Indicators for Chemicals: Sources,impacts and policy performance (5 pp)

Background Different types of indicators have been developed to describe the impact of chemicals on society and environment. Due to the high number of substances and their different types of use, most of these indicators are directed to specific areas of interest – regarding workplace safety, environmental health or consumer health. They address a specific subset of chemicals and can be used for monitoring enterprise-specific, national or international management measures. Main Features A survey of existing indicators for chemicals has shown that indicators already exist for a remarkable number of problem fields. As soon as the release and the environmental fate of chemicals are taken into account, the complexity of the approaches increases considerably. The distinction between indicators for drivers, pressures, state, impacts and responses, as proposed by the European Environmental Agency, supports the identification of proper indicators for a specific type of problem. Discussion and Conclusions. No single indicator exists which is able to cover the whole range of chemicals and their applications. Several indicator approaches cover at least a subset of the most relevant substances. If they are intended to be used for European monitoring, robust data must be provided by EU Member States. Chemicals in enterprises (ancillary inputs as well as process chemicals) are an important element of in-plant material flow management – in terms of occupational safety and health as well as environmental protection. Existing indicators for hazardous chemicals can be a valuable tool for process and product refinement regarding hazardous chemicals, especially for enterprises. Outlook Indicators for production and impact of chemicals, as well as policy performance indicators, are essential elements in order to monitor the management of chemicals. They have to be established for the national and for the EU level.     

Assessment of the sustainability of technology by means of a thermodynamically based life cycle analysis

Life cycle analysis is one of the tools in the assessment of the sustainability of technological options. It takes into account all effects on the ecosystem and the population which may endanger the possibilities of current and future generations. However, the main bottleneck in current LCA methodologies is the balancing of different effects, being all quantified on different scales. In this work, a methodology is proposed, which allows one to quantify different effects of the production, consumption and disposal of goods, and services on a single scale. The basis of the methodology is the second law of thermodynamics. All production, consumption and disposal processes affecting the ecosystem and the population, are quantified in terms of loss of exergy. The exergy content of a material is the maximum amount of energy which can be transformed into work at given environmental conditions. Next to the elaboration of the methodology, the new approach is illustrated by examples of the production of synthetic organic polymers, inorganic building insulation materials and different waste gas treatment options.     

Food (miles) for Thought - Energy Balance for Locally-grown versus Imported Apple Fruit (3 pp)

- This commentary compares the primary energy requirement for apples (cultivar ‘Braeburn’), which were either imported or locally-grown in Meckenheim, Germany. Imported apples of the same cultivar were grown in a Southern hemisphere winter in Nelson, Southland, New Zealand, and were picked at the end of March with subsequent 28 d transport by sea for sale in April in Germany. Locally-grown apples (cultivar ‘Braeburn’) were picked in mid-October and required a primary energy of nearly 6 MJ/kg of fruit including 0.8 MJoule/kg for five months CA storage at 1°C during a Northern hemisphere winter until mid-March. This compared favourably with 7.5 MJoule/kg for overseas shipment from New Zealand, i.e. a ca. 27% greater energy requirement for these imported fruits. Overall, the primary energy requirement of regional produce, stored several months on-site, partially compensated for the larger energy required to import fresh fruit from overseas. This result is in marked contrast to reported overestimates of a reported up to 8-fold energy requirement for domestic versus imported apple juice concentrate [7]. Our own findings of less primary energy required for domestic apple fruit is discussed with respect to providing local employment, fruit orchards preserving the countryside, quality assurance systems for local fruit such as QS and EUREP-GAP, networking and other factors favouring regional production.     

城市生活垃圾处理方式生命周期评价的比较研究

生命周期评价理论与方法作为一种量化环境影响的工具,在诸多领域中得到了广泛的应用。在垃圾处理领域,生命周期评价最早在20世纪90年代得到应用。生命周期评价与城市生活垃圾处理的有效结合,将促进城市生活垃圾的减量化、资源化、无害化目标的实现。总结了生命周期评价理论与方法在城市生活垃圾处理中的应用现状。对国内不同城市生活垃圾处理方式环境影响因子进行比较分析,诸如全球变暖潜力、酸化潜力和富营养化潜力等因子。针对其目标范围定义、数据收集、评价方法的选择、结果解释及工艺改进等方面指出了目前研究的局限性和不足。并对未来城市生活垃圾处理生命周期评价的发展方向进行展望。     

The U.S. Experience in Promoting Sustainable Chemistry (9 pp)

