Economic instruments for sustainable community development

Abstract

In recent years there has been increasing interest in the use of so‐called ‘economic instruments’ in environmental policy. Economic instruments influence the behaviour of economic agents by providing financial incentives for environmentally improved behaviour, or disincentives for damaging behaviour. This paper explores the use of economic instruments in the field of sustainable community planning and development. It does so in the wider context of how environmental economic policy is made. The focus of this paper is to examine the role of policy instruments in community planning, and to review the different types of instruments that are available to policy‐makers. Numerous examples of the various instruments at the community level are described. It is widely believed that policy making should occur at the lowest or most local level possible while maintaining effectiveness. A system of government that does not give adequate legal power to local governments, and does not allow local governments considerable flexibility in the use of funds, cannot be expected to achieve all community objectives. Central governments must give local governments permission to take measures towards sustainable community planning, even though that requires giving them power to address broader issues. At the same time, when issues that should be addressed at national and international levels are not addressed, local governments may be able to take action individually. Given the general reluctance (and perhaps inability) of governments at all levels today to consider non‐economic and, particularly, non‐market policy instruments, it is pragmatic as well as timely to improve our understanding of economic instruments for sustainable community development.     

Kinetics of acetaminophen degradation by Fenton oxidation in a fluidized-bed reactor

Acetaminophen (ACT), an analgesic and antipyretic substance, is one of the most commonly detected pharmaceutical compound in surface waters and wastewaters. In this study, fluidized-bed Fenton (FB-Fenton) was used to decompose ACT into its final degradation products. The 1.45-L cylindrical glass reactor had inlet, outlet and recirculating sections. SiO₂ carrier particles were supported by glass beads with 2–4 mm in diameter. ACT concentration was determined by high performance liquid chromatography (HPLC). During the first 40 min of reaction, a fast initial ACT removal was observed and the “two-stage” ACT degradation conformed to a pseudo reaction kinetics. The effects of ferrous ion dosage and [Fe²⁺]/[H₂O₂] (FH ratio) were integrated into the derived pseudo second-order kinetic model. A reaction pathway was proposed based on the intermediates detected through SPME/GC–MS. The aromatic intermediates identified were hydroquinone, benzaldehydes and benzoic acids while the non-aromatic substances include alcohols, ketones, aldehydes and carboxylic acids. Rapid initial ACT degradation rate can be accomplished by high initial ferrous ion concentration and/or low FH ratio.     

Determinants of coverage in Community‐based Therapeutic Care programmes: towards a joint quantitative and qualitative analysis

One of the most important elements behind the success of Community‐based Therapeutic Care (CTC) programmes for the treatment of severe acute malnutrition has been their ability to achieve high levels of coverage. In CTC, coverage is measured using the Centric System Area Sampling (CSAS) method, which provides accurate and reliable estimates of programme coverage as well as information on the primary reasons for non‐attendance. Another important feature of CTC programmes is their use of socio‐cultural assessments to determine potential barriers to access and to develop context‐specific responses. By analysing data on non‐attendance provided by CSAS surveys, in conjunction with data from socio‐cultural assessments, it is possible to identify common factors responsible for failures in programme coverage. This paper focuses on an analysis of data from 12 CTC programmes across five African countries. It pinpoints three common factors (distance to sites, community awareness of the programme, and the way in which rejections are handled at the sites) that, together, account for approximately 75 per cent of non‐attendance.     

Polyfluorinated chemicals in a spatially and temporally integrated food web in the Western Arctic

This study reports on an investigation of the presence of polyfluorinated chemicals in a spatially and temporally integrated set of biological samples representing an Arctic food web. Zooplankton, Arctic cod, and seal tissues from the western Canadian Arctic were analyzed for perfluoroalkyl sulfonates [PFAS], perfluorocarboxylates [PFCAs], and other polyfluorinated acids. Perfluorooctane sulfonate [PFOS] was found in all samples [0.20-34 ng/g] and in the highest concentrations. PFCAs from nine to 12 carbons were quantified in most of the samples [0.28-6.9 ng/g]. PFCAs with carbon chain lengths of eight or less were not detected. Likewise, 8-2 fluorotelomer acid [8-2 FTA] and 8-2 fluorotelomer unsaturated acid [8-2 FTUA], products of fluorotelomer environmental transformation, were not detected. 2H,2H,3H,3H, heptadecafluoro decanoic acid [7-3 Acid], an additional metabolite from fluorotelomer biological transformation, was detected only in seal liver tissue [0.5-2.5 ng/g]. The ratios of branched to linear PFOS isomers in fish and seal tissue were not similar and did not match that of technical PFOS as manufactured. No branched PFCA isomers were detected in any samples. It is concluded that differing pharmacokinetics complicate the use of branched to linear ratios of PFCAs in attributing their presence to a specific manufacturing process. A statistical analysis of the data revealed significant correlations between PFOS and the PFCAs detected as well as among the PFCAs themselves. The 7-3 Acid was not correlated with either PFCAs or PFAS, which suggests that it may have a different exposure pathway.     

