Implementation of Waste Electrical and Electronic Equipment Directive in Finland: Evaluation of the collection network and challenges of the effective WEEE management

Further to the European Waste Electrical and Electronic Equipment (WEEE) Directive, setting up efficient collection schemes is necessary to ensure the recovery targets set. Following the subsidiary principle, the WEEE Directive defines only the general requirements for mandatory collection and recycling objectives. The modalities of the logistics and the organisation of the take-back schemes are left to the choice of Member States. In this paper, the implementation of the WEEE Directive and the development of the WEEE recovery infrastructure in Finland are described and the challenges to the effective management of the WEEE recovery system in Finland are expressed. It can be said that the implementation of the WEEE Directive has succeeded in Finland and, at the same time, the legislative basis has been enacted. In addition, a functional WEEE recovery infrastructure has been built and, the collection requirements of the WEEE Directive have been exceeded in a relatively short time. However, the paper outlines that some inefficient practices still exist, particularly in the registration and WEEE collection stages. It is concluded that raising awareness would lead to a more environmentally sound behaviour and would, ultimately, improve WEEE recovery efficiency.     

A review of Australian approaches for monitoring,assessing and reporting estuarine condition: III. Evaluation against international best practice and recommendations for the future

In this final component of a three-part review, we present a national synthesis and evaluation of approaches for monitoring, assessing and reporting estuarine condition across Australia. Progress is evaluated against objective criteria that together provide a model of international best practice. We critically assess the limitations, inconsistencies and gaps that are evident across Australian jurisdictions, and identify common obstacles to future progress. Major strengths and successes are also highlighted, together with specific examples of best practice from around Australia that are transferable to other States and beyond. Significant obstacles to greater national coordination of monitoring and reporting practices include inconsistent spatial scales of management, pluralistic governance structures and the lack of any overarching legislation. Nonetheless, many perceptible advances have been made over the last decade across Australia in estuarine monitoring and health assessment, and there is great potential for further progress. Finally, we provide a list of recommendations to address some of the most pressing limitations and gaps, and support improved future monitoring, assessment and reporting for Australian estuaries.     

How robust is public support for unilateral climate policy?

Most governments emphasize the need for reciprocal (“give and take”) international commitments in global climate policy. Nonetheless, existing public opinion polls indicate strong support by individual citizens for unilateral climate policies as well. This raises the question of whether governments could, without risking electoral punishment, afford to pursue more ambitious unilateral climate policies, or whether surveys may have overestimated support for unilateralism due to measurement problems. Based on conjoint and framing experiments embedded in representative surveys in the world's two largest democracies, India and the United States, we engage in a critical re-assessment of earlier survey results. We find robust public support for unilateral climate policy in both countries. Such support declines with increasing costs and increases with growing co-benefits and problem solving effectiveness. We also find, however, that policy conditionality and possible institutional design mechanisms against free-riding by other states (which make the policy “less unilateral” by providing for reciprocation) play no significant role when citizens form their preferences with respect to climate policy. Neither is public support affected by whether policies focus on adaptation (which limits benefits to the investing country) or mitigation (which benefits all countries globally). Overall, these findings suggest that, in view of very slow progress in global climate policy, governments of rich and poor countries could politically afford to push ahead with more ambitious unilateral climate policies.     

Environmental Damage,Abandoned Treaties,and Fossil-Fuel Dependence: The Coming Costs of Oil-and-Gas Exploration in the “1002 Area” of the Arctic National Wildlife Refuge

