The COVID lockdown has affected food purchases and eating habits. In this regard, this short communication assesses the nutritional and environmental impacts of these changes during the COVID lockdown in Spain, by applying Life Cycle Assessment and an energy- and nutrient-corrected functional unit. Three environmental impacts were studied (Global Warming Potential, Blue Water Footprint and Land Use) and a total of seven weekly diet scenarios were designed: two pre-COVID diets for March and April in 2019 (MAR19, APR19), one COVID diet (COVID) and two alternative diets, one based on the National Dietary Guidelines (NDG) and another one on the Planetary Health Diet (PHD). Results show that the COVID diet had larger energy intake and lower nutritional quality, as well as higher environmental impacts (between 30 and 36%) than the pre-COVID eating patterns. Further research is needed to account for food affordability within this assessment, as well as to analyze how eating patterns will evolve after the COVID lockdown. Finally, the definition of short guidelines for sustainable food behaviors for future possible lockdowns is suggested, as well as the introduction of sustainable indicators within NDGs.
Incineration has become an attractive option for municipal solid waste (MSW) management, due to its several benefits. In fact, it allows volume and mass reduction of waste and energy recovery from MSW combustion. Nevertheless, MSW incineration (MSWI) produces three main types of residues: bottom ash (BA), fly ash (FA) and air pollution control (APC) residues, which require an adequate handling. BA is the most significant by-product from MSWI and is generally considered as nonhazardous waste. Instead, FAs are included as hazardous wastes because are characterised by high content of chlorides, heavy metals and organic compounds. The aim of this paper was to examine the characteristics of MSWI solid residues, the management and reuse of these wastes and their environmental assessment from a life cycle perspective. It was noted that the main components that make up the residues are lead and zinc as well as oxides, mainly CaO, SiO 2 and Al 2 O 3 . Furthermore, it is necessary to take into account the presence of PCDD/F which characterised FA and APC residues, mainly due to chlorine content. Chemical and physical properties of those residues make possible their reuse as construction material, as adsorbent, as well as in geotechnical and agricultural applications. Nevertheless, several studies have demonstrated that a drawback of the reuse of MSWI residues is the existence of heavy metals in elevated concentrations which may affect the environmental quality. In this regard, many studies were aimed to assess the environmental impact related to the introduction of MSWI residues as secondary material in several fields of application.
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