An Empirical Model to Predict Styrene Emissions from Fiber-Reinforced Plastics Fabrication Processes

ABSTRACT

Styrene is a designated hazardous air pollutant, per the 1990 Clean Air Act Amendments. It is also a tropospheric ozone precursor. Fiber-reinforced plastics (FRP) fabrication is the primary source of anthropogenic styrene emissions in the United States. This paper describes an empirical model designed to predict styrene emission factors for selected FRP fabrication processes. The model highlights 10 relevant parameters impacting styrene emission factors for FRP processes, and helps identify future areas of FRP pollution prevention (P2) research. In most cases, the number of these parameters with greatest impact on styrene emission factors can be limited to four or five. Seven different emission studies were evaluated and used as model inputs.     

The Yellow River in transition

Like many parts of the world, the Yellow River basin has problems associated with water scarcity, pollution, and flood risk. Analyses that focus only on the physical characteristics of these problems miss some of their most important social drivers. In this paper we identify some interlocking changes that have occurred as a consequence of economic reforms begun in China in 1978, and the implications of these changes for the Yellow River. The reforms have caused changes in the organisation of household production, increasing urbanisation and urban affluence, rapid industrialisation, and large scale spatial shifts in agricultural production. Rather than specific decisions it is these gradual changes that have affected the current status of the Yellow River and its basin. Our analysis suggests that at least some solutions to water problems in the Yellow River lie outside the basin, and beyond the realm of science or technology.     

Microbial mineralization of organic nitrogen forms in poultry litters

Ammonia volatilization from the mineralization of uric acid and urea has a major impact on the poultry industry and the environment. Dry acids are commonly used to reduce ammonia emissions from poultry houses; however, little is known about how acidification affects the litter biologically. The goal of this laboratory incubation was to compare the microbiological and physiochemical effects of dry acid amendments (Al+Clear, Poultry Litter Treatment, Poultry Guard) on poultry litter to an untreated control litter and to specifically correlate uric acid and urea contents of these litters to the microbes responsible for their mineralization. Although all three acidifiers eventually produced similar effects within the litter, there was at least a 2-wk delay in the microbiological responses using Poultry Litter Treatment. Acidification of the poultry litter resulted in >3 log increases in total fungal concentrations, with both uricolytic (uric acid degrading) and ureolytic (urea degrading) fungi increasing by >2 logs within the first 2 to 4 wk of the incubation. Conversely, total, uricolytic, and ureolytic bacterial populations all significantly declined during this same time period. While uric acid and urea mineralization occurred within the first 2 wk in the untreated control litter, acidification resulted in delayed mineralization events for both uric acid and urea (2 and 4 wk delay, respectively) once fungal cell concentrations exceeded a threshold level. Therefore, fungi, and especially uricolytic fungi, appear to have a vital role in the mineralization of organic N in low-pH, high-N environments, and the activity of these fungi should be considered in best management practices to reduce ammonia volatilization from acidified poultry litter.     

Development of a scalable model for predicting arsenic transport coupled with oxidation and adsorption reactions

Understanding the fundamentals of arsenic adsorption and oxidation reactions is critical for predicting its transport dynamics in groundwater systems. We completed batch experiments to study the interactions of arsenic with a common MnO2(s) mineral, pyrolusite. The reaction kinetics and adsorption isotherm developed from the batch experiments were integrated into a scalable reactive transport model to facilitate column-scale transport predictions. We then completed a set of column experiments to test the predictive capability of the reactive transport model. Our batch results indicated that the commonly used pseudo-first order kinetics for As(III) oxidation reaction neglects the scaling effects with respect to the MnO2(s) concentration. A second order kinetic equation that explicitly includes MnO2(s) concentration dependence is a more appropriate kinetic model to describe arsenic oxidation by MnO2(s) minerals. The arsenic adsorption reaction follows the Langmuir isotherm with the adsorption capacity of 0.053micromol of As(V)/g of MnO2(s) at the tested conditions. The knowledge gained from the batch experiments was used to develop a conceptual model for describing arsenic reactive transport at a column scale. The proposed conceptual model was integrated within a reactive transport code that accurately predicted the breakthrough profiles observed in multiple column experiments. The kinetic and adsorption process details obtained from the batch experiments were valuable data for scaling to predict the column-scale reactive transport of arsenic in MnO2(s)-containing sand columns.     

Informal electronic waste recycling: a sector review with special focus on China

Informal recycling is a new and expanding low cost recycling practice in managing Waste Electrical and Electronic Equipment (WEEE or e-waste). It occurs in many developing countries, including China, where current gaps in environmental management, high demand for second-hand electronic appliances and the norm of selling e-waste to individual collectors encourage the growth of a strong informal recycling sector. This paper gathers information on informal e-waste management, takes a look at its particular manifestations in China and identifies some of the main difficulties of the current Chinese approach. Informal e-waste recycling is not only associated with serious environmental and health impacts, but also the supply deficiency of formal recyclers and the safety problems of remanufactured electronic products. Experiences already show that simply prohibiting or competing with the informal collectors and informal recyclers is not an effective solution. New formal e-waste recycling systems should take existing informal sectors into account, and more policies need to be made to improve recycling rates, working conditions and the efficiency of involved informal players. A key issue for China’s e-waste management is how to set up incentives for informal recyclers so as to reduce improper recycling activities and to divert more e-waste flow into the formal recycling sector.