6 international reports) were evaluated, assessing the geographical distribution, the temporal evolution of the publications, as well as the most relevant characteristics of the tourism industry articles were evaluated such as, life cycle inventory (LCI), system boundaries, functional unit (FU), methods, environmental indicators and impact categories considered. The study identifies key recommendations on the progression of LCA in tourism sector. As important results, it stands out that 94 % of articles were from the last decade and 21 % of the articles reviewed cover sustainable tourism term, considering the three dimensions. This review showed that in LCA studies the most common method was CML 2001; the most widely used environmental indicator was the Carbon Footprint (CF) and the Global Warming Potential (GWP) was the impact category used in all the studies. Hence, LCA is a highly effective tool capable of assessing direct and indirect carbon emissions in tourism as well as the socioeconomic and environmental impacts generated in this sector. COVID-19 pandemic is also an object of discussion in the framework of the sustainable tourism together with advocating support for the eco-labelling and digitalisation of the tourism experiences as valuable tools to minimize environmental negativities, to promote mechanisms to access green markets and to frame successful synergies.

Water-Energy-Food Nexus and Life Cycle Thinking: A New Approach to Environmental and Nutritional Assessment of Potato Chips.

The water-energy-food (WEF) nexus has become a key concept to promote the cross-sectoral coordination toward sustainable development. In particular, understanding the interdependences of these pillars, as well as addressing a life cycle perspective, is essential when evaluating food production systems. This study explores the environmental impacts and nutritional quality of potato chips, addressing life cycle thinking and a WEF nexus approach. For this purpose, the combined application of life cycle assessment (LCA) and the Nutrient-Rich Food 9.3 (NRF9.3) index was considered to identify the main environmental hotspots and advanced opportunities. The results indicated a major contribution of the cultivation stage on water use, whereas the processing accounted for most of the impacts in energy-related indicators and eutrophication potentials. Improvement opportunities reside in the joint application of drip irrigation, allowing to achieve important water savings, as well as the use of natural gas or pellets instead of diesel, which constitute cleaner energy sources. On the other hand, a poor nutritional density of potato chips became evident from the quantification of the NRF9.3, which can be significantly improved if potatoes undergo a roasted process instead of frying.

Evaluating the implementation of a packaging Deposit and Refund System in Catalonia. Two surveys on citizenship's expected behaviour.

Policies aiming to prevent environmental deterioration are gaining attention. To mitigate the detrimental effects of household waste in the form of packaging and single-use containers, diverse mechanisms to enhance recycling have been implemented in many countries. This paper studies citizenship perception and expected behaviour in the face of a potential implementation of a packaging Deposit and Refund System (DRS) in Catalonia. Based on previous qualitative research, it reports and analyses the results of two surveys: a telephone and an online survey, aimed at capturing citizens' evaluation and expected changes of behaviour under the proposed waste collection system. The evaluation of the DRS obtained in the two surveys is substantially different. The DRS features are more positively perceived in the telephone survey than in the online survey and willingness to adopt the system is also higher in the telephone survey. Factors contributing to these differential evaluations are the amount and form of the information provided by the two surveys. These results are indicative of substantial effects that the use of different means of assessment of waste collection mechanisms can have on their perceived and reported desirability by consumers. Our research contributes with a novel quantitative analysis of consumers' attitudes towards implementing a DRS and adds to the literature on factors that may cause the evaluation of waste management alternatives to generate different results. Findings are relevant for the analysis of waste collection alternatives and to develop improved communication campaigns to promote new schemes to mitigate the environmental impact of waste.

Scenario analysis on optimal farmed-fish-species composition in China: A theoretical methodology to benefit wild-fishery stock, water conservation, economic and protein outputs under the context of climate change.

Fish production from aquaculture and wild captures suffers from the rising risk of climate change. This impacts the livelihoods of fishers and fish farmers by shrinking wild fishery stocks, inland water scarcity, and consequent declines in economic and protein productions. China, feeding the most fish of the world with water-intensive crops, faces challenges of water scarcity but still be premature in developing strategies to adapt to climate change. Here, focusing on methodology development, we quantified the water footprint of fish-farming and economic and protein productions in the baseline year 2014. Then, 29 scenarios of farmed-fish-species composition (FFSC, i.e., tons of each farmed fish species) were developed for the target year 2020. The baseline 2014 shows that fish farming generates an average of 150 billion m3 of water footprint, 4.70 million tons of protein, and 263 billion RMB of economic output (~39 billion USD). Uncertainty optimizations were conducted to generate the optimal FFSC solutions that show a potential to increase fish production by 22%, economic and protein output by 18% and 29%, respectively and simultaneously lower water footprint by 22% to the maximum extent. Nine scenarios that lower wild fishery captures were further examined, with optimal FFSC solution that encourages aquaculture of Grass carp, Bighead Carp, and Silver Carp, and discourages Black carp, Tilapia, Crucian carp, Sea bass, and Wuchang bream. From a methodology aspect, this study pulls back policymakers from only focusing on the short-term economic interest of fish-farming and persuades them to rethink long-term adaptive strategies to climate change from multiple sustainable dimensions.

Valorization Strategy for Leather Waste as Filler for High-Density Polyethylene Composites: Analysis of the Thermal Stability, Insulation Properties and Chromium Leaching.