- Sustainable chemistry - Section editors: Klaus Günter Steinhäuser, Steffi Richter, Petra Greiner, Jutta Penning, Michael AngrickBackground, Aim and Scope Recent developments in European chemicals policy, including the Registration, Evaluation and Authorization of Chemicals (REACH) proposal, provide a unique opportunity to examine the U.S. experience in promoting sustainable chemistry as well as the strengths and weaknesses of existing policies. Indeed, the problems of industrial chemicals and limitations in current regulatory approaches to address chemical risks are strikingly similar on both sides of the Atlantic. We provide an overview of the U.S. regulatory system for chemicals management and its relationship to efforts promoting sustainable chemistry. We examine federal and state and examine lessons learned from this system that can be applied to developing more integrated, sustainable approaches to chemicals management.Main Features There is truly no one U.S. chemicals policy, but rather a series of different un-integrated policies at the federal, regional, state and local levels. While centerpiece U.S. Chemicals Policy, the Toxic Substances Control Act of 1976, has resulted in the development of a comprehensive, efficient rapid screening process for new chemicals, agency action to manage existing chemicals has been very limited. The agency, however, has engaged in a number of successful, though highly underfunded, voluntary data collection, pollution prevention, and sustainable design programs that have been important motivators for sustainable chemistry. Policy innovation in the establishment of numerous state level initiatives on persistent and bioaccumulative toxics, chemical restrictions and toxics use reduction have resulted in pressure on the federal government to augment its efforts.Results and Conclusions It is clear that data collection on chemical risks and phase-outs of the most egregious chemicals alone will not achieve the goals of sustainable chemistry. These alone will also not internalize the cultural and institutional changes needed to ensure that design and implementation of safer chemicals, processes, and products are the focus of the future. Thus, a more holistic approach of ‘carrots and sticks’ – that involves not just chemical producers but those who use and purchase chemicals is necessary. Some important lessons of the US experience in chemicals management include: (1) the need for good information on chemicals flows, toxic risks, and safer substances.; (2) the need for comprehensive planning processes for chemical substitution and reduction to avoid risk trade-offs and ensure product quality; (3) the need for technical and research support to firms for innovation in safer chemistry; and (4) the need for rapid screening processes and tools for comparison of alternative chemicals, materials, and products.     

Using a Set of Strategic Indicator Systems as a Decision-making Support Implement for Establishing a Recycling-oriented Society - A Taiwanese Case Study (16 pp)

Background Scope and Aims. To realize the vision of sustainable development (SD) originating from the ‘only one earth’ philosophy, and to integrate the conceptions of ecology and sustainability into the planning and decision-making criteria of urban growth management, the establishment of a recycling-oriented society (ROS) is essential. However, before the above intention can be achieved, it is indispensable to develop a system of strategic indicators for supporting a radical reformation of the urban development plan. Therefore, this study, based on the conception of the new urban development pattern ROS, attempted to carefully choose a sample city in Taiwan for launching a preliminary case study, and furthermore designed and proposed a concise and strategy-oriented assessment indicator system termed ROSAIS. ROSAIS, on the one hand, can act as a compass for understanding resource using efficiency and recycling status during city development and, on the other hand, can serve as an implement supporting decision-making for ROS construction.Methods According to the definition and spirit of ROS, the structure of ROSAIS should clearly represent the relationship between resources and environment in human activities. The eco-efficiency indicator system (EEIS) and environmental symbiosis indicator system (ESIS) can be considered two key sub-indicator systems, and are the necessary components of ROSAIS. EEIS chooses the dominant production sectors in urban economic activities to calculate their eco-efficiency (EE). Separately, for obtaining a consensus regarding the framework of ESIS, the questionnaire approaches and expert consultation, together with the research experience and foundation of current relevant studies and indicator systems, are applied when crucial resource and environmental issues and respective indicators are selected.Results and Discussion The calculation results of EEIS in this case study indicated that among the three dominant production activities (agricultural, fishery, and animal husbandry sector) the fishery sector has the highest EE, which indicates that the fishery activities and resources significantly influence the sustainability of the economic-environmental system of the sample city. Furthermore, according to a consensus achieved in ESIS, local green spaces, resource recovery, energy consumption pattern change, freshwater conservation and greenhouse effect abatement were considered as the five crucial issues influencing how the case study city can develop into an ES-city. The rate of local green spaces, resource recycling, freshwater conservation and the rate of reduction of nonrenewable energy use as well as carbon dioxide (CO2) emissions were used to evaluate the above five issues.Conclusion This case study is unparalleled in Taiwan. Even in Japan, where ROS legislation has been implemented, this kind of study remains in the preliminary stages. Furthermore, when communicating the indicator results, it is essential to provide the context and countermeasures of the crucial issues that are faced. The two sub-indicator systems proposed in this case study could comply completely with the above-mentioned requirements. For example, the EEIS provides information for achieving a balance between environmental burden and economic benefits among dominant production sectors; the ESIS provides information for setting strategies for overcoming the crucial issues faced. Recommendation and Outlook This study recommends that urban planers should consider the construction of the corresponding strategic indicator system to be indispensable, and makes further use of the indicator results related to the environmental education of residents for identifying and promoting participation with ROS, and turning them into implements for supporting urban SD decision-making. Furthermore, a successful indicator system depends on data availability and quality. This study recommends that urban planers should pay considerable attention to constructing relevant data collection channels, databases and the data quality.