Contrary to claims from American politicians, lobbyists, and oil and gas executives, allowing energy development in the Alaskan Arctic National Wildlife Refuge (ANWR) will harm the environment, compromise international law, erode the social significance of wilderness protection, and ultimately fail to␣increase the energy security of the United States. After exploring a brief history of the ANWR controversy, this piece argues that the operation of oil and gas refineries in ANWR will release discharged solids, drilling waste, and dirty diesel fuel into the ecosystem’s food-chain, as they have from oil operations in Prudhoe Bay. Less obvious but equally important, oil and gas exploration in ANWR will violate a number of international treaties on biodiversity protection. In the end, development in ANWR will threaten the concept of wilderness protection, and will do little to end US dependence on foreign sources of energy. About the Author: Benjamin K. Sovacool is a doctoral candidate in the Department of Science and Technology Studies at the Virginia Polytechnic Institute & State University in Blacksburg, Virginia. He works as a research analyst for the Consortium on Energy Restructuring and is a Senior Research Fellow for the Virginia Center for Coal and Energy Research. He also just completed a Graduate Fellowship in Energy Policy at the Oak Ridge National Laboratory in Oak Ridge, Tennessee. Readers should send their comments on this paper to: BhaskarNath@aol.com within 3 months of publication of this issue.     

ENVIRONMENTAL IMPACT ASSESSMENT OF TAILINGS DISPERSAL FROM A URANIUM MINE USING TOXICITY TESTING PROTOCOLS1

ABSTRACT: Toxicity testing is a means of establishing the environmental risk of a uranium tailings release. It is valuable in designing tailings containment structures because it assists in setting acceptable levels of risk for the design. This paper presents details of toxicity tests of the tailings from Ranger Uranium Mine, Northern Territory, Australia. The results suggest that the non-radiological toxicity of the tailings is low. The environmental risk of a tailings release is more likely to be related to the physical impacts of the tailings, including infilling of billabongs and changes in the sedimentology of riparian ecosystems rather than their biogeochemical impact. Two major results were: (1) water from treatment with washed tailing fines were not toxic to Hydra viridissima, and (2) mixtures of washed tailings fines and natural floodplain sediment (overlying water or elutriates) were not toxic to Hydra viridissima or Moinodaphnia macleayi.     

Distribution of some trace metals and their fluxes in the Genesee River,NY

Total and particulate metal concentrations, measured during intensive synoptic studies of the Genesee River, NY, correlated with suspended-sediment concentration and river discharge. Dissolved metal concentrations, on the other hand, showed little systematic variation over the length of the river. Metal and sediment fluxes for two elevated-discharged periods peaked at a midbasin sampling site. For most metals at most sampling sties particulate materials comprised over one-half of the total material. Comparison of particulate material metal concentrations, normalized to the measured suspended-sediment concentrations had with basinwide average values shows that sites having low suspended-sediment concentrations had high particulate material metal contents relative to the basin averages, while sites with high suspended-sediment concentration had low metal contents. These results are consistent with a metal transport mechanism in the Genesee River involving (1) a nearly constant dissolved component, (2) a fine acid-soluble component, and (3) a coarse component that is effectively a neutral diluent in the sediment. Chemical factors, such as sediment organic content, also appear to affect metal transport in the Genesee River.     

Do trace metal(loid)s in road soils pose health risks to tourists? A case of a highly-visited national park in China

Nowadays, more people tend to spend their recreational time in large national parks, and trace metal(loid)s in soils have attracted long-term attention due to their possible harm to human health. To investigate the pollution levels, potential sources and health risks of trace metal(loid)s in road soils, a total of eight trace metal(loid)s (including As, Cd, Cr, Cu, Ni, Pb, Zn and Hg) from 47 soil samples along roads were studied in the Huangshan National Park in Southeast China. The results showed that the concentrations of As, Cd, Pb, Zn and Hg appeared different degrees of pollution compared with their corresponding background values. According to the pollution indices, Hg and Cd were recognized as significant pollutants presenting moderate to high ecological risk. Combining principal component analysis and positive matrix factorization model, the results showed that traffic, industrial, agricultural and natural sources were the potential origins of trace metal(loid)s in this area, with contribution rates of 39.93%, 25.92%, 10.53% and 23.62%, respectively. Non-carcinogenic risks were all negligible, while the carcinogenic risk of As was higher than the limit (1 $\times$ 10⁻⁶). Moreover, children were more susceptible to trace metal(loid)s by ingestion which appeared to be a more important exposure pathway than dermal contact and inhalation. The contribution rates of different sources to non-carcinogenic risks and carcinogenic risks were similar among children and adults, while traffic and industrial sources have a significant impact on health risks. This study will give more insights to control the environmental risks of trace metal(loid)s in national parks.     

