The management and disposal of sewage sludge is becoming a growing concern at the global level. In the past, the main goal was to completely eliminate sewage sludge since it was deemed a threat to humans and the environment, but recently different possibilities for energy generation and material recovery are emerging. Existing technologies such as incineration or direct application in agriculture contribute to quantity reduction and nutrient recovery but are unable to fully exploit the potential of sewage sludge within the frameworks of circular economy and bioeconomy. This paper developed a model within the PROMETHEE method, which analyses technologies for the sustainable management of sewage sludge, which could make the most from it. For the empirical part of the study, the Republic of Croatia was used as a country in which sewage sludge is increasing in quantity as a result of recent upgrades and expansions in the wastewater system. Incineration, gasification, anaerobic digestion, and nutrient recovery were analyzed as treatment concepts for the increased amounts of sewage sludge. The model reveals that the best solution is the material recovery of sewage sludge, using the struvite production pathway through analysis of selected criteria.

We analyze the elements determining the sustainability of nautical tourism in selected Mediterranean countries (Croatia, Slovenia, Greece, Italy and Turkey). The purpose of our research is to investigate the main obstacles to greater application of renewable energy sources (RES) as the basis for the sustainability of nautical tourism. The obtained results provide valuable information that can help companies and policy makers choose appropriate strategies to achieve the EU 2030 sustainability goals in this sector. Our survey among charter companies was conducted during 2018 on a sample of 51 respondents. We conclude that there is a serious lack of knowledge among nautical tourism respondents regarding the availability of financial instruments from EU funds intended for increasing energy efficiency and adoption of RES. Respondents were familiar with general measures to reduce energy costs but are not familiar with the measures and opportunities provided by available European funds. Our results confirm previous research indicating that significant savings in energy consumption can be achieved by using RES (especially photovoltaic (PV) modules) and that insufficient financial resources and lack of knowledge are the main obstacles to achieving higher adoption rates of RES and increasing energy efficiency in nautical tourism.

This paper examines the effect of off-balance sheet (OBS) activities on performance of the banks listed on Istanbul Stock Exchange (ISE). We use four measures of performance including bank’s risk exposures, profitability, leverage, and liquidity position. We find that both bank-specific risk and foreign exchange rate risk are positively related with OBS activities. This indicates that OBS activities increase bank-specific and foreign exchange risk exposures of the banks in Turkey. The positive relationship might serve as a warning to bank’s speculative action using OBS transactions in the market. The results also indicate that OBS activities, due to its hedging perception, improve bank’s stock returns but have a negative impact on return on equity. In addition, OBS activities do not have a statistically significant impact on leverage or liquidity.

We analyze the sustainability factors that are pertinent to the tourism industry by exploring the effects of economic, environmental and social determinants on sustainable value added (SVA) in a two-stage analysis on a sample of 27 EU countries for the 2013–2019 period. In the first stage, we determine the relative efficiency based on DEA. In the second stage, we use the obtained variables in a dynamic panel data analysis setup. Contrary to the omnipresent push for complete green and sustainable transformation we find that increased GHG emissions will lead to an initial increase in SVA as the tourism sector needs time and effort to transition from a resource-oriented to an environmental-oriented production process. Contrary to previous findings, we show that environmental policies are not effective and that environmental taxation-related policies and procedures need to be revised. Economic growth implies increased pollution as well as increased SVA, as it requires more inputs and thus consumes more natural resources. Because of this it is of utmost importance to pay more attention to the quality of economic development in order to mitigate negative environmental externalities in the tourism sector.

The paper examines the existence and the direction of causality between the oil consumption and the economic growth in small European countries over the period 1980–2007 for the developed countries and 1993-2007 for the transition countries. Our findings show that small European states can be divided into two groups. The first group is characterized by the causality running from real GDP to oil consumption and is composed of the most developed European countries and a number of transition countries. In the former case, the direction of causality is a consequence of a highly developed post-industrial society with a strong tertiary sector. In the case of transition economies the direction of causality can be related to deindustrialization process and transition depression that resulted in a sharp industrial decline and decreased industrial oil demand. The second group is characterized by the causality running from oil consumption to economic growth, in which case the state should employ additional resources in subsidizing oil prices and securing long term and stable oil sources for its economy. In such countries the reduction of oil consumption because of different reasons (external prices shocks, increased taxes on oil and its derivatives, restrictive ecological laws regarding CO₂ emission) could lead to a fall in economic growth.