News

Approximately 88 megatonnes (Mt) of food are wasted every year in the European Union, causing 186 metric tons (Mt) carbon dioxide equivalent (CO2-eq) — a universal measure for all greenhouse gases. The impact of food waste on the climate, acidification and eutrophication is around 15–16% of the environmental impact of the entire food chain. In developed countries, food waste is high at the point of consumption— so significantly reducing food losses would require a food-waste reduction in households and the food-services sector.

Polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons (PAHs) are a large group of toxic molecules produced by forest fires, industrial processes and the incomplete combustion of fossil fuels. The airborne particles containing these molecules are often washed into watercourses, where they can persist. This study uses long-term monitoring data from the Elbe river, Saxony, Germany, to show how changes in PAH sources affect both the concentrations of these chemicals and the corresponding environmental risks. The researchers suggest that controlling PAHs is the best prevention of harm to aquatic and human health.

While cities worldwide are expanding so is the significant carbon dioxide footprint of urban transport. Consequently, there is an urgent need for sustainable urban mobility solutions. A thorough analysis of the variables and dynamics of urban mobility in cities can aid in planning sustainable mobility policy. This study used a new system of classification by type (typologisation) relevant to urban mobility in global cities, with data from 331 cities in 124 countries covering 40% of the global urban population (as of 2016).

How can we grow more crops without taking too much water away from freshwater ecosystems for irrigation? A new study indicates that it is possible to double crop production by 2050 without exceeding set limits for water extraction if more crops are grown in regions with higher rainfall and with corresponding shifts in international trade and agricultural management. However, without appropriate safeguards, and if we follow the current business-as-usual scenario, this could come at the ecological cost of converting natural land and forest into cropland. This research provides a ‘first-step’ in analysing potential trade-offs in the global food-trade-water nexus.

Issue 540

N.B. The Calendar of Events will become a regular section of the Level(s) newsletter just as soon as those countries who are experiencing a COVID-19 lockdown make public events possible once again.

Do you think you know the EU Green Deal inside out? Take our quiz to find out (1 point per correct answer).

German Environmental Agency releases report on plastics in the environment

Video: Slovenian SME MSORA explains how eco-innovation contributes to their wooden windows business

Future Brief: Eco-Innovation in SMEs, by Science for Environment Policy

Haven't you heard? The new Circular Economy Action Plan is out!

Some materials fit more easily into the circular economy than others. Nearly all food and drinks cans and other steel packaging, for example, are recycled. But some materials present a much tougher challenge.

What happens to old mobile phones when they reach the end of their useful lives? The most likely fate might be ‘hibernation’ – old phones go into drawers and cupboards to be forgotten.

Keeping resources in productive use longer through industrial symbiosis is critical to Europe’s circular economy transition, say experts in Cir©Lean, a new European IS business network.

Demonstration projects can represent a critical intermediate step between research and development (R&D) and large-scale commercialisation; yet many involving new sustainable technologies fail. In order to map the internal and external factors that enable or prohibit demonstration projects from reaching their goals, a case study of 21 projects was conducted. Qualitative data collected from funding applications and interviews were analysed to identify key themes. Based on these findings, the study proposes a process model outlining the key activities for setting up a new demonstration project.

As 3D printing, also known as additive manufacturing (AM), begins to replace conventional manufacturing, the environmental impacts of its implementation must be assessed. This study conducted a life cycle assessment (LCA) to investigate the environmental and resource implications of using AM to manufacture the metal parts of an engine in a light distribution truck. In the LCA, the impacts of both present and possible future states of AM technology were compared with current conventional manufacturing. The results suggest that there are potential environmental and resource benefits1 to AM technologies, but that these benefits rely on the achievement of a clean energy source and further technological development.

The most comprehensive glacier assessment yet reveals that glacier melt was responsible for 27 mm of sea level rise between 1961 and 2016. Ice loss from glaciers is now the second biggest contributor to rising sea levels after warming water. If glaciers continue to melt at current rates, most — including many in central Asia, central Europe, western Canada and the USA — will vanish during the second half of this century.

This issue’s Star Tweet is by Céline Carré, Head of Public Affairs at Saint Gobain and Vice-President of EuroACE.

The KIEXC project has the ultimate goal of reshaping building sustainability requirements.

Each month Josefina Lindblom, DG ENV’s lead on the Level(s) initiative and member of the Sustainable Production, Products and Consumption Unit, talks to someone who really understand Level(s) and the benefits adopting the framework has for building professionals and occupants. This month she talked to Audrey Nugent, Head of Advocacy at the World Green Building Council. Green Building Councils (GBCs) bring together businesses and other organisations active in the building and construction industry to work on greening buildings nationally and globally. They started their conversation talking about the involvement of the Green Building Councils in Level(s).