Characteristics of animal-related motor vehicle crashes in select National Park Service units—United States, 1990–2013

Objectives: Nationally, animal–motor vehicle crashes (AVCs) account for 4.4% of all types of motor vehicle crashes (MVCs). AVCs are a safety risk for drivers and animals and many National Park Service (NPS) units (e.g., national park, national monument, or national parkway) have known AVC risk factors, including rural locations and substantial animal densities. We sought to describe conditions and circumstances involving AVCs to guide traffic and wildlife management for prevention of AVCs in select NPS units.

Methods: We conducted an analysis using NPS law enforcement MVC data. An MVC is a collision involving an in-transit motor vehicle that occurred or began on a public roadway. An AVC is characterized as a collision between a motor vehicle and an animal. A non-AVC is a crash between a motor vehicle and any object other than an animal or noncollision event (e.g., rollover crash). The final data for analysis included 54,068 records from 51 NPS units during 1990–2013. Counts and proportions were calculated for categorical variables and medians and ranges were calculated for continuous variables. We used Pearson’s chi-square to compare circumstances of AVCs and non-AVCs. Data were compiled at the park regional level; NPS parks are assigned to 1 of 7 regions based on the park’s location.

Results: AVCs accounted for 10.4% (5,643 of 54,068) of all MVCs from 51 NPS units. The Northeast (2,021 of 5,643; 35.8%) and Intermountain (1,180 of 5,643; 20.9%) regions had the largest percentage of the total AVC burden. November was the peak month for AVCs across all regions (881 of 5,643; 15.6%); however, seasonality varied by park geographic regions. The highest counts of AVCs were reported during fall for the National Capital, Northeast/Southeast, and Northeast regions; winter for the Southeast region; and summer for Intermountain and Pacific West regions.

Conclusions: AVCs represent a public health and wildlife safety concern for NPS units. AVCs in select NPS units were approximately 2-fold higher than the national percentage for AVCs. The peak season for AVCs varied by NPS region. Knowledge of region-specific seasonality patterns for AVCs can help NPS staff develop mitigation strategies for use primarily during peak AVC months. Improving AVC data collection might provide NPS with a more complete understanding of risk factors and seasonal trends for specific NPS units. By collecting information concerning the animal species hit, park managers can better understand the impacts of AVC to wildlife population health.     

The potential implementation of green infrastructure assessment using high-resolution National Agriculture Imagery Program data for sustainable hazard mitigation

As green infrastructure gets its attention in hazard mitigation, it is necessary to improve general understanding on what makes green infrastructure important for hazard and resiliency research. To better understand how green infrastructure fits with more traditional notions of structural and nonstructural mitigation, this study examines the relationship between green infrastructure and ‘structural and nonstructural’ mitigation approaches for hazard mitigation. Also, this study discusses a new measurement of locational aspects and spatial patterns of green infrastructure by utilizing high-resolution data in urban areas, and its potential implementation in hazard mitigation. Compared to previous research using land-use land-cover datasets, the normalized difference vegetation index (NDVI) utilizing National Agriculture Imagery Program dataset provides an ability to capture green infrastructure in greater detail. A visual comparison suggests that the NDVI data are able to capture and identify more types of ‘green’ land uses in Harris County. The total green infrastructure percentages for Harris County, Texas, based on 1-m high resolution were found to be 61.5% of the area, compared to the 51.5% based on the National Land Cover Database. This study provides support for utilizing high-resolution data to establish guidelines for green infrastructure’s spatial characteristics and sustainable hazard mitigation. The outcomes of this study will be helpful in the strategic planning and implementation of green infrastructure in urban areas with hazard issues.