Leather waste (BF) and high-density polyethylene (HDPE) were compounded in a lab scale internal mixer and processed by means of injection molding. In this study, leather waste and HDPE composites were characterized by instrumental techniques such as differential scanning calorimetry (DSC), thermo-gravimetric Analysis (TGA), and Fourier transform infrared spectroscopy (FTIR). Physical integrity of composites against chemical exposure and chromium-leaching properties of the composites were also investigated. This study shows that the incorporation of 30% leather waste fiber into HDPE composites decreases the thermal conductivity of the composite samples by 17% in comparison to that of neat HDPE samples. Composites showed no thermal degradation during processing cycle. Strong interfacial bonding between leather waste and polymer results in comparable low-leachate levels to maximum allowed concentration for nonhazardous waste, and good chemical resistance properties. The BF/HDPE composites could be a promising low-cost alternative in industrial application areas of HDPE, where high-mechanical strength and low-thermal conductivity is required.

Potential climate benefits of reusable packaging in food delivery services. A Chinese case study.

In China, the food delivery packaging waste is increasing due to the rapid growth of the sector and the use of single-use packaging to transport the meals. In addition, the recycling rates of current municipal waste management are low. In this regard, this study aims at estimating the climate change impact of current food delivery packaging and its waste treatment, by performing a Life Cycle Assessment with a cradle-to-grave approach. In addition, this article explores the potential benefits of increasing the current recycling rates, the recycled content of the packaging as well as the use of reusable packaging. For this study, the food packaging of a typical dumpling-based meal of the popular Chinese restaurant Xijiade was selected. Based on this menu and the current Chinese consumption patterns, the food delivery packaging in China would have emitted about 13 million tons of CO2eq. Increasing current recycling rates to 35% would reduce 16% the emissions of single-use packaging, and further decrease (60%) could be found if half of the packaging was made of recycled material. In addition, if single-use packaging was replaced by reusable PP-based packaging (food container and carrier bag), the emissions would potentially be 63% lower than the current situation. In this case, doubling the recycling rates and the recycled content of the reusable food packaging would represent an extra 6 and 17% reduction of emissions, respectively.

Towards a Water-Energy-Food (WEF) nexus index: A review of nutrient profile models as a fundamental pillar of food and nutrition security.

The Water-Energy-Food (WEF) nexus approach should be promoted as a tool for sustainable management of resources through the interconnection of these three fundamental pillars. Particularly, food security must ensure healthy and balanced diets for everyone, but selecting individual indicators to assess all slants covered by this element is not an easy task. Hence, the objective of this paper is two-fold, to review nutrient profiling (NP) models that allow to categorize foods and evaluate diets based on their nutritional quality, and to choose the most appropriate model to be used within a WEF nexus index. To address this issue, a total of 159 documents were assessed, appraising the geographic distribution, and time evolution of the publications, as well as the characteristics and potential applications of the NP systems. The review concludes that the NRF9.3. model is the most liable option to be used in a WEF nexus index, presenting the best characteristics by means of the definition of scores and thresholds, and the use of an 'across-the-board' criteria and a reference quantity of 100 kcal, alongside offering higher ability to assess diets and foods than the other competitive model (HEI) through the evaluation of nutrients to encourage instead of foods. A secondary outcome of the review is the identification of the NP models as a useful tool to enable institutions with information to establish policies in the field of public health and facilitating the decision-making process according to the current healthy claims.

Linking LCA literature with circular economy value creation: A review on beverage packaging.

The ever-increasing volume of packaging waste is widely recognised as a key global environmental challenge. Packaging is thus a central concern for advocates and analysts of circular economy (CEc), who often apply the life cycle assessment (LCA) methodology when measuring the environmental impacts of products and packaging. We undertook a systematic literature review as a research method, and in-depth analysis to ascertain the extent to which the new CEc paradigm has been integrated in LCA methodology applied to beverage packaging and reported in scientific papers. Carefully developed search strings returned 866 articles relevant to our enquiry from the databases of SCOPUS and Web of Science. Applying our selected eligibility criteria, we extracted a subset of 51 articles for in-depth analysis. The analysed literature shows the links between the quality of packaging material for recycling and the profoundness of the LCA studies. The paper provides the following set of recommendations for enhancing the future practice in development of the scientific LCAs for beverage packaging: (i) taking all direct and indirect factors into account when assessing the refillable beverage packaging system and conducting break-even analysis in order to achieve impartial comparative assessments of single-use and refillable systems; (ii) developing proxies in cases when actual data is lacking with which to model the recycling scenarios for exported secondary materials and hence improving the accuracy of recycling rate assessments in LCA models; (iii) improving the definition of the LCA function by introducing multiple loops of the packaging material and assessing qualitative changes in the material resulting from the multiple-recycling process. Thus improved practice of LCAs could better inform and improve the design of new packaging strategies aimed at prolonging the life of packaging materials in the technosphere, equally fulfilling the principles of the CEc.

An explorative assessment of environmental and nutritional benefits of introducing low-carbon meals to Barcelona schools.

Shifting to plant-based and low-carbon diets is a key measure for climate change mitigation. In this regard, national and local governments are setting goals and actions to tackle this issue. The municipality of Barcelona has set an intervention for the academic year 2020-21: introducing low-carbon meals in public schools. This study assesses the environmental and nutritional benefits of this intervention by applying the Life Cycle Assessment (LCA) methodology, with an energy and nutritional functional unit; and combined it with the Water-Energy-Food (WEF) nexus approach, by considering three WEF resources-based impacts (Blue Water Footprint (BWF), Primary Energy Demand (PED) and Land Use (LU)) and the Global Warming Potential (GWP). The transition to a low-carbon meal would reduce between 46 and 60% the environmental impacts. These benefits could even be higher when extra interventions within the school boundaries are applied. More research in behavioural change is needed in order to evaluate both: the acceptance of the new menus by scholars and the adaptation of the school kitchen staff to the new menu. Finally, it is suggested to monitor the environmental and nutritional changes of the introduction of low-carbon meals within the school menus in an integrated way.