Topic Review
Food Packaging
Demand for food packaging is on the rise as a result of increasing global demand for food due to population growth. Most of the food packaging are used on-the-go and are single-use plastics that are disposed of within a short space of time. The bulk of this plastic waste has found its way into the environment contaminating land, water and the food chain. The food industry is encouraged to reduce, reuse and recycle packaging materials. 
  • 1.3K
  • 09 Apr 2021
Topic Review
Water Quality Index
A critical water quality index (WQI) method has been used to determine the overall water quality status of surface water and groundwater systems globally since the 1960s. WQI follows four steps: parameter selection, sub-indices, establishing weights, and final index aggregation.
  • 10.2K
  • 09 Apr 2021
Topic Review
Sandy Beach Aquifers
Sandy beach aquifers are complex hydrological and biogeochemical systems where fresh groundwater and seawater mix. The extent of the intertidal mixing zone and the rates of circulating flows within beaches are a primary control on porewater chemistry and microbiology of the intertidal subsurface. Interplay between the hydrological and biogeochemical processes at these land-sea transition zones moderate fluxes of chemicals, particulates, heavy metals, and biota across the aquifer-ocean interface, affecting coastal water quality and nutrient loads to marine ecosystems. Thus, it is important to characterize hydrological and biogeochemical processes in beach aquifers when estimating material fluxes to the ocean. This can be achieved through a suite of cross-disciplinary measurements of beach groundwater flow and chemistry. 
  • 757
  • 08 Apr 2021
Topic Review
Water–Energy–Food Nexus in Distant Past
The concept of water–energy–food (WEF) nexus is gaining favor as a means to highlight the functions of the three individual nexus elements as interrelated components of a single complex system. In practice, the nexus approach projects forward from the present, seeking to maximize future WEF synergies and avoid undesirable tradeoffs. This article seeks to gain insights into how the ancients dealt with WEF relationships, whether currently relevant principles were practiced millennia ago, and how past WEF dynamics compare to today. 
  • 460
  • 08 Apr 2021
Topic Review
Haloarchaea
Haloarchaea has the capability of producing significant concentrations of polyhydroxyalkanoate (PHA), polyhydroxybutyrate (PHB), and polyhydroxyvalerate (PHV) when growing under a specific nutritional status. The growth of those microorganisms at the pilot or industrial scale offers several advantages compared to that of other microbes that are bioplastic producers.
  • 476
  • 04 Apr 2021
Topic Review
Territories Sustainability of Ecuadorian Amazon
As is general knowledge, the situation of the Amazon Basin has been strongly affected in recent decades. Mass deforestation in order to expand livestock borders, illicit use of timber species and oil exploitation, produced serious environmental impacts. Half of the national territory of Ecuador is part of this Amazonian macro-basin, so these problems have undergone in the area. The Amazonian Ecuador in particular, is a territory where the capacity of the soils and the ecosystems to provide services have been weakening for all the described circumstances. But from our scientific and academic point of view it seems important to contribute to the well-being and good living of the Amazonian population by the implementation of sustainable production systems. The researching perspective must focus to offer objective indicators that can be useful for management, referring to the dynamic balance between society and nature.  In the dimensions addressing the socio environmental aspects, the Soil Quality Indicators have revealed to be very useful. They give information that can influence decision-making and territorial planning at the farm level.  Other data and information can be summarized in graphical representations called Biogram and synthetic indices as the Integrated Index of Sustainable Development. All these are affordable and sustainable and realistic proposals.
  • 544
  • 04 Apr 2021
Topic Review
Sludge Treatment Reed Beds
Sludge Treatment Reed Beds (STRB) represent a state-of-the-art nature-based solution to sludge treatment and management. It is an effective, economical (i.e., of low investment, operation and maintenance cost, and low energy consumption), environmentally friendly, and technically efficient technology. In STRBs, the sludge is applied to a growing stand of reeds under controlled conditions. The method relies on the exploitation of the transpiring and aerating capabilities of the reeds, which absorb moisture and nutrients from the sludge for their growth. Additionally, the sludge is dewatered by drainage through the underlying gravel layers, and evaporation from the sludge surface. In the long run, the sludge is oxidized and its organic matter content decreases. The final solids content of the dewatered sludge can build up to and exceed 40%, depending on the sludge loading rate and the climate. STRB operational life is usually at least 30 years and is divided into two or three operational phases of 8-12 years. At the end of each operational phase, the accumulated residual sludge is removed and recycled typically in agriculture and the STRB is emptied.
  • 1.8K
  • 01 Apr 2021
Topic Review
Regional Hydro-Ecological Simulation System
Regional Hydro-Ecological Simulation System (RHESSys), a distributed physical processes-based ecohydrological model, that can simulate the regional multi-components cycle of nitrogen, carbon, and water. Many RHESSys-based studies have been implemented for sustainable watershed management. 
  • 1.2K
  • 01 Apr 2021
Topic Review
ESG Measurement
Investors are currently obliged to take environment, social, and governance (ESG) issues into consideration as part of their fiduciary duty. As such, it becomes increasingly important to identify sustainable investments that also hold financial value. A sector where this is especially underdeveloped is real estate.
  • 2.0K
  • 01 Apr 2021
Topic Review
IAQ in Museum Display Cases
The control of air quality in museum showcases is a growing issue for the conservation of the displayed artefacts. Inside an airtight showcase, volatile substances may rapidly concentrate and favor or directly cause the degradation or other unwanted phenomena on the objects. The role of materials used in the construction of museum display cases as a source of pollutants and volatile compounds dangerous for the cultural heritage integrity is here reviewed with an illustration of consequences and critical damages. Ways of assessing the suitability of materials used either in the construction or in use of the display cases are also discussed altogether with an overview of the possible choices for monitoring the air quality and limiting the concentration of volatile compounds in their interior.
  • 564
  • 29 Mar 2021
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