Disposal of plastic waste has become a widely discussed issue, due to the potential environmental impact of improper waste disposal. Polyethylene terephthalate (PET) packaging accounted for 44.7% of single-serve beverage packaging in the US in 2021, and 12% of global solid waste. A strategic solution is needed to manage plastic packaging solid waste. Major beverage manufacturers have pledged to reduce their environmental footprint by taking steps towards a sustainable future. The PET bottle has several properties that make it an environmentally friendly choice. The PET bottle has good barrier properties as its single-layer, mono-material composition allows it to be more easily recycled. Compared to glass, the PET bottle is lightweight and has a lower carbon footprint in production and transportation. With modern advancements to decontamination processes in the recycling of post-consumer recycled PET (rPET or PCR), it has become a safe material for reuse as beverage packaging. It has been 30 years since the FDA first began certifying PCR PET production processes as compliant for production of food contact PCR PET, for application within the United States. This article provides an overview of PET bottle-to-bottle recycling and guidance for beverage manufacturers looking to advance goals for sustainability.

Along with rapid population growth in Vietnam, there is an increasing dependence on groundwater for various activities. An Giang province is known to be one of the agricultural intensification areas of The Vietnamese Mekong Delta (VMD). This study aimed to evaluate the spatiotemporal variation of groundwater quality for a period of ten years from 2009 to 2018 in An Giang. The weighted groundwater quality index (GWQI) was developed based on the fuzzy analytic hierarchy process (Fuzzy-AHP) for assigning weighted parameters. The results show that that shallow wells in the Northeast and Southeast regions of An Giang were mostly categorized under "bad water" quality with high arsenic (As) concentration over the years partly due to huge amounts of sediment deposition in monsoon season. Overall, the reason for the poor groundwater quality in An Giang was the combined effect of both natural and human activities. On the other hand, we detected high values of GWQI links with high As concentration in areas where people extract more groundwater for irrigation. Temporal variation of GWQI suggested that groundwater quality at eight wells has improved from 2009 to 2018 in the wet season as compared to the dry season. The reason behind the improvement of groundwater quality during wet season was the decrease in river discharge, which causes less deposition of suspended solids near the flood plains. Moreover, the filling of unused wells can reduce the movement of pollutants from unused wells to groundwater aquifers. Although there was not sufficient evidence to show the relationship between As and sediment concentration, the temporal reduction trend in river discharge and suspended solids was detected in An Giang. The understanding of groundwater quality can help policymakers protect and manage limited water resources in the long-term.Geosciences 2019, 9, 330 2 of 23 of usages [6,7]. The disadvantages of the AHP method include the uncertainty and ambiguity in expressing opinions, as the method depends on the decision maker's knowledge and experiences during the decision-making process. Moreover, among other factors, the AHP method does not contain feedback loops [8].The fuzzy set was first developed by Zadeh in 1965 [5] and combined with Saaty's priority theory to reduce human ambiguity [9,10]. Later, the Fuzzy-AHP was further developed in order to overcome the uncertainty and ambiguity of criteria weights in deterministic and inflexible classifications [11]. Using the Fuzzy-AHP can provide a fuzzy number-interval judgment values rather than fixed or exact values [2]. This approach reduces uncertainty in assigned relative weight. As a result, the Fuzzy-AHP has been successfully used in many actual decision situation making such as energy alternatives selection [12,13], supplier selection [14], environmental sustainability evaluation [7], and water quality assessment [15][16][17]. Baghapour et al. [15] conducted the Fuzzy-AHP with fuzzy ordered weighted averaging (FOWA) for developing of the groundwater quality index (GWQI). They...

Water is of vital and critical importance to ecosystems and human societies. The effects of human activities on land and water are now large and extensive. These reflect physical changes to the environment. Global change such as urbanization, population growth, socioeconomic change, evolving energy needs, and climate change have put unprecedented pressure on water resources systems. It is argued that achieving water security throughout the world is the key to sustainable development. Studies on holistic view with persistently changing dimensions is in its infancy. This study focuses on narrative review work for giving a comprehensive insight on the concept of water security, its evolution with recent environmental changes (e.g., urbanization, socioeconomic, etc.) and various implications. Finally, it presents different sustainable solutions to achieve water security. Broadly, water security evolves from ensuring reliable access of enough safe water for every person (at an affordable price where market mechanisms are involved) to lead a healthy and productive life, including that of future generations. The constraints on water availability and water quality threaten secured access to water resources for different uses. Despite recent progress in developing new strategies, practices and technologies for water resource management, their dissemination and implementation has been limited. A comprehensive sustainable approach to address water security challenges requires connecting social, economic, and environmental systems at multiple scales. This paper captures the persistently changing dimensions and new paradigms of water security providing a holistic view including a wide range of sustainable solutions to address the water challenges.

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Due to climate change, the frequency and intensity of Hydro-Meteorological disasters, such as floods, are increasing. Therefore, the main purpose of this work is to assess tangible future flood damage in the urban watershed of the To Lich River in Hanoi, Vietnam. An approach based on spatial analysis, which requires the integration of several types of data related to flood characteristics that include depth, in particular, land-use classes, property values, and damage rates, is applied for the analysis. To simulate the future scenarios of flooding, the effects of climate change and land-use changes are estimated for 2030. Additionally, two scenarios based on the implementation of flood control measures are analyzed to demonstrate the effect of adaptation strategies. The findings show that climate change combined with the expansion of built-up areas increases the vulnerability of urban areas to flooding and economic damage. The results also reveal that the impacts of climate change will increase the total damage from floods by 26%. However, appropriate flood mitigation will be helpful in reducing the impacts of losses from floods by approximately 8% with the restoration of lakes and by approximately 29% with the implementation of water-sensitive urban design (WSUD). This study will be useful in helping to identify and map flood-prone areas at local and regional scales, which can lead to the detection and prioritization of exposed areas for appropriate countermeasures in a timely manner. In addition, the quantification of flood damage can be an important indicator to enhance the awareness of local decision-makers on improving the efficiency of regional flood risk reduction